Slow Week for Hiking

I had such plans!! I had BOS, LGA and SFO layovers that I had planned to hike during layovers and then I was under the weather and couldn't work. So I was home, but I didn't get anything done here either, because of being under the weather!

Such a bummer. I did do a mile on the Green River Trail in Tukwila when I picked up Ryan from his several miles of trekking along the same trail.

Once things were back to normal health-wise, I was able to do a mile at Nisqually (of course, Ryan did 4 miles) and a mile at Big Creek trail near Cougar, WA. I was dropping Ryan off for his WTA work party.

We went camping along the Lewis River outside of Cougar, WA, just south of Mt. St. Helens. We brought along the telescope to do some stargazing, but the mostly full moon stymied our efforts. We did see a couple of shooting stars, part of the Perseids meteor shower and we did the native american eye test, looking at the double star of the Big Dipper. The second star from the end of the handle is an optical double star. You should be able to perceive this separation of these two stars with the naked eye.

I did a couple more miles along the Lewis River trail between the lower falls and the middle falls. And stopped off for a letterbox and did the Two Forests Trail near Ape Cave. So I got in 4 miles before I had to leave for work.

I got to Switzerland and did 2 km along the Zurich Vita parcours near our hotel. (about 1.25 miles)
By the Zurich Airport is a little town called Regensdorf, Switzerland. This is where we layover. There is a Zurich Vitaparcours just behind the Strafanstalt Poschwies Prison! :-)

This is a fitness trail, like an outdoor gym. They were huge in the 70's and I discovered that the original parcourse was invented in 1968 by a Swiss architect!
They appear to still be hugely popular over here and just about every town has one. In West Seattle, we have one at Lincoln Park, but it is mostly in disrepair, I don't think anyone uses it.

On the map in the photo, the buildings shown in red (#27) are the prison. The green area is where I hiked, the course starts at #99 and my hotel is #11. The green area beside the hotel is a cemetery. One of the cutest that I have ever seen. They have the prettiest tombstones in there.



We've raised $771 for WTA hike-a-thon and I have hiked 21.5 miles.
You can still support both of us with our hike-a-thon for Washington Trails Association.
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page

And you can read more about our adventures together on Ryan's blog at www.anotherlongwalk.com

Monday's Postcard: Wiesbaden

This is from February 1995. I had a layover in Wiesbaden, Germany (Frankfurt Airport) I was most impressed that the TV got 24 channels and only 2 were in English, CNN and MTV. :-)

We have been making great progress on our WTA Hike-a-thon. $671 dollars raised, but we still need your help! Check out our WTA fundraising pages
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
and make a donation. Keep Washington's Trails open and hikeable!!

Monday's Postcard: Portland, ME

If I wasn't living in Seattle, I'd probably be living in Portland, ME. Love this town. Always a great layover. I miss this city, don't get up there as often as I would like.

We have been making great progress on our WTA Hike-a-thon. But we still need your help! Check out our WTA fundraising pages
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
and make a donation. Keep Washington's Trails open and hikeable!!

First couple of hikes for Hike-a-thon 2011

August 1st: First day of hikeathon in Oakland, CA, I hiked 4 miles in Redwood Regional Park, with little dips into Joaquin Miller Park and Roberts Regional Recreation Area. Found 14 letterboxes along the West Ridge Trail, Tres Sendas Trail, The Big Tree Trail, Robert Ridge Trail and others!

The next day found me back in Seattle and I hiked along the Green River Trail to and from the Russell Woods park trailhead for 2 miles. I walked down to the Neely Soames House and back. The Neely Soames House was built in the 1800's and is one of the oldest homes in Kent. It is listed on the State Register of Historic Homes. It can be rented for parties or events and the gardens are open to the public year-round. This year is the 10th anniversary of the house being open to the public and they are having an open house with tours and stuff on August 21st.
The Green River Trail in this area is closed to bicycle traffic. A line of giant sandbags marches down the trail straight down the middle! This is to protect from flooding. The Howard Hanson dam up stream is awaiting repairs and the sandbags will be up until the dam is repaired. The bags were put up in 2009, so it has already been 2 years.

