What In The Devil...

is going on here? I won't even pretend I can explain this to you. Last night I followed this Afro-Peruvian Dance of the Devils Parade in White Center. No, it did not draw huge crowds; I doubt that there were more than 25 people who followed the parade (and most of us with cameras) and 50 or less at the Cafe afterwards to enjoy this wonderful international music. Some of the performers had just arrived from Lima, Peru. It began and ended at Cafe Rozellas and there the musicians and dancers performed more music, singing and extraordinary dance for us. The music was very lively with lots of percussion; jawbones and little wooden boxes on straps worn around the musician's neck. The boxes had lids they opened and closed as they struck the sides with a wooden stick. My favorite dancing was the street dancing from the coast of Peru which is a little like impromptu soft shoe tap dancing (although I have no photos of this because my memory card was full). Each dancer tried to 'out step' the previous dancer. They were very energetic and their facial expressions added humor to the competitive nature of the dancing. They were clearly enjoying themselves and so did the audience.

Low Tide at Lincoln Park

This is my favorite photo from my low tide walk in Lincoln Park today. These are Sculpin eggs. I didn't see a Sculpin, just lots and lots of tiny eggs on seaweed.

One of many SeaStars, looking very vulnerable in the low tide.

Today's mystery: a molt from a crayfish or what?

Here you get the 'big picture' of the low tide.

A Dog Whelk

A Kelp Crab with missing pincers

The sea lettuce in this picture was flecked with a dusting of shiny purple specks; my photo does not do it justice.

An anemone closed up tight waiting for the tide to come back and cover him.

Duly Appreciated

Look at all those flowers! It looked and smelled like a floral shop around our desks this week. We also had breakfast treats on Monday, a car wash on Wednesday, a Barbecue from the principal on Wednesday, soup and salad lunch from the PTA on Thursday and a 'goodie bag' of wine, bread and sweet treats from assorted Sanislo families on Friday. Sanislo teachers are certainly a pampered bunch. Better than all of the 'goodies' was the turn out of 19 parents/grandparents for our Friday field trip to the Center for Wooden Boats on Lake Union on Friday. Go here to see a few photos.

We are having OUTSTANDING weather for this Memorial Day Weekend; blue skies sunrise to sunset. I awoke at 6:00, made coffee, picked rhubarb and made a pie, at 9:00 I ran about 13.5 miles to Alki and back (The first ten minutes I groan and after that there is this grin splashed across my face that just can't be erased; I love to run!). There was this incredible low tide and savvy beach combers were out at Lincoln Park, Lowman Beach, MeeKwa Mooks and Alki. Once at home I fixed these wonderful omelets filled with asparagus and Spam (yes, Spam) and cheddar cheese. Then I went into the gardens and deadheaded tulips, weeded, and planted Impatiens. After that I got online and read a little of this and that (Today's recommendation is Big Happy Funhouse Read the comments.) The most memorial thing I have done this weekend is to listen to audio clips of a marine in Vietnam from the late 1960's on NPR. I hunted high and low for a link of this audio but since I could not remember the title, I was lost.

Now both of my blogs are updated and it is time to fix dinner. Enjoy your long weekend!

U District Street Fair

The above is a "Hockneyized" version of one photo I took at the University District Street Fair yesterday. If you want to see the original photos click on the title of this post and it will take you to my Flickr account. It was perfect street fair weather at about 75F. The U District Street Fair is the unofficial 'kick off to summer'. The DH and I enjoyed browsing our separate ways and then we met up to share a margarita at the Ness Floral Shop that is now a tavern, return to the car and compare notes. We both got a bit nostalgic about our young years when we lived on 52nd NE and we just rolled down the hill to enjoy the music, street fair food and of course the 'skin' that was on display if the weather was anywhere above 65F.

Other than that, I ran, and ran for a good solid 2 hours yesterday BEFORE walking uppety ump miles at the street fair. We had Greek style pizza at White Center Spaghetti House last night and I tried to watch a DVD with the DH last night but my eyes would NOT stay open. I slept for TEN hours last night; I needed that!

Today I have worked for about 5 hours weeding and planting beans and a couple of sugar pumpkins. Now I am frittering away time on the computer and at some point I need to get upstairs and fix dinner (bok choy, peas pods and chicken stir fry with cashews). There is a wee bit of school work to attend to as well.

Kubota Gardens

It's grand to know people who live adjacent to places like this. It was a beautiful day in Seattle today and what better way to end it than walking in Kubota Gardens with friends. It was a great way to unwind and better yet, the entire weekend promises to be full of sunshine!

Suzy The Duck Visits Seattle

Suzy The Duck Visits Seattle
Originally uploaded by mtnester

Suzy the Duck came all the way from Lodi, Wisconsin to visit me herein Seattle! I wish I could have shown off our city in sunnier weather but then again, she IS a duck!

Delicate

It is pouring rain right now and there is supposed to be more rain along with wind into tomorrow. But I just looked at these photos from yesterday and couldn't help but share them with you. The fading tulip and the cluster of cherry blossoms against the blue sky are the definition of 'delicate pink'. Once the winds blow through the petals will be scattered. I had 'teacher friends' over on Friday after work and we lounged on the grass, gabbed, snacked, and added a few bottles to our recycling bin. I'm happy that I was able to share our yard at it's Spring finest.

Onwards

Yesterday ended with a half inch of rain and lots of pine cones and tree crap falling from the enormous cedrus deodor into the street. The wind really blew; it seemed more like a fall storm than a spring one. We even made a fire in the fireplace and watched the TV show Southland which is a new police detective series set in L.A. Then I stayed up way too late just reading blogs on the computer and as you can see, changing the colors of my own. When we woke up to sun and clear skies this morning I was torn; garden/run or run/garden? I chose to run and I really pushed myself. I ran for two hours and fifteen minutes which is what it took to get from my porch to the Cactus restaurant on Alki and back. I did stop to tell call the DH at my half way point just to let him know I was still on my feet and loping along. So how far is this run? Hard to say since I meandered a bit on the return route and in some instances I took pedestrian stairs instead of streets (lots of steep hills) but I think it was 14 miles or close to that. If you run, you may enjoy this video. It's pretty cute. I related to most of it; even the dive bombing crows. However I do NOT blow my nose on the sidewalk, that's what sleeves are for (but NOT in the kindergarten)!

Onwards from AKQA on Vimeo.

I sure hope this beautiful weather holds out through the week, especially since my kindergarten class has a field trip to Seward Park on Friday which includes a short hike on a nature trail. Now I am going to hobble outside on my wobbly legs and try to get a little gardening done.

A Blue Beauty

Look what burst open on this rainy morn! It is my Himalayan Blue Poppy. Isn't it a beauty? It is a shame that she turns her shy head away from the garden path. I really had to work to get a front view picture. It was drizzly and warm today and working in the garden was actually comfortable. However, that has all changed and right now a big black cloud crossed over our house and it is absolutely POURING outside. I am glad I got in my 4 hours of yard work. I put tomatoes and pepper plants into my straw bale gardening experiment in the front near the driveway. The lettuce, beets and mesclun are all looking healthy in their little 'patch' in back.