little black journal

It feels good to be back in Seattle, but I am more and more coming to appreciate the small-town charms and natural beauty of rural Minnesota.  There are so many things that set it apart from city living.  For example, you don’t see signs like this at the sporting goods store in downtown Seattle:

Seriously, though, small-town living does have its charm.  It was strange to go to the mall with Shane’s mom and sister and see them run into at least 10 people that they knew.  It’s very rare that Shane and I run into people we know downtown, and never do we run into anyone that we’ve known for the last 20 years.  Traffic seems non-existent, people are friendly, and there is something very sustainable about filling your freezer with the fruits of your hunting and fishing expeditions (although I don’t think I’ll ever be much of a hunter, I can appreciate this form of “living off the land”).  And the scenery is beautiful.  The golden fields of corn and wheat are lovely in their sparseness, and it seems you can’t drive more than a mile without coming across a lake.  I loved hopping in the car with Shane and going for destination-less drives, just enjoying the countryside.

I’d say my heart still belongs to the city, but this is a perfect place to get away, relax, and enjoy time with family.

Saturday night I tore myself away from my study materials (sweet relief!) and Shane and I headed over to Capitol Hill to enjoy an evening of live music.  We bought tickets a few weeks ago for the “Hotel Cafe Tour” solely because we are both big fans of Rachel Yamagata, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that the four other artists on tour with her were extremely (though not equally) talented.  Meiko opened the show and was charming and beautiful, with her incredibly sweet voice.  She makes strumming the guitar look deceivingly effortless.  Emily Wells has this very cool hip-hop/violin/live-mixing-chamber thing going on.  With the use of a recorder and some fancy equipment, she layers her vocals over her violin over a deep hip-hop beat to create this fascinating “one person symphony”.  I was entranced.  Lenka was good, though quite bubbly, and possibly a little too Feist-like.  I like Feist, but I also like originality.  Thao Nguyen was so much fun to watch, with the way she bopped around stage with her guitar.  She reminded me a little of Bjork, but still had her own thing gong on.  She’s one of those singers that can “scream” and still make it sound musical.  And then there was Rachel Yamagata.  This woman blows me away.  She can sit at a piano and woo you with her deep, bluesy voice, and then stand up and rock out on her guitar like the bad-ass that she is.  All in all, a very good show.  And it was nice to see something in a small venue like Chop Suey – we weren’t more than 15 feet from the stage.  The performer-audience interaction that comes with such a small space adds a lot to the experience.

All of that said, I have a confession: I am not perfectly cut out for this whole hip live music scene.  After two hours of standing in the middle of the crowd on the beer-splashed concrete floor, my feet began to hurt, my back began to ache, and I became increasingly irritated by all of the concert-goers around me.  I was annoyed by the guy standing next to me who keep swaying to the music and bumping into my shoulder.  This dude in front of me with the biggest hair ever kept blocking my view of the stage.  I started to wish that I’d worn shoes that were more orthopedically supportive, rather than my cute little ballet flats.  And I was hot, desperately wanting some fresh air, but not wanting to give up my spot so close to the stage.  Tiredness set in around 11:30, and I was trying to hide the fact that I couldn’t help yawning every 10 minutes.  Is it possible that at the young age of 27, I have become so un-hip that I can’t thoroughly enjoy a two and a half-hour set?  Are Shane and I resigned to a lifetime of spending Saturday nights at home, eating ice cream in our pj’s?  Hopefully not (though I do love our weekend pajama parties…).  I’ll pretend I’m cool for at least another couple of years.

I know my blog has been kind of “foliage-focused” lately, but I can’t help myself – I am absolutely obsessed with the colors of the fall this year.  This morning, I noticed the large number of leaves littering the sidewalks and lawns and realized that this weekend might be one of my last chances to capture this autumn season in all its glory.  So despite the drizzle, I grabbed my camera and headed out to the Japanese garden in the arboretum (thank you, Jon and La Verne, for the inspiration!).

Proof that these leaves won’t be around much longer…

I’m afraid I was already a little too late in certain instances…

Is it really possible that December is just around the corner?  This shot sure makes Seattle look “wintry”…

p.s.  Special thanks to Shane for the super-awesome lens that he bought me for my camera last month.  It’s serving me well!

