Photoessay #310 - Husky Stadium

Sometimes, a shot that you take just shouts at you when you examine your work later. A few weeks ago, I experienced this when I was trying to take a picture of the Cascades from a Lake Forest Park street, came home and found a picture of a dog craning his head out of the window of a passing car, ears flying. I never even saw the dog went I took the picture, it was just a car in the way.

Husky Football Stadium at the University of Washington is photographed regularly. Yesterday, I attended the softball game and then dinked around the waterfront area looking for a letterbox. Turned and took this shot on my way back. The north seating structure contrasts with the distinctively turbulent spring Seattle sky. The straight sharp angles nearly in monochrome create movement and substance. The room slopes off to the left nearly out of sight while the clouds bustle their way to the right along with the sharp projectile of the inside roof.

This shot came straight out of the camera. Any fooling in Photoshop seemed to diminish it (I only know a very few tricks), just a very small amount of cropping.

Photoessay #309 - Sport field synergy

On Friday, snow forced the delay of the U Oregon/U Washington softball game. As scheduled, the Ducks played UCLA Saturday and Sunday. Did quite well on Saturday, lost but held top-ranked UCLA to two hits. But they got spanked today 12-0. Yikes.

But I wanted to see some collegiate softball myself and so I attended the Oregon State/U Washington game at Husky Softball Stadium early this afternoon. Very good game, looked like Washington had the game won but OSU two singles, and a HR in the top of the seventh inning turned the tide. Many grumbling Husky fans on the way out. Had a great conversation with the father of the current UW head coach who recognized me from my postings on the softball forum.

The UW has a WONDERFUL softball stadium, really fun to go to, well designed. Compare to Howe Field which does have its ambience though lacking safe sitting and flush toilets. This photo, taken during today's game demonstrates just HOW close the softball stadium is to the football field. See that vertical structure, just to the right of the right field line beyond the fence. That's the football field scoreboard. The goal posts are just visible above the stands along the right field line. And, of course, the looming seating structure in the background. Just to the left of the picture is Lake Washington.

When I say that the softball field, is RIGHT by Husky Stadium, I am not kidding!

Photoessay #308 - Flying Flashing

Today, Ilana, Janine and I went down to the Seattle Art Museum to see the Roman Treasures from the Louvre. Ilana had already seen it but she wanted to see it again. Roman summer theme and all that. She designed it to be a 'girls and mommies' event to include Janine's mother, Nancy. But she couldn't go, so we went anyway. Tried to convince Naomi to come with us, but no.

We decided to drive all the way downtown rather than taking the bus as the Saturday garage rates are cheaper. When we got into the parking lot underneath the Seattle Art Museum, I wondered why the parking lot was so darn full on a Saturday afternoon. Because they were all at the art museum, that's why!

This installation loomed over our head in the central lobby. Don't know the name but it WAS boxy white cars at funny angles with flashing lights like rays coming out of them. The lights flashed on and off. Disconcerting. Left $34 for Ilana and I to go see the roman artifacts. Which was a lot of marble and crowded with people. I had rather forgotten about the Roman empire.

Mostly I participated in renegade behavior taking some pictures before being busted 3 times by security guards to cut it out. I figured if you weren't caught by the same guard twice, you were cool. Enjoyed their signature abstract impressionists (Rothko, Pollock, Rauschenberg) on the way out.

Photoessay #307 - No softball today

Why because it snowed, the Pac 10 opener between the University of Oregon and the University of Washington was snowed out. Take a look at the view down NE 45th near U Village near the campus around 2pm. The athletic facilities for the University of Washington are to the left of this photo. Mixed snow and rain. They gave up after an hour or so, they can only wait so long before the Oregon team has to dash to the airport to get to LA. Besides, as Susanna pointed out, a lot of wet heavy snow covered the tarp, hard to remove without damaging the tarp.

The Pac 10 teams are organized into traveling partners, but because there are no programs at Washington State or USC, Washington and UCLA are partnered. That means that, once during the season, the other teams have to travel to Seattle and Los Angeles in the same weekend.

