There is a particular point, a certain overpass over I-90 that for me marks the border line between Eastern and Western Washington. Every year as we drive under it I plan to figure out the name of the road. Yet another year goes by, and I still do not know which road it is.

There is nothing remarkable about the overpass. We have driven under many like it, and many more lie ahead. It is just another road, not even a highway. It is what lies on each side of it that seems drastically different.

Driving east along I-90 the car is still descending after going over