After a few weeks on flat land, we got an itch & so drove up to some mountains on Sunday. Without much time or planning, we settled on Little Si, the cute little mountain next to Mount Si, just thirty or so miles outside of Seattle.
Pretty warm out, so we were happy to see that most of the trail was shaded.
Though of course the views at the top were nice too. That's Mount Si there in the background.
In other news, I've been working on this Aristotle project... Some two thousand years before Darwin, Aristotle wrote about something that sounds an awful lot like natural selection. (It's the second paragraph of Part 8, if you follow that link. Sorry that I can't find a way to jump right to that section...)
Of course, he goes on to reject the view, but still!
Been trying to have some fun with the research process (not that it's not already fun, but you know). Last week I ended up going to the library to look at some books on Aristotle, photographing the important parts with my phone, and then reading them on the iPad: Speaking of, better get back to it. Cheers!
Let's see... first of all, we saw a great concert the other day. Heard a live in-studio performance on KEXP, and learned that the Mynabirds where performing that same night...
So we went. I took a video with my phone. It's not great quality, but in case you're interested:
And our weekend? Well, I'm teaching my Knowledge & Beauty freshman seminar again at Seattle U in the fall, and I've been looking for a new art/beauty-related field trip... Thought maybe a Japanese garden would provide interesting contrast with all the Plato and whatnot.
So we did some scouting, first at the Kubota Garden way down south in Rainier Beach (also pictured above).
Fun spot, but 50 minutes is a long time to spend on a bus...
One nice feature (actually pictured back behind that turtle) is the Shoseian teahouse. They offer brief tea ceremonies/demonstrations. We tried it out the other day: very nice.
That reminds me: I was supposed to email the woman in charge of the tea demonstrations about my class... better run! Cheers, reader!
Oh, one last note: tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of this blog! Thanks for reading!
As you might have seen on Twitter, we spent Emily's birthday out at the Chateau Ste Michelle winery. It's really nice there--and the tour is free, as are the tour tastings! They also sell picnic-y foods, and have lovely grounds for picnicking...
We even saw this bird. So, you know, that was cool.
Did I get a flat tire? Yes, but at least that was after we'd safely completed the 22-mile ride to the winery. Did we have to walk a mile in the hot sun to find a bus stop to get home? Again, yes, but fortunately we didn't know any of that when we were enjoying the food and wine.
Turns out, though, that Emily isn't the only one with a July 10th birthday. Congratulations to Ismail & Kari on the birth of their daughter! Willa Lucia Pekin
In bonus celebration coverage, I recently discovered that Deron & Haley had an online set of engagement photos. Not bad. There seems to one preview shot from the wedding up (scroll down a bit after jump)... Hopefully more will be up soon!
Finally, here's some random video fun I heard about on a Times blog the other day. Enjoy:
Had a great time seeing everyone & celebrating Deron and Haley's wedding last week.
We stayed at the wonderful Halcyon House Bed & Breakfast. Amazing rates, good food, great location. And fun mirrors in the bathroom:
Had a nice (though much too hot!) walk around campus at KU. Everything seemed to be in order, though there was a new, temporary art installation up: It's called the Bedazzler, and is made up of saplings from local trees wrapped around a dying elm tree on campus. I'd never heard of the artist, Patrick Dougherty, but I really like this piece.
The Topeka Capital-Journal write-up touches on one aspect of the piece that I found especially compelling: The wood sculpture has “one great year” before decomposition sets in, Dougherty said. When it is no longer bedazzling, the work will be removed and recycled. “The line between trash and treasure is thin,” Dougherty said.
Very cool.
In other news, I got a new KU hat to go with my new Brazil jersey. Neither team quite lived up to its potential this year, but at least I look nice...
Hey, speaking of looking nice, weren't we here to talk about Haley and Deron? Rehearsal footage:
Even more fun than the rehearsal was the dinner. The Lee's hosted a great party at The Top of the Tower in Topeka. The other windows boast views of the state capital, but I kind of like this view of the Kansas River valley, which Clay also appears to be enjoying.
A little enjoyable downtime the night before the big event:
And then, as we watched the USA's exciting-if-ultimately-frustrating loss to Ghana in the back room at the church (yay technology!), final touches were applied.
Emily was there to help pin flowers, looking great in her new dress:
The stage is set:
I don't have much from the ceremony itself, but Emily got a pretty nice video of the recessional:
Deron and Haley hosted a very nice reception at the Kansas State Historical Society. And they looked very nice dancing together there:
I was a little slow to hit "record," but I captured a fair amount of Chris' toast. Good stuff:
And there you have it. There are a few more photos in a set on Flickr; if I happen across any more, I'll let you know.
