After so much partying with our sons this summer, we decided we needed a little vacation; so we squeezed in a return visit to the
Olympic Peninsula. The destination was Rialto Beach on Washington's Pacific Coast. Rialto is amazing!
First, the surf pounds the beach with powerful waves; a rogue
wave killed a woman shortly after our visit. Second, the driftwood is
positively enormous. Those two features make visiting Rialto a very primal experience.
First Selfie with New iPhone -or- J and L Obstructing Your View of Rialto Beach
News & Notes
On our way out to Rialto, we stopped in Sequim WA to hike out on the Dungeness Spit. This natural sandbar stretches more than 5 miles out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Traditionally important to the Native Americans, the spit is a wildlife refuge. Our interest was captured when we found a stick of driftwood gnawed off of a tree by a beaver. What are the odds? And where was its pond? Potentially anywhere west of the North American Continental Divide.
Dungeness Spit
J's friend Lisa, the creative cake baker, produced another amazing birthday cake this year: Along the Garden Path. Notice all of the vegetables you can recognize, such as leeks. These "frosting veggies" are 100% edible and tasty. Also, the pea pods on the peavines in back contain peas when the pods are opened. Brava, Lisa!
Lisa's "Along the Garden Path" Cake
Shelley and Ken invited us to their Lopez Island home for Labor Day Weekend. As has become traditional, we cruised the island in his fully restored Chevy truck, enjoying the Lopez Island Art Studio Tour. Although the four of us can fit on the truck's enormous bench seat, S and J decided to ride in the bed. It isn't strictly legal, but who would arrest these two cuties?
Is This What's Called En Plein Air?
Bainbridge Island's Japanese Exclusion Memorial has just received National Park Service affiliation with the NPS's Minidoka Internment Camp. We thought we'd better visit the sight. The World War II internment of Japanese Americans started with residents of Bainbridge Island; the Memorial recalls their fears, the disruption to their lives and the humiliation they endured at the hands of other Americans. Most, but not all, of Bainbridge's residents supported their Japanese neighbors. The sight is moving, a sobering reminder of how knee-jerk responses of politicians and citizens alike cause people to act badly towards each other ... and we seem not to be getting any wiser.
The Japanese Exclusion Memorial
Our Austin TX friends David and Barbara were in town for a week. We spent the time trying to convince them that the sunshine in Seattle is better than in Texas because it's so rare ... maybe they should move back here.
David and Barbara
Our Libby MT friends Douglas and Dolly were also in town for a week. When we visited the Chittenden Locks to check out the salmon run, we found (1) a three inch salmon headed in the wrong way, (2) the Large Lock, which is HUGE, was being upgraded with a new middle gate,
Douglas and Dolly
We fit in a short visit to Libby MT to see Jim and Julie. As has become traditional in the fall, our friends Tom and Alvira, who own a Tree Farm, saved a few slash piles for us to set on fire. It's been L's favorite woodland activity since 1968!
The Seattle Art Museum exhibited a large collection of ukiyo-e, Japanese wood block prints, mostly by the great master Hokusai. We joined the opening show with friends Sarah and Dennis. The works included his famous "Great Kanagawa Wave" picture, a range of Hokusai's other work, and wood cuts by contemporary artists. All were enjoyable, including "The Nihonbashi Bridge" from his Thirty-six Views of Fuji series, which was so successful he added six more views!
"Nihonbashi Bridge" From Hokusai's Thirty Six Views of Fuji
Brendan's theater company, Pony World Theater, presented his play "Hot Dish" at 12th Avenue Arts. The play is about a dysfunctional family all of whose members are lonely. The story revolves around the unemployed and directionless son who spends his days watching cooking shows on TV. He's convinced that the solution to his rotten life is winning the cooking contest. It was thoroughly enjoyable, and nuanced in its treatment of loneliness. It's received great reviews. Bravo Brendan!
Brendan Healy's International Debut, "Hot Dish"
