SEATTLE AT SEVENTY

 

Yup! I've entered another decade. This time, instead of ice cream and cake, to celebrate the milestone, my amazing children and their families planned a super-weekend in Seattle as a shared vacation/holiday --- Their Treat!!
We did all the major tourist events and more. Pioneer Square shopping, the Seattle Waterfront, the Harbor Cruise, Pike Market, Ivar's Chowder House and the Rainforest Restaurant, Seattle's architectural wonder the Central Library, the Center for Wooden Boats, the R.E.I. Flagship Store, Pacific Science Center and the IMAX Theater, the Boeing Museum of Flight, and to top it all, the Space Needle. There was abundant activity in each venue as we took in the amusements and features around us wherever we were.
It was an overwhelming experience and an incredible emotional high. Best of all was having my bride, and kids, and their spouses, and their kids - a tribe of fourteen - all together for four wonderful, happy days. THANKS, FAMILY! My cup generously overflows.

SUNSET BETWEEN THE STORMS

After a night of howling 50 to 60 mph winds, the following day turned out to be pretty nice. It never completely cleared up, but there was this brief window of brilliant display just before sunset.
It is in the brief two or three minutes one takes to watch such a wonder that the speed of the change of light can be most easily noticed. It is quite astounding how quickly the earth is rotating as evidenced by the moment to moment passing of the light.

No matter what each of us were doing all our activity was halted as the sunset light captured our attention. The apparent fog bank was actually the next wall of rain and occasional hail which later rattled against the windows during dinner and evening games. Thank you, Lord, for your palette of many colors.

BEACH RETREAT MARCH 2010

This past weekend was the annual Beach Retreat for our home Bible study Group. Nine of us were able to get away Thursday through Sunday this year to enjoy a few days of relaxing, playing games, chowing down on gourmet meals, and considering a portion of God's beautiful seashore on the Oregon Coastline.
The two story house on the left is the rental we chose for 2010. It had several bedrooms, an office/loft room with day beds, and a pullout in the living room. Everyone had a place to snooze and the front room offered a wonderful view across empty lots to see the oncoming surf. Since the first days were rather stormy, we got in some interesting stormwatching too.

Our hideout was located in the quiet, non-commercial community of Oceanside, just north of Netarts and about ten miles west of Tillamook, Oregon. The major feature just off shore were the massive seamounts jutting out of the ocean and anchoring a fine display of wave and spray as the oncoming billows hurled themselves against the rocks.

One of the blessings (drawbacks?) of this group is the high percentage of excellent cooks and the output of fantastic meals one after another. We took enough foodstuffs for a two week stay and it seemed that as many boxes of leftovers were packed for the trip home as came on the first day. We ate and snacked ourselves into mild but europhic stupors, but that did not slow down the card games, Mexican Train, or the traditional evening of "Balderdash"!!

The only way the weekend could have been better is if the rest of the group could have come too.