July 25, 2009
Just finished harvesting strawberries from Mary’s garden! Those were direct orders from her to harvest and eat them while she is at work at KPLU playing jazz music all day. Found about 20 really red ones that are incredibly sweet.
I have officially been in Washington for a week now. Spent Friday job searching online, I first checked University of Washington (UW) and found two more to apply for. That brings my total at UW to 13 jobs I have applied for. Most have an end date next week so perhaps some interviews will come early August? I spent most of the day on craigslist. That yielded some amusing considerations. I wrote a new cover letter insisting that both advising and radio was the ultimate in customer service. (With my editor’s help – wink) I then applied for front desk clerk at a boutique hotel downtown Seattle. I am a big fan of those hotels that have special flare in each room! I then applied for an attendant on the Victoria Clipper. This is the famed (in my head) boat that goes from Seattle to Victoria, BC. Monday I will return to scouring Universities and Community Colleges in Western Washington.
I had a fantastic last two days! Thursday I met John at Pike Place Market. At first I couldn’t find him..I told him I was the girl in the Sloan shirt-LOL! Then I saw some young dude that vaguely looked like the guy I spent 5 weeks with in a truck with. Hee! The Grizzly Adams beard for Alaska is gone. I guess that means he may finally be getting ready to return to Phoenix. We watched the fish throwers pull out a huge octopus out of a box. Yikes! We ate at my old favorite Athenian where Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner sat in “Sleepless in Seattle”. My mom and I loved that movie so much! John sat in Tom Hanks’ spot. When I was trying to find John, I spotted really cute purse at one of the booths. I am not like most women, I am pretty fussy about purses and don’t have a bazillion of them. While walking by it, I showed it to John. He walked up, looked at that label and said they were his Aunt’s creation! He had told me before his Aunt had a booth there but never even told me what she made. Bizarre coincidence! After a day of tooling around, John had to get back to Port Angeles for dinner his step-mom was making for him. Knowing I am a ferry-loving fool, he suggested I ride the ferry to Bainbridge Island with him and back. It was super crowded as it was rush hour on the boat. It raised my imagination for what it would be like to commute on a boat daily. While I was pleased as punch to be ferry riding, I was pretty sad returning to Seattle knowing it was the last time I would see John for a few months at least.
By missing the rush hour, I made it back to Mary’s in only an hour and ten minutes as opposed to 2 hours the day prior. I-5 is a nightmare when it wants to be. Seattle lesson number 23!
Friday evening, Mary and I set out for Mt. Rainier. She spotted a program in the paper that they were holding called “The Heavens of Paradise.” Paradise is the visitor center area at about 5000ft. They have a gorgeous brand new visitor center and Paradise Inn. Leah’s love of mountains- check, Leah’s love of road trips –check, Leah’s love of lodges –double check and Leah’s love of stargazing- triple check! The road was crazy switchbacks to get there. Narada Falls was a quick stop then we reached the center. Mary and I took a little hike along a path to get a better view of my new favorite volcano, Rainier. Not 50 ft away, a lovely deer having her dinner. We took some pix and relaxed. I stared at the mountain and did some serious praying again that I could find a way to stay in Washington. I would have picked Seattle area had I started out just saying, ok where do I want to move in the United States. I have had a picture of downtown Seattle in my bedroom since the early 90’s. The theme of the talk was wilderness does not just end at the horizon. The talk was inside the lodge. Oh my, I was in awe of the lodge décor. I am a fan of that look. It rivaled Jasper Park Lodge for design and décor! After the talk, we were invited to a “Star Party.” The Tacoma Astronomy club had various sized telescopes set up in the parking lot to allow all of us to gaze into that celestial wilderness. Local Girl Scouts were set up to help celebrate 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy. They helped us built constellation maps. The magnitude of the universe is beyond my comprehension. Looking at millions of other galaxies was mind blowing. I honestly had never looked into a telescope before last night! Mary had a night of shooting stars; she even saw one in a telescope that was not visible to us! I learned so much about Nebula, the Milky Way, Jupiter that was visible and the zillions of stars we can not see with the naked eye. It was fantastic. And more of the peace my body needs right now…
Random music notes:
On the drive Thursday, I heard Superfriendz, Dog Day and Two Hours Traffic on CBC3. THT song “Stuck for the Summer” is apparently the theme song for an MTV show about “band camp.” Yes for one of my bands getting some US airplay!
On Iceberg I heard a double shot of Gowan (random!!) and “It doesn’t really matter” – Platinum Blonde. Of course my distain for DJ Kella on Iceberg increased when she once again talked over the ending of Platinum Blonde. Did they not teach her at her radio school that you don’t talk over COLD endings? URGH!
CBC3 played a band called The Lodge from Halifax. It was killer but it took me a few google searches to find said band because of the generic name. My dear friend Mike has a radio station by the same name! Turns out The Lodge are former members of The Inbred and friends…of course, Mike O’Neill is involved. Andi, this is info for you dear! ;)
For Andrew: Ten Second Epic has a new single featuring Lights called “Everyday” and I am digging on a band called Contrived.
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