It's only fun if you don't have to live there

I was taking a walk after lunch along the waterfront, when I came across this old tree house. It was tucked in the back of a junkyard, next to the studio I was working in.

Aside from it's deeply forboding appearance, it made me wonder what it would be like to have to sleep in a makeshift house, high up in the three.

Would the wind blow through at night, sending in the rain along every crack in every board? Is there a sense of safety, perched above the rest of the world? Is it possible to be comfortable, when your world is reduced to the few scraps you can pull together to shelter yourself from the cold?

As a kid, I always wanted a tree house. Now, seeing this, I have to think twice.

You are so beautiful.....To me.....

To Jesi and Mark:

You may not know it, but your generosity tonight was very important to Suzette and I. We all know the economy is bad, but lately it has been very bad for both of us. Our chances of going out and seeing our friends have been few and far between.

Because of your generosity, you gave us a night out without worry. What an amazing gift that is.

Thank you both so much.

All our love,

- Zech and Suzette

Our Tax Dollars At Work

I wasn't sure what was happening when I heard the groan of a cherry-picker outside my bedroom window at 8:30 am. I certainly didn't expect to see a rough-and-ready young man in red shirt and suspenders changing our old street lights for new energy-efficient LED lights.

But there he was. They say the new lights will use 35% of the electricity of the old lights. Which I hope is true.

However it works out, it was an up-close and personal look at one of the people who keeps us warm and visible.

Viva electricidad!

There's you, there's me. Let's do this thing!

Hats off to Jesi and Marc!

I've known both of you longer than you've ve been together, and yet I am still proud as punch that you managed to hook up.

May you always listen to each other. May you cook when the other is tired. May you always find a new way to entertain the other, even when that entertainment consistests of the somebody trying to limbo just a little bit lower......

But mostly: My you always be in love.

Signs of the Season - Part 2

The wind comes off the waterfront like a dark knife, cutting even deeper through our clothes than the rain. While the big ships grind their way through Elliot Bay, the rest of us pull inward, hiding from the elements.

We know the cold. We know the wind, the relentless gray. We know the mist that drags the sky down to the ground, until it sits over us as a funeral cowl.

Wind, rain, sleet, fog: These are the things that define fall in the northwest.