Although the winter rains had their moments of beauty, we were happy for Sakura to arrive. Here we are at Seattle's Harbor Steps, an urban amenity just south of the Pike Place Public Market, giving tourists convenient access to the waterfront. The Steps are beautiful, with waterfalls, landscaping, areas to sit, dine and relax. We were staying by the steps for a few days as part of our Neighborhood Evaluation Tour. With easy access to the city's goodies (restaurants, pubs, museums, stadiums, ...), we gave the place an A+.

Enjoying Cherry Blossoms at The Harbor Steps

News & Notes

• We finally got around to going to a Kraken Hockey game. The motivation was a "special evening" celebrating Nordic Heritage. In addition to a very enjoyable evening of hockey against the Capitals, we each got a commemorative "beanie" with flags on the back. Can you name the Nordic countries by their flags? [Answers below.]

  

  Teams Warming Up on Kraken Ice

  
  

• Since the inauguration, a sequence of rallies have attracted large crowds in Seattle. We've joined other citizens exercising our First Amendment rights to assemble and speak freely. The rallies have been consistently peaceful, extremely diverse and intense.

  

  "Indivisible" Rally

  
  The "Hands Off Science" Rally attracted broad interest because Seattle is home to a huge amount of scientific research of all kinds, most notably medical research. Another protest focused on the purge of federal workers, especially Park Service, Forest Service and Marine Fisheries. Those workers seemed talented beyond the requirements of the job ... and they were "fired up"!

  

  "Stop DOGE" Rally

  
  

• We visited Jim in March. Though we saw many of our Libby friends and caught the MET's Aida, it was a quiet visit. Montana does what Montana does.

  

  Click for Animation

  
  

• What's the perfect antidote to cold and snow? Sun and fun! So, accepting an invitation from our friends Dennis and Sarah to join them at their home in Rancho Mirage CA, we flew off to Palm Springs. The warm weather was great, but the easy-going lifestyle of Southern California is very easy to like. Especially the dip before Happy Hour.

  

  Sarah and Julie at the Annenberg Foundation

  
  

• We were captivated by Dennis and Sarah's two bedroom home in Da Vaal Estates. Built in the 1950s by the son of one of the Marx Brothers, the property is twenty homes organized into five clusters. The architect, Val Powelson, created a unit with a thoughtful and attractive floor plan that can be copied and rotated to join at a point to form a four home cluster. They share no common walls (it's quiet!) and provide a comforting sense of privacy. Of course, Sarah has been careful to preserve the Mid-Century decorating style.

  

  A Very Clever Mid-Century Design

  
  

• Flag Answers
  
  

  Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland