the trail

Here's a look at some of the sights in Myrtle Edwards Park and on the Elliott Bay bike trail between Magnolia, where we live and get on the trail, and the Sculpture Park, pictured in yesterday's post. The trail is heavily used by those walking, running and biking. The winding bike and pedestrian paths parallel Elliott Bay, and offer fantastic views of the Olympic Mountains, Mount Rainier, and Puget Sound.

Grain Terminal and ship in the background

Rose Garden

Picnic at the Olympic Sculpture Park

After the fishing detour mentioned in yesterday's post, we continued down the bike path to the Olympic Sculpture Park for a picnic lunch.

Here we are resting at the halfway point of our ride on one of Louise Borgeois' Eye Benches.

Father and Son, Louise Borgeois

the trail, with Puget Sound in the background

Schubert Sonata, Mark di Suvero

Happily, this table was open for our picnic. Look carefully at this photo and the next to see how Love & Loss is spelled out.

Gone fishing part II

On a bike ride yesterday we rode past the Elliott Bay Fishing Pier. Alexi and Abbott were ahead of Cal and me, so they pulled over to check out the fishing action. Here's an excerpt from Alexi's email to his father describing the experience:

"...This afternoon we went on a bike ride and had a picnic at the sculpture park, where the trail ends. Along the way, Abbott and I detoured out to the fishing pier - see attached pics. 'Terrance' (I think that was his name) was very enthusiastic about sharing his expertise and equipment with us. He caught the big perch with a baby crab. He used raw shrimp from the store to help Abbott catch several little perch. I told him I thought perch were fresh water, and he said they were a kind of 'surf perch'. Terrence said he'd caught the ling cod 5 times this summer, until one day he saw a diver spear-fishing. No more ling cod since then. Apparently it's a $1500 fine if caught with a fish like that out of season. He whipped the picture out of his wallet. There was a similar, undated picture on the shelter bulletin board; he said the game warden had told him to take down the one with the date because the date was out of season. Anyway, I can't wait to have you and Abbott give it a whirl."

birthday questions

Cal blowing out the candle in his birthday dessert at Etta's

The past couple of years we've asked Abbott and Cal this set of questions on their birthday, and videotaped their responses. We got these questions from our friend Kathleen.

1. What is your name?
2. How old are you?
3. What is your favorite color?
4. What is your favorite food/thing to eat?
5. What is your favorite song?
6. What is your favorite book?
7. What is your favorite movie?
8. What is your favorite thing/possession?
9. What is your favorite thing to do/activity?
10. Who is your best friend?
11. What do you want to be when you grow up?
12. Where would you like to travel to?
13. What is the thing you are most proud of in the last year?
14. What is the thing that you’d most like to accomplish (learn to do) in the next year?
15. If you could invite any 5 people to a party, who would they be?
16. If you could have anything you could wish for, what would it be?
17. What was one of the best things about being X years old? (this last year)
18. What are you looking forward to being Y years old? (this year)

Many of the answers have remained consistent from last year to this, such as favorite color (pink for Cal, red and blue for Abbott) and favorite food (shrimp and corn for Cal, spaghetti and meatballs for Abbott).

What's outside my window?

We had a surprise show out our window this evening....



a fireboat, testing equipment...and quite an audience!

Gone fishing

I did a fair amount of salmon fishing while growing up in Alaska. I remember standing in rivers in hip waders and learning the legal ways to catch the fish: you can't pick them up with your hands, you can't snag the fish. The hook must go in the mouth. This summer Abbott has become interested in fishing. His Grampy Robert, a great lover of fishing, bought both the boys fishing poles and tackle boxes for their birthdays. We didn't have time to leave Seattle to try them out during his visit, but got a tip about fishing relatively close to home so we could give the poles their inaugural run with him.

Here are Cal and Alexi, baiting a hook with a night crawler.

three generations of fishermen

Abbott's first fish - a cute little perch!

The perch was surprisingly tasty when expertly cooked by Robert. The secret was dipping it in pancake batter. Abbott read about doing this in his book Fishing In A Brook.

blackberries

The blackberries around here are outrageously bountiful. Here are some shots of the boys and Grampy Robert getting serious about picking (using a ladder). We've been enjoying them in pancakes, in cereal, with ice cream...however, whenever.

Let's Go Fly A Kite

"I don't care about anything else - I just care about flying my kite and it soaring high!" - Abbott

blackberries for cal

Today we decided to do some blackberry picking on the trail to the beach.

Abbott, hard at work

Cal, feasting