Wednesday, The Interurban Trail in North Seattle generally follows the route once used by the Interurban Trolley that ran from downtown Seattle to Everett from 1910 through 1939. I hiked 2 miles along a section in Shoreline. Saw some really neat public art called Flipbook by Jennifer Dixon.

The next day, I met up with Cari, Sandi and some other friends at Squires Lake in Alger, WA. At this letterboxing mecca, I was able to log 47 finds!! That's over 10 per mile during our 4.5 mile hike.We hiked around the lake and up to the Pacific Northwest trail. Had some great views back down to I-5!!
Today, I put in a mile on the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail. Not much, I know, but every little bit counts and it can all add up to bigger things! Just like that one dollar I have asked everyone who reads this to send. Only one dollar from everyone who reads this blog can add up to hundreds!!


I haven't hiked with Ryan yet, but maybe later on in the month.You can still support both of us with our hike-a-thon for Washington Trails Association.
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page


So far we have raised $641 and I have hiked 13.5 miles

Wild Card: Dry Tortuga's National Park

Today is my Dad's Birthday and in memory of him, I am posting this card that he sent to me from the Dry Tortuga's. He had been there on a trip for his birthday in 2000.

Ryan and I have been making great progress on our WTA Hike-a-thon. But we still need your help! Check out our WTA fundraising pages
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
and make a donation. Keep Washington's Trails open and hikeable!!

New Years Resolution 2011: July Update

This is a photo of a postcard from Hilton Head Island, SC. Nice Sculpture in their Harbor, called "Out to Lunch"

Summer reading is in full swing! Here is what I read in July:

The Last Illusion by Rhys Bowen (library)
The Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal (library)
The Three Miss Margarets by Louise Shaffer
Dirty Little Secrets by C. J. Omololu (library)
Room by Emma Donoghue (library)
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris (library)
Dragon Bones by Lisa See
A Bullet for Cinderella by John D MacDonald
Operation Mincemeat by Ben MacIntyre
The Husband by Dean Koontz
Bless the Bride by Rhys Bowen (library)
The Gap Year by Sarah Bird (library)
Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
Cat O' Nine Tales by Jeffrey Archer (short stories)
Speaking with the Angel ed. by Nick Hornby (short stories)
Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen
The German Bride by Joanna Hershon
Loch Ness Monster and Raining Frogs by Albert Jack
Murder in the Adirondacks by Craig Brandon
Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie
The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai
N or M? by Agatha Christie
Ruth Fielding at Cameron Hall by Alice B. Emerson
Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington




Okay, for folks interested in how fast I read, I took the time to clock my reading for a book. Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen: this standard paperback book is 324 pages. I started it at 12:50am and finished it at 3:40am. 2 hours and 50 minutes of non-stop reading on the airplane on my way to work one night. It was a fun and easy book to read. I really liked the character and will definitely be reading more of these books. Bowen writes the Molly Murphy books that I have been reading this year. But I think I like this protagonist even better! She is a minor member of the royal family during the 1930's, has no money and is trying to get jobs all the time, but can't really work because of the embarrassment it would cause to the family. This book was the first in the series and she gets involved in a murder mystery where she and her brother are the prime suspects.

Still reading the Sookie Stackhouse books and the Molly Murphy books. I only have a couple more til I am done with these series and then I just have to wait for the authors to write more!!
And as I said, I am also trying a new series by Rhys Bowen with ties to the royals and enjoying it immensely. I tried to start the Shakespeare ones by Charlaine Harris, but didn't really enjoy them that much, so I am giving them a pass.

The Three Miss Margarets was another southern/race relations type novel. So again, if you liked The Help or Dry Grass of August (which I read last month), you might like this one too. A scandal in a southern town. And secrets that go back to the 1960's.

Dirty Little Secrets is a YA novel about hoarding from the point of view of the children who live with the hoarders. This is a pretty disturbing book. I am still not too sure how I feel about the way the author resolved this one. It sends a message that I don't like. The parts about hoarding and the stigma that the kids feel is great. But the conflict resolution was not to my liking. There is the prerequisite "cute guy at school and does he really like me" subplot for YA girls.

The Hare with the Amber Eyes is the story of the Ephrussis family. They were a major banking family in Vienna, that was torn apart by Hitler's Nazi Anschluss. Mr. de Waal traces his family history thru a set of netsuke that were handed down over the years, the only thing left from a huge fortune and collection of artwork.

Operation Mincemeat was a really cool story of an espionage plan during WWII. Spies created a false identity for a dead man and planted him with decoy papers to fool the Germans. Much like the person that Cary Grant is mistaken for in North by Northwest. A phantom agent!! A fun book about the espionage business during WWII. True Story, Lots of photos etc.

A Bullet for Cinderella is another John D. MacDonald thriller. This book was only 160 pages and I read it super fast. Husband by Dean Koontz is another thriller, not spooky like some of Koontz's stuff. But a real page turner! much like the thrillers by Harlen Coben or Linwood Barclay. I read Husband on a single airplane ride when Ryan and I were traveling to the Terrapin Event in Massachusetts, but I did not clock my actual time reading for that one, less than 4 hours definitely.

Dragon Bones by Lisa See is a murder mystery set in China, you might be more familiar with books like Snow Flower and the Secret Fan or Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. This is a more modern take on China and a good mystery. This is the second in the series.

Room by Emma Donoghue was intense, but I really enjoyed it. A "ripped from the headlines" story similar to the Jaycee Dugard kidnapping, this book is told from the point of view of a child who was born in captivity. He and his mom escape and what happens next. Again, I didn't clock this one, but it was read in less than 4 hours.

Gap Year was a good read. The story of a single mom and her teenage daughter who is about to leave the nest. It was told by the two different points of view in alternating chapters. I think that is what I really enjoyed about it, seeing the same story from two different voices.

Cat O'Nine Tales is a collection of short stories by Jeffery Archer. When he was in prison he heard all kinds of tales of mischief and mayhem and he put them down in this book with the names changed to protect the innocent and the not-so-Innocent. Fun and enjoyable read.

Speaking with the Angel is also a collection of short stories, compiled by Nick Hornby of About A Boy and High Fidelity fame. Proceeds from the sales of this book go to help fund a school for autistic children. Nick Hornby has an autistic son, who knew?? Anyway, a great collection of authors from Helen Fielding of Bridget Jones fame to Roddy Doyle of The Commitments fame! Even Colin Firth (Mr. Darcy himself!) contributes a story. Another fun and enjoyable read.

The German Bride is a western story of a German/Jew girl who immigrates to America as a young bride and her experiences in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was very good and an interesting look at frontier life at that time (post civil war)

The book by Albert Jack, was just a bunch of stories investigating mysteries, urban legends? and oddities of the world. An easy and fun read, I was familiar with most of the stories already...like the Bermuda Triangle and D. B. Cooper, but I had no idea that band leader, Glenn Miller had disappeared mysteriously?! And there were questions surrounding Edgar Allan Poe's death?? I had no idea. Well, now I know!

Murder in the Adirondacks: I loved it, but then I am fascinated with the Gillette murder case. This murder was the basis for Theodore Dreiser's American Tragedy (awesome book!) and the movie, A Place in the Sun with Montgomery Cliff and Elizabeth Taylor. This book is a report on the true story of what happened at Big Moose Lake in Upstate New York. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly is another look at this murder for the YA crowd.

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation is a romance novel/historical fantasy with story lines in present day and Napoleon's time. I enjoyed it and will read the rest of the books in this series. A lot like "Possession" by Byatt. Or if you liked Winter Sea or the Outlander books, you might like this one too. It concerns a girl researching the Pink Carnation (like the Scarlet Pimpernel) for her dissertation. The letters and documents she reads lead to the Napoleonic storyline about the Pink Carnation who is a spy in Napoleon's French Court and is set on bringing down Napoleon and restoring and/or avenging the monarchy.

The Borrower was WONDERFUL, I think my favorite book I read this month. I read it in less than 2 hours, just tore through it! Could not put it down. It is about a Children's Librarian who gets involved with a boy who visits her library. She thinks he is being abused by his family and she ends up kidnapping him away from them. Would make a great book club selection because there is so much to talk about. How can you step into someone else's life and help them? What if you are the one who is wrong...censorship, the role of libraries and the freedom of information. Just tons of topics. AND it is funny and interesting and you just have to love the characters.

