Musings

Downtown Seattle traffic patterns have been changed by the construction/opening of a long tunnel on 99; it hasn’t been open long, and is still free. So we gave it a try! Smooth!

Above ground, we had great views of Mount Rainier…however, I only had a cell phone to snapshot it. It looms, no doubt about it. Massive landform.

Airborne, our route passed just south of the Calamus Reservoir. It’s that NW/SE darkness above the plane icon (note engines; can you see the propellers? resolution may be too hammered to display them). I worked on an archaeological site that’s now under the water before they dammed the river. The Calamus River was the most constant-flowing river in North America, we were told (perhaps still is?).

And now we’re home in dogwood-town. Great trip! New HS graduate in the family! So proud! Fast trip, but very fun!

Posted at 10:06 PM | Comments Off on Moving right along

Ho-hum part of the day: my walk. Found a tree in a bag, which the sign calls a hairnet. Dubious ethics; the idea is to preserve the fruit from the birds and other living things for donation to people.

Roadside sweet peas. Yay!

Our ride. From the manager’s selections; same rate as the Ford Focus we reserved. Hah!

Le pomp. In a hockey arena.

Le circumstance. Hat toss to a John Williams composition for Star Wars; very appropriate. And…we have a new graduate in the family! Congrats to Sam Two-Name, beloved of all. He’s just to the right of the middle and you’ll never be able to pick him out. Does it help if I tell you he he’s wearing blue high-tops?

Apologies for the delayed post; just too darned much going on into the evening, plus the time difference. Yawn. Smile. Smile bigger.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on So proud

While out for my walk, I made a new friend: hello, tigre-pantera! This one loved a head scratch and pet.

We saw a few cruise ships passing yesterday, perhaps three, and almost half-dozen today…bound for Alaska, we’re told, and regulars along this route on Fridays/Saturdays.

We spent some time today prepping for the grad party, and finished our chores ahead of schedule…so opened a bottle of wine and sipped our way through some white pinot while enjoying the sun-warmed deck from the shade.

Dessert, of course, was the high-point of the menu…a pair of surgeon-made and surgeon-dissected ice cream cakes…about one and a half consumed before everyone was too full to eat another bite…which means there’s half in the freezer awaiting tomorrow’s coffee hour. Yay!

Long summer for the HS graduate, as he moves into the dorm to begin college life in late September (surprise: quarter system!). I hear the job search will begin Tues…after the last after-graduation event.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on (Mean)while

Today was one of those busy-busy prep days; the main event is dinner honoring the HS grad tomorrow, and the to-do list included a costco visit. I’m telling you, is that an experience. I think I’d only been in one once before, and it was to buy tires (insert tale you hypothesize here).

But you are probably more worldly than I and costco’s ho-hum to you.

Posted at 7:24 PM | Comments Off on Need one, buy three…make that twenty

Deep underground in the public passageways at “the world’s busiest airport” (they repeat frequently), the decision-makers have installed durable artwork. This blue-and-green installation is accompanied by bird calls, and seems to evoke a forest and its dappled light. About half-way down, there’s a clearing in the “leaves” and I could hear ducks quacking, although the birds aloft (sorry, no photo) were clearly geese. Brazen, I’m saying, brazen artistic license.

We departed the Deep South in sprinkles, and the sunlight that greeted us in the PacNW became spitty rain two hours later…providing aesthetic cloud cover for this Puget Sound inlet. […with both north- and south-bound trains—coal and autoracks, respectively.

Seems like a wild rose, but that’s a guess…your flower for the day.

And, with the time change…yawn…and, gee, it’s now quite sunny out!

Posted at 6:40 PM | Comments Off on Shifting weather

I’ve been tweaking photos in Photos, and lately I’ve been thinking that the colors get boosted they didn’t using the same strategies I’ve always used. Pretty, yes, but a bit hyper-real.

Golden-yellow flowers; don’t know the name.

Someone’s ready for the D-day anniversary tomorrow…seventy-five years ago. I know where I was that day: nowhere.

Posted at 8:16 PM | Comments Off on I know/don’t know/know

Blue pH. Not the same as a PhD.

Stunning purple clematis.

I call this (lower right) a lawn roomba. It was active/scurrying; I don’t know about the mowing quality.

A century ago: women got the right to vote in good ol’ USA. Mostly white women, I’m pretty sure, and probably not everywhere initially, truth be told.

Posted at 7:26 PM | Comments Off on Color me…¿observant?

Little bit of precipitation last night…wowzer, these (redbud) leaves look mid- to late-summer.

I don’t think this means the bus tumbles. I hope.

We missed Summerfest in the neighborhood this weekend. Not sure what these are but my guess is they were to catch wastewater (like from sinks in food trucks).

First big basil harvest here in the ATL. Also have Thai basil for some Thai curry—wonderful eats this week!

Posted at 6:51 PM | Comments Off on Odds, ends

You would not be the least bit surprised, I bet, to learn that the street that goes along under this railroad track is called Arches Street. Poetic or pragmatic?

Abandoned building—not a fine place to sleep any longer. Does this mean that in each room there was space for a bed, dresser, and a few hangers—and that’s it? Or does it mostly mean no cooking facilities? I’m mystified.

Note: not Colombia. I find it interesting that the facade was expanded in 1969 to include a street door to the far right. We zipped by and I couldn’t tell if this bank is still open; however, a bit of searching, and yes!

After all day on state highways and a few US routes, we finally popped onto the interstate maze, and followed this for a few minutes as we approached the northern metro area. Time for you to generate your own caption.

Posted at 10:20 PM | Comments Off on Roadside sights

I hoped the apple buds would open, but no, too cool a spring for them to open in May.

Tulips and forget-me-nots, on the other hand: stunning. Thank you, dear gardening neighbors.

On the road we encountered a long military convoy. They were moving an assortment of vehicles, about half in OD champ and half in desert beige. However, the vehicular theme of the day, of all our long miles, was Equinoxi. Is that the plural of Equinox? I’d guess that one of every eight or so vehicles was an Equinox. Go Chevy.

No, I definitely do not covet one.

I can’t remember the last time I saw tent caterpillars. Do I spend too much time in the city? Do they avoid the Sunny South? …Answers I do not have.

Then, as we crossed into Ohio, we drove into rain. Heavy rain. And more rain. Later with a few hail balls, bam bam. And when we drove out of the precip, within two minutes, we were driving on dry roads. Funny. But the truck is less muddy and decorated with fewer insect bodies. Sunset: a normal orange with a few clouds.

And a happy good night!

Posted at 10:19 PM | Comments Off on Equinox day