Hello! I know it's been a long time since many of you have heard from me. That is because I took 20.5 credits last quarter, including a labor-intensive class called Spanish Literature. I learned a lot about literature, but a lot more about time management this quarter and breathed a sigh of relief when I scraped through test week with good scores and was able to come home. I didn't stay there long, though, because two days later my parents and I were on a plane to Portland, OR with some of my favorite people on board--my many uncles, the men of Christian Edition.
After a two-hour drive through the state of Washington, we arrived at our hotel in Chehalis. This was wonderfully convenient, as Chehalis SDA Church was the next morning's concert appointment. I have always admired that church's love of beauty and excellent acoustics. They gave us the same warm hospitality I received when I came with the PHAA choir three years ago with their wonderful potluck and friendly company. I especially enjoyed the green bean casserole, which I haven't had in over a year.
Across the street from Chehalis SDA Church is an old cemetary which we enjoyed looking at. A lot of modern cemetaries don't have proper tombstones any more, and it's fun to look at the different styles and some of the fun verses on them. We also visited a little pioneer village nearby with a plaque from the Oregan Trail in front of the tiny church.As we journeyed towards Olympia, the state capital, we took a detour to try to find the Chehalis Tribal Center, but only wound up looking at obscure parts of Washington on the way. Still, we had a grand old time looking at the stately capital building once we got to Olympia, as well as the outside of the governor's mansion with its armed guard. We also saw the Tumwater river waterfalls and the house were famous singer Bing Crosby's grandparents first settled. That was neat--and after seeing all of that, we still managed to arrive at our concert appointment early.
On Sunday, there were two concert appointments. The first one was at a wonderfully friendly church that smelled faintly of coffee and popcorn. I was astounded at the incredible warmth with which the members greeted each other. Their greeters were absolutely amazing. It was such an agreeable place, I almost didn't want to leave. We had a great time that afternoon, though, at the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle. I was pleased to discover a vegetarian item on the menu the waiter was unaware of before--spring rolls! In this particular Hard Rock Cafe collection, there was a contract signed by Ray Charles, which was interesting. From there, we walked down to Pike's Place Market, which our friend Melissa hadn't seen before. We also visited the very first Starbucks. It is a small, unassuming place, but smells wonderful and has a line a mile long--though the line for the piroghy place next door is longer.
The evening concert was in Kirkland, the birthplace of Costco. Afterwards, we hurried to get to St. Mark's for the Compline concert (a group that does plain chant for free every Sunday evening), but the road was barricaded by police. We never found out why, but we did make it there in the end and it was GORGEOUS. After the monks sang, the glorious strains of "Toccatta and Fugue" rang out and it was worth the trouble just to see our friend Richard, a long-time organist, grin from ear to ear.
After all that excitement, we had a nice, slow start on Monday morning and we took our time travelling from Tacoma to Sequim (pronounced SQWIHM). Our first stop was in Bremerton, a famous naval base where the USS Nimitz is currently docked. We only had a passing glance at this great retired aircraft carrier, but we did have the joy of seeing the Harborside Fountain Garden in town. Designed by WET, the same company who made the Bellagio fountains, It sported five incrediby beautiful fountains that looked at the same time like whales breaching, subs sinking, and volcanoes exploding. The sidewalks weave around them like an intricate sailor's knot. Closer to the water, there is also a fun sculpture garden reminiscent of machine parts that fit together well. The museum attached to it is actually quite good. The exhibit on the second floor is devoted to life on an aircraft carrier. It talks about the daily life of a Navy sailor, from the small bunks they inhabit to the phones and the rainbow-colored uniforms on the flight deck. I even got to sit in a real pilot's chair, which was fun. In Silverton, we stopped at the Undersea Museum, which was all about submarines and also very, very cool.
By now we were quite hungry, and we happened upon the town of Poulsbo, where my parents hoped to find a restaurant they had enjoyed before. It was, sadly, closed--but in its place we discovered Tap Rocks, which was AMAZING. It featured Pike's Place cheese triangles, local Oregan hazelnuts, and amazing whit echeese potatoes. As we drove away from there and closer to Sequim, I was amazed by the astounding natural beauty in the area.
The next day, we enjoyed meeting up with lifelong friend and former principal, Denise White and her husband Floyd. She gave us a tour of the Washington Conference Office's new building. It really was beautiful without being ostentatious. I loved the play of light from the windows on the light wood, making a modestly sized space open up and look much bigger. The windows reminded me of Villa Aurora--all golden rectangles. My favorite feature, though, was a beautiful painting of Jesus with Mary and Martha in the lobby. Mary and Martha's robes had a detail to them that I haven't seen since my adventures in Europe.
Later, we went to lunch at an amazing Greek restaurant, whose name I wish I could remember. After such an incredible meal, I didn't need almost anything for the rest of the day. It was matched only by the company in its delightfulness. Then, we boarded a Duck, an amphibious craft that gives tours of Seattle. We left from the side of the Experience Music Project and went all around the city, then into the water. From the water, we could see the floating house from the film Sleepless in Seattle and even St. Mark's from the outside. The tour guide was incredibly charismatic and it was incredibly fun.
At the concert that night, Dad did the prayer ministry call and talked about Justin. It was the sixth anniversary of Justin's death, and a bit of a hard concert for the guys to sing. For me, the people I've missed on this trip are Joyce and Sonny. I've had time to grieve Justin as my own family member, but not a lot to process the loss of these two creative members of the Christian Edition family. Joyce, former editor of the CE Notes, published my first article and gave me the idea for these letters. Sonny's graphic designs for the group are still in use today. Both of them are well-loved and well-missed, just as much as Justin.
Yesterday was our last day in the state of Washington, and we visited the Tacoma Museum of Glass. Its main feature was a large glass-crafting workshop. I loved it! I watched how the glass glowed straight out of the furnace, how it was turned, stretched, cut, shaped, and formed by the tools in the hands of the artists. I could have watched the play of fire and glass for days. I also enjoyed the galleries themselves. I think my favorite artist was Preston Singleton, who incorporated Tlingit designes into his work in amazing ways. He used shadow to great effect, as well aas a technique that made some of his work look like pottery. The most fun exhibit, though, was designed from the drawings children submitted to a contest. They were colorful, fantastical, and utterly hilarious.
We tried to visit Mt. St. Helen's on our way to Portland, but the visitor's center closed as we arrived. There was still an excellent view of this great volcano from the porch, and we took pictures in front of it. Someday I'd like to see the side of it that blew, but for now, this view was absolutely amazing as it was. Later in the day, when we took a look at the Northwest Union offices, all of the meeting rooms were named after local mountains, and that was one of them. This building was also incredibly beautiful, and we were lucky enough to get a tour of the offices and see their fledgling Heritage Library. I almost envy them being in the starting phases of this project, but a part of the fun I have at PUC's Heritage collection is the rediscovery of what's already there.
All in all, it's been an amazing trip already. I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written one of these--I will try to do better this quarter. I wish you all well and hope that you're having a great spring break wherever you are.
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