Royal Pain and Royal Flush are the further adventures of Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie of Glen Garry and Rannoch, 34th in line to the throne of England. Great fun and I read Royal Flush on the way to Scotland and much of the action takes place in and around Balmoral, so that was fun.

Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington is about a young girl who is growing up and her father is deployed to Iraq. How it affects her and her family, especially since she has had such a close relationship with her father and misses him so much. Lots of YA type storyline, such as her first kiss etc.

Ruth Fielding at Cameron Hall is a girls series book written by Mildred Wirt, who also wrote many of the Nancy Drew series. In the Ruth Fielding series, Ruth unlike Nancy Drew, grows up and ages throughout the series. In this particular volume, she decides that she does love her childhood sweetheart and they are to be married. The action part of the book is a bank robbery and Ruth's honey has mysteriously disappeared and is one of the prime suspects, so she must clear his name.

This run of Agatha Christie novels are part of the Tommy and Tuppence series. Miss Christie's lesser known detectives after Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. They are my favorites and I love revisiting them every couple of years. I have no problem rereading mystery novels. Often I will have forgotten key details. Things will seem familiar and I will have a nagging feeling that I know whodunit, but sometimes I am way off base. And Tommy and Tuppence are such fun characters, I know them so well and I like them so much that I really enjoy reading about them again and again. It is like looking through a family scrapbook. You have seen the photos before and you probably were even there when they were taken, but you still like to look at them and be reminded of those times! Rereading favorite books is like that for me.

26 books read this month!


August is WTA Hike-a-thon month and I don't know how much time I will have for reading!! We'll see on the first of September when I post what I have read in August. Make the sacrifice worth my while by donating to the cause. Check out our WTA fundraising pages
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
and make a donation. We need your help to keep Washington's Trails open and hike-able!!

Monday's Postcard: Sydney

Here is another one from my Dad, in 1992. He had a 2 night layover in Sydney. Plenty of time to discover great Italian restaurants, and a tour of the Opera House!

It is August 1st and the
beginning of the WTA Hike-a-thon. Dig out those coins from between the sofa cushions and make a donation!! Check out our WTA fundraising pages
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
We need your help to keep Washington's Trails open and hikeable!!

Support Washington Trails or a trail in YOUR neighborhood!!

Now in 2011, I want you to support Ryan and me with our hike-a-thon for Washington Trails Association.
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
But I have a challenge to put out to all of you for next year and beyond! Seeing that list of California State Parks that are closed this summer should be a wake up call to everyone, that it could happen in your state, to the trails that you love to hike.

For all my friends in Oregon who have been lamenting that they don't have anything like the Washington Trails Association
Trail Keepers of Oregon is here!!
They don't have a Hike-a-thon YET, but you can definitely sign up and get out there and work to help maintain trails in Oregon!!

Anywhere along the Appalachian Trail you can get involved through the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
In California, Oregon and Washington, there is the Pacific Crest Trail Association.

Mount Washington in New Hampshire has a great hike-a-thon over a weekend every year called Seek the Peek . It is already over for this year, but perhaps next year some of you guys could get involved!

In Colorado, there is the Colorado Trail Foundation.

In Tennessee there is The Tennessee Trails Associaion

Ohio has the Buckeye Trail.

In Florida, there is the Florida Trail Association and goodness knows the Florida Trail could use some work!!

Texas has the Texas Trails Network.

New York has the Finger Lakes Trail Conference.

Another great way to get involved in your neck of the woods is to see if the Sierra Club has an active chapter in your state.

We like to get out and use the trails, and there are a million ways for us to support the trails with our time and money. I am sure that you have seen a bridge over a stream that was an Eagle Scout project! But we can't always rely on the Eagle Scouts to maintain our trails!!

So be sure to check out our WTA fundraising pages
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
and make a donation. We need your help to keep Washington's Trails open and hikeable!! And shoot me an email if you'd like to get together to do a hike. I will try to work you into my schedule. Ryan and I would love to see more of our friends and family out on the trails.
Checks should be made out to WTA and can be sent to PO Box 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

The best laid plans for Hike-a-thon 2011...

