365 Inspirations—228: Get Away

Coming home to Seattle after our getaway

"He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left".—Chinese Proverb

It was raining when I pulled up to my friend's house yesterday. I parked near her house on a city street and dragged my bags to the foot of her cement steps and left them there. Then I walked up to her front door and rang the doorbell. I was greeted by her dog and twins.

We had a plan to get away. It would be me, my friend, her twins and the nanny.

That morning, we escaped from the city to my family lake house. The rain didn't hold us back...what's a little rain in Seattle anyway.

We arrived late in the afternoon and the everyone, except me actually, swam in the lake despite the clouds. I was late to join them–feeling the silence of my room at the lake and enjoying their sounds of laughter and fun from afar. My father was there too. He's in town from Florida and I'm sure our parade definitely broke his peaceful silence, but I have a feeling it was a welcome break.

That night we dined outside on the deck and the clouds had completely disappeared by this time and we even had a bit of a sunset.

The moon and stars came out and the next day we awoke to more sunshine.

More sun meant lots of swimming, dining on the dock, jumping in the lake, taking boats out, resting between swims, and just plain relaxing.

After we had all showered off the last traces of lake water from our sunburned bodies, we had time to reflect and relax on the ferry home. The sun was slowly sinking and it cast a magnificent light on the views all around us.

Since our car was parked in front of the ferry, we stood up on the bow of the boat and watched as the city got closer and closer. We stood up there right until the boat docked.

Now I'm home and sleepy from our wonderful two-day summer getaway. Time for sweet dreams....


Have you gone on any getaways recently?

365 Inspirations—214: Reconnecting with Family

My sister, me and my nephew at our family lake cabin

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."—Anthony Brandt

We escaped to our family lake house. My dad is in town and my sister, brother-in-law and two nephews are here. We arrived at around 10pm, so my brother-in-law and the kids were asleep, but my sister and dad were up and it was great to sit around the dining room table and catch up. It's been a loooonnng time and I don't see these people enough!

We are here to celebrate my dad's birthday belatedly and to enjoy the time. We were up late talking and I'm just now typing this post.

One of the things I love about my family is that they are good storytellers. Some of the stories have been told many times before, but I never tire of hearing them again. I think it's one way we all connect.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, so hopefully we can spend the time outside swimming and enjoying the weather. It rained all day today.

We brought food for the BBQ and I brought a cake!

Well, goodnight bloggers and blog readers.

I'm off to have sweet dreams in my cabin bed.

Do you often spend time with your extended family? Where do you go and what do you do?

365 Inspirations—207: Foraging Blackberries in Summer

"Late August, given heavy rain and sun
For a full week, the blackberries would ripen.
At first, just one, a glossy purple clot."—Seamus Heaney

When I was young, there were certain things we always did in summer in Washington State. One of them was to always pick wild blackberries and make a cobbler or pie. Another thing I did quite often was to swim in Lake Washington and jump from the diving board or high dive at one of the various swimming holes along the lake. Finally, it was common to buy a popsicle from the popsicle man who frequents beaches and parks in the summer.

We did all three of those things today. My best friend from elementary school tipped us off on a great blackberry foraging spot in Seattle at Magnuson Park. We got a huge container of fresh berries there for free. Blackberries grow all over Washington State and are often considered an evasive plant that has to be cut back or it with take over. It's easy to find great blackberry picking spots in parking lots, parks, behind churches and in back alleys.

We used to have a bunch in our back yard when I was growing up.

This was my husband Yoon's first full container of blackberries,

his first jump off the high dive at Lake Washington,

 and his first fudgesicle from the popsicle man.

It was a day of firsts.

After he headed off to teach his last yoga class for the evening, I got to work and made a blackberry pie!

Mmmmmm....it's delicious and perfect warmed up with vanilla ice cream.

Blackberries go for an expensive price in the grocery store, but who would buy them here in Washington State when there's an abundance of them everywhere!

Are there wild berries or other fruits that you pick in the summer where you live? What are they?

365 Inspirations—205: Sitting in the Front Yard

"I was in my yard and thought that the tree was a living being. We take trees for granted. We don't believe they are as much alive as we are."—Ziggy Marley

 I teach English as a Second Language at a local community college on Monday and Wednesday evenings in the summer. I had a lot to do this morning, but now I'm sitting outside in the front yard with my husband enjoying the cool breeze in the shade on a hot day!

The crows are cawing and the wind is rustling through the trees in the front yard. Every now and then a white butterfly flutters into the yard and lands on one of the daisies that we have in a circle garden in the front.

My husband has a temple bell from Korea hanging from our fence and when the wind blows stronger it starts to ring. We also have a wind chime by the front door that is playing a melody softly in the background.

Perfect, gentle, quiet afternoon before class.

Do you have a yard? Do you like to sit in it?

365 Inspirations—202: Kalbi Barbecue at Home with Friends

Yoon barbecuing Korean kalbi for friends

"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all."—Harriet Van Horne

We have this nice gas barbecue that my parents gave us when they moved. It's their old one, but it's new for us. For several summers it's just been sitting on the side of our house with an empty propane tank below it. It gathered leaves and dirt and spiders and other critters. I wasn't even sure the thing worked.

