Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Summer’s Last Hurrah – at the Washington State Fair
We spent the last day of summer at the fair – the one we used to call Puyallup – under sunshine, blue skies and temperatures climbing into the 80’s.
Rides, food, and entertainers – we enjoyed them all – without masks and without worries – just like the old days.
I walked the fairgrounds where so many memories resided – I’ve been attending the fair since I was a kid.
I used to love the rollercoaster – an old wooden, classic, with a slow, steep climb and a huge drop, where you scream as loud as you can. I rode the swings once too – though not these that climb high into the sky first.
This time we rode wild horses round and round, and I chose the prettiest to sit on, with Bob next to me (his idea to ride.)
Low risk and pretty traditional I suppose, as were my food choices. No deep fried anything. (I tried deep-fried twinkies once and was disappointed. Why chance it again?)
Instead, I chose an onion burger and washed it down with a dole whip float.
Both were good choices.
New to us this year was the music of Simon and Garfunkel, performed by these two – Forever Simon and Garfunkel . They played all the classics and played them well, including this one.
A week later summer is reluctant to go, and we are still in the 80’s.
But summer temperatures will soon be a memory, too.
Fall’s promise is here and life goes on.
~ Susanne
Goodbye Re-blog Button
After much consideration, I’ve removed the re-blog button from my blog. For reasons I can’t explain, I’ve never been comfortable seeing one of my posts on another blogger’s site.
I don’t know why, maybe it’s a control thing.
I left the PressThis button, which allows you to select a subset of content and link to a post, rather than copying it in its entirety. At least I think it does, honestly, it’s a bit mysterious.
So if you’ve reblogged my posts in the past, thank you; I’m glad you liked them enough to share them with your world. But why don’t you give ‘PressThis’ a try instead next time, so we can see how it works? Just please don’t copy an entire post to your site.
My administrator Tiger has approved this message.
You don’t want to mess with him.
Your comments are always welcome.
Thank you.
~ Susanne
Long Beach, Hot Rods, Oysterville, Cape Disappointment and Waikiki
What do these have in common? Everything! We took them all in on our recent trip to Long Beach.
No matter how many times we visit the Long Beach Peninsula on Washington’s coast, there’s always something new to discover along with the old favorites. Isn’t that the beauty of travel?
For starters, there were the classic cars cruising up and down Long Beach’s main street, while folks pulled up chairs by the side of the road to watch them go by. It was Rod Run to the end of the World, a popular event in the Northwest for vintage car enthusiasts, one we’d never heard of. Everywhere we went we saw them and gawked.
(Click on the pictures in the galleries to enlarge them.)
We made the short drive up the Peninsula to Oysterville, where homes date back to the Civil War. (Too bad we don’t eat oysters.)
We walked the boardwalk along the beach in the morning and evening,
and rode our bicycles in the afternoon on the Discovery Trail.
We’ve done that before but this time we rode all the way up to the North Head lighthouse in Cape Disappointment State Park – thank goodness for battery powered bikes. There we learned North Head is one of the windiest places in the United States. The Weather Bureau operated a station here from 1902 – 1955 transmitting storm warnings and Columbia River bar observations. There’s also a WW2 bunker where soldiers stationed at Fort Canby watched both the weather and for enemies. Who knew?
We made another discovery at Cape Disappointment later – Waikiki Beach. No not that one – this beach sits between the North Jetty and the Cape and is popular for storm watching.
Photographers come here during the wild weather, hoping to catch the giant waves crashing in front of the lighthouse. I’ve seen their pictures, they’re marvelous. I’d like to return and try that myself someday.
And no trip to Long Beach is complete without catching sunset. Or, as it turns out, moonrise.
We arrived at the beach after dinner just as the clouds rolled in. The sunset a bit disappointing –
except for the pelicans.
But as we turned to go back into town, we saw the moon rising over the dunes.
You may remember I shared a few photos in an earlier post, while still on the road.
Here’s a few more.
That’s enough of Long Beach for now. I’ll save Astoria, just across the river, for another time.
~ Susanne
Garden Flowers Up Close and Personal with the Bees
As summer wanes the flowers in my garden are looking rather spent. Still, they are full of color and attracting bees.
I sat and watched them recently as they diligently worked the remaining blossoms
Sharing with Sunday Stills, Macro.
~ Susanne
A Background in Apricot
I love all shades of yellow and orange but trying to find the color apricot for this week’s Sunday Stills has been daunting.
“Warm yellowish-orangish hue.” Well, I guess that nails it down! 😉
Here’s Benji willing the closet door to open so he can jump inside and hide a while.
But is he surrounded by shades of apricot?
