Tuesday, September 16, 2008

BarcaRock

My wife and I managed to get away for a weekend just before our dog Bailey had major surgery (see below), and it was wonderful. A simple overnight at Lake Boardman, a very pretty Alpine lake in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest about 30 miles from Granite Falls, WA. That was, until the worst campers in the world (that would be Suzette and I) decided we wanted to visit Island Lake. On the map it's just a short .8 miles from Lake Boardman, and all you have to do is follow an outlet stream.

Right....

It turns out that Lake Boardman is ringing by dense forest and steep and slippery granite slabs that plunge 90-degrees, straight down into the lake. But not before slicing you ankle to knee on their knife-blade craigs on the way down. There is no easy way to Island Lake from there.

Gotta love nature.


After half an hour of Lewis-and-Clark-meets-Laurel-and-Hardy-tramping-through-the-woods, we found a beautiful clearing at the base of an old rock slide and made camp.

I tell you, those hours spent climbing around and over the scree, watching the hawks dive for fish, were just the thing I needed. We all know it: There's something very special about being away from everything. The farther away we get, the more profound the experience.

And we managed to find BarcaRock, the most comfortable rock in the world.

Is there anything sadder...

Is there anything sadder than a dog in a vet's cone? I think not.

Our Bailey had a couple big lumps removed*, and now she looks like this.

I really feel for her. It must suck, having this plastic Elizabethan collar banging you in the ears every time you turn your head.

"Hey, is that food?" -Whump!- "Dammit! I hate this thing!"

I don't blame you, Bailey. And if it's any consolation, we hate it, too.

* There were two fatty lumps removed. One on her left chest, which you can see in the picture. That one created an incision about two and a half inches long. The other lump, on her rear right leg, was about five inches long, and looked like Igor had lifted a few steins before picking up the scalpel. (If you really, really want to know, click here. Don't say we didn't warn you.) The wounds are healing up nicely, but we're waiting to hear the path report on on the lumps.


Monday, September 1, 2008

When it rains.....

No, this isn't another grouch-fest about Seattle's weather. If you must know, the weather sucks, and I'm getting tired of all the grey, blah, blah, blah. It's Seattle. What do you expect?

Actually, this is the one blog post I'll probably ever write where I outright brag. You see, this is me celebrating my first double-issue month. I've got photos published in the September issues of both Seattle Magazine and Seattle Metropolitan Magazines, which is awfully cool.

I'm supposed to be happy that, just one year out of school, I get a month like this. Don't get me wrong. I am. But I'm more aware than ever of the commitment, the energy and the creative drive it will require to make the push to the next level. You know what does make me happy? The fact that I know, really, deep-down know, that I have that commitment. I have that energy. I have that creative drive. And what's more, I have the mad skills to pull it off.

Maybe when I have a three magazine month I'll extol my (limited) virtues again. Until then, can you believe that it feels like February out there? Did I miss it? Where was summer? Hello? Is this thing on?