Every year before Hike-a-thon, I pour over my hiking guides, I make lists and check out all my maps. I print out letterboxing clues and I try to decide where I am going to hike this summer.

On my short list this year are:

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
Cougar Mountain
Tiger Mountain
Redmond Watershed Preserve
Sammamish River Trail
Squires Lake

and I am considering Mount St. Helens for a camping trip or maybe Steamboat Rock or geez, it is so hard to decide!!

We are so lucky in Washington!! In California, they are closing 70 state parks this summer!! SEVENTY, that leaves over 200 parks open, but still a huge cut and there are some parks that I was hoping to utilize during my San Francisco layovers, like Olompali SHP, China Camp SP and Henry W. Coe SP. And there are many parks on this list that Ryan and I have enjoyed in the past, like Castle Crags SP and William B. Ide Adobe SHP.

Anderson Marsh SHP
Annadel SP
Antelope Valley Indian Museum
Austin Creek SRA
Bale Grist Mill SHP
Benbow Lake SRA
Benicia Capitol SHP
Benicia SRA
Bidwell Mansion SHP
Bothe-Napa Valley SP
Brannan Island SRA
California Mining & Mineral Museum
Candlestick Point SRA
Castle Crags SP
Castle Rock SP
China Camp SP
Colusa-Sacramento River SRA
Del Norte Coast Redwoods SP
Fort Humboldt SHP
Fort Tejon SHP
Garrapata SP
George J. Hatfield SRA
Governor's Mansion SHP
Gray Whale Cove SB
Greenwood SB
Grizzly Creek Redwoods SP
Hendy Woods SP
Henry W. Coe SP
Jack London SHP
Jug Handle SNR
Leland Stanford Mansion SHP
Limekiln SP
Los Encinos SHP
Malakoff Diggins SHP
Manchester SP
McConnell SRA
McGrath SB
Mono Lake Tufa SNR
Morro Strand SB
Moss Landing SB
Olompali SHP
Palomar Mountain SP
Petaluma Adobe SHP
Picacho SRA
Pio Pico SHP
Plumas-Eureka SP
Point Cabrillo Light Station
Portola Redwoods SP
Providence Mountains SRA
Railtown 1897 SHP
Russian Gulch SP
Saddleback Butte SP
Salton Sea SRA
Samuel P. Taylor SP
San Pasqual Battlefield SHP
Santa Cruz Mission SHP
Santa Susana Pass SHP
Shasta SHP
South Yuba River SP
Standish-Hickey SRA
Sugarloaf Ridge SP
Tomales Bay SP
Tule Elk SNR
Turlock Lake SRA
Twin Lakes SB
Weaverville Joss House SHP
Westport-Union Landing SB
William B. Ide Adobe SHP
Woodson Bridge SRA
Zmudowski SB

Sobering, isn't it?

So be sure to check out our WTA fundraising pages, so far we have raised over $600 for Washington State Trails!!
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
and make a donation. We need your help to keep Washington's Trails open and hikeable!! And shoot me an email if you'd like to get together to do a hike. I will try to work you into my schedule. Ryan and I would love to see more of our friends and family out on the trails.
Checks should be made out to WTA and can be sent to PO Box 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

Monday's Postcard: Carmel Mission

I've said before, I love these Now and Then postcards. This is the Carmel Mission and I visited here during a Nancy Drew convention in Monterey, CA.


August is just around the corner and that is WTA Hike-a-thon month. I will have some layovers in the SFO area and plan to do some hiking there, let me know if you are interested in meeting me on the trail for a letterboxing exchange!! Also be sure to check out our WTA fundraising pages
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
and make a donation. We need your help to keep Washington's Trails open and hikeable!!

Hike-a-thon 2011: Every Little Bit Helps

Wow, the fundraising for WTA Hike-a-thon 2011 is going great guns! We have already raised over 300 dollars, but I don't want you guys to be intimidated by big numbers. If everyone who reads this gives just one dollar, I'd have over $2,000 dollars raised for Washington Trails!! So fold up a George Washington and slap a stamp on the envelope for me. Ryan and I will make sure the WTA gets it and once those dollars add up, all sorts of great things can happen.