Afterwards, we joined the team at the Red Robin down at SouthCenter. Grant and I discussed next week's tailgate. We've gone from renegades to respectable in a very short time. Our reward? Putting on breakfast for 100 people next Sunday morning as part of the softball alumni weekend. Outside. He's got a tailgate grill get up. He's figuring french toast and ham. I'll do the fruit. Operating out of a hotel room....or maybe Susanna's house. I'm thinking of hacked up watermelon, whole strawberries from Costco, maybe cut up bananas.

To give you an idea of what it MIGHT have looked like, here's a shot from one of last year's games. The introduction of the players. The first 4 players are subs for that game, Susanna (#1)'s leadoff and the beginning of the starting lineup. This year, she would have been one coaches standing to the right down the first base line as student assistant coach. If it had happened.

Photoessay #306 - Forsythia

My blooming forsythia bush in my backyard. Like everybody else, I bought this bush as a little tiny plant at the supermarket for $4.99. Now, I'm forever hacking away at it because it gets huge! These things will grow ANYWHERE.

Nice sign of spring. However it's cold here. University of Oregon softball comes up here to play University of Washington to open the Pac 10 season. Forecast calls for rain mixed with snow, high of 42, winds 5-10 mph, chance of precip 90%. I think it will be a great time, don't you? Bet you wish you could come with us! I have many many pictures of very cold softball fans.

Photoessay #306 - Us on Oregon Coast

Today has been so very busy, just have not had time to catch up with things. Visited Emily in hospital, naturopath appt, pick up car at garage, parent group. Tried to do a day of work in there somewhere. So not a lot of time.

But here is the only picture of the two of us together during the Oregon trip. We stopped at a wayside and a Canadian family was busily taking pictures of themselves. I offered to take their picture and they returned the favor.

The sunny day was much better than the pouring down rain day.

Photoessay #305 - Left side of the infield

I tried my hand at shooting softball pictures last weekend. Taking pictures at sporting events is hard! Not too many people there, raining most of the time. so I had my pick of spots. I liked the position down front right behind the screen on the first base line. Seems ok to stand there. You have the mesh, but only VIPs and actually press people get in there. Not moms with their digital cameras.

Game against Mississippi Valley State last Friday. Oregon won both games handily. Looks like a bunt or other infield grounder by the MVS player, I can's see the ball in the picture. The infielders, all seniors, jump into action:

Jo Gail - 3B
Lovena Chaput - SS
Alicia Cook - P

Looks like Jo will scoop up that ball. Like she does. When she's on, there's NOTHING that can get past her. She clearly demonstrates the Hot Corner.

University of Oregon enters Pac 10 play 25-11. Tough conference.

Photoessay #304 - Squirrel

Ilana insists that I feature a squirrel picture on my blog. Valid Lake Forest Park residents, she points out. Susanna had purchased this special squirrel corn feeder for Dennis for his birthday. He's installed it in our cherry tree in our backyard. I only took this picture an hour or so ago and that ear of corn is just about eaten, in fact we have a dining customer out there right now. You put one of these ears out and *poof* it's gone.

Photoessay #303 - Lassies in Dublin

Naomi arrived home safely late last night. Today she has been showing us some of her pictures. Dublin, castles, Blarney Stone, a stallion farm, Irish coastline, etc. She had a great time, she's resting up for her return to school tomorrow. Starbaby, the haughty empress kitty, who feigns indifference, has not left her side.

I've seen various videos and pictures of the St. Patricks Day Parade in Dublin on March 17. Shorecrest Highlanders won the Best Youth Band which apparently is below Best Band. Whatever, they still won. I'm not sure of the provenance of this picture but am including it in this blog without permission.

Naomi is on the far side in the second row. Interesting that the businesses in the background in this Dublin Ireland scene are Burger King, McDonalds and Foot Locker.

Photoessay #302 - Ilana and the hedge

Ilana busy replanting a letterbox at an unidentified location in a northwestern city. I convinced Ilana to come along this fine spring afternoon to find a box, but actually she's pretty handy to have around when you have to get close and personal with the bushes. I was going to leave this body part unidentified but she figured everybody would know anyway. We found the box among young softball players practicing.

This was not a staged picture....

