Melinda Annie's Blog: August 2013

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The Mighty Forager

Last weekend my plans to climb Mt. Ruth were spoiled by much-needed rain. To boost our moral, we went mushrooming instead. It was my very first time, and a 13.4 lb (~6.08 kg) success!

We found "Chicken of the Woods," (not to be confused with a ptarmigan), some type of puffball, and a big, brown mushroom. Fortunately for me, my friends knew what these mushrooms were and whether or not they were edible. We made a delicious pot pie with the chickens, and another pie full of rhubarb, peaches, and blueberries.

~~Ptarmigans~~ Chicken of the Woods that tasted like chicken on the left, some type of puffballs that tasted nutty in the middle, and a big brown mushroom that we didn't eat on the right.

The following day I gathered ~1 kg of blackberries at Magnuson Park (I'm still not sure what I'll do with these... morning smoothie?), and made the ultimate bloody mary from heirloom tomatoes in the garden: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/yellow-tomato-bloody-mary-recipe.html

I suggest upping the tomatoes, or reducing the champagne vinegar.

The week prior, I climbed Mt. Washington in the Olympics, picking blueberries and huckleberries along the way and eating a fresh Rosa Hale peach at the summit:

Mt. Washington in the Olympics.

This is my stomach's favorite time of year, (don't tell Christmas that).

Friday, August 16, 2013

In the City

Sometimes I like to pretend that we don't live in a city, but instead, on a hill in the middle of the forest surrounded by beautiful, jagged peaks. See Example 1.1.

Example 1.1| Towards Sunset Hill, Seattle.

But, we do live in the city, and though there seems to be three main parties of opinion about city living (love it, hate it, indifferent), my feelings swing through the first two like a pendulum.

Cities are fantastic.

Population density is high. There are many wonderful people to meet and talk to. There's some diversity.
Food. I can acquire a plethora of obscure spices, mixtures, and extracts from faraway lands, and do successfully tasty food experiments at home.
Coffee, separate from food, is a magical thing in this city. You can find every flavor imaginable, or even obtain unroasted beans to roast to one's desire.
Music! Art! Shows! Movies! It's all happening right now! There's always something going on! Must do something!
Short distances. I can hop on a bus, bike, or car, and access everything I need in a 2-mile radius.

As for the negative, I'll leave that list vacant. How about enjoying the next photo instead?

The Olympic Mountains: Mt. Constance (named after George
Davidson's sweetheart's sister) in the background.

Monday, August 12, 2013

U.S. National Places

It's been at least 31,536,000 seconds since I last posted, and a lot of life happenings have happened. What's motivated me to post is to share some of the beautiful locations that I've been so fortunate to be able to visit. What all of these have in common is that they are U.S. National Parks or U.S. National Monuments. They were created "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People."

All of the hard work that those incredibly insightful souls did in the 1800's and 1900's has paid off, and continues to pay off. Grandparents, sisters, brothers, senile parents, uncles, aunts, friends, strangers, and communities continually visit the parks and see nature at its finest. Nature wouldn't be so fine if it hadn't been pushed into conservation and protection. Not to go too deeply into a pessimistic thread, but this act of conserving and protecting such beautiful places, and its rewards, will only become more valuable in time. I sure hope that they last beyond generations that I'll count in my lifetime, because there is nothing quite like the rejuvenation of a breath-taking landscape, or encountering wildlife where it's truly wild. Enjoy.