$250-749 Is enough for the WTA to purchase three crosscut saws to help keep wilderness trails open.
$750-1499 The WTA crew leaders need wilderness first aid training to help ensure the safety of volunteers, this is enough to train two crew leaders!
$1500-2249 This much helps complete the annual maintenance on a popular trail.
$2250-2999 Enough to send two back country response teams to improve wilderness trails
$3000+ Helps to create the next generation of trail stewards by providing for 6 or more high school volunteers with an unforgettable week maintaining trails.

So be sure to check out our WTA fundraising pages
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
and make a donation. We need your help to keep Washington's Trails open and hikeable!! And shoot me an email if you'd like to get together to do a hike. I will try to work you into my schedule. Ryan and I would love to see more of our friends and family out on the trails.
Checks should be made out to WTA and can be sent to PO Box 16131, Seattle, WA 98116

Monday's Postcard: Budapest

Thanks again to friends traveling the world, I get postcards from places that I haven't been yet that I would like to visit! This is the Parliament Building in Budapest. Definitely on my bucket list.


Don't forget August is coming up and that is WTA Hike-a-thon month. If you would like to schedule a hike with me, be sure to shoot me an email. Also be sure to check out our WTA fundraising pages
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
and make a donation. We need your help to keep Washington's Trails open and hikeable!!

Wild Card: Sequoia National Park

Today is Bastille Day, so you might expect a postcard from France, but it is also the birthday of someone special in my life!! And he helped to rebuild the fence around the General Sherman tree in the early 90's during a volunteer vacation. We visited Sequoia so he could show me his handy work :-) and you can also see it on this "wild card"

Don't forget August is coming up and that is WTA Hike-a-thon month. Ryan will be doing more trail work here in Washington State. We might not have a General Sherman, but we've got some awesome trails!! Be sure to check out our WTA fundraising pages
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
and make a donation. We need your help to keep Washington's Trails open and hikeable!!

Hike-a-thon 2011 is just around the corner!

Wow! Time flies, it seems like just the other day I was meeting Ryan on the PCT and getting in a couple of miles for the hike-a-thon. We always have a great time hiking for Washington Trails and this year looks like it won't be an exception! Ryan has already signed up for a Backcountry Response Team trip. This is basically a backpacking trip with trail work. And my schedule has me keeping close to home with a bunch of trips to San Francisco to make things interesting. So be sure to check out our WTA fundraising pages
Our Team Page
Amanda's Page
Ryan's Page
and make a donation. We need your help to keep Washington's Trails open and hikeable!! And shoot me an email if you'd like to get together to do a hike. I will try to work you into my schedule. Ryan and I would love to see more of our friends and family out on the trails.

Monday's Postcard: Belden Town, CA

This is from Ryan's PCT hike last year. I actually bought this postcard and then he sent it to me later. The PCT travels right through the rest area where this old Mill is located. This photo was taken from on the Pacific Crest Trail! :-)

Monday's Postcard: NYC

For the 4th of July, I thought this image of the twin towers in New York City was pretty poignant. This postcard is from 1987 when my Granny visited the city with her church group.

New Years Resolution 2011: June Update

This photo is from the 1980's, reading and breakfast aboard my Dad's boat...

Reading is a great way to improve your vocabulary, here are some words that I found in books this past month that I did not recognize, or that I want to add to my daily lexicon:

raillery - Good-humored teasing
tulgey - Thick, dense, dark (originally in reference to a wood) credited to Lewis Carroll
inimical- Tending to obstruct or harm, unfriendly or hostile
tumbril - A two-wheeled cart, especially a farmer's cart
oligarchy - a small group of people having control of a country, organization or institution
hegemonic- ruling or dominant in a political or social context
comity -Courtesy and considerate behavior toward others, mutual courtesy; civility.
codified - Arrange according to a plan or system, To reduce to a code
lapidary - One who cuts, polishes, or engraves gems
aspidistra - A bulbous plant of the lily family, with broad tapering leaves, native to Asia and often grown as a houseplant
meretricious - Attractive but having in reality no value or integrity, attracting attention in a vulgar manner
koan- A paradoxical anecdote or riddle, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning
micturition- urination


