Sunday Salon, July 19

Pt. Defiance Park, Tacoma

Weather: Sunny and hot

Family Reunion: Last Sunday my daughters and I drove to Portland for a family reunion at my cousin's house. My dad and his only surviving sister were the honored guests, both are in their 80s.

My dad and his sister, Betty

The assembled family

Day Trips: This week we took in several day trips, none too far from home, just to experience a change of scenery.

• Priest Point Park in the City of Olympia. Right on the Budd Inlet, at the end of the Puget Sound, from one angle we could see the state capitol building.

  

  View of the Capitol building from Priest Point Park on Budd Inlet
• Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. We were there fairly late in the day. We saw lots of birds, muskrats, and lots of frogs.

  

  This shot actually has two frogs in it. Can you see the second set of eyeballs?

• Owen Beach at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma. We ate a picnic lunch, walked the poem promenade, and visited the rose garden.

  

  Carly and Muffy.

  
  

  

  The Vashon Island ferry

  
  

  

  I call it the poem promenade because poems like this are etched into the concrete: "A child believes daisies, teddy bears, hats. Knows why stars, like horses, gallop across the sky."

  
  

  

  One of many very beautiful roses in the Pt. Defiance Rose Garden

To Kill a Mockingbird: Our local indie theater shows a classic film once a month. This month the film just happened to be To Kill a Mockingbird starring Gregory Peck, just one day after the launch of Harper Lee's second book Go Set a Watchman.  I've never seen this movie before. We purchased our tickets on-line so we knew we would have a seat but we were so late we had to sit in the front row. At one point the film stopped, just like in the old days when films would break and needed to be spliced. It was a fun, literary experience to share with my husband and daughter.

A view of the movie from our front row position.

Whose ever heard of a cat this color? Our cat came in yesterday looking like she was a yellow and while cat. But the yellow is very bright. I suspect it is pollen. Tee-hee!

Demi, our white and now yellow spotted cat 

Books read the past two weeks:

• Dime by E.R. Frank---about teen prostitution. Very depressing. YA. Fiction.
• I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest---a mystery set in Seattle. YA Fiction.
• Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman---a boy's descent into mental illness; very enlightening. YA. Fiction. Audiobook.
• Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson---a coming-of-age story involving roller derby. Graphic novel. Junior.
• Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell---a young Japanese boy dying of ALS decides he wants to end his life with dignity like a samurai warrior. YA. Fiction.
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee--a reread. Audiobook.
• What's So Amazing about Grace by Philip Yancey---I finally finished this book I started in April for the Sunday School class I was teaching.

Currently reading:

• Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee---Need I say more?
• X: a novel by Ilyasah Shabazz and Keikla Magoon---the early and formative years of Malcolm X. Audiobook.

Scripture for the day: Matthew 5: 5, 6 (from the Sermon on the Mount)

5 "You're blessed when you're content with just who you are - no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought. 6"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat. 

Food suggestion for a hot summer day: Curried Chicken Salad Sandwiches

• Shopping list: roasted chicken in the deli section of the store; green grapes; celery; almond pieces; crunchy apple; plain yogurt; flat bread; curry.
• Directions: bone chicken and place pieces in a bowl in the refrigerator to cool; clean grapes and cut in half; chop celery and apple into pieces; make a dressing with the curry and yogurt, I use a lot of curry making it spicy; slice almonds; heat flat bread.
• Serve: everyone in my family likes/dislikes parts of the salad so I serve everything in separate bowls. Everyone makes their own mixture before loading onto flat bread.
• Yum!

Today: We will be serving lunch at the homeless day center then dining ourselves at the Food Truck Event at a park in Tacoma.  Ah. Summer.

What are you up to on these lazy days of summer?