Mukilteo Musings

And This Place I Live Just Keeps On Giving!

1. One of my favorite magazines is "Coastal Living". It is a national publication but when I look at it and read the articles, it makes me feel like I am living in a paradise where people only dream about visiting some day. And I get to live here in a place right out of a magazine.

http://www.coastalliving.com/coastal/
http://www.coastalliving.com/coastal/web/extras/contents.html

In the October issue is an article entitled "Water World" by Susan C. Kim about Seattle. I laughed at the first paragraph:

On the Sound or in the canals, life in Seattle revolves around H2O....
A curious civilization thrives in one corner of the universe. Here, intelligent beings inhabit green islands rising from the water, as well as dwellings moored nearby. They use hollow vessels to navigate a maze of canals, and start the day sipping a black brew that incites frenetic energy. Known as Seattle, Washington, this otherworldly city is uncommonly coastal......

2. Another article was online yesterday from the United States Olympic Committee. It was an in-depth interview by Danielle Appelman of our Seattle Olympic Gold Medal winning speed skater, Apolo Ohno. He really has not lived in Seattle for years though his father lives here with a gorgeous view of Puget Sound and works in downtown Seattle. Once Seattle is in your blood, it never leaves. This is what Apolo said about his beloved city:

Ten years from now where do you see yourself?
“Let’s see…I’ll be 34. I see myself traveling, but being based in Seattle, living in a sky-rise condominium overlooking the city and the water. Hopefully, depending on what direction I’m going in, creating green living, environmentally sound living—trying to be very efficient in energy usage and materials, also trying to preserve the landscape and trees. I don’t know—I just like that healthier living. I think I would like to be a promoter of that kind of stuff or creating communities that don’t just crosscut sections of land. I would like to do something like we have here or in Seattle where we have a lot of trees. I don’t know…one day I’ll set up my own corporation called ‘Podium A.O., Inc.’ or something just to accomplish all these ideas I have.”

Being from Seattle which is your favorite sports team: Mariners, Seahawks, or Sonics?
“I like them all, but if I had to pick…I guess the Seahawks. I try to go to games whenever I’m back in town, but I don’t get to go that often. I spent a lot of time in Seattle this summer with my family, spending time with my father; so that was a lot of fun.”

What are the three places that someone who has never been to Seattle has to go to?
“Pike Place Market—it’s the fish market. It’s down by the water, always a lot of fun, and lots of energy. It’s always packed, lots of tourists, but it’s a lot of fun. There are a lot of trendy neighborhoods now in Seattle, a lot like San Francisco, but not as busy. I think the people in Seattle are generally really nice—well except for the drivers, they get a bit crazy. And then we have a very big selection of foods. We have people from all over who own authentic, real places. It’s not a Chinese restaurant owned by a Hispanic person; it’s really a Chinese restaurant owned by a Chinese person. So, we have a lot of really good restaurants in Seattle. We have a lot of culture there too from all over. I love Seattle and would love to raise a family there… in about 400 years.”
http://www.usolympicteam.com/11499_49193.htm

3. And finally, yesterday morning and the day before it was foggy and rainy but a friend and I had an outing planned for yesterday anyway. Over on Whidbey Island, parts of it are protected from the rain because the Olympic Mountains snag the clouds. This is called a rain shadow. My guess was that even if it was drizzly in Mukilteo, we might still have a lovely hike without getting too wet. I was right. Unfortunately, I wore long pants, a long sleeved shirt and took a sweatshirt---none of which I really needed. My friend who just moved here from Colorado and who is more used to sunshine wore the correct clothing by happenstance.

A large preserve exists on the west side of Whidbey called Ebey's Landing. I had always been curious about this area because a large part of it was donated for preservation by a private individual family. What a legacy and what a gift for our children and grand-children! It makes me proud to live among people who value the gorgeous natural areas God created.


Ebey's Landing


Olympics behind Apolo's head snagging the clouds.

When Dave got home last night, he asked me how our hike was. I responded that it was fabulous, sunny, and beautiful. He had spent the day in the tallest skyscraper in downtown Seattle at a meeting in the Columbia Center. Evidently, he was in fog the entire day.

Nope, not me. We were in a rain shadow!