And here are the books I read in June:

Serenity Found: More unauthorized essays on Joss Whedon's Firefly Universe ed. Jane Espenson
Emily Alone by Stewart O'Nan (library)
One Day by David Nicholls (library)
All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris (library)
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley (library)
Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff (library)
In Dublin's Fair City by Rhys Bowen (library)
Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult (library)
The Terror of Living by Urban Waite (library)
Tell Me Pretty Maiden by Rhys Bowen (library)
The Early Work of Philip K. Dick Volume II (library)
Dirty Secret: A daughter comes clean about her mother's compulsive hoarding by Jessie Sholl (library)
The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew (library)
From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris (library)
In a Gilded Cage by Rhys Bowen (library)
So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman (library)
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
Miss Zukas Shelves the Evidence by Jo Dereske
Ups and Downs: The misadventures of a crusty old fart and his bouncing son as they trek through the Alps by Don and David Kassin Fried
The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
Hell at the Breech by Tom Franklin (library)


Stewart O'Nan, I'm a big fan and I tend to read everything he writes, so this one is his latest. Basically the story of a woman whose husband has died and most of her friends are dying and she is being left alone and how she deals with growing older and alone.

One Day by David Nicholls is a "When Harry Met Sally" type of story. We follow a couple from the day they meet and then revisit that one day in their lives every year for 20 years or so. They are together, they are apart, you get that little snippet of one day of the year to figure out their lives. Very gimmicky, but very enjoyable!

The Winter Sea is pretty much a historical/time travel/romance, but very well done. Scotland setting and Jacobite history.

Cleopatra, I was not familiar with her history...I had never studied it in school and reading this book felt a bit like being back in school. I found it a little dry at times, but Ms. Schiff takes the stereotypes and things you have heard about Cleopatra and looks at the historical record of what really could have happened. So I feel like I learned something.

Jodi Picoult, Sing You Home, again, I am a big fan and read everything that she writes. I have been on the waiting list at the library for this one for a while, but it was worth the wait. Gay Rights and Frozen Eggs/Embryos

The Terror of Living is a great thriller about drug runners along the PNW border with Canada. I read it in a mere four hours!!

Dirty Secret, I read a book about hoarders and hoarding in January, " Stuff: Compulsive hoarding and the meaning of things" by Randy O Frost and Gail Steketee and this book was also mentioned, there are more books in the bibliography of this book that have me fascinated about hoarding also, so I will be reading more of this type of stuff this summer.

The Dry Grass of August, If you liked "The Help", you need to try this book as well. A wonderful story of a family taking a vacation with their maid in the 1950's while Brown vs. Board of Education was being enforced in the South. Also reminded me a bit of "Summer of My German Soldier"...because the young female protagonist has more in common with her Black Nanny than her own family.

Philip Dick, I am continuing to read his short stories in this collection

More Harris and Bowen again this month, almost finished with these series! Also Serenity, another collection of essays about the Firefly TV series.

So Much Pretty got great reviews as a look at a murder in a small town. I found it hard to read. Each chapter is from a different character's point of view or a different piece of evidence. I had trouble figuring out the different voices and I would have to look again at the title of the chapter to see who was supposed to be speaking. Also there is much flashback information from the past and again, I would have to refer to the titles of the different chapters to make sure I could figure out what the heck was going on, is this the past, the near past, the current day? It was confusing. All in all, it was hard to enjoy the book because it was such a difficult read. I read about 2/3 of it before I could enjoy it. Loved the ending. But it was a lot of work for just a thriller type book.

Something Borrowed is Chick Lit and was made into a movie, haven't seen the movie yet and I will be interested to see what parts of the book made it onto film.


Miss Zukas is written by a local PNW author and one of my favorite "cozy" mystery series. She's a librarian in a small Washington town that seems to resemble Bellingham, WA. She is very stoic and terse, but through the course of the series, she has been opening up and it is hard not to like her.

