In the meantime
A “tourist” in Seattle
Back home this time, because of the availability of places to house sit, I find myself spending more time in Seattle than in Tacoma. This makes it more difficult to see friends and family in the South End, but it does make it easier to spend time with friends further north, which I’ve taken full advantage of. And, at the end of the day, Tacoma, and the grandkids, are only about 45 minutes away, assuming I stay out of rush hour. All good.
Exquisite Creatures by Christopher Marley
A friend and I had planned to spend the day in Seattle doing a virtual reality art walk that started at the train station and ended up at Seattle Center. We downloaded an app on our phones and were supposed to find QR codes on the sidewalk that would allow us to use our phones to see really cool stuff (whales, big foot, forests, etc.). But, it turned out that nothing worked very well, and the directions were tough to follow. So, we ended up ditching the walk and heading to the waterfront.
On the way, we ran across this amazing exhibit and decided to give it a try. It was absolutely wonderful, and I highly recommend everyone sees it before it leaves the area in October. Every creature in the exhibit is real and it is incredibly stunning!
Hans Zimmer Candlelight Concert
I’ve been wanting to do one of these candlelight series for some time, but when this one came up, I knew I had to see/hear it. It did not disappoint, except that it was only an hour long. Pretty tough to cram a good variety of his music into that amount of time.
The concert was at the The National Nordic Museum in Ballard, where there is also a troll statue. The venue is small, full of candles and it’s in the round so that there are no bad seats.
And before you ask (and someone did), no I did not see Jimothy the racoon who apparently hangs out in Ballard.
Doing fun stuff
Among the other things that I was able to do, was a “Nearly Dan” concert and dinner at Jazz Alley. One of my all time favorite venues. I told my friend that every time I go there, I feel like all is right with the world. It’s a special place.
Casey (my youngest grandson) spent a week with me and we lots of things, a couple of which, according to Casey, he will never let me live down.
First was that we went to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. I put my stuff in a backpack and left my purse at home. We get there and I remember that it is a National Park, and I have to pay $3 to visit. Well, I had brought a credit card, but no cash so we were stuck. When I told Casey that I didn’t have the money to pay it, he freaked out a bit and was worried that I would get arrested. I tried to explain risk vs reward to him. It helped a bit, but he does bring it up to make sure know that I did something wrong.
The second thing was that I had picked up my old Monopoly game (I got it in the 4th grade.) He had never played, and he beat me fair and square on the first try. I did, of course, show him how to beat me. But, it was one of those games where he landed on all of the properties, and I tended to land on Chance, Community Chest, Railroads (which he owned), Free Parking and all of the income tax spaces.
Casey and I also visited our friends, Teri and Betsy, in Shelton. We had a lovely lunch while Casey put on rubber boots and hit the beach to ferret out crabs, fish and jellyfish.
We went to the new Seattle Aquarium and into Pike Street Market to the counter that sells the really big maple bars. Something Casey’s dad introduced him to.
And, of course, the Blue Angels. We were sitting on the beach watching and Casey asked me if the got any louder. I assured him they would. And, about that time, one roared over our heads from behind. Yes, Casey….they can get louder.
Being home has been lovely. I’ve caught up with lots of friends and family. I intend to take a trip to Wenatchee & Yakima later in the month to do more of that.
Just for fun
I’ve been staying with a couple of dogs in Madrona (Seattle area), for the second time this Summer. There names are Apollo and Puck. They are adorable, and I thoroughly enjoy hanging out with them.
But, Apollo has a pretty special talent. There are about 10-12 buttons on the floor that he can push if he wants to go for a walk, get a snack, get his ball, play, etc. The button in the living room says “I love you.”
I was able to catch him on video. He was pretty adamant. He is hilarious!!
