Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as long as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

-Robert Frost

The sun is setting on my time in Seattle. I have a hair under two weeks to go but it was my last weekend with my Norweigian seester, Whitney and so I'm feeling it. She hosted her annual Croquet party, but mother nature would have it otherwise. Summer has left and the rain has come, en force. So reluctantly the good people of the party put down the mallets and piled into the kitchen and drank margaritas while sampling Seattle, Chicago and Chili dogs.

The end of my Seattle stay is giving me a sense of urgency. I'm cramming together 5 shows in two weeks. It kicked off with my boys, Okkervil River at the Showbox Theater. Okkervil River may be the consummate rock band. Lead singer Will Sheff is an artist who has been able to harness a talent and bring it into full realization under the right set of circumstances. I am haunted, inexplicably drawn to them, over and over again.

The Showbox in Seattle is like the big brother to Chicago's historic Green Mill - Art Deco on a grander scale.

a fuzzy Will Sheff of Okkervil River

The mexican tatoo and hot dog graphics, the many talents of Whitney

No Country for Small Purses

My rooms Whitney has a term "small purse people". These are women who have itty bitty hand held purses. She does not understand them, does not understand how women value purses as an accessory. On a broader level, one may infer from this a specific type of lifestyle one chooses. While I do own a few small delightful purses, hopefully I don't fall into this dubious category of friends. That said, we headed out to Orcas Island (of the San Juan Islands) for a hike up Mt Constitution and some camping. Small purses were no where to be found, but our campground was littered with douchebags and VW Vanagons which added some unwelcomed and awesome spice, respectively.

Islands in Puget Sound or tops of baseballs caps?

Mt. Baker

Proper hydration technique

Views from atop Mt Constitution

Attending church on a Sunday morning

Cascade Falls

Give it up for spontaneity - getting under the falls

Steam rising from the intern's body

Enumclaw. Puyallup. Tulalip. Geoducks. Suburus.

This place is growing on me

Weekend Warrior

Squeezing out the last bit of summer

M3 Summit

This was a rare sighting of the evasive Alaskan Murphy and my precious time with her had to be shared. Fortunately it was good company and many drinks and laughs were had.

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Scenes from a Saturday in Seattle

Breakfast at Easy Street Records...

...both a record store and diner. BRILLIANT!

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Seattle Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park

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Hiking with the Eastside kids to Goat Lake, WA

Tossed in the back of the truck, Charlie and I are designated steerage.

5 mile hike to Goat Lake, WA in the North Cascades region

A PA, 2 MDs, an MA and an RD

Pooped

Boston Revisited

Dan and Cindy's Wedding

If someone bet me when I moved away from Boston in 2005 that in three years a beautiful park would lie above a submerged highway where people can enter and exit the North End without fear, and the Celtics would be the NBA Champs in a place called the Garden, I would have called you plain crazy. But alas, dreams do come true, and glory has been restored to this crotchety old town. I couldn't recall street names and the Boston accent sounded again strange to me. These changes in me and the city were a reminder of how time moves on. Reuniting with my old buddies for Cindy and Dan's wedding, however, proved to me that some things thankfully stay the same.

The idiots reunite for a weekend of debauchery

Give me a blonde wig and call me a material girl