The Body Finder is a YA book. The plot (sub-plot?) of the boy who was my best friend, but now I want him to kiss me...and will he ask me to the prom? (or homecoming dance in this case) is very familiar to this genre. But the twist here is the heroine of our story has a sixth sense where she can find dead things. Animals and People. A serial killer is abducting young girls in her neighborhood and she is key to finding the bodies and eventually the killer.

Ups and Downs is a fun travel memoir of a father and son who trek through the Alps. If you like Bryson's A Walk in the Woods or if you like reading Ryan's accounts of his AT and PCT treks, this would be a book that you would enjoy! I found it at a used bookstore on my Denver layover this month and read it in mere hours on the way home.

Hell at the Breech is based on a true story from 1890's Alabama. Mr. Franklin writes very descriptively, not beautiful, but gritty and violent. An accidental shooting sets off a feud between the poor white share-croppers and the rich landowners, with the sheriff stuck in the middle, trying to keep the peace. It sucked me in and I couldn't look away, like a car wreck!

Another plus for reading so much! My local library is having a summer reading event and for every 3 books you read, you can enter to win a Nook! How cool is that?

21 books in June

West Seattle Murals

West Seattle has a bunch of great murals and they have been featured in the book West Seattle 101 and on the West Seattle Blog .

(The Barnecut's Mural isn't included in the original 11 West Seattle historical murals.)

The Murals of West Seattle were created to represent images of West Seattle’s past. Spearheaded by Earl Cruzen and funded by a partnership between the West Seattle Junction Association, the City of Seattle’s Neighborhood Grants Program, and many local businesses, The 11 Murals employed gifted artists from all over the United States and the project won a national Neighborhood of the Year Award from Neighborhoods, USA in 1992.

1. West Seattle Ferries

2. The Junction

3. Midnight call

4. Mosquito Boat Land

5. The First Duwamish Bridge

6. Morgan Street Market

7. Alki in the Twenties

8. Tuesday’s Bank Day

9. The Hi-Yu Parade

10. The Old Mud Hole

11. Press Day

I was out and about today and got some photos of some of the murals that were not pictured on West Seattle Blog.


MOSQUITO BOAT LANDING

Located at California and Alaska, this mural depicts a 1910 Sunday landing of the S.S. Clan McDonald at Alki. The paddle-wheeled vessel provided the major form of turn-of-the-century transportation around Puget Sound.

MIDNIGHT CALL

Painted by local artist Don Barrie, this mural was created from an old photograph of a horse-drawn rig leaving the Junction Station from its mural location at 44th and Alaska. It has a 3-D element which is really cool, but it needs refurbishing, it is quite faded.

TUESDAY’S BANK DAY

Anyone who can recollect school days of the ’20s knows all about “bank day.” This mural is located at California and Oregon (on the north side of the Chase bank building) and depicts a 1923 classroom as students line up to make “deposits.”

PRESS DAY

This mural depicts the West Seattle Herald pre-WWII. It is located on 44th between Alaska and Edmunds.

The Old Mud Hole

Located at 44th and Alaska, this mural depicts the swimming pool in Lincoln Park installed by local philanthropist Laurence Colman. A tide gate filled the pool with saltwater from Puget Sound.

The heated, saltwater Colman Pool began as a tide-fed swimming hole in 1929, and was periodically hosed out by the fire department to rid it of accumulating mud and debris. It became so popular that residents began asking for a concrete bottom and sides - much to the chagrin of the city, which wanted to abandon it entirely. The pool took final concrete form in 1941, when Kenneth Colman, son of Laurence, donated $150,000 to have it built in honor of his father.

Monday's Postcard: Catalina Island

I have fond memories of traveling over to Catalina Island on the ferry from Newport Beach with my niece and my Dad. We met with my Stepmom from her cruise ship and we took a golf cart around the island. It was great fun.

Monday's Postcard: Denver

Another favorite layover. This card is from 1994 and we still flew into Stapleton International Airport. The new Denver International Airport opened in 1995. There was a kiosk at Stapleton where you could get caramel corn and regular popcorn mixed together. Not at the new airport. I loved that stuff, now I have to create it myself by buying both caramel and regular. I have been enjoying Denver layovers again this summer!!