Final Chapter

Yes, I realize it has been two weeks since we returned from Seattle but I still have pictures that I haven't shared with you and I have stories to tell. Yeah, Yeah, I know they aren't really good stories, but they are enough to keep me entertained and that is enough for me.

After we woke up from a great nights rest at the Quality Inn and Suites Seattle Center we headed out to find a place to park near the Pikes Place Market. Did I already mention how expensive it is to park in Seattle? I wonder if they secretly wish we'd all stay home? Anyway, we found a place, gave them $10.00 for a couple of hours, and walked towards the market.

Debbie's favorite was all of the cut flower bouquets. Take a look at this kaleidescope of color. (Here's where I remind you to click on the picture for more vivid detail. Well, at least it gets bigger!)

I kind of think when people think about Pikes Place Market, they are thinking about fish. No wonder! Look at these shots!

I, however, am kicking myself now for not purchasing some of the beautiful produce that we saw.

I thought it would have been great to bring some of these wonderful vegetables home and make a fantastic dish with them and post a blog about it. I'm so sorry that I didn't do it be cause in my heart I know "I coulda been a contenda". Oh well, maybe next time.

Here is another sight one sees quite often while at Pikes.

Well good for them. At least they aren't standing down in the unemployment line looking for handouts for nothing.

After leaving Seattle, we pointed ourselves toward Tacoma. We found a place for lunch and after having replentished our energy banks turned the wheel for home and in short order, we were pulling into the driveway.

I know it wasn't as spectacular as it might have been but it was memorable and that is really all we needed. Maybe in another 25 years we'll do some thing really wild!

Seattle Chapter Two

Are you ready for part 2 of our anniversary adventure? I'll try to be a bit more brief but once my fingers get to tapping, it is hard to stop till the whole story is told.

We left the museum and punched the motel address into Zoe,(that's the name Debbie gave her GPS), and it turned out to be only a couple of blocks away. Too bad we didn't go there first since parking in Seattle is really expensive and parking at the motel was included in the price. Once we got up in the room and looked out the window this is the view that greeted us.

We had toyed with the idea of trying to make a reservation for dinner at the space needle but had not actually made the call. I used Debbie's netbook to aquire the phone number and found that there were a couple of time slots open. We reserved an 8:30pm opening as we weren't completely comfortable going to a special dinner dressed like we were. The restaurant accepts casual attire but we didn't want to be the most casual patrons of the evening. It turned out to be an ideal time slot because we got to view the city in daylight

and also at night.

Dinner was beautiful and tasty and our server was informative and helpful. Here are a few images of some our our choices.

Debbie was done after this pile of food but Jonathan saw how they served ice cream and was eager to sample some.

After dinner, we went out onto the observation deck to look around. You know it's funny. I was ok all evening until going out there and suddenly I got all creeped out about being 600 feet up in the air. It must be old age. We only spent a couple of minutes out there and then we were ready to get back down to sea level. I resisted the urge to kiss the ground but don't think the thought didn't occur to me.

Oh man! In the words of contemperary philospher, Brittany Spears, "Oops I Did It Again!" Well, I'll close this post for now and resume again with the final chapter of this special adventure.

I Said I Would, And I Have

I have said it before and perhaps, by the grace of God, I'll say it again one day, that we are like geese and we mate for life. For those of you who don't know, this is the 25th anniversary of our wedding. That's right, we've made 25 complete orbits around the sun together and have continued to share common goals and have remained as attracted to each other as a couple of oppositely charged atoms. Of course, at this point my metaphore must end as it would be illadvised to describe one member of this union as positive and the other negative. Thank you for understanding.

Anyway, I know that some of you were privileged to see a short post on Facebook yesterday. For those of you who didn't, we took the opportunity of this occasion, to take a short trip up to Seattle. Though to some it might be considered unusual, we chose to invite our seventeen year old, Jonathan, along for company.

It has been a number of years since we've been to Seattle because my impression the last time I was up there was "Why in the world does this place need three more people?" Well, nothing about Seattle has changed that I could tell. It still doesn't need three more people. We were elbow to elbow with folks everywhere we went. Perhaps I have gotten a bit more tolerant of crowds through the years as I didn't feel as nervous as I remember feeling last time we were there which had to be 13 or 14 years ago.

Let me share some of our adventures from this latest trip. Our first stop in Seattle was EMP/SFM. That is the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum.

Firstly, the building itself looks like some kind of modern art exhibit. In the words of Commander Spock the architecture was "facinating".

