Strollin' and Strummin'

AFTERMATH:  We started our day with a 3-ish mile ramble along the waterfront, through three parks: Centennial Park, Myrtle Edwards Park and the Olympic Sculpture Park. In other words, right through the grounds were Hempfest was held last Friday through Sunday.

I was wondering how cleaned up (or not) the grounds would be, two days later.  Let's just say traces of the event were still in full evidence. For instance, about the first thing we saw was a pile of bedding and some refuse.  Until I was right next to it, taking a photo of the kids, I didn't realize there was a person amidst it. oops. Apparently this gentleman was turning the three-day festival into a five-day event. 

It was about 10 a.m. when we passed him the first time. By noon, when we returned, he was on his second beer and sparking a joint.  Glad to see that he'd rallied, ha ha. Party on, Dude.

During our walk we saw vendors' tents being dismantled, stages being broken down, Porta-Potties being readied for transport. We also saw a whole lot of castoffs and garbage - everything from lighters to clothes, bedding to literature.  We even saw a number of chairs and a really nice fire pit someone had abandoned.

CJ was pretty pleased to find a "Hempnews" as a keepsake. The kids each also found a dime and a penny, which they were genuinely excited about.

As we walked, we saw dozens of people working on cleaning up the place, everything from parks crew to union contractors to Hempfest volunteers. It looks like it was a helluva party. ...

Anywho, despite the Hempfest aftermath, there was lots of pretty stuff to look at. Lots of lovely flowers were in bloom. 

The rose garden in Myrtle Edwards Park was a bloomin' beauty. 

Annabelle decided the one pictured below was her favorite specimen. I didn't do a thing to it in Photoshop - it's just that pink!

I rather like the apricot ones, myself.

The ship in the distance was Flama, under a Turkish flag, with its home port being Istanbul. It's a pretty new boat, built in 2011, 229 meters long by 32.28 meters wide. 

We also liked these multi-colored roses. 

 We saw lots of big ol' rose hips, too. 

The kids enjoyed a little beach action. 

And we eventually made our way to the Olympic Sculpture Park, where the 46-foot high white head was awaiting our arrival.

By Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, it was hard to get a good photo of "Echo" today. The face's features are so subtle, and the sun was behind her. 

We could see her profile from a viewpoint higher up in the park. 

We didn't tour the whole sculpture park, but did visit a few of our favorites, including "Perre's Ventaglio III," by Beverly Pepper, a New York artist. Made in 1967, of stainless steel and enamel, it measures 7 feet 10 inches by 6 feet 8 inches by 8 feet.

As if the Hempfest hangover scene wasn't enough, last night the kids had a brush with Burning Man. We visited with our neighbor, who was packing up for it.  CJ donned a bear suit that was making the trip. He didn't scare Annabelle, but he managed to freak out the neighbor's dog. ;)

MUSIC MAKERS: The kids practiced a little guitar this afternoon. Here, they work their way through "Let it Be."  YouTube link: http://youtu.be/jvwBPwqHgd8?t=7m24s

We've watched lots of Paul McCartney videos online, and one of our favorites is his "In Performance at the White House." (The entire program is available on the PBS Web site: http://video.pbs.org/video/1554730433/  It's an hour and a half of music and magic!

One of my favorite parts of the show is the end, where Paul McCartney explaining how he wrote "Yesterday"  It came to him in a dream, but it was so familiar to him, he thought it was someone else's song he heard, and hesitated to record it! Here's a link to a short YouTube video of Paul telling the story himself: http://youtu.be/jvwBPwqHgd8?t=7m24s