wandertag

When I was in school in England, my roommate and I visited a friend in Austria and were introduced to the lovely idea of a wandertag. And as I'm not having any vacation this summer, decided to treat a day off in such manner. Join me as I wander my town.

The other side of the underpass going towards the beach.

As it was high tide, there wasn't much beach walking, so did a shore line walk instead and was amused by this natural bird seed holder.

Also happened upon some Native American dances....when they got to the Sun Dance, I excused myself.  I did not sign up for heat waves in Seattle and did want the gods to think that I was in any way participating in asking for more sun.

Have noticed that there is a great deal of tile and design in the sidewalks of this city and it delights me on every walk.

The moon mosaic going into the underpass--which I hadn't noticed on my previous visit.

Came home to enjoy my lunch of frozen watermelon chunks and found that my first nasturtium had broken into bloom!

In my continuing loo documentation--this is the tres chic sink set up INSIDE the stall at a local shopping center.  Fully picture worthy, I think.

One of the best chile rellenos into which I've sunk a fork, happily discovered in a local restaurant.

The awful smog does create some gorgeous sunset skies.

Arrived home tonight to find that my butter had melted.  Now, I've had it melt while living in Lodi and Napa and Princeton, but Seattle??  Wrong, oh so wrong.  You may ask why I had a cube of butter just sitting around?  I had read an article in Sunday's paper about adding herbs and condimenty things and using it as a spread.  Since my herb garden is going wild, I thought I would experiment with some thyme/Asiago and chive and black pepper spreads.  Hence, the warming of the butter.

Finished product.  Methinks tomorrow's quest will involved a fresh loaf of sourdough upon to spread these.  Although, I've heard rumors that the President will be in my neighborhood, so a glimpse of the entourage might be the day's agenda.

In my continuing to live locally, was delighted to find this soap today.  Again, I wish blogs came with a scent option because this smells like the best Christmas cookies you've ever smelled.

utilitarian

Today's delight is that I have electricity to run my fan and indoor plumbing so that I may keep dunking my head in the water. 

celebrating

Yes, it is a photo of yet another La Parisienne crepe.  Believe that I mentioned that I was reading and trying the exercises from The Artist's Way and yesterday was my one-year anniversary.  And so, I took myself out to celebrate. 

I meandered down Madison to La Côte to enjoy a solitary breakfast.  It may not seem like much; but it was the first time I had deliberately chosen to dine alone.  I've grabbed food in cafeterias and fast food joints before, but this was....different.  I thought it would feel awkward and pitiful and it turned out to make me feel sophisticated and a smidge mysterious.    I don't know that I would go out alone on a Friday night, but I know that I will do this sort of experience again.

On my apres-breakfast hike homewards, I admired my greenery on my balcony.  It's just a few pots, but it softens the harsh corporate feel to the building and brings me joy at the beginning/ending of each day.

I completely forgot about last summer's U-Haul ring!  I so should have been wearing it as we trekked from SF to Portland last week.

It's been absolutely broiling--at least for my weather tolerance--so I took myself to the beach again.  One perk to working weekends is having week days off and enjoying places that are normally crowded.

Some interesting posts left from a previous pier?

Gold flakes in the sand!

Not sure what these hoops were from, but they made an interesting sculpture in the rising tide.

Enormous jelly fish; I tried to take a photo next to my foot for a reference point, but the waves kept swirling it around.

The hazy Olympics.

Happy turtles, hangin' in the sunshine.  The turtle in Native American lore is the symbol for strength and perseverance.   Traits that are good to have around at any time of one's life.

I leave you with the wisdom painted in the underpass to the parking lot.  There was a sign at the edge of the tunnel inviting all to bring leftover acrylic paints and add to the colour of the passageway.   Perhaps next week, I will do so.

lost in the stars

is the title of one of my favorite Kurt Weill songs and one that a voice student was working on tonight.  And, as it is the height of the Perseids, it seems apt to use these lyrics for Poetry Friday.

Went for a walk after work tonight to clear my head and to hopefully level out my sleeping pattern after Monday's all-nighter and found, to my delight, Romeo and Juliet were at Volunteer Park.  If you can't tell by the blurred snap, this is a dramatic fight scene over Juliet's 'corpse'.

I don't know if you're able to see the Space Needle and the crescent moon, but they were stunning tonight.  The twilights lately have literally been breathtaking.

The literal s/cent of the day.

Lost in the Stars 

Maxwell Anderson

Before Lord God made the sea and the land,

He held all the stars in the palm of His hand,

And they ran through his fingers like grains of sand,

And one little star fell alone.

Then the Lord God hunted through the wide night air

For the little dark star on the wind down there

And he stated and promised he'd take special care

So it wouldn't get lost again.

Now a man don't mind if the stars grow dim

And the clouds blow over and darken him,

So long as the Lord God's watching over them,

Keeping track how it all goes on.

But I've been walking through the night and the day

Till my eyes get weary and my head turns gray,

And sometimes it seems maybe God's gone away,

Forgetting the promise that we heard him say--

And we're lost out here in the stars,

Little stars, big stars, blowing through the night,

And we're lost out here in the stars,

Little star, big stars, blowing through the night,

And we're lost out here in the stars.

miniature thrills

Even on my whirlwind tour, I managed to find coinage on the ground.

Came back home with my suitcase stuffed with produce.  Literally.  Decided to make a summer squash frittata this morning to celebrate my father's garden.

Took myself to the Golden Gardens Park today and walked for a few hours.  Felt good to walk off the long travels of the past couple of days.

It was warm, humid and hazy.

Myriad blue herons were out fishing.

Gorgeous shells everywhere on this beach.

Another blurry heron.  I opted to not take photos of the elderly nude who was strutting down the beach.

Underwater lettuce garden...

Was surprised that an anemone could catch and devour a crab, but here it is on 'film'.

take me out to the ball game

Enjoyed a foggy walk around the AT&T Park while down in SF.

 

 Very, very cool look at the Bay Bridge through the masts of the marina.

Although I love the climate and geography of the PNW, I do miss palm trees.

The moving of the giant beanbag was amusing and logistically challenging.

Extremely blurred photo of a wondrous coffee shop in the China Basin area.

a little of this and dash of that

Hadn't been to the Arboretum for awhile and decided to hike through the rain to see what was in bloom and was delighted to find these enormous hydrangea bushes showing off.

An interesting mossified stone pillar.

Cannot believe that I've lived in my particular 'hood for almost a year without knowledge of Dilettante's Cafe.  And now that I know of it's existence, will probably wear a path to it's doorway.  

And per my usual pattern, found a cent on one of my walks today.  My bags are packed, my itinerary set,  I shall be in Seattle, Bellevue, Oakland, SF, and Portland before I blog again.