The museum itself is equally as interesting. Though I don't know to what degree exactly, let's say it has been significantly sponsored by Trailblazer owner and Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen. Let me share some of the highlights of the tour through the museum. I hope you can forgive the photography as it is dimly lit inside and our cameras are not low lux models.

Some of the exhibits are reproductions but many are actual models and costumes worn in Hollywood productions. Additionally, there are communicators and weapons and spaceships and robots.

Now we originally came to this museum to see the sci-fi stuff but the music side of the museum is probably equally worthy of one's attention. It just happens that our family unit has a very shallow interest in the history and developement of American music so though we wandered through, we neglected to take very many pictures. However, let me show you a few of the attactions one will encounter in that side of the museum.

This piece of artwork was too large to get an adequate image. It is made of over 700 musical instruments.

These are costumes in a collection that will be displayed for the next few months that were worn by the Supremes on stage. There are a lot of video exhibits with interviews of performing artists. Interestly, there were a bunch of broken guitars and other musical intruments that had been smashed at the close of certain band acts. I guess it is no wonder why it costs so much for tickets to a concert if the band is going to have to go out and buy new guitars after every show.

There are also a lot of interactive displays. There were tiny sound rooms where one can play a guitar or drum and then replay it back to yourself. I suppose that would be a lot of fun for someone with some musical inclination. This part of the museum seemed to be quite popular with the patrons and I am quite sure that the museum is very proud of this feature as well.

Ok. This post has gone on a little long so I'll save some of our other adventures for a little later. Don't worry, I'll be back!

Important Or Fun--Which Is Worth More?

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

This particular poem by Robert Frost has had a lot of scholarly attention and certainly it deserves the thought that has been spent trying to discover the subtle as well as the obvious thoughts that the author had intended for his readers. I wonder, however, if it deserves any more time than something that was purely intended for fun. Try this bit of verse on the other hand. It is one of my personal favorites!

Seein' Things

I ain't afeard uv snakes, or toads, or bugs, or worms, or mice,
An' things 'at girls are skeered uv I think are awful nice!
I'm pretty brave, I guess; an' yet I hate to go to bed,
For, when I'm tucked up warm an' snug an' when my prayers are said,
Mother tells me "Happy dreams!" and takes away the light,
An' leaves me lyin' all alone an' seein' things at night!

Sometimes they're in the corner, sometimes they're by the door,
Sometimes they're all a-standin' in the middle uv the floor;
Sometimes they are a-sittin' down, sometimes they're walkin' round
So softly an' so creepylike they never make a sound!
Sometimes they are as black as ink, an' other times they're white -
But the color ain't no difference when you see things at night!

Once, when I licked a feller 'at had just moved on our street,
An' father sent me up to bed without a bite to eat,
I woke up in the dark an' saw things standin' in a row,
A-lookin' at me cross-eyed an' p'intin' at me - so!
Oh, my! I wuz so skeered that time I never slep' a mite -
It's almost alluz when I'm bad I see things at night!

Lucky thing I ain't a girl, or I'd be skeered to death!
Bein' I'm a boy, I duck my head an' hold my breath;
An' I am, oh! so sorry I'm a naughty boy, an' then
I promise to be better an' I say my prayers again!
Gran'ma tells me that's the only way to make it right
When a feller has been wicked an' sees things at night!

An' so, when other naughty boys would coax me into sin,
I try to skwush the Tempter's voice 'at urges me within;
An' when they's pie for supper, or cakes 'at 's big an' nice,
I want to - but I do not pass my plate f'r them things twice!
No, ruther let Starvation wipe me slowly out o' sight
Than I should keep a-livin' on an' seein' things at night!

Eugene Field

I Wonder What I Do With All Of My Time

Well I'm sorry that I've been so intermittant as to posting to this blog but sometimes between burnout, other priorities, and life in general, things just get in the way. This week,though filled with most of the normal distractions, I, thankfully, found time to blog.

This weekend was move in to the venue for Jonathan's play "Seussical the Musical". Fortunately for me, Debbie has taken nearly all of the responsibility for our contribution to the "parent's participation" in this show. It is going to be a great show, but thankfully, I will have very little responsibility in the production.

If you are in the area, I am confident that you will want to see the show so be sure to go to this link and purchase your tickets. From what I understand, tickets are selling fast so in order to get the best seating, you'd better order now. The show opens Friday, May 21 and the final show will be Sunday, May 30th.

Saturday, while Jon was at practice, we had a chance to enjoy some cuisine that he doesn't appreciate like we do. I bought a nice slab of farmed salmon and threw it on the grill after having allowed it to marinate for 30 or 40 minutes in a solution consisting of olive oil, lemon juice, chopped garlic, and basalmic vinegar. I pulled it from the grill a bit prematurely so I gave it a couple of minutes in the oven on broil.

