Dining out, recipes, and...

Chicken apple sausage penne in a garlic sherry cream sauce. A sample of what is to come in a new dining out, recipe, and food blog. The recipe for this dish will come soon, the name of the blog is still "in development".

A bittersweet farewell to Seattle...for now.

I really shouldn't call it "bittersweet"...it just seems only slightly appropriate.

That's Loretta last Monday waiting in Sea-Tac airport for flight 1920 to Modesto. As I looked at the picture I took, it just seemed to evoke a feeling of sadness about having to leave Seattle.

Even though both of us had just a super time staying with my daughter Jenifer and our son-in-law Roth, we were both a little anxious to get home after 5 days there. Loretta was worried about the dogs. I had things that needed to be attended to.

Loretta also knows that I have always wanted to move to Seattle. I have had this desire for many years. Having never been there before, my perception of the Emerald City was based on, well...my preception of it!

Microsoft...Boeing...Starbucks...and many other well-known corporations are based there. Seattle is somewhat linked to trendy, Pacific-Rim cuisine...and certainly to great seafood. It has been quite the mainstay for movie-making the past 20 years or so. The culture, the architecture, the environmental ethic...all of which have always made Seattle such an enigma for me. It seems but for one thing, we would have been there years ago. The rain!!! It supposedly rains a lot there. And, your point is? I like the rain. I don't know if I like rainy, overcast days for weeks at a time...check that...months at a time. But so what? That is the tradeoff for living in the beautiful Northwest. The entire 5 days we were there, the weather was very, very cooperative...sunny, mild, some clouds, cool nights and mornings, warm afternoons. I hear the months of dreary weather are right around the corner...October through May, something like that.

Jen and Roth chose to move there for their own reasons, many of which are similar to my attractions to that city. Afterall, my daughter and I are a lot alike. The bottom line? My perception of Seattle before the trip has become a vivid memory of a place I am convinced would be a great place for us to live. I can't wait to go back and see more...and eat more! What a plethora of restaurants from which to choose. I'm sure not all of them are the cup of tea we would enjoy, I'm postive Seattle has culinary clinkers as well. But at least there are choices to be made, not only where to eat, but where to live...and where to play.

Seattle isn't the biggest city. In fact, Seattle proper isn't all that big geographically...downtown is quite small in fact. But roam the outskirts to Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, Fremont, Lake Washington (all outlying sections of the Emerald City), and you find new scenery all the time.

Did I mention the lakes and the water? Not for this blog entry...maybe for the next trip and a ferry to Bainbridge Island...or a tour of Puget Sound...or a jaunt to Vancouver, B.C.

Yes, we miss my daughter and son-in-law. But now, I also miss a new city that I would like to know better.

Waiting for our next Northern Exposure...soon.

Flying the "friendly" skies to Seattle

Mt. Saint Helens, Columbia River, Mt. Ranier in the background from 40,000 feet.

The first part of our trip to Seattle this past weekend.

Living near farmland

One good thing about living near rich farmland: rural photo opps!

It was 90 degrees or so. The humidity was near 100%. And after months of summer almost nil of clouds in the San Joaquin Valley...we got clouds!

This midday display was within hours of a severe thunderstorm that rumbled through the Modesto area. By 5:00 pm, the thunder and lightning was crashing around us with no delay between the two. At one point, I had the front and back doors of the house open...and the show was in brilliant, vivid stereo.

No...I chose not to go outside during the deluge, even for dramatic photos. Neighborhood kids were running up and down the block as I contemplated telling their mothers about the likelihood of these children being fried to a crisp...literally. In fact, one Modesto woman was struck by lightning during this storm.

Our little backyard, metal-framed gazebo was not where I wanted to be either.

By the way, I found myself standing on a red ant mound (in open sandals) while snapping this shot. They were very active ants...getting ready for the storm and trying to figure out how to get me off their front door. No stings though.

Just limes.

So simple...yet, so representative of the word "juicy".

La Bella Luna

I believe it was the full moon last. Although I didn't get any great photo captures last night, I did wake up to find that it was still hanging around low in the sky.

A mere 240,000 miles away, it seems closer when in this phase.

Crazy as a "lune"? Looney-Toones? Lunatic? The history of the moon and mankind goes back to the beginning. It was said to make men crazy, to act differently. Maybe it was because it shed bright white light in times when there was no white light available from a plug in the wall. Torches and campfires are yellow light.

The moon...one of the timeless treasures within our reach...there for the taking. Crazy, huh?

