This week was hectic, between catching up on work after being in Florida last week, then preparing for my upcoming two week vacation. Thankfully things were still slow enough that I was able to get plenty done over the week between trips. I even had time for a few Powerline Trail walks, and time to make some lovely summer salads for lunch! Sadly, I missed out on the eclipse on Monday entirely - all I saw of it was the dusky light out my window near noon. Hopefully the next time one comes around, I'll have a little less going on!
Read moreLife: Week 33
I was all over the place this week, quite literally. Monday, I jumped on a plane to spend most of the week in Florida for work. After work, instead of walks on the Powerline Trail, I found myself walking on the beach. They were short walks, since even with the ocean breeze the humidity and heat of Florida were a bit too much for me. Still, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Florida, especially the delicious food, and the Cuban coffee a coworker made for the whole office on my last morning there. Our company is spread out across the country, and this was the first time we got together as a team in one office, and there was lots of good conversation and laughter. No one in the group had ever been to Washington, so they were all curious to know if it's really as cold and rainy as they'd heard. It's so funny to me to leave home and hear how by beloved green state is perceived.
Read moreLife: Week 32
Week two of smoky, hot, stifling weather. If I was feeling ready for fall before, now I'm practically ready to move to the southern hemisphere for legitimate winter! After letting the poor air quality keep me indoors most of last week, I finally gave up and decided that I needed to get outside, weather be damned. I had a busy weekend, so I didn't make it out for any hikes, but taking a short walk in the afternoon a few times over the week was about all I could handle with the smoke. Finally, Saturday night we got some rain to clear out the smoke and restore the mountain views I'd missed so much!
Read moreLife: Week 31
I am so ready for fall - cool weather, colorful leaves, soup, sweaters, and rain! This week started off nicely enough - we'd had plans for a trip over the weekend and both had Monday off work, but we wound up cancelling the plans and instead had a quiet day off close to home. We went for a short hike on a new trail on Squak Mountain, then had lunch accompanied by a few drinks in Issaquah. As we drove south to the trailhead, Mt Rainier could clearly be seen off in the distance, and since the trail description specifically mentioned a good view of Rainier, I was surprised when we reached our destination but were unable to find the mountain. By Monday evening, a haze of smoke from the fires British Columbia had settled in, a haze which only seemed to get worse throughout the week. Combined with the oppressive heat (at least to this wimpy PNW native) consistently in the 90s, the smoke has meant a lot of time spent indoors over the week. I am so ready for fall - cool weather, colorful leaves, soup, sweaters, and rain! This week started off nicely enough - we'd had plans for a trip over the weekend and both had Monday off work, but we wound up cancelling the plans and instead had a quiet day off close to home. We went for a short hike on a new trail on Squak Mountain, then had lunch accompanied by a few drinks in Issaquah. As we drove south to the trailhead, Mt Rainier could clearly be seen off in the distance, and since the trail description specifically mentioned a good view of Rainier, I was surprised when we reached our destination but were unable to find the mountain. By Monday evening, a haze of smoke from the fires British Columbia had settled in, a haze which only seemed to get worse throughout the week. Combined with the oppressive heat (at least to this wimpy PNW native) consistently in the 90s, the smoke meant a lot of time spent indoors over the week.
Read moreLife: Week 30
Work is still quiet, but since the busy fall season is fast approaching, I'm trying to get out for afternoon walks as often as possible. Luckily, the blackberries are finally ripe, so I have delicious trail snacks to keep me motivated! We had a few birthdays to celebrate, so we stuck close to home for the weekend. For the first time this summer, we were actually around on a Saturday morning, which meant a trip to the Redmond Farmer's Market. Since we had guests Saturday night, I picked up peaches for pie in addition to a lovely armload of summer market flowers. While I find it hard to resist the temptation to pack every summer weekend with hikes and camping, the quiet weekend made for a nice break.
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