A bright morning.

Cascadia snap peas!  -- not exactly a cash crop, but enough to feed us and our guests next weekend.

I like the slightly cloudy look of this photo.  I'd just finished a morning walk through the neighborhood and around the ravine. Coming through the back gate, this lavendar seemed to be waving at me.  Of the herbs I grow, rosemary (for remembrance) and lavendar (for sleep and for sweet dreams) are my favorites.  I never remember exactly the right time to chop the lavendar back, so it has been more time than usual for it to get this size this year.  Probably had something to do with all the snow as well.

Having finished both newspapers, I'm jumping in the shower before breakfast with Lauren -- a perfect way to start the day.  

"A picture is a poem without words." -- Horace

I took my first "time out" today, following the library foundation retreat.  I ended up in Volunteer Park.  Here, Nagouchi's magnificent "Black Sun" sculpture, for which I have one of the artist's small castings, a gift from the museum staff and trustees in 1984. 

The Seattle Asian Art Museum has both classic and contemporary pieces on view.  Above, a contemporary woodcut from the Japanese artist Seiko.

Here, a much older Japanese pot.

I tried to talk the gardeners into coming to my house after they were done planting out the museum's beds, but I think they have other work to do in Volunteer Park today.

Flats of flowers to be planted out around the museum.

One last look at "Black Sun," with the Space Needle to the west, in the distance.

I've had a great day and am looking forward to one last quiet weekend with my husband.  Feels like summer, but it's still spring -- great weather for long rides on the Harley.

"Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I shall move the world." -- Archimedes

I wanted to write a bit about Jennine's progress.  It is exactly a week since she had over 8 hours of brain surgery.   First of all, she's in a great hospital.  She and Marc told me yesterday that the Cherry Hill campus of Swedish Hospital specializes in the brain and the heart.  I think she feels she has had great care.

For those of you who have never met her, Jennine is an accountant and (like many on the team) a high achiever who expects a lot of herself.  Right now, she is dealing with a couple of setbacks that are probably very common in recovery from this type of surgery.  She can't read or watch television because she still has some double vision.  When we talked yesterday, she mentioned that she helped her mother with cross word puzzles by visualizing the puzzle.  So today I took in a CD player with some books on tape today.   I hope that listening to them brings her some relief from her own thoughts.  Her family is so supportive and present, but I'm hoping they'll enjoy the tapes as well.

I have no doubt that her progress will continue.  Ramona, her mother, is keeping up her blog every day.  You can read those updates by clicking on the pointer to the right of this entry.  The newest one posted today indicates that she may be going straight home on Saturday -- but you could still visit her tomorrow at Swedish Hospital.

Jennine and Archimedes, the great classical antiquity mathmetician, have a great deal in common.  He invented the mathematics of a lever, and that is just what she is looking for right now.

My neighborhood.

Though I usually walk at Green Lake, it's also possible to start walking right outside my door.  A few blocks to the south is our ravine, east of Cowen Park, which one can walk alongside, or down in.  Here are a few photos from the bridge.

Below are a selection of houses and gardens that I pass on my walk.

The house above is that of our next door neighbors, Diane and Roy, one of the most beautiful in our Ravenna neighborhood.

And this is the back approach to our home.   I expect to be able to spend more time in the garden in the not too distant future.

"The world belongs to the energetic." -- Emerson

Now that I have made a habit of morning pages, the next step is to add a "time out"  -- an hour or so a week for trying something new, an enjoyable adventure.  Not about self-improvement, but rather about  getting back a sense of wonder.  

We have a library foundation board retreat on Friday until mid-afternoon, so I'm going to plan this week's time out for the rest of the afternoon.  Perhaps a visit to Volunteer Park?  I haven't been in the conservatory or the museum itself in several years.   

Memorial Day 2009.

This holiday was originally called Decoration Day, to honor Civil War veterans, then later broadened to include all veterans of all wars.  From my childhood, this day meant a lot.  My father, old enough actually to be my grandfather, was a dental corps veteran of World War I.  He taught my sister and I how to march, salute, and make beds with square corners -- all of which he learned in the Army.  Each May,  the local V.F.W. sold poppies in support of disabled veterans.  And on what is now called Memorial Day, we spent time marching, just like the Marine Band below, then moved to the cemetery for a formal ceremony that honored veterans of all wars.  My father's name is inscribed on one of the military crosses there.  I have a photo that I cannot find right now of my son James, at about age four,  standing next to that cross and saluting.  Here are some wonderful Washington DC parade photos instead.

U.S. Marine band marches down Constitution Avenue.

Joint services color guard.

The Amvets float honors different groups each year, in this case the Tuskegee airmen.

I have been an antiwar activitist most of my life, but always try to take a moment to remember all those who died in service to our country on this day. The next time you run into a member of the military service, just step right up and thank them.  We take our freedoms entirely too much for granted.

"Perhaps I am stronger than I think." -- Thomas Merton

Here's a scene from last year's walk.  Penny left, Ginny center, and Jennine right.  Now you know who you are thinking good thoughts about.

From her mother's update last night:  "She was up and sitting in a chair for breakfast, lunch & dinner. About 30 to 40 minutes each time. There is a clock straight in front of her and she says the two clocks are getting closer together. So her double vision is improving."