A couple more moon shots here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackdiddley/

The future...or the past?

I don't know what the attraction is to photos of railroad tracks, especially straight, long stretches like this one. It's the probably the perspective. I think they represent the future...or the past, it depends on your perspective.

It is not necessarily the half empty or half full thing...more like how much time do you spend looking forward or looking back deal. Reminiscing is fun, as long as it doesn't send you into a nostalgic funk.

You have no control over the past...you do have almost total control of the future. In fact, the past does not equal the future.

Just be careful, when looking up or down the tracks, to not let the 5:15 from Visalia run you down!

A most elegant spirit.

A few months ago we photographed the wedding of Fernando and Sandra Cuevas. A few weeks before, we drove to S.F. with them to take some engagement pictures. We had a blast, and so did they. Consequently, they have since become our friends as well as clients.

During the reception, Loretta and I were introduced to a very interesting cocktail. It was a "highball" made from Remi Martin and Rockstar. I'm sure some royalty as well as stiff-upper-lipped dead rich people are rolling over in their graves right now. Remi Martin is a very fine cognac...made to be sipped in a snifter. But, it also goes very well with Rockstar and ice...great taste, thirst-quenching, nice buzz (on both ends of the mind-altering substance scale).

Fernando and Sandra were over for dinner a few weeks ago and brought us a big bottle of the stuff. I not only photographed the Remi, I managed to finish off the bottle with the next month. No Rockstar this time, just neat.

Cheers.

The Boxer Stare

Lucy is our 6 year old Boxer. She is one of three dogs we have...all with issues that, I suppose, are simply part of their personalties. Afterall, I'm pretty sure that we made them the way they are!

Our 9 year old Dauschund, Sparky, is a bit of a watchdog. You know, keeping an eye on the house and yard, never hesitating to let out a bark once in a while.

Our Greyhound, Sammy, is the glamour dog. He is very quiet and reserved...happy to just lie there 16 hours a day and look cool, hardly ever making a noise.

Back to Lucy. She never let's us alone. She is constantly at our side no matter what we are doing, especially Loretta's side. Following her around the house where ever she goes. I feel guilty when I yell at her to "go lay down", or, "find something to do". But, that is just what canine devotion is all about. Lucy lives for what we do...nothing more, nothing less. She is a wonderful pet...as are the others. We are very lucky.

Oh, and did I tell you Lucy stares at us a lot? It's a little disturbing at times. Try looking at that picture of her for more than 5 seconds without laughing.

Life is short...or is it?

This is Sarah. She lived in a private nursing home in Roseville, California with my Aunt Edna.

I recently had the opportunity to visit my aunt...my mom and I made the 75 mile drive a couple of weeks ago. We stayed for an hour or so, chatting with her and reminiscing a bit about my Uncle Nick (Edna's husband) who passed away there in February of this year. Edna will be ninety soon...she and Uncle Nick were together seventy years.

On the way out, a little old lady sitting at a dining room table near the front door kept motioning for me to come over...her crooked little index finger held up, a sharply intent gaze directed right at me. I went over to the table and knelt down next to her, my aunt told me her name was Sarah. We talked for about five minutes, Sarah relating a few things to me about herself, "You know, I'm over 100 years old...or is it 200?", she said in a highly audible, barely understandable voice. She went on to tell me about a "recent" birthday celebration her family had for her where a lot of pictures were taken of her (I had my camera slung over my shoulder). I believe the birthday party she spoke of was her 95th.

I asked her if I could take a couple of pictures of her, she agreed....continuing to talk about herself and that birthday gathering, "There were a number of photographs taken of me there...very nice ones". Her speech was not clearly understandble, but her thoughts and intent were right on...she was very much aware of everything going on around her. I held her hand for a minute and let her continue, all the while the Russian lady who runs the home was patting her on the back and saying it was time for lunch. "Speak, speak, speak...all the time", the Russian lady said with a slight smile on her face. Evidently, Sarah had the gift of gab.

I snapped a couple of shots, and thanked Sarah for letting me take the pictures...then my mom and I left...Sarah was still talking when we walked out the front door.

We found out a week later that Sarah died twenty minutes after we left.

I've been in contact with my cousin Bob, Aunt Edna's son, about how to get those last pictures of Sarah to her family.

Life is short...or is it? Sarah probably met thousands of people in her 102 years of life...most likely she had a richly rewarding life...I can only assume. I may have been the last person she met. I just wish I had more time to listen to her stories...I'm quite sure she had many more to tell.