It has been a busy Autumn with much coming and going. Among the honored guests who came from afar were our favorite urban agriculturalists from Chicago, Megan and Dave.
Megan and Dave
It was Megan's first visit to the Pacific Northwest, so Dave immediately took her on a late-season hike to the Alpine Lakes area of the North Cascades. She could be excused for finding it difficult to take her eyes off the Stewart Range. Kind of "stealing a peak"!
News & Notes
During our September visit to Chicago, Alden Snyder joined Dave and L for a college football game at Soldiers Field. That's Husky purple because the game pitted the Washington Huskies (34) against the Illinois Illini (24). It was a good game, and it turned out right!
D, L and Alden
We returned to Japan for a few weeks to visit dear friends, and to "see the sights" with Seattle friends Melissa Rabelhofer and Brendan Healy. In Japan the friends and sights were in Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara.
Just Arrived At Kyoto Eki (Main Train Station)
Melissa and Brendan are terrific traveling companions -- curious, flexible, observant, decisive -- eager to enjoy the wonderful things that make Japan unique, like sumo and mascots. Complete details on the squid guts, sake and temple visits of the trip are in our ePostcards.In Nara we visited Shinya and Junko Kamimura, and Kazuyo Imura. As always, they were gracious hosts, taking us to see the Great Daibutsu (Buddha) of Nara. (For them, it was probably their 1000th visit!)
Shinya, Junko and Kazuyo
"Is it not a joy to be visited by friends from far away?" the Analects of Confucius ask, and it is, indeed, a joy. Makiko and Akio Ogawa, Tomoko's parents, visited for a few days on their way home to Japan. The tour of Seattle's main sights included a stop at the Waves sculpture at the Ballard Locks, and a stop at the Chihuly Glass Garden at Seattle Center.
Makiko and Akio Stand Before The Waves
Our Toronto friend Philip Shea -- see last issue -- came to Vancouver for a meeting, so we rendezvoused there. The tour always includes a stop at the Stanley Park totem poles.
Philip
Our Christmas tree cutting visit to the Shadle home in Libby MT came two weeks earlier than usual this year. After finding the perfect Christmas tree and bringing it down from the mountains, we passed a herd of 26 Big Horn Sheep grazing at low elevation. Notice that the ram's horn curls almost 360°.
Big Horn Sheep
As holiday preparations, J and the neighbors made pumpkin ginger jam. Who would guess that just the day before these lovely ladies were whacking at pumpkins with hatchets?!
Myong, Lisa, Kristi, Karlla and J + 25 Jars O' Jam
Dan came to Seattle early for the Thanksgiving holiday. This gave us ample time to visit the Museum of Flight, where we got our picture taken with a mock-up of Orville Wright piloting a mock-up of Flyer 1...and a photo of the real Dan piloting a real SR-71 Blackbird. Unfortunately Tomoko had to stay in Georgia for work. We are thankful for Skype, among many other things.
Orville, D and L