Already chipping away at number #9 on my “27 before 28” list – today was the 5k Pumpkin Push run at Seward Park.  When Shane told me last weekend that he wanted to run in it, my reaction was, “Have fun with that.  I’ll hang out at the finish line and sip a latte while you run your butt off.”  But somehow I ended up enrolling in the race as well, with only enough time to do a couple of very last-minute training runs.  And although there was a point this morning about 2/3 into the race when I seriously considered stepping aside, laying down on the grass, and calling it a day, I did indeed finish.  And I wasn’t last.  What a relief.  I’m so glad I let Shane talk me into participating.  The weather today was fantastic, and it was fun to be a part of the excited buzz that flowed among the runners as we lined up at the starting line.  I loved the course (I believe I have mentioned before how lucky I feel to live just a couple of miles from Seward Park), with the exception of the hilly detour that occurred somewhere around kilometer 3.  The perimeter of the park is flat, but this run took us up a hill into the center of the park and back down again.  I was doing pretty well for the first couple of miles, and then I hit that hill and instantly felt like 30-pound weights had been strapped to each of my ankles.  Man, I was dragging.  It was painful.  But I pushed through it, despite the overwhelming desire to walk, or stop altogether.  And once I got down the hill, I found that I had just enough energy left to sprint to the finish line.  Mission completed.  Sweet victory!

Fall is in full swing here, with all its wonderfully saturated shades of yellow, red, orange, and copper.  And to top it all off, the sun shone nearly all weekend!  A twenty-minute stroll through the neighborhood and I was reminded of God’s brilliant creativity – so many hues, pigments, and textures.  Yum.

Today was a Great day, with a capital G.  We had a leisurely morning, worked in the yard a little, and then headed out to North Bend (about 30 miles east of Seattle) to check out a pumpkin patch I’d read about on-line.  I am embarassingly nostalgic and have tried again and again since Shane and I have been married to instate new “Schnell family annual traditions” – activities we’ll continue to enjoy for decades to come.  In rare instances (ok, make that instance, singular), my idea has seemed to stick – we head to a tree farm east of here every December to pick out and cut down our own Christmas tree.  Today’s visit to the pumpkin patch was another attempt at beginning a new tradition, and after just a couple of hours out at the base of Mount Si, I can tell you that we won’t be letting another fall go by without a trip out here.  I can only pray that we’ll have weekend weather like this during Octobers to come.  So fantastically beautiful…

My little punkin’ head…

Our wagon full of loot – we came in search of just one single pumpkin to put on our front porch, but walked away with five.  I knew I had a weakness for cute shoes and good chocolate, but now apparently I have one for perfectly shaped pumpkins as well.

And a trip out to the country just wouldn’t be complete without a pasture full of cows… There is something so serene about this shot.

And so, I have moved on from mourning the passage of summer – fall is looking pretty spectacular right about now.  And we’ve discovered the perfect way to celebrate the beginning of autumn.  I realize that this single visit to the pumpkin patch doesn’t quite deserve “tradition” status, but I’m hopeful that this is a place we’ll enjoy going to for years to come.  Stay tuned for fall rituals, part II: “Shane carves a jack-o-lantern”.  Should be good.

Shane and I have been talking about a getaway over to Eastern Washington’s wine country for awhile now, so when Jack and LaVerne invited us to head over to Walla Walla with them for the weekend, I thought, “Good wine?  Fantastic weather?  Time with good friends?  Yes, Please!”  And we were off…

Our first stop on Saturday was at Hightower Cellars in Red Mountain.  The wines there were good, but I found myself particularly taken with this wall constructed out of planks cut from old barrels.  Very cool.

From Red Mountain, we headed farther east and made a stop at L’Ecole No. 41.  This was a very cool spot – the tasting facility was set in an old schoolhouse.  Very charming.  Again I found myself spending more time looking at the building than actually tasting the wines, but that would soon change.  My palette had only been teased at this point, although we were certainly on our way to having an absolutely fantastic day.  Look at those smiles…

After L’Ecole, we headed farther east to an area just south of Walla Walla.  This was where we really started getting into the good stuff.  We popped into a tiny little winery called a’Maurice and I tasted a Viognier that made my eyes get wide and my taste buds go, “Wow!”  K Vintners had a Syrah I really enjoyed and a farmhouse that Shane and I are hoping to retire in one day.  And Waters Winery had a Cab that I will probably dream about next time we are craving a good glass of wine on a chilly Seattle evening.  We hit a lot of wineries and tasted a lot of wine that day (I believe the final tally was 30 pours!), but we somehow still managed to take things slow and soak in the beautiful scenery and warm Walla Walla sunshine.

The fruit on the vines was full and plump and ripe for the picking.  Many of the vineyards were just beginning their crush.  I was glad we were able to see the vines while many of them still held grapes – a vineyard just doesn’t quite seem like a vineyard without these purply clusters.

