An Absolutely Defining Sense of Self.

In Washington, you can get coffee anywhere.


Of course, there's your basic coffee at home...

Awesome coffee shops downtown...

The occasional $2 latte...

Starbucks in grocery stores...

and lots of coffee shops in the airport.

Most coffee shops also carry an insane amount of sugar free syrup flavors (thank you, Washington.)...

There are also, of course, a million drive thru espresso stands...

But not only can you get coffee anywhere, you can truly get coffee with anything....

• with Beer...
  

• with Teriyaki and Sushi...
  

• with your groceries...

• with the news...
  
  

• with....Wine, Gifts and Home Decor...
  

• with a carwash...
  
  
  

• with Athletic Awards(what? Is the espresso one of the awards?)...
  

• with cigarettes and bagels...
  

• with your oil change (please notice, they are not just advertising a special that includes a latte, the place is actually called "Spokane Quick Lube & Latte")...

And, just in case you can't be bothered going into the actual coffee shop attached to the grocery store, you can always just go to the walk up window (I can't help but mention that there is also a Tully's coffee shop in this same store)...

"The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee, but an absolutely defining sense of self.

Tall! Decaf! Cappuccino!"

-Nora and Delia Ephron

The Mountain Is Out

Every morning while on vacation, we've gone for a morning walk (ahem, late morning...it is vacation). My parents live by Coulon Park, a park we went to often when I was little. It's been sunny, so we're taking advantage of the views of Mount Rainier. No one in Washington calls it Mt. Rainier...just 'the mountain.' Because of all the rain and cloudiness, you can't see it often, so a common phrase on sunny days when I was growing up was "The Mountain Is Out."

We're also taking advantage of the workout that is walking up an actual hill:

We also walk past this 'birdhouse':

Funny story: the people who live here (my parents' neighbors) wanted to build a treehouse for their grandkids. The city of Renton told them there was a law that you can't build treehouses. So they asked "Can we build a birdhouse?" The city said that was fine, and here is the resulting "Birdhouse."

I'd rather see a minstrel show/ Than any other show I know

Buskers at Pike Place

"Busking is the practice of performing in public places for tips and gratuities. People engaging in this practice are called buskers. Buskers may also be known as street performers, street musicians, minstrels, or troubadors."**

*White Christmas

**Wikipedia

Colours at the Lake, Part Six

Brown

Colours at the Lake, Part Five

Yellow*

*This one's for you, Ian and Adrianne.