Weekend in Tacoma

I meant to post this on Tuesday, but it definitely takes a couple days for me to crawl back into the wintry heart of my life in Spokane. That's sort of dismal, right? Sorry. Things at work have not been stellar of late--is it possible that two jobs could synchronize their awfulness and dump it on one person over the course of two weeks? Probably.


Enough of that. I ate some gift chocolate today--the absurdly delicious candy bar I referenced in my pre-weekend post. It had bits of almonds and just a hint of cinnamon. It was like an instant shot of bliss. Where was I going with this? Oh, I honestly have no idea. The chocolate was good--that's my point.

I had big plans for the weekend--a bonfire in the pasture at Mom's (with veggie dogs and smores) and a walk along the recently opened boardwalk through the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, but alas, the Pacific Northwest weather did not cooperate. Mom and I ended up making dark chocolate smores in the microwave (a poor substitute for a bonfire) and then we ate them together, standing in the kitchen. We also looked at bunches of old photos, many of which must never--NEVER--be seen by anyone outside of the family (and in this instance, family means Mom, me, Monika, and Catherine. Sorry to the other family members.).

Here's a photo wrap-up for the weekend.

Mom baked these cookies for Valentine's Day. Hearts and planes?

We tromped around the pasture for a bit, while the horses
looked at us like, What the F are you doing?

Lots of ferns growing on trees.

Lots of sweet little fungi.

Lots of Pileated Woodpeckers hard at work.

Lots of tiny cones.

Lots of semi-mangy mushrooms. Mom found these hiding under a fallen tree (those woodpeckers again).

One baby black bear cub in a box.

One Second Christmas succulent terrarium coming home with me.

And bunches and bunches of wind turbines on the drive home. I know the complaints: that wind turbines kill birds, obstruct scenic vistas, and make a weird noise that people hate, but I still think they're kind of beautiful.