Week before last, it snowed again. We're just not set up for that here in the Seattle Area. We're used to rain, cold, and a little wind, but not all this snow! Slipping and sliding added to our already-terrible traffic insanity, so you don't leave your house unless you have to, and sometimes not even then. Some people at work took 6 hours to go 15 miles. Many just abandoned their cars by the side of the raod when they ran out of gas from idling in traffic, and hoofed it. Fortunately I can work from home for a few days, but Marjorie can't. Christina has missed so many shcool days she'll have a school break for the Fourth of July!

 

So she and Marjorie decided to turn her room into a castle. Marjorie masked off lines to make blocks on the wall and we all painted the texture using a few bathroom scrubbers, and Christina painted some candle sconces to look like hammered brass. Marjorie cut up some stained-glass appliques and applied them to the window, and we replaced the closet doors with cahin-mail. We'll see later how all this turns out. I'll be sure and post the pictures.

 

With all that work, we took a break, and made a snowman. Don't laugh, we are Florida folks after all, so if he's a little wilted and dressed funny, so be it.

 

The snow finally stopped, and we got our normal rainfalls erasing all trace of any of the white stuff. This weekend the Olympic Sculpture Park opened to the public. We had a blast, after of course stopping at Post Alley for a quick shot of SBC (Seattle's Best Coffee), with a shot of espresso (called a"shot in the dark"). Thus fortified, we joined in the opening day festivities of music, speeches and merry-making. It's a pretty cool park - they have a tree there that's life-size, and made of stainless steel. Right now you have to look hard to see it, but in the summer it will really stick out because it has no leaves.

 

On the way out we found another Sushi-land, which is Christina's favorite. It's a huge restaraunt where the sushi comes by on a conveyer belt. I think all food should be like that.

We're in for another big winter storm this evening, so we decided to take an indoor trip this weekend. We drove down to the Kent Street Station. It's a revitalized town center, a train station, and a large bus stop. Christina and I enjoy the amazing extremely dark mocha latte at the Dilettante Mocha & Espresso Cafe. From there we jumped on a bus, and Christina read a book and drank her latte like she's been here all her life.After an Indian lunch in Seattle, we headed north to Volunteer Park. There are several interesting things at the park, including the Seattle Asian Art Museum, a historic water tower, and an arboretum.

 

I loved the Museum, primarily for its architecture. It's done in the Art Deco style, which is one of my favorites. They also had a set of exhibits by Vik Muniz. He's an artist that takes photos of designs he's created out of other items. It's hard to describe, but bascially he takes things (sometimes big, sometimes small) and arranges them such that when you look at them in the photo, they look like a painting of a place or person. For instance, he arranged a bunch of things from a juunkyard, including typewriters and bails of wire, to make it look like an ancient Japanese painting of a woman. The photos are huge, so when you stand far away it looks like a beautiful painting, but when you stand up close it just looks like a bunch of parts. He did some in chocolate sauce, another in peanut butter and the one next to it in jelly, and yet another out of the little circles that are left when you use a hole punch in paper. It was pretty amazing. You can click here to see some examples. Make sure you look at the bottom pictures and then click on them to see the way they are put together.