Back from the coast

We had a great weekend out on the WA Coast, stayed in La Push and were delighted to encounter several days of brilliant (if frigid) sunshine...I've posted some photos from the weekend, we hiked the beaches (1st, 2nd, and Rialto) as well as the Hoh River (upper and lower) during the days, lounged about our swanky beachview cabin in the evenings and played cribbage, drank margaritas and regaled each other with our disparate memories of the past 20 years together.

We sent feathers and ashes out to sea one cold, brittle night under the full moon and the milky way, saying our farewells to Leota and Eleanor - and on our way back to the cabin stopped by a recently banked beach fire that we revived for an hour or so while we drank to the ladies and our good fortune.

To the coast

We're off this morning for a long weekend at the WA Coast, staying at a favorite spot on First Beach. It's one of the very first places we visited together - so we decided it would be the perfect place to celebrate our 20th anniversary. We've gone many times over the years, bringing our joys and our sorrows to the ocean at the farthest western edge of this continent.

We'll bring a few feathers from Leota, and Eleanor's remaining ashes, and our enduring love for each other, and stand once again on the edge with the tide at our feet.

And then there was one

A rough day today...A raccoon killed Leota this morning, right in the spot where she lost a fistful of tail feathers to a another one (or perhaps the same one) last spring. We let them out most mornings before we leave for work, while we have coffee and breakfast. They always alert us to trouble if there's any lurking, but today we heard not a peep until it was too late.

Leota was the bravest and most affable of our flock, with a raccoon-be-damned attitude that served her well the last eight years - she'd always come running out at bedtime for just one more worm or bite of green grass, with Amelia scolding away from the roost.

We are heartbroken, but think she'd have preferred this ending to a slow decline like that of her sister Mabel... So here's to one last worm, and our dear Leota.

c&b

Urban Hiking

We decided to be tourists in our own town, and hiked the Cheshiahud Loop around Lake Union in North Seattle today... It's a 6.2 mile trail around the lake, and offers glimpses into the working side of this urban amenity that we usually only see from our cars as we skirt it on our way to somewhere else.

The Seattle Times ran an article about a public art project that's been installed around the trail - which prompted us to check it out today. Alas, we never found any of the sites - but it was a great day revisiting parts of town that we haven't been to in years, and we were comforted to see that there are still large swaths of Seattle that haven't been utterly gentrified and overdeveloped...Just have to get out of the car and bus and go off the beaten trail a bit.

I shot photos as we looped around, and have to say the revelation of this set is how colorful a city it is, even on such a completely dreary day (compare sky and water to boats and buildings)...So lovely, we're very fortunate to have this at our doorstep!