To accompany this course, I baked some asparagus on a cookie sheet for a few minutes and when tender, added a buttery sauce enhanced with a just a hint of basalmic vinegar.

To round out the dinner, I put together a tossed salad consisting of romaine lettuce, baby spinach, a bit of tomato, and a spinkle of fetta cheese.

We topped the salad with ranch dressing. I'd say that overall, this dinner was pleasing to the eye, the nostrils, and above all, the palate.

Ah yes! That was a treat!

Mother's Day 2010

We had a delightful day yesterday! The weather was perfect for a party and we were fortunate enough to have a large group here to celebrate Mother's Day. Debbie had suggested a couple of days ago that we invite my sister and her family up for the day. I didn't jump on the idea right away as procrastination is in my nature but fortunately for all involved, I did make the call in time for her and her family to be able to attend. In addition to the Colby Clan, my dad, his wife, and Debbie's parents were able to make it here as well. We had a casual though robust dinner consisting of Jonathan's stuffed mushroom hors-d'oeuvre, spaghetti with sausage and meatballs, garlic bread, green beans with red bell peppers, and a lovely tossed green salad. Jon and I each felt like heros as the dinner was praised profusely throughout the party.

Now be careful with your mouse because I am going to share a link with you.

The Best Spaghetti Sauce and Garlic Bread

If you click on it and try the recipe for the spaghetti sauce and for the garlic bread, you will be forever spoiled and your appreciation for other spaghetti sauces and garlic breads will be surely ruined. I just felt that you should be warned!

Fortunately for me, my mother taught me to type by touch because my vision got increasingly blurred as I tried to tap out this post. You see, she was called home on May 2, 2006 and wasn't able to attend our event yesterday. I had actually forgotten the actual date and had to go back and read the newspaper article. For some reason I discovered that these +1.25 lenses that I sometimes use weren't able to correct all of the blurring that seemed to be happening. Somehow, I suspect that my vision will have corrected itself by tomorrow. It is interesting how time is sometimes the best medication.

Is My Life Really That Boring?

Oh Man! I let another four weeks go by before I tapped out a post. I am so sorry!

A friend of this blog asked recently how our special event at Monticello Antique Marketplace went. I can honestly report that it was absolutely a success! I'd have to agree with a comment made by the owner of the store. There doesn't seem to be an economic crisis going on at Monticello!

I don't know if the rest of this will be thought provoking or not but it is at least interesting to me and hopefully stimulate something in you!

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.
Abraham Lincoln

I never realized that this quote is actually atributed to the man who is perhaps the most revered president that this country has ever had. Interesting!

Now it probably would be prudent to end this post and allow Lincoln's words to sink in. I, however, am going to charge forward like a lemming bent on self destruction. What is the matter with me?

I don't know why the piece of journalism to which I'm about to refer rated any space in the Oregonian but somehow it did. I wish I knew if it was printed in the news section of the paper or only in the opinion pages. I read it on line as there just isn't enough value in the printed sheets to make it worth my while to purchase this rag.

Anglican parish splits from Episcopal congregation in Northeast Portland

I don't know why this piece was newsworthy but it did generate a bit of interest. At the time of this post, there were 66 comments. I was interested to note that only one in my opinion seemed to have a well reasoned thought on this event. Why is it that there are so many ignorant individuals who are willing to attempt to wax eloquent on a subject on which they know so little about.

Look! I doubt, with all of my tiny brain, that The Holy Creator of Life categorizes sins like His human creation is so prone to do. Anything that is contrary to His Holy charactor is sin and I am confident that He regards it as such. When humanity chooses to disregard the fact that it is this sin which will ultimately separate it from its creator, all hope is lost. It is critical to note that the Creator's love for humanity, in spite of its weaknesses, is so great that He developed a way to escape the judgement that a holy God must pass on to an unrepentent soul.

I believe that the reason a number of individuals chose to leave this local body to form their own congregation was due to the fact that the Episcopalian hierarchy who apparently had financial control over the building itself chose to disregard Biblical authority in favor of their own personal views of how things ought to be. It reminds me of how it was in the days of the Judges of Israel where "Every man did what was right in his own eyes".

It is time that the creation, mankind, begins to recognize its rightful place before an almighty God. If, in fact, pastor Humphrey and his flock have chosen to leave so that they may better understand the charactor of God as literally described in the scriptures and serve Him to the best of their understanding, then my support is with them.