Mt. Rainier - Warning - a lot of words

I haven't been to Mt. Rainier for a long time. It has been over 10 years since I have been in the park, and a lot longer since I have gone on a hike there. I decided I would go hike the Pinnacle Peak trail as it was always one of our family's favorites. Dad and I climbed to the top of it one time which required some rock climbing. There was a metal tube drilled into the top of the peak. It contained a guest book to sign that you had made it to the top. We signed our names. I'll always remember that. I didn't go that far today as it was my first hike. It's all uphill. There are hardly any flat spots. I had to cross small snow fields, rock slides and mud. Down was much harder than going up. Here are a couple photos from the trail.






I got up at the crack of 8 and was out of the door by 9. My goal was to see Mt. Rainier in all it's glory. The first time I see from a close range it overwhelms me. I get a little fearful. It really is too massive for me to comprehend. It's always a spiritual experience for me. A couple times it peaked through the clouds and the same awestruck feeling came back to me. I got to the top of the saddle at Pinnacle Peak and sat down to have my lunch all by myself with the just the sound of the wind. I anticipated the clouds parting and revealing the entire mountain to me. Alas, it was not to be. All of the sudden a group of 12 to 15 Japanese hikers where all around me. They cracked open a couple of bud lights. Yes, that's what I thought too. I told them that the mountain would reveal itself. They just had to wait. Some of them understood me. It did show itself, but only in a teasing way.



For days, if not weeks, the Mountain has shown itself everyday. It never ceases to amaze me. However, today I was not supposed to see it all. I sat up on top, eating my lunch surrounded by people speaking Japanese. That was not the experience I had planned. Then it occurred to me that it's not always about the grand picture or the summit. It is about paying attention to what is right in front of me. The trees, the rocks, the water, the flowers and people from different parts of the world all making the same pilgrimage that I was making. They may not know the change the will befall them from Mt. Rainier, but it will happen. It's for each to discover on their own.

THIS is what I was supposed to see today.

A walk for ice cream

Jill made me walk and get her some ice cream the other night. Of course, that meant I had to have some too. Here are a few photos from my walk. My reward? Coffee ice cream with graham cracker crust and two helpings of colored sprinkles. One is never enough.

Yummmmmmmmm

Jam Recipes?

I made some raspberry jam, blackberry jam and some raspberry/blackberry/strawberry jam last night. I'm looking for any family jam recipes. Jim said my grandmother (Ramona) had a good one.

Baby Asher Due Soon!

Lara's sister-in-law, Lizzie, planned a wonderful surprise shower for Lara today. We had a great time.

The nursery is beautiful.

Asher James is due August 31. We are ready for his arrival!!!!

Partnership Studio

I have joined forces with a very talented designer, Corin McDonald, to open a design studio in Seattle. I met him through another Seattle designer. Corin was working at Starbucks and I was trying to get information about a specific job there. We started talking and he brought up the idea he had for a company. Over the course of a couple weeks, we decided to move forward. He brings over 15 years of design experience and I bring about 15 years design operations experience. A good match. We have formed a company and yesterday leased office space. Our website should be up around August 1. Of course, I will put it on the blog. Here is the studio space.

Our first client - we are redesigning their website and a couple of sales tools.

And, if you or someone you know needs design work...

Happy Birthday, Jim!!!

It's a great day! Happy birthday!

Proud to be a Hockey Fan

Last month the Stanley Cup (as well as the Chicago Cubs) decided to take part in Chicago's pride parade. A friend who lives in the city snapped this picture. For me it represents a very cool blending of my life and our family legacy.

Here is a clip from an online article announcing the appearance. "While players from this year's lineup won't be on the team's float -- they'll be busy playing the White Sox -- "Mr. Cub" Ernie Banks will.

Blackhawks defenseman Brent Sopel will be carrying the Stanley Cup in the parade to honor Brendan Burke, the son of Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke. Brendan Burke came out as a gay man shortly before dying in a car accident in February.

Brendan Burke was a student at Miami University in Ohio and worked with the school's hockey team. After opening up about his sexuality to the team, he spoke publicly about his experience growing up as a gay hockey player.

Sopel, who will march in the parade with his wife and children -- and the Cup, of course -- said he wants to promote tolerance.

"Everyone has feelings and everyone is a person," Sopel said. "That's what we continue to promote to our kids. I hope [the gay community] gets equality and what they're looking for."

It can be tough for gay people involved in athletics to come out, said Northwestern University professor Lane Senrich, who teaches a course on gay history in the U.S.

"When it comes down to it, for all the progress we've made in other arenas, athletics seems to be one of the last places where we haven't made much progress," Senrich said.

"We have these very confined notions of what it means to be a man," he said. "We usually associate gays as sissies. If you can admit that some big successful football player is gay ... it really challenges our notions of what it means to be gay."

My weekend was full of sights. Yours?

The Randalls and I went to Ella Bailey Park in Magnolia this Saturday. A hidden gem of a park.

Saturday in the park


Super TT



Sunday at a Sounders game.


The marine layer starts to burn off - about 2:30. (nature's air conditioning)

Los Osos marigolds.

Another visit to Lake Cushman

Last weekend I went to visit my friend Matt at Lake Cushman. Summer has started in Seattle.

Lake Cushman - I used the new zoom feature that comes with OS4 for the iphone (no new phone just software). I think the zoom darkened the image.



Fresh Mussels from Hood Canal - mmmmmmm (no zoom)

Restricted Access

I have restricted access to the blog for awhile. If you happen to know someone who reads it, but never posts or comments, please let me know and I will invite them again.

Thanks

Jim

Random Photos Of Late

My new daytime view - more to be revealed



Rusty - My good friends Shafel and Shelley's manic dog. He actually has settled down somewhat.



A wall in Fremont.