Reflections along Lake Washington

LAZY MORNING: This morning got off to a slow start. The kids had their agenda (doing no "school" work) and I had mine - sanding drywall in the upstairs bathroom. We all accomplished our missions. ;) In the photo above, they are bonding over a Nintendo DS game. Before that, they were actually reading a magazine together. OK, OK, so it was a magazine about the history of Mario in Nintendo games, but hey, they were reading! (I recall hearing more than one 'expert' say as long as kids are reading something it's a good thing.)

DONNING THE CAPE: Since they'd spent much of the morning battling foes, I decided that for some writing practice I'd have them complete the following sentence: "If I were a superhero, I would ..."

I asked them to write three sentences apiece, paying attention to capitalization and punctuation. At one point I ventured upstairs to check on something. As I descended the stairs, I heard one of them hiss at the other, "Hurry, get in our seats!" (Not sure whom it was - their voices are remarkably similar when in a panic.)

Without much haranguing, Annabelle wrote, "If I were a superhero I would look like a cheetah and I can run really fast! And I have super powers. I could run so fast I could pick up something when I was running." She drew a figure wearing a mask, a spotted body suit and with pointy ears.

In fits and starts, CJ wrote, 'If I were a super hero, I would look like a tiger. My spelxl (special) powers ware running. This is what my super hero would look like." And he drew a picture of what appears to be a stick man suffering from an allergic reaction, causing his limbs to swell. ... :)

THE SCENIC ROUTE: Tuesday is yoga day and I decided that we'd leave early. Like TWO HOURS early. Instead of heading through Sodo and along Beacon Hill, I wanted to take a very scenic route. We headed as far south as the stadiums, but then we cut a couple blocks back northward before heading eastward on Jackson. While in the heart of old town, I pointed out the huge clock tower on the King Street (Amtrak) station. I asked both kids if they knew the name of the building and without missing a beat they chimed in stereo, "Big Ben!!!" Um, not quite. I also pointed out the Smith Tower, which was the tallest skyscraper in Seattle for many a year.

We drove eastbound and before too long found ourselves closing in on enormous Lake Washington and the Leschi neighborhood. We quickly spied Leschi Park, named after Chief Leschi of the Nisqually tribe. There was no playground, but the kids enjoyed playing beneath a gigantic Sequoia tree - a tree with a history. It was planted by Seattle's Johnny Appleseed of sequoias, Jacob Umlauff. The German born Umlauff was originally hired by the Seattle Railway Company as the neighborhood's chief gardener. His specialty was planting sequoia trees in the park and around the surrounding hillsides. Umlauff eventually became Seattle Parks Superintendent.

It took the kids 34-steps to make their way around the trunk of the tree!

We headed north along the lake for a couple of miles, noticing that much of the lake shore was public land/parks. Eventually we ran into a neighborhood of stately homes. There, we found
Viretta Park, a 1.8-acre parcel in the Denny-Blaine neighborhood. It's named after the wife of Charles Denny (yes, the Denny of Denny Way fame). With just two park benches and no view to speak of, it's unremarkable as some parks go but it draws people from around the world. Why? Because it's adjacent to the house where Kurt Cobain lived - and died, 16 years ago this week. So Nirvana fans flock to the park and cover its benches with messages. I suppose this would be considered graffiti in any other Seattle park, but here, it's tolerated. In fact, each bench had a brand new Magic Marker sitting on it, begging you to pick it up and use it. (And yes, I did.)

After looking at "Kurt's" park and house, we headed southbound, along the lake, toward yoga and Columbia City. I have to admit, I was astounded all along the way. We traveled several miles and it sure seemed like the vast majority of the lakefront was a public park, pathway or docks. What a debt we owe to the city forefathers who had the foresight to keep these properties open for all to enjoy. Way too often in communities, the waterfront is for the few, the privileged. In Seattle, so much of it has been preserved for all to enjoy.
YOGA INVASION: Today there were lots of unfamiliar faces at yoga. It's a drop in class so you're never quite sure who will be there. It was a different group of parents than usual, for sure, the usual being more "earthy" types. Today, there was a glut of parents with 3-year-olds in French immersion preschool. I could relay sooo much more, but I'm just going to leave it at that.

A**HOLE OVERHEARD: We went to McMenamin's in Fremont tonight for a cheap (happy hour) dinner. Dining nearby was a large group - about 12 to 14 in total. Toward the end of our dinner, one of the group said very loudly, "I'm a teacher. I know who knows how to learn and who doesn't."

Christian and I immediately looked at each other and checked to see if we'd each heard the same thing. Yup. And we both immediately jumped to the same conclusion. That being, "What a friggin JERK!" And to that I'd like to add, he's a baaaad teacher. I won't dispute the fact that maybe the students in his class can't all learn from him, but I'd like to suggest that it's because he only knows - or cares - how to teach one type of learner. I wonder how many students he's victimized so far over his career ... how many kids he's made feel like they're stupid or can't measure up.