Return to Boston

The Chicago trip to visit a Jesuit friend and his community was terrific. We enjoyed a leisurely day at the Frank Lloyd Wright house and we took a neighborhood tour of the houses he built on commission. He had incredible sight lines for his horizontally based houses that let in a lot of light into open space concept houses.

The food was also terrific. There was no way I could maintain my diet, though I tried. It was imperative to have the original Chicago style pizza, even though I had sworn off bread, cheese, and red sauce. In the end, I won because the food was so good. The Middle Eastern restaurants were also extremely tasty and my favorite part of it all was the sage tea that I now realize I miss.

I did a fair amount of landscaping at the Oak Park residence where I was able to raise several trees and create new sight lines. The place looks like it received a long-overdue haircut. It creates an opportunity to rethink the garden areas at the house.

On the trip to Seattle, as the plane descended, the top of Mount Rainier sat above the cloud line. Majestic and breath-taking.

The Seattle trip is also very restorative. Meeting friends formerly of Boston is terrific. Their family continues to grow and prosper. On the first day, we took a ferry trip to Bainbridge Island to the town of Winslow - a charming Nantucket-like island. A stop at Blackbird cafe satisfied our mid-morning hunger for snacks, but they were very healthy alternatives. Quite good. The trip to Bloedell reservation was a terrific two-mile walk through property on Pueget Sound. The botanical richness of the area is well-maintained.

On Wednesday, we did some exploring of Pike's Place Market, the waterfront area, and the Seattle Underground, which was entertaining and historical. A nice Chicken Quinoa lunch at the Faerie Queen restored our energies for the afternoon, while the evening visit to a family member's house for dinner was quite fun.

Thursday was the trip to the Frye Museum where Wilhelm Hammeshoi, a Copenhagen 20th century painting painter, was on display. I enjoyed the atmosphere he created with space and he used a strict palette with a scant application of paint. Tonight, we will head out to Dale's Chowder restaurant in West Seattle where the Olympic mountains will surround us at sunset. All is good.