Peach I know because according to Fire King the glassware in my kitchen is called Peach Lustre. Depending on the lighting they look a bit like apricot.
But the best shades of yellow and orange are found in nature, and it won’t be long until they dominate the landscape. These trees down the street dress up nicely for fall.
And I can’t wait to visit Coulon Park next month when the maples will be ablaze in shades of yellow and orange and peach.
I’m pretty sure apricot is in there somewhere.
And that will have to do.
~ Susanne
Cat Shenanigans
“Why the title, Sue?”
“You of all cats should know, Benji!”
“We missed you, Sue! That’s all.”
“It was only 3 days. When are you boys going to realize we will ALWAYS come back!”
“You can’t be too sure, Sue. I have abandonment issues from kittenhood. You know that. “
“Me too, Sue.”
“Yes, Tiger, I know. But after all these years, you’d think you boys could handle a few days without all the shenanigans.”
“What shenanigans?”
“Surely you remember our first night back, Tiger. All your wanderings and whining!
“Sorry, Sue.”
“And you, Benji! Bringing a LIVE critter into the house? I’ll have to check more carefully before I let you in!”
“It was a gift, Sue!”
“Thank you, but I can do without those kinds of gifts.”
“Sorry, Sue. I promise to do better next time. Anyway, we’re glad you’re back.”
“Me too, Benji. And just so you know. I miss you both when we’re gone. I’m done ranting. You can go back to sleep now.”
~ Susanne, Tiger & Benji
Sunset over Astoria
In my last post I shared with you an unexpected moonrise over Long Beach – in fact I posted it while still on the road. Sometimes pictures burn a hole in my pocket and demand to be shared sooner than later. 😉
The next night there was an amazing sunset in Astoria, the historic town across the Columbia River in Oregon.
By then we’d heard about the wildfires in eastern Washington, and the wind finally brought the smoke to the coast.
It was otherworldly.
I’m home now, looking out my office window. The sky is dark – pink, orange and red, with terrible beauty due to terrible wildfires.
Hoping the rain comes soon to extinguish the fires and clear the air.
~ Susanne
Moonrise over Long Beach
A few days getaway to Long Beach.
After dinner we went to watch the sunset over the beach. Just as we were arriving we saw the clouds roll in. Nice, but not a great sunset.
Then I turned and saw the moonrise over the sand dunes and was not disappointed.
– Susanne
Staycation or Vacation? Yes, Please!
This week’s Sunday Stills Challenge explores the topic, so I thought I’d jump in with some vacation and staycation pictures taken during the Covid era.
I’ll start with Oahu where we vacationed in February of 2020.
Little did we know a month later the world would shut down – remember that?
We’re going again next month, and the pictures remind me why. Nothing says vacation like Hawaii!
In between these Oahu bookends we’ve done many staycations out of necessity.
It was March of 2020, and we weren’t even sure we were ‘allowed’ to go out.
Those days were strange, we were in lockdown and our city parks were closed. But Kanaskat-Palmer State Park was off the beaten path, so we took our chances and headed out for a walk in the woods on the Green River.
Can you say refreshing? It was so soothing to the soul! We continued traipsing in the woods close to home throughout 2020 and beyond.
Until the world began to open up again – slowly at first – and vacations resumed of the road trip variety. Vaccinated and safe in our car, we headed down the coast to San Francisco in the spring of 2021, then to Los Angeles the spring of 2022.
We like to revisit our favorite places and that includes the national parks. There was a road trip to Yellowstone last fall for the 7th time and I hope there’s an 8th.
There were trips to Olympic National Park closer to home
and Mt. Rainier even closer.
I could go on and on but I better stop here.
So which is better? Staycations or vacations?
You decide.
But I like both.
~ Susanne
September Kismet and School Daze
September is my favorite month, the blending of summer and fall, a time of beginnings and endings.
It reminds me of those early days of grade school – seven years to be exact – spent at Frank B. Cooper School.
The building is still there in West Seattle, standing strong and proud as the last century, more than a hundred years old.
We used the overpass to get there – up and around and twisty across the busy street – helped by students on patrol.
Inside were sights and sounds and colors and smells of times ago, the pictures below from decades later after the school became an art center.
Still, it hadn’t changed to me.
The stairs were scuffed and worn and carried me back in a school daze to 4th grade. There Miss Warner greeted me, her face and hair and dress all gold, her short hair tightly coiled. Her heels were black and upright – just like the piano she played – the music that encouraged me forever.
Yesterday I planted flowers, Kismet Orange Coneflowers, the color of the sixties like those golden school days. Intense and bright and fabulous.
Kismet means fate or destiny – meant to be – lot or portion.
I think I believe it.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 