Lo Hicimos

December 30, 2012

Evynne and I watch a lot of "Dora the Explorer".  In every episode Dora and her monkey buddy, Boots, accomplish a task, solve a problem.  At the end of every show they ecstatically sing "We did it".  Being educational they also sing it in Spanish, "lo hicimos."  Well, Peter had the thought that he and I should rent bikes at the The Embarcadero, ride them to and over the Golden Gate Bridge, then ride down to Sausalito and take the ferry back.  And today, a glorious sunny day with not a cloud in the sky, that's exactly what we did.  Lo hicimos!!!

Poetry in Motion

December 29, 2012

Today Nate and I headed south to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  It's a marvel - a truly amazing place and very challenging photographically, with many of the critters apparently finding dim light more flattering.  A gratifying exception to this general rule was the jellyfish, who evidently know they're beautiful and don't mind being brightly lit.  They were poetry in motion - lovely, sinuous death.

Fun!

December 29, 2012

Today we took the kids to Fairyland, the inspiration, apparently, for Disneyland.  It was a great place for little kids although some parts of it, if looked at a certain way, were a bit troublesome.

The Joy of Wine

December 27, 2012

Today we visited the Rombauer Winery.  Irma Rombauer, of "Joy of Cooking" fame, was the great aunt of the Rombauer Winery founder, so there is a link, albeit a rather distant one.  Alas, the Chardonnay we sought was not available, and the reds which were available did not impress.  But there were compensations.

Grace

December 26, 2012

Today we all drove down to Santa Cruz to visit our friends Daniel and Michelle and their children, Sam and Grace.  Here is wonderful, amazing Grace.

Christmas!

December 25, 2012

Fourteen hours after my quiet drive home on Christmas Eve we were in the home we're renting for a week in Oakland.  We all came, Chris and Jen with Evynne and Alec, Nate, and Nancy and I to be with Peter, and he, with the help of friends Keri, Ashley, and Tyson, had Christmas dinner ready for us.  We had a very good time.

Christmas Eve

December 24, 2012

One of the carols we sang tonight, in our marvelous Christmas Eve service at St. Mark's, was "It Came Upon The Midnight Clear,"  and as I drove home in the dark and quiet night it indeed seemed the world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.

Serenity

December 23, 2012

I went to Lake Union Park hoping to find a sailboat sailing in the pool.  I was disappointed, but not surprised on this cold, wet, grey day, to find none.  Then, after photographing other things and just as I was leaving, my reason for being there appeared.

Art

December 22, 2012

An artist friend of our son Peter told me once that doing art is a lonely business.  And so it is, but that loneliness is at once its joy as well as its burden.  This strange, magnificent bird reminds of that artistic reality, residing as it does on a wall facing the parking lot of the world's smallest strip mall.  I don't know what it means or why it's there, but apparently it's something some artist simply had to do and in so doing make the world a slightly better place.

Zen

December 22, 2012

Roanoke Landing has none of the attributes I typically associate with a park.  It has no grass, no trees, no play area, no amenities.  What it does have is pavement and a fence.  It is the Zen of parks, if you will, and could not be more serene.  Once it was a busy place.  The ferry from Leschi, the only way to reach Mercer Island, landed here.  But in 1940 the Mercer Island bridge, then the largest floating structure in the world, was completed.  The ferries ceased to exist, and Roanoke Landing reverted to stillness.

Icons

December 21, 2012

Many things are iconic of Seattle.  There are the rain and the water and the seafood, for instance, and the Space Needle and Dale Chihuly.  Today Nancy and I, along with friends David and Vince, visited the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum.  It is, essentially, Dale Chihuly's homage to himself and is truly spectacular.  My thanks to David for suggesting this shot which seems to me to show the one icon familiarly embracing the other.

Alec

December 19, 2012

Today, being Wednesday, was baby-sitting day, which tends to lead to photos of the babies being sat.  Luckily for me. they're beautiful.