Just heard from Naomi, she's in Chicago, she should be arriving home from the Ireland trip late this evening. I think Dennis and Ilana will go.

Photoessay #301 - Peace in Lake Forest Park

Since the beginning of the Iraq War (and maybe before), Lake Forest Park has been a center of anti-war protest. Often there are protesters (of various views) gathered on Saturday mornings at the corner of Ballinger Way and Bothell Way (the main intersection) with signs and placards. Ilana and Dennis went once and maybe once to the planning meetings down at Third Place Books. Clearly, the property owner at the corner sympathizes with the war protesters. These messages, changed occasionally, have been up for quite awhile.

The war in Iraq has lasted over 5 years and people protested before the actual war. Long long time.

Photoessay #300 - Letterboxing in a northwestern city

During our visit last week, Susanna really wanted to try her hand at letterboxing. So, on Saturday morning before the games (that were cancelled anyway), Susanna came over and had the nice breakfast at the B&B and we set off. We found two in a special downtown shopping area (cute little magnetic boxes), one behind a small natural history museum. Here Susanna and Dennis open up the letterbox at an unnamed location in a northwestern town. Yes, it was wet and rainy. But we found all that we looked for.

The day before, Dennis and I had looked for one in a very brushy area near an historic home. Couldn't find it, the owner promised to check on it.

Photoessay #299 - Farewell to Oregon Coast

I have to close out the Oregon vacation with one more wet cold picture of the ocean. Already I have forgotten the spot, some turnoff or wayside off of 101. Raining and blowing hard. Freezing cold. But beautiful in that Oregon coast sort of way. Water on the lens. Of course, we were the only ones there, pretty quiet on the Oregon coast during a rainy weekday in March.

Arrived back home and all is well. Naomi still in Ireland. My letterbox down at Lyons Creek Preserve is gone ALREADY. Those darn conscientuous thorough Lake Forest Park folks!

Photoessay #298 - Sunnier day on Oregon Coast

We drove home all the way from Newport Oregon, up to coast through Astoria, along the Columbia River to the bridge at Longview. Navigated though those crazy streets for one last meal at Burgerville. Long ride no matter how you do it. Amazing how much easier it is to come home from a trip when you don't have any kids to contend with.

Why no kids? Naomi is still in Ireland. I heard that the Shorecrest Band won "Best Band" prize in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin. Cool!

Weather much better on the Oregon Coast today, no more of that heavy horizontal drenching rain of the day before. Many many beautiful vistas on the ride from Newport through Cannon Beach. Often I got Dennis to stop so I could take some shots. This is one vista (even today I don't know where), looking back on hwy 101.

Even though it looks like a lot of traffic and I guess that was true at that moment, the seaside communities are VERY quiet on a rainy weekday in March.

I think I will put pictures with my previous posts made on the road. But not tonight.

Photoessay #297 - Oregon Coast and Newport

We drove from Medford to Newport today crossing the coastal range on a suprising good state highway likely kept in good condition for the logging companies. Up through the coastal towns but it's pouring constantly. Whose idea was it to take a vacation through Oregon in March? Some dramatic views of beaches and wind and cold, I'll see when I get home.

We have an odd view of Newport, staying right near Nye Beach (where it's raining sideways) in a family owned two unit B&B in a turreted old building with an established bakery/coffee shop for the breakfast. Except the bakery is being remodeled. But there's a very chummy fine restaurant next door. You can't tell though, no sign, just a downstairs part of a house with mud out front. But, it's the kind of place where they know everybody, including now, you.

Actually everything on the Oregon coast is empty today. A Monday in March in the pouring rain. No tourists around except us!!

Picture shows the b&b. We slept in the upper floor of the turret, Dennis LOVED that. That extremely local restaurant is in the house on the left. You would never know that it was a fine restaurant. Like the idea of the Third Place, not really public, not really private. Good food and very intimate. Windswept Nye Beach is one block behind me, the photographer.

Photoessay #296 - Interesting trip to Ashland

We went down through the rest of Oregon today to Ashland. It turned out to cause my husband to remember his time visiting friends here quite often before we were together. We drove up the windy highway between Ashland and Klamath Falls that he used to ride on his bicycle after he got off the train in K Falls. The road is so windy and treacherous going up over mountains with no guard rails, even snow! A lot of rocks and dust on the highways which increases the danger for a bicycle. Neither of us could really believe he used to ride over it. He says it must have been another Dennis but he remembers how he used to enjoy the 70 mile ride.

We attended an excellent production at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival here in Ashland. Not Shakespeare, August Wilson's 'Fences' in the Angus Bowmer theater. Really touching and quite well acted. I'm glad we saw it. I chose that production just because it was scheduled for the night we would be here.

Picture shows the road between Ashland and Klamath Falls. We actually got up to the snow line before I made Dennis turn around

Photoessay #295 - Rainout/Trip to the country

The Oregon/Utah State softball games were cancelled, more for poor field conditions rather than intermittent rain. After two straight days of players and fans spending 6 hours in the chilly rain showers, well nobody really missed the third day. I think three days in a row would have done everybody in. I would have done it though. The Oregon pitchers and defense looked good yesterday, though Mississippi Valley State did not execute very well.

Instead Dennis, Susanna and I went letterboxing this morning and we found 4 out of 4 boxes. Two in the 5th St. Mkt, one by the Museum of Natural History and one in Pioneer Cemetary. Mac Court continued to be full of high school boys playing in the State Tournament, some of the parents are staying at the Bed and Breakfast.

This evening, we were invited (along with all of parents and players) out to a player's home who lives in a rural area about 20 miles outside of Eugene. Out in a beautiful area of wooded hills and meadows in the hills between the ocean and the Willamette Valley. Beautiful dinner and spread, seemed like a different world out there in the quiet country at the end of a small road. An extended family lives on quite a big piece of land, horses and barns and ponies, cows. Not sure what the income stream supports this, I will have to ask them. But Dennis and I enjoyed the trip out to Veneta and Elmira and, of course, the players and the parents that attended.

Picture is of senior UO pitcher, Alicia Cook, with her horse on her family's farm.

Photoessay #294 - It's cold and it's wet

That's the main story here the last two days as the University of Oregon plays 6 games in 3 days as part of the Cascade Clash. Two games each against Northern Illinois, Mississippi Valley State and Utah State. I've attended the first two, Ducks has won all 4 games.

Temperatures in the mid 40s. As one fan commented as she looked at her hand-held internet device looking at a weather site. "They say it's 48 degrees and it might be 48 degrees somewhere but not here!" Used all of my cold weather stuff including my very thick softball socks.

This time of year, rainstorms swirm around the Willamette Valley. It rains and it stops. It rains in Eugene and not in Corvallis and vice versa. The coaches were determined to get these games in. So when it would start to rain, the plays would pull the tarp over the field, wait for it to stop, untarp the field, play until it pours, then do it again. Both days, the games started at 1pm but did not end until 7pm because of multiple rain delays, some lasting more than an hour. No covered area at Howe Field. Huge high school basketball tournament going on next door at Mac Court so no parking and wet softball spectators could not take refuge there. So this made for a lot of wet very cold softball fans waiting it out. By the end, the players are wet and cold and the dedicated spectators (those that stuck around) even more so.

So those of us who waited out, we are chilled and stiff and we wonder if we will ever dry out and get warm.

Picture shows the Oregon team dragging the tarp over the field during one of the many rain delays.

Go Ducks!

Photoessay #293 - Rainbow over Howe Field

Actually the pictures won't be up until I get home...unless I decide to shoot at a lower resolution...as I don't have any way of making the pictures smaller.

In Eugene for the Cascade Clash...a pre-season tournament put on by University of Oregon and Oregon State and maybe Portland State. Somehow nobody at the game had the schedule for the whole thing. But no matter, we will be here Friday and Saturday and there are doubleheaders scheduled for each day. The games started at 1pm and we didn't arrive until 3pm but we didn't miss much. As the season suggests, the rain poured down all the way down I-5 though the weater cleared up by the time we got to Eugene. We cruised by the field and sure enough, softball was happening. Turns out the games were in rain delay but they managed to get both games in, though it took until 7pm in front of the most loyal soaking and freezing fans. The team saluted the remaining the spectators at the end 'the fair and the few' my daugher suggested. University of Oregon vs Northern Illinois. Ducks won both games. Susanna was in the dugout as assistant coach.

During one of the many weather happenings, a beautiful rainbow appeared over the left field line....

Photoessay #292 - Band Dress Rehearsal

Every year before their parades, the Shorecrest High School Highlander Marching Band has a dress rehearsal where they march around the neighborhood around the high school. The police divert the traffic and the residents come out and enjoy the show. Parents and community members (me too!) love to come out and march along with the band and take pictures. A real event! I didn't realize how much fun it was until Ilana dragged me one Friday afternoon a few years ago. Also great practice for the band members to march with all kinds of distractions.

The community well wishers congregate on the rise in front of the high school waiting for the band to march onto the street. As one of the band folks, a chemistry teacher said:

And thanks to all of you who turned out for the dress rehearsal. It was such a wonderful experience to round the corner out of the parking lot and see the hill full of people cheering us on. You gave our students a boost of pride than was palpable.

The fans kept pace to the rhythm of the Drum Line all through the neighborhoods as the band played, the bagpipers piped, the Lassies and Laddies danced with the Flag Girls taking up the rear.

PS I have had my first find of my letterboxes that I placed yesterday. You can find the listing at http://www.atlasquest.com and searching for "Lake Forest Park" as the city.

Photoessay #291 - H is for Hamlin Park

Last week, Dennis and I parked 'over the hill' at Hamlin and walked over the ridge to watch the Shorecrest Band dress rehearsal. We figured that the streets would be blocked off around Shorecrest; this way we would not get cut off. Plus a nice walk and maybe we could look for a few letterboxes (we did find one on the way out). Dennis points out that Hamlin Park (located in Shoreline not far from Lake Forest Park city limits) is a great mix of forest and multi-use recreation and athletics. Sometimes though, I think the forested areas of Hamlin can be quite dark and creepy.

These chilly parents are watching some practices undoubtedly for North King County Little League. Four little league baseball/softball fields take up a large meadow area in the middle of the park surrounded on most sides by forest. A t-ball practice for over-eager little boys was underway on Hamlin Field 4, just out of view of the camera. The usual Hamlin bone-chilling breeze. The hill in the background has a path that leads up to some more fields and to the back of the middle school and high school (the Shorecrest softball field featured earlier) back onto this hill just a little to the south.

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I did place my first two letterboxes today. My theme? Burke Gilman Trail - Lake Forest Park. Yup, two boxes planted. Find out about them on http://www.atlasquest.com

Photoessay #290 - Letterboxing

I've got a whole new time-wasting hobby going on. Letterboxing. Heard about it in the Susanville daily photo blog. Started in England, been around about 150 years. Kind of like a treasure hunt. You plant a small box with a little journal and a rubber stamp in some publicly accessible but hidden place. You publish clues and then other letterboxers find the box. You have your own stamp and journal. When you find a box, you stamp their design in your journal and you make an entry in their journal and use your own stamp regarding your find. Then you rehide the box for the next person.

Similar to GeoCaching except no GPS coordinates and you do not swap things in the box. So far I have found 5 (they were all there) Besides the other two I mentioned earlier, I found one in Hamlin Park, one at the Kenmore library and one in a little neighborhood park on the other side of Lake Ballinger.

I'm plotting out my own letterboxes that I'm going to place. I've got some supplies. It's not so easy to find a place but I've got an idea now. A theme even! When I plant the first box, I will announce the theme. I can see that scouting a spot for a letterbox could be construed as terrorist activity. What's the difference between hiding a letterbox and a bomb? I was scouting around some roadside brush right behind the Lake Forest Park City Hall this noon and you should have seen the extremely concerned suspicious looks I was getting from staff members working out back.

Part of the letterbox activity revolves around the custom stamps that you make yourself and use. Um, I don't have any custom stamps and am completely lousy in that kind of design and fine motor activity. So I'm using my neighbor's castoff stamps she no longer wants. Probably completely uncool and tacky.

I think the clues and directions will also challenge me. Often the placer ties the box to some local feature or story.

Another form, virtual letterboxing DOES look completely useless and a waste of time. Really just puzzle solving and trivia. Hey, I have 3 blogs plus I work online, do I need any more of THAT? Nope, this way gets you outside and exploring. Works great with my Lake Forest Park daily picture blog.

Picture shows my letterboxing kit complete with old cloth bag already smeared with mud. Authenticity, yes! Also a great activity to do with Shadow. Dennis wants to do more outdoor activities, this seems just the ticket. He guffaws at the idea but did buy me a little tiny compass when he was at REI. Susanna also wants to give it a shot when we go down to Eugene.

Photoessay #289 - Black Student Union

Lately, my posts focus on high school topics, guess it reflects where I've been for awhile. Or my family anyway, we've been a family with high school students since 1996 (12 years!)

My daughter served as president of the Black Student Union at the local high school in 2004-5. I took this picture (no comments on quality) this last Thursday night of a framed picture on a hallway wall during Open House. I assume it features the members of the club this year.

Shorecrest has about 25% minority (non-anglo) students, mostly Asian.

Wait, I can hear you thinking to yourself, your daughter is not black, how can a white girl be the president of the Black Student Union? Adults, especially, have very strong reactions to this fact.....

Ridicule, like I'm joking
Angry, because it's WRONG
Disbelief, I must be making it up
Suspicion, maybe something shady is going on here

This upsets many people, just crosses too many boundaries. I replied something to the effect of "It's fine with the kids, what's your problem"

How it happened....Ilana worked for the school paper and went to the Black Student Union meeting to do an article. Most of the club members were girls from immigrant African families. She found that many of them were her friends already (Eden and Bonami were there, she reported). She became interested in their point of view and discussions. She kept going to meetings, worked on posters, helped put on the Rap Contest, went on some field trips for motivational speakers, etc. At the end of the year, they worked on their goals and they needed a president, she volunteered to be co-president if somebody else would do it too.

There you go. The other co-president lost interest so she served the year. That club puts together the Martin Luther King Day assembly and Ilana and I scrambled to find a gospel choir (we found a great one, they had the kids dancing at 8:30 am).

Photoessay #288 - Flying Lassies (and Laddie)

Today's dress rehearsal for the Shorecrest High School Marching Band retinue always draws a big crowd around the modest neighborhoods around the high school. The marching band, pipe band, highland dancers, and flag team leave for Ireland on Thursday en route for the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin.
They try to go every 4 years, it's quite a production. In other years they've won the competition. Imagine a band from the Seattle area winning the band competition in Ireland????

The police seal off the streets and the band, in full kilt, marches around to the delight of the community. Naomi is a highland dancer, traditionally known as the Lassies. However, they have two male members this year including Curtis who will go to Ireland. You can barely see him on the far left in the back wearing sun glasses. I like this picture because all the dancers are leaping (hey this should be a Suzie softball pic). All with their braids and their white shoes and their white gloves. And the extra fancy socks from Ireland. Naomi is in foreground second from left.

Fun! I know I will post more pictures.

Photoessay #287 - Shorecrest softball field

The improved softball field at Shorecrest High School. As mentioned in my previous post, I spent many a chilly hour sitting on those bleachers in the center of the shot. The terrain steeply drops right behind the field into an impassable heavily wooded hillside above Hamlin Park and the Fircrest state facility. Any softballs hit foul behind the field disappear into the brushy ravine. I imagine dozens of softballs reside there; don't know if anybody has tried to find them. During chilly evenings, the wind whips over that hill and down into Hamlin, it's COLD. Unlike many high schools, the Shorecrest field has lights so can have evening games. Makes you wonder, why doesn't a major big time Division 1, extremely well-funded program, University of Oregon, have a lighted field? Actually I hear that part of the million dollar contribution that the Oregon AD is giving will go to light the softball field.

Some definite improvements since Susanna graduated there in 2003. Check out the artificial turf infield! How about that? That can really help lessen the inevitable multiple muddy rainouts. Wonder how the players like it? Is this the first year? At the bottom, I have the classic pictures of Sarah B sliding into home on the Shorecrest field in a cloud of dust (probably in 2003). With the dirt infield. All you see is the dust, no player! Taken from behind home plate.

Also the dugouts have been rebuilt and improved. There's even a little area for a concession stand on the left. And real roofs.

Naomi standing there around first base on this late winter afternoon. Perhaps Dennis and I will attend a few games this spring. Things turn over so fast in athletic programs. We probably won't know anybody there.

Photoessay #286 - Girl Scout Cookies

Dennis serves as assistant leader for a Brownie Troop. Don't ask how it happened. Actually he just returned with Naomi from an afternoon field trip to the Fire Station with his 5 Brownies. They are also selling cookies, firt-time sellers most of them with some frazzled overcommitted parents. The picture shows his initial cookie order stuffed into our van.

Kinda scary giving out all those cookies to parents who are not sure what it's all about. I know that, in the past, sometimes I felt some parents were so completely clueless that I wouldn't even give them their cookies. I would let their daughters come sell with us. I remember one parent who felt that girl scout cookies meant that she got to EAT girl scout cookies, not sell them nor be responsible for the money.

I have spent many an hour in front of various grocery stores (I highly prefer our local Thriftway) with our completely chewed up ancient wood card table.

"Would you like to buy some girl scout cookies?"
"Thanks for supporting girl scouts!"

My girls know that you can always unload those last few cases if you just gut it out. One day Ilana and I sat at Thriftway and we were down to 13 boxes and they were ALL trefoils (shortbread). We sold them. I don't think selling in downtown Seattle works. We have sold at basketball games and softball tournaments. Ilana and I sometimes would 'bootleg' (set up somewhere not authorized). We found that those poor suckers buying home repair supplies at Home Depot were easy marks. They're tired, frustrated, hungry, have money and they WANT cookies. We sold a lot of cookies, eventually we were thrown out but, hey, this year they wouldn't remember us.

Last spring I filled our small suitcase with cookies and took them to Hawaii with me and sold them at the collegiate tournament at U Hawaii Manoa. Most all to players and parents. They are HUNGRY after their game. I planned to sell the cookies and use the suitcase for souvenirs on the return trip (it worked!)

We're leaving before the end of the sale. We do have some desperation sales slots right before we go. Naomi knows. At the end, you have to go to Thriftway and stay there until you sell whatever you have left, what you haven't sold and what's left from everybody else.

Would you like to buy some girl scout cookies?

Photoessay #285 - More signs of spring

Spring in the the northwest...a VERY long season. Spring can stretch for 3 or 4 months easy with frequent trips back into winter. Many times, I have shivered at a late May softball game in the frigid rain "Welcome to January" my fellow fan mumbles. Maybe because summer is so short? Blink, look the wrong way and you might miss it!

This daffodil in my front yard. Yellow and HAPPENING! It's the first one struggling up. I admit to being a terrible gardener, just don't like getting down on the ground in the dirt. Which means not a lot gets done. But a beautiful daffodil, harbinger of spring.

Several people have asked about letterboxing (and also here). I, myself, have only known about it for a few days. It's kind of a treasure-hunt, people leave boxes in hidden publicly accessible places, a little book and a stamp is in the box. They publish clues, you find the boxes, stamp in their book, use the stamp in the box to mark your journal book, return the box. A wonderful time-wasting hobby. It's about 150 years old, started in England. So far, I have found two letterboxes near my home, one in Horizon View Park and one in Shoreline Park. Don't know if it would be cool to post pictures of the two boxes that I found. I can see the real fun is making your own letter box and hiding it and having people find it. Many thanks for neighbor Ann who supplied me with a stamp and pad to get started and also a few smaller stamps I can use to make letterboxes.

Photoessay #284 - ABC Wednesday G is for Ginsburgh

I should have used my last Monday's post (The Ginsburghs) for this but have plenty of other pictures. Ginsburgh was the name I was born with, my parent's name. I include here my high school senior picture, myself in my 17 year old glory. At that time (1969), everybody had to go to the same studio, that garment I'm wearing was just a fake top that all of the girls had to wear. Black and white photo. This picture, arrayed along with the rest of the senior pictures in the yearbook first convinced me that I was not white. I did NOT look like the rest of the white suburban California teenagers. Why should I pretend that I did?

I did trade in this name when I married for my husband's much more anglo name. I could have kept Ginsburgh...but did not. How do I feel about this 31 years later? Ok.

PS I found my first letterbox today. I heard about it from reading other personal blogs. What a fun time-wasting hobby. I had to try it. Bought a little journal, my neighbor gave me a little stamp and old stamp pad. I was in business. Shadow and I found the box in a local park. All a little complicated and challenged my fine and gross motor skills.

Photoessay #283 - Edward Cohen Mortgages

The only photograph that I have of my great grandfather, Edward Cohen of Cambridge MA. Taken sometime in the 1950s. Father of my grandmother Beryl Cohen Ginsburgh. I don't know that I ever met him, he might have seen me as an infant. He arrived in the late nineteenth century from Kiev as an itinerant house painter. I think he got started purchasing and fixing up houses. Self-made man financially. According to family legend, he financed a fair amount of Cambridge at one time and donated Hillel House to Harvard (all unsubstantiated). He had six children, 3 girls, then 3 boys. My grandmother, the third daughter, may have been his favorite. But all her life she moaned that she was always looked over because "who wants a third daughter?" Sufficiently wealthy that he bought homes for all his children as they married (also unsubstantiated). He purchased a $500 Israeli bond on the occasion of my birth. My father later converted that bond to a US bond and I still have it. A rainy day fund.

Photoessay #282 - Orange candle

Very very busy weekend for us on many fronts. Starting on Friday night when instead of just one young woman (18 year old Naomi) staying here, we had 5. Susanna and Ilana were both here as well as Naomi's friend Jannelle and Susanna's friend Deb. Then everybody coming and going all weekend including most working at the Girl Scout Fun Day out at River Ranch. I also experienced some debilitating health problems not entirely resolved; appreciate Dennis coming through trying to get me back on my feet. Had 4 team meetings, only made it to 2. Dennis and Naomi attended a light opera on Saturday night, I didn't go. Ilana and I had pizza that evening (mmmmm Pagliacci's) and worked out just how early we could go to bed. In the middle of this, Susanna worked on school projects including this thing that involved an orange which she turned into a candle. Not exactly sure or why but it made sense to everybody else. When you have everybody around, life is like that, you cannot hope to keep track of it all.

Photoessay #281 - Waiting in the wings

Four young girls watch the University of Oregon softball team in the spring of 2005. Erin Goodell, the second baseman at that time up to bat. Looks like my daughter, Susanna, is on deck. They may be playing Oregon State (the colors are right), the so-called Civil War. Possibly, thesey oung players dream of playing Pac 10 softball. Howe Field definitely has personality and presence though it does lack some basic amenities...like safe seating. It's an intimate venue, you can stand right up behind the batters.

Howe Field likely the oldest softball field used in NCAA Division 1 softball; converted from the baseball field originally built in the 1930s. University of Oregon cut baseball for fiscal reasons in the early 1970s. Recently, they announced that they will reinstate baseball, though wrestling will be cut. To deal with Title IX, Oregon will now field a competitive cheer squad. The current Athletic Director at Oregon, an insurance executive and major donor, who works for free, just announced that he personally will give an additional 1 million dollar gift to the university mostly for academics. But part of the money will cover some improvements for non-revenue sports including lighting the softball field. Great news, our local high school has lights but University of Oregon, a Pac 10 school, plays on an unlighted field.

I chatted with everybody when I first started going to games as a parent of an active player. High school players attended with their fan parents. During her first year, when I chatted with these parents, they were eager to talk about their daughters. I would listen and say "She sounds great, does she want to play here?" And they would look at me like I was out of my mind and mumble. I realized that I should stop asking this rhetorical question. University of Oregon is one of three Division 1 programs in the state. Oregon and Oregon State, as Pac 10 programs, reign as the top teams in the state. Very dumb question. Of COURSE, they would like to play there.

So I'm assuming that the four girls leaning on the fence watching the action up close would like to take their place on Howe Field as University of Oregon Ducks.