We had planned to have a dinner party with a couple friends and the weather has been so nice, I wanted to barbecue kalbi, a Korean specialty. I've never cooked kalbi on the barbecue and I've never used a gas barbecue at any place I've ever lived.

Yet, I was determined today. I googled where to fill my propane tank and found that a U-Haul up the street had a refilling station. On the way to the station, I stopped by the Korean supermarket and picked up kalbi, Korean potato salad, chap chae (Korean noodle dish) and kimchi. What's a Korean dinner without kimchi? I also bought lettuce and garlic to make kalbi wraps.

When I got home, Yoon hooked up the grill to the propane and we crossed our fingers to see if it would actually start. It did and I was so excited. Not only were we going to have our very first gas barbecue meal at home, but we were cooking Korean food for friends. This was a real treat!

I'm happy that I didn't just decide to bake something instead. A little effort went a long way and we had a very memorable dinner with friends!

Do you like to barbecue in the summer for friends?

365 Inspirations—201: Dinner on the Dock

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky."—Rabindranath Tagore

Our spontaneous trip to the lake is almost over. We leave early tomorrow morning! The weather has been perfect and I haven't felt like being inside, so I'm typing this post late at night.

We had a barbecue in the afternoon with our friend and then she had to leave for a concert in the city. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading, swimming and floating on the lake.

To end our evening, we had dinner on the dock.

It was the perfect ending to a spontaneous getaway. We sat out there for a very long time and watched as the sun slowly sank behind the trees and the sky changed to deeper colors of pink and crimson.

Sparrows glided along the surface on of the lake and every now and then would dip down for a little drink or to catch insects. We watched them for a good hour. Now the moon and stars are out on the dock, so it's time to go out once again.

How's the weather in your part of the world? Have you enjoyed the summer?

365 Inspirations—191: Summer Weather

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."—John Lubbock 

 Summer is the best season in Washington State. It's not too hot and it's not too cold. For the last couple of weeks we've had very little rain and it's been between 70-80 degrees everyday. For Seattlelites, seeing that shiny, yellow thing in the sky for days on end is really a treat that we may now be taking for granted.

Washington State tends to have a lot of rain in other months, so we really need to make good use of our summers. Our state has beautiful mountains and hiking trails everywhere. We've got the Olympic Mountains on one side and the Cascade Mountains on the other. On a beautiful day, the view is spectacular.

I try and get a walk in or sit out in the sun a little bit everyday! Gardening is another great pastime in the summer.

Today I went to yoga class again. I'm trying to get in the habit of going regularly. But today, after I type this post, I'm going to get ready or class and sit in my garden and do some lesson planning. I teach ESL on Mondays and Wednesdays in the summer, so today is my Friday! I chose to only teach two days a week in the evenings in the summer because I want to enjoy the days and the weather outside!

How's the summer in your part of the world? Is it the best season where you live?

365 Inspirations—184: Allergy-Free Zone

It almost came to this!

"Well, you potentially could plant a lower allergy garden, but while you’re out there planting it, you will be bombarded by oak pollen, maples, grasses."— Keith Phillips

All this hot and humid weather in Seattle has caused indoor allergies to sky rocket. Humidity is breeding ground for dust mites and other critters. We don't usually have warm enough weather for it to be a problem, but we have had unusually warm weather this week.

I don't really have allergies. I know that's not the norm, but somehow I was spared the allergy gene. Before my husband came to the USA, he also believed he was a man of no allergies.

But that all changed.

Perhaps it's because his environment and country changed. I don't really know.

It all crept up on him the second year or so that we lived here. We were center managers for a meditation center in Washington State and one of  his jobs was to ride the John Deere lawn mower around the enormous property and cut the grass.

A year or so after that, he was plagued with one of the worst cases of allergies I've ever seen. He sneezed constantly for months. I thought it must be his karma coming around for all the bugs he must have squashed while mowing the grass on the John Deere.

Outdoor pollen is on the decline here, but indoor allergens are at an all time high thanks to the weather.

I will say that it gave me the opportunity to clean our bedroom and create an allergy-free zone for my husband. That was the bonus to all of this.

The room now has very little in it. We have hardwood floors, and those are ideal for people with allergies. I swept and mopped the floor, cleaned the blinds and windows, took all books and other random things out of the room, bought allergy-free mattress and pillow covers and new summer sheets.

The room now feels fresh and airy. I'm hoping Yoon will be able to sleep soundly tonight for the first time in a long time. Now I'm inspired to clean and allergy-proof the rest of the house.

Do you suffer from allergies? What do you do to overcome them? 

365 Inspirations—181: Eating Outside

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”—F. Scott Fitzgerald 

The past three days in Seattle have been HOT, HOT, HOT!

It's hard to do much when it's hot.

Granted, hot in these parts is not  really considered hot compared to other areas of the country.

Local weather right now at 10:00pm is 80 degrees. Tomorrow is supposed to be up in the 90s!

It's hot in the house because we don't have air conditioning in the Pacific Northwest. It's never usually hot enough to really have it.

I set up the table in the front garden and we've been eating outside for dinner for the past three nights. It's been so lovely.  This evening, I put a white table cloth over the table and got fancy napkins and tableware and set it all up for fine dining.

We have a fence that keeps our front garden area very private.

Tonight we had tacos with all the fixings and watermelon. It was delicious.

Do you like to eat outside in the summer where you live?