We kicked off Sunday with a trip to the Walla Walla farmer’s market.  The market was small, but was stocked with some fantastic deals on produce.  We walked away with a heavy sack of plums for $3, and Jack and LaVerne purchased several pounds of tomatoes for just a couple of dollars.  Walla Walla has such a small-town feel to it – quiet, quaint, and full of very friendly people.  The real charm of the town really shone through when the old, slightly overweight Elvis impersonator jumped onto the small market stage and begain his round of Elvis tunes adn 11 a.m.  No one batted an eyelash, as if this were perfectly typical town entertainment.  I have to say, the guy wasn’t half-bad.  And his bright blue, bell-bottomed jumpsuit was an impressive fashion statement.

We hit three more wineries that day, concluding our whirlwind trip with a tour of Col Solare Vineyards in Red Mountain.  We got the insider’s scoop and were able to check out the wine tanks, the cellar, and stroll among the vines.  The view from the winery’s terrace was stunning, and the sun that hit us as we stood there was so wonderfully intense.  I was reminded of California for a moment.

This was such a perfect little weekend jaunt.  I definitely have some work to do on my palette – I don’t feel like I can pick up the subleties of what makes a certain wine really special – but if practice makes perfect, I’m willing to do my homework on this one…

I have been getting a good dose of the arts lately – orchestra concert last week, Phantom of the Opera this week, and plans to enjoy Seattle’s art walk/gallery night next week.  I do love living in the city…

The orchestra concert was fantastic.  Shane has been developing a taste for classical music, being the sophisticated man that he is, so when our friend La Verne informed us that she would be playing with Orchestra Seattle downtown one evening, we jumped at the chance to attend.  The “headliner” was a Chinese violinist who totally blew me away.  In an instant, he could go from touching the strings with such perfect, light gentleness to playing them with a force that was almost violent with power and emotion.  I enjoyed the music so much that I was nearly inspired to go home and pull out the flute I’ve neglected for the last 12 years.  But I thought about it some more and chose not to attempt to relive my junior high band days – those were rather dark times for me…  I’ll leave the music-making to the people with talent.

Last night was “Phantom” night.  Emily and I headed over the Paramount for some good musical drama while our husbands headed over to Safeco for a baseball game.  And I have to say, those guys missed out.  What a show!  The staging was absolutely incredible.  Falling chandeliers; extravagant costumes; a candle-lit, smoke-filled scene to replicate the Phantom’s eerie underworld…  This was a top-notch production, no holds barred.  And I was so impressed by the caliber of the singing.  The woman who starred as Christine Daae hit notes that made my ears ring (in a good way).  The only drawback was that the sung dialogue was a bit hard to decipher at times, but the emotions behind each scene were so evident that it was easy enough to follow the plot.  I do say, I should try to make it to the theatre more often.  Rather.

And next week is gallery night, which should round out the art appreciation kick that I’m on.  Good, good stuff happening in Seattle these days.

Shane and I returned this afternoon from a weekend down at my parents’ house in LaPine, Oregon (25 miles south of Bend), and though the 6-hour drive was long, the trip was well worth it.  Some of our best times down there are when we just hang around the house – Shane and my dad will engage in a die-hard ping-pong match while my mom and I contentedly knit together on the couch – but it’s also fun to get out and do some exploring.  Friday was nature day, as we drove over to Falls River and did some wandering along the riverbank.  I snapped photos, Shane skipped rocks, and we all did what we could to soak in every last drop of the quickly-vanishing summer.

Saturday we sacrificed a walk in the woods for a stroll through the posh streets of Bend.  I am becoming quite taken with this town: lots of wonderful little cafes and restaurants, a beautiful park that borders the Deschutes River, and several of those want-inducing, but all-too-expensive, trendy boutiques.  We spent some time wine-tasting at a cozy Italian restaurant and then walked through the park along the water, stopping to admire the beautiful homes that border the river.  I have a feeling that Bend will be even bigger next time we visit – hopefully it continues to climb the cool-factor charts as well…

Last night we enjoyed a quiet evening at the house, reading, knitting, ping-ponging.  I convinced my dad to build a fire in the wood-burning stove (whether or not it was really cold enough for a fire was debatable, but he humored me nonetheless), and I found such pleasure in just lounging around with my family.

It was hard to leave after only two days there, but such is the life of a working couple, I suppose…

Today could not have been more beautiful.  We knew that we had to take advantage that of the last bits warm sunshine that summer is bestowing upon us, and so we rented a canoe and spent the afternoon paddling around Lake Washington.  We weaved our way back into the arboretum and found ourselves in a wonderfully green, perfectly serene, little corner of the world.  There was a point when Shane turned back and said to me, “Don’t you feel like we’re in Lord of the Rings?”  Yes, I did!  The beauty of it all was almost surreal.  On days like this, my love for Seattle is so strongly reaffirmed.  Lovely.