Rain at Last!

Finally our drought is over. A pleasant soft rain fell all night and into the morning,making for perfect sleeping weather... so pleasant that I was late for work this morning.

Saturday I Went hiking in the mountains with Kathy's group again, this time to Snow Lake, near Snoqualmie Pass. Unfortunately we could barely see the lake through the fog, but it was still a pleasant hike. On this hike and the previous one a few weeks ago, it seems like a good half of the hikers are ESL types. I heard varieties of eastern European (Russian? Serbian?), Indian (Hindi?) east Asian (Chinese?), and German. Amazing. Are these folks all tourists, or has Seattle really become that much of a melting pot?

Sunday, Lucie was kind enough to pick me up at the ferry, and off we went to the Everett Farmer's Market. I scored big, lugging home 20 pounds of kohrabi, pickling cukes, and tasty little donut peaches. Then managed to have enough energy left to paddle into the sunset again that night.

Today marks 9 years since I moved to the island! It was a very, very good move. I still love riding the ferry, and nearly everything else about my island home -- the lack of freeway noise, traffic jams, and crime; the deer in my yard; the eagles and ospreys and herons; walking on the beach, in the woods, or kayaking, whenever I want; using my high-beams when I drive home at night; not having street lights shine in my windows... Oh I could go on....

I am still happily TV-less, almost 2 months now. ANd since I've discovered that I can get most TV shows (maybe a day or two late) on the internet, on demand and with far less advertising, I'm thinking I may stay that way. As a plus, watching on my laptop with headphones is like having a big screen TV with surround sound!