Study in Styles

December 18, 2012

Evynne's pre-school class, after a hard couple of hours of practice and play, presented it's holiday program to all who could come.  The young man on the right, whose mom is clearly very involved in the action, seems to be looking somewhat enviously at Evynne, in her attitude of comfortable repose, and the young man beyond her who appears to have fallen asleep.

Trees

December 17, 2012

Our little lacy maple, jaunty in it's holiday lighting, shares its glow with the taciturn birch, tall and pale beside it.

A Time and a Season

December 16, 2012

This Sunday night, like every Sunday night I'm in Seattle, I sang Compline.  Tonight was special in that we began by setting out 28 candles and then chanting prayers for the children and adults who were slaughtered in Newtown and for the young man who did the slaughtering.  Hopefully there will come a time for action in response to this tragedy, but for tonight it seemed a good time to simply be in church.

Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Fun

December 15, 2012

Today was the occasion of a festive celebration of the birthdays of the lovely Princess Maya and the much feared, but none-the-less devilishly handsome, Pirate Henry.  Despite concerns about the mixing of genteel aristocrats and rough edged buccaneers everyone agreed a truly wondrous level of amity prevailed, and a jolly good time was had by all.

Peter

December 14, 2012

Today I had the immense pleasure of lunch with my good friend Peter Hallock.  Like the Walrus and the Carpenter we talked of many things and had a good meal to boot, though not of oysters.

Counterbalance Park

December 13, 2012

At the base of Queen Anne Hill is Counterbalance Park, a lovely little pocket park, the name of which is derived from the old name for the portion of Queen Anne Boulevard which climbs the hill.  That name, in turn, came from the now long gone cable car, which would ascend from and descend to this very spot.

Be Good for Goodness Sake!

December 12, 2012

Christmas is coming.

Old Dog

December 11, 2012

I like to think of this penny-farthing as enjoying a genteel retirement, having learned a new trick and become a planter.

Contrasts

December 10, 2012

To us from the Pacific Northwest, the desert landscape is at once beautiful and inimical.  "Look," it seems to say, "but don't touch."

Water from the Rock

December 9, 2012

Of course, this isn't the rock at Horeb, it's the rock at my cousin's home in Tucson.  And Moses didn't need to strike it for the water to come out.  None-the-less, there's something compelling about the idea of water flowing from a rock in the desert.  And for me, at least, that ancient story of God yet again saving the Israelites, this time from dying of thirst in the desert, comes to mind.

Yolie

December 8, 2012

Yolie has experienced some very perplexing and very troublesome health problems the past few months.  It's good to be with them for these few days.

Respite

December 7, 2012

Today we flew to Tucson to visit cousin Rick and his wife, Yolie.  Here's the view from the back deck.  We love Seattle, but this will be just fine for a few days, a welcome respite from the cold, dark, and wet of home.

John J. J. Schmidt

December 6, 2012

Alec has learned just when the loud part comes in "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt".  He loves to chime in very loudly and at just the right time.  And he feels pretty good about himself when he does.

Onward!

December 5, 2012

It's that time of year again, and to me it's somehow reassuring that, come what may, the Salvation Army soldiers on.

Contemplation

December 4, 2012

I suppose this little statue is not, strictly speaking, of the Buddha, and he is perhaps not so much contemplating as looking askance, but those are definitely flowers and it's defintely December.  So, I choose to think of this tableau as one of the Buddha contemplating the reality of global warming.  And he's not happy.

St. Mark's

December 3, 2012

Yesterday was the beginning of Advent, and last night we held our traditional "O Antiphon" service at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral.  It was a beautiful evening in a beautiful place.

Thanks

December 2, 2012

We are thankful for the birds which brighten these short, dark winter days, and who knows, perhaps they're thankful for us as well.

Really!?

December 1, 2012

Alec seems to be wondering whether being dressed in his sister's birthday present is really, truly, absolutely necessary.

Sing it again, Sam

November 30, 2012

Not much of a festive atmosphere on the waterfront on a cool, rainy day, but Sammy and his friends are always ready for a good time by the carousel.

Dreamer

November 29, 2012

Al loves riding his horse in the house, but dreams of the day when he can be out on the open range.

Ghost

November 28, 2012

Once a working pier, now only a few rotting stumps mutely testifying to the ravages of time and weather.

Green Lake

November 27, 2012

I've heard Green Lake described as Seattle's Central Park.  Well, I've been to Central Park, and Green Lake is no Central Park.  But it's a pleasant respite from the city, especially on a winter day like today when it's without its typical summer infestation of joggers, bikers, skate boarders, bike riders, and dog walkers making their way around the lake.

Peace like a River

November 26, 2012

Just beneath the constant noise and busyness of I-5, physically close but far distant in spirit, lies this pocket park, South Passage Point Park, tranquil and lovely.

The Woods are Lovely . . .

November 25, 2012

Behind the Cathedral is a path into the woods onto which I had never ventured before today.  Someday I'll explore it more.  Someday . . . .

Rob

November 24, 2012

Today I had lunch with my friend Rob.  I am blessed with good friends.

Real Change

November 23, 2012

Real Change is a newspaper sold on the streets by people who often, currently or formerly, live on the streets.  It's an opportunity for them to get some money by a way other than begging, and thereby gain some dignity as well.  And it gives the rest of us, on the day after Thanksgiving Day, yet another reason to be thankful, both for the fact that we do not have to sell "Real Change" and that it exists for those who do.

Thanksgiving Day

November 22, 2012

Today is Thanksgiving Day.  We have so very much for which we are thankful, beginning with friends and family.

Queen's Necklace

November 21 2012

In 1908 Queen Anne Boulevard, a network of streets ringing the crown of Queen Anne Hill and offering spectacular views to both the east and the west, was incorporated into Seattle's Olmsted Plan for Boulevards and Parkways.  Highland Drive is a lovely part of the Boulevard and never more so than in the slanting, golden light of a late afternoon in early winter.

Café Bambino

November 20, 2012

The coffee's delicious, but first you have to get past that scary baby on the roof.

Magnolia/Madrona

November 20, 2012

As Captain George Vancouver sailed past the bluffs rising abruptly from the water just north of what is now Seattle, he mistook the trees growing on the cliffs for Magnolias.  They were actually Madronas.  And so it is that the hill just west of our Queen Anne Hill is named Magnolia and not Madrona.

Whaling Substitute

November 18, 2012

In Moby Dick, Ishmael tells us that whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in his soul he goes to sea. It is, in fact, a damp, drizzly November in Seattle, but instead of going to sea we can just go to Cascade Playground to chase away the blues.

Masters at Work

November 17, 2012

Today my friend Michael came to take professional photos of Chris, Jeni, Evynne, and Alec.  He is a master at what he does.  But no less masterful was Nancy's tireless cajoling, entertaining, distracting and occupying two resourceful, energetic, and very fidgety children.

River of Light

November 16, 2012

Even rush hour traffic can be beautiful - from the right perspective.

Faith

November 15, 2012

The boy is reaching out to the man he trusts is there, but whom he cannot see.

Jake

November 14, 2012

David brought his son Jake to lunch today.  Jake's back from commercial fishing off the southern coast of Alaska and, more recently, in Puget Sound.  It was good to see him, on solid ground, safe and sound.

Pretty Purrfect

November 13, 2012

Lily has claimed the hearth for herself, at least when there's a fire burning.  Trespassers beware!

Gotta Love This Town

November 12, 2012

I have no idea why this is here.  But I'm very glad it is.

Everlasting Peace

November 11, 2012

The mausoleum in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, close to our home, is a nice place to visit, but . . . .