Tacoma

Our annual visit to the PNW reconnected us with dear friends, including some pleasant surprises, too, such as the Zodrow clan (minus sick Chris), who had moved to crunchy Olympia with news that they are now moving to Oz. Sonja has family there, so it makes certain sense, but these guys get the prize for the "just do it" award. Being 50 and coming up for tenure this fall, thoughts of "what's next do something different it's now or never" are on my mind, as well.

For now, I blog.

It was hot while there, so we got a sprinkler hop scotch to entertain the kids for our July 4th bbq.
Stayed with Aunt Suzanne, again. The kids were scouting for the racoon family to scale and harvest the front yard cherry tree. A man came by recently, telling Suzanne that 50 years ago his son planted a cherry pit hoping for a tree, when the father replied, "Nothing's gonna grow from THAT."
Tell that to the racoons. Anyway, we fizzled out on the normal plans to go down to the festivities on the water, and hung out at the Proctor farmer's market.

Local delicacies, like raspberries, blackberries, loganberries, clams and oysters.

Perfect weather for casual picnics outback, even in the evening, when you normally feel a bit chilly during Northwest summers.

Suzanne's new project - raising honey bees - was the week's entertainment.

as was picking her raspberries and blueberries.

Another change this year was making it to Michelle's home on Vashon, where we shared a lovely lunch on her organic farm, where Elle worked last summer. Jack here reaching for one of daughter Annie's cookies, next to Cianna (?). Michelle's adopting two daughters from China was our inspiration several years ago.

A tire swing!

Coming home, we stopped at the old Ruston soda fountain, playing checkers and downing blackberry and espresso shakes.
Another morning we visited Jim, the "bee man," tasting honey from the comb, after picking blackberries and cherries.

Honey bees don't sting, unless provoked, so it was wild to see Michael and Jack walk nonchalantly with bees swarming overhead.


The tiny black one is a wild blackberry, whose painstaking picking yields a vastly superior pie.

We were graciously hosted for several meals by Patrick & Jayne - tried recreating cheese bread the other day - the Pribyls, Margie S, while Suzanne organized a big after church picnic for us. I'm always appreciative of the priority on people and families that shines through the Tacoma community every time we visit. The houses are older, maybe less tidy, neighborhood gardening is big, less concern for surface looks, the latest local restaurant venture, etc. You just ease back into it.