On Sunday, July 18, Rick and I took the ferry to Bainbridge to visit Kay and Butch.  The day started out overcast and then the sun burst through and warmed us up.  We had fun visiting with Kay and Butch.  It had been a while since all four of us had gotten together and we had fun catching up on each others’ lives!

We went to the Bloedel Reserve together.  Lucky Kay and Butch have an annual membership so they can go visit the reserve as often as they like.  It is practically their backyard.   If you haven’t been to the Bloedel Reserve and live in the Seattle area, it is a must see!  It is a hidden jewel. It is tranquil and has great natural beauty.  We only had an hour and a half to walk around before closing and we really needed at least two hours.  Bloedel Reserve sits on 150 acres.  84 of the acres are second growth.  Other than the second growth forest, you see gardens and woodlands,  reflective ponds/pools, Japanese stone gardens that are raked to perfection (this used to be a swimming pool when the Bloedel family lived there), a Japanese garden with beautiful maples, a moss garden, a rhododendron area, the main house, and a Japanese guest house which looks like the perfect place to have tea.   I would like to go and spend a whole day there meditating.

Here are some pictures from Bloedel Reserve/Gardens (Rick took some of these photos):

We also took a ride over to see Chief Seattle’s grave.  I had never been here before.  I know this may sound strange, but I really do like old cemeteries.  I discovered that Kay and I have this trait in common! I find them strangely comforting and beautiful, calm and mysterious.  Pere Lachaise in Paris is one of my favorites.  The ancient Jewish cemetery in Prague is incredible.   The cemetery in Grotte, Sicily is absolutely fascinating as most of  my ancestors are buried there.  My brother, who died in infancy,  is also buried there, but my parents didn’t buy him a stone I think because they couldn’t afford one at the time. Instead a small cross was placed over his grave.   Going back to Chief Seattle,  I feel that he should have a gravestone with more pizazz and I felt saddened to see that it was rather plain.

We ate a tasty dinner at the Ambrose and Amanda Grow House (the building was a house in 1881).  The weather was fine enough for us to eat outside on the deck overlooking the beautiful sailboats.  Here are some photos of the sailboats:

And after we ate dinner, we walked around and saw the most beautiful and charming ROCK ART.  And these rock figures were doing yoga!  The water was so clear that it was reflecting the clouds in the sky and the trees and the bridge.  Check these out!!!:

And I thought it was all over, that we had seen all the yoga rock art…but then this guy popped out of someone’s garden:

What a great day that was.  You can check out Ethan Currier’s ROCK  art work on line at his website.  Public art is precious!!