| Obstruction Point Road has already closed and the weather has been changeable. Instead of the usual September sun, our skies seem to be visitors from October. We hiked the Hurricane Hill Trail on a quiet day and watched Mount Olympus fuss with its wreath of clouds before vanishing. The marmots were out, but turning darker and browner for winter. Only their hindquarters were golden. We saw only a handful of flowers, dried yarrow, a few harebells, and the like. Instead we saw fall foliage with the grasses turning golden and leaves turning red and brown. |
 Golden fields and misty mountains |
 One of five marmots we saw |
 Another marmot in closeup - not very golden |
 A view |
 A misty view and changing colors |
 Mount Angeles |
 To the north, a touch of blue |
 The first bit of snow, near the summit |
 A band of gold |
 A mushroom |
 Last of the flowers |
| August 2013 | September 2013 | October 2013 |
Keywords: flowers, hurricane hill, marmots, obstruction point, weather, winter
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Whenever we give directions to people coming to visit the Olympic Peninsula, which is pretty often, we always tell them about the land route via Tacoma and the water route via the Bainbridge Island Ferry. While the land route may be faster, particularly when starting from the airport, the water route gets one into the spirit of the Northwest more quickly. It's what they used to call a "sea change", a change of attitude, focus and mind induced by the crossing of water.
We recently took the journey in reverse and had some wonderful views of the city from the bow. Despite the softness of vision, we could see far, up into the Cascades and north to Mount Baker. We were reminded that Seattle's harbor is a working harbor when the scenery snapped into bright industrial focus as we moored at the ferry terminal. It was quite a transition, and we were suddenly, like the air, sharpened for urban adventure. |
 A quintessential view of Seattle |
 The city from the water |
 The snow capped Cascades |
 Mount Baker |
 A working harbor |
| Autumn is coming to Obstruction Point. It is always dry at the end of Obstruction Point Road, and the high country is always wild and open here. Already, the foliage has started to turn red, so part of our hike feels like crossing the Plains of Mars. |
 Another view of the mountains - We will miss them when the hiking season ends. |
 The Plains of Mars |
 Striking red foliage |
 Red fields and mountains |
 More of the plains |
 High country, dry country |
 Still some melting snow |
 Resin on the pine cones |
 Mountains and another lake |
 Harebells |
 We call these mock dandelions, but we're sure no on else does. |
Keywords: autumn, high country, obstruction point
| We were up on Klahane Ridge a few days ago. Summer is over. The lupines are long gone. In fact, there were only a handful of flowers left here and there. The hanging gardens are shutting down for the winter. It seems so soon. |
 View of Port Angeles |
 The Olympic Mountains |
 Along the ridge |
 More mountains |
 Towards Mount Angeles - Look closely, and you can see some lingering snow. |
Keywords: flowers, klahane ridge
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Our friends all know that we're crazy about kale, but we recently ran into some terrifying news. Not only is our favorite vegetable, and partial namesake, full of chemicals, but it could destroy the planet. Check out the article Just Kale Me.
It's hilarious. (No, the kale cultivars we eat have extremely low levels of the chemicals noted, though there are heirloom varietals with higher ones. No, no one is expecting kale to feed the world. Most people will go on eating the usual staples, but maybe with a nice dish of kale on the side.) |
 The terrible truth about our favorite vegetable |
Keywords: food, science, humor, kale
| We have been doing a bit of traveling. We were in Seattle and got to see the disappearing Space Needle illusion and the new ferris wheel down by the waterfront. Then we headed east to the land of peaches, apples, and wineries which is slowly being invaded by hops. Eastern Washington State not only produces a lot of grapes for wine, but also a lot of hops for beer. It also produces a lot of electricity which is carried to the I-5 area and points west along power lines supported by strangely anthropomorphic towers. |
 The vanishing Space Needle Illusion |
 The new ferris wheel |
 Two guys walking around near the highway |
 Some beautiful country |
 Hops - They're grown in a protective frame. |
Keywords: seattle, washington state
| This year we waited until Labor Day weekend to hold our Hawaiian Luau. Once again, the trade winds blew, and the lau lau steamed. Our cupcake heiau dominated the dining room table hard by a big bowl of boiled icing and smaller bowls of coconut chips and roasted chocolate nibs. Our tiki idol took on a new look with its glowing red eyes, controlled by an Arduino. We even tried out a new drink, a slushy called "water off a duck's back". |
 An ominous tiki idol with glowing red eyes |
 Hells in the Pacific, mai tais and waters off a duck's back |
 Sushi and our infamous cupcake heiau |
| August 2013 | September 2013 | October 2013 |