Musings

Before I get into the day’s details, have you ever seen an interstate rest area that includes a long-distance path? Milemarker 52. New to me, that mix. !!

Farther along, hmmm, cars in motion. Not new or new-ish cars, but historic vehicles, that means silvery and chrome-y and not-new. Here’s a Rebel. Who wouldn’t find a “Rebel” being a temptation? Me, sorry, I get sidetracked by the Dodge part. Old history, not present, yet….

Soon, we crossed The Bridge. With the usual lane closure at the top of the arc. We soldiered through, then waited our turn through the toll-booth section…and off to a late lunch at Clyde’s.

Sigh. Life is darned good!

And there at Clyde’s, I dunno, maybe a half dozen of the cars (roadsters? I think so) in town (StIgnace) for an upcoming old-car parade. I think we’ll miss it; we are westbound!

Here at the farm, the grasses in the orchard are TALL this year, almost tall enough to overwhelm the lupines with grassiness. Still, I have to say, we are here and we are ready…to do chores and to relax, in a mindful mingling and mixing.

Posted at 9:44 PM | 1 Comment »

…cone sightings are not surprising.

At a stop, however, not expected: stacks of new(?) golf cart tires.

Could be anywhere: exceedingly afflicted poison ivy…makes me happy in a twisted way.

Posted at 9:35 PM | 1 Comment »

Rain last night loaded down the flexible branches of this crepe myrtle.

The Mercedes wasn’t under low-hanging boughs, yet it did collect leaf-bits.

A Treasure Truck is good at attracting attention based on name alone. I hear you have to sign up for a steady diet of emails from AMMMMMazoNNNNN to find out what the deals are and where the truck will be. On balance, I’d prefer similar info on food trucks.

Posted at 7:25 PM | Comments Off on Conveyances

Not far from the house I helloed with a fellow who was walking his dog. I don’t remember him or the dog, so perhaps we haven’t crossed paths before. He smelled strongly of patchouli and the dog was something like a black standard poodle. I kept going and turned the corner, and finally the patchouli scent faded.

Later, I walked in the street past a parked pickup, windows closed, as no sidewalks on that street; I couldn’t tell for sure, but wondered if it had been there all night. I caught the scent of pipe tobacco, or the sweet tobacco smell some of it has, as I passed the driver’s door. But only near the door.

My question: do smells linger longer in super-humid air?

If I had to do captions, I’d start with something along the lines of “backlit redbud leaves,” “rampant polebeans (auto-correct changed that to plebeians, harhar),” and non-chemical weed-killer (except it is made from petroleum chemicals, I recall).

Posted at 7:48 PM | Comments Off on Scent hypothesis

Left on my walk passing this, and went down the street to check out the “work.” Found two trucks, several workmen, and could not figure out what system they were working on…didn’t appear to be water, sewer, or electric, suggesting it was fibroids…ehem, that is fiber….

We’ve been watching these apartments, mostly inhabited by Latino families, wondering when they would disappear to be replaced by high-dollar structures…this is the only one that looks like it’s being disassembled (perhaps 16 units); however, the rest can’t be far behind. And neighborhood diversity declines….

Here’s a one-house project. I don’t usually come by here, and don’t know if this house was recently sold, but it sure appears that someone does not want a dense hedge out front. BIG change!

Okay, today’s pretty is crepe myrtle. I could have had some Athenian gardenias, but you’ll have to imagine them.

Posted at 10:44 PM | 1 Comment »

I set off on my walk, and soon was wondering what theme I’d come up with for my walk-pictures.

I thought fence/ivy…and then I found fence/azalea…yay! I thought…then I realized even at two, they had become boring already.

And…I found yellow door…and, aha, new direction to the pattern.

But, no other architectural details…only a shadow in the playground. Still not terribly rewarding.

So, finally, here’s a flower spike on, well, I know it as butterfly bush. Perhaps.

* Progression is not progress.

Posted at 9:25 PM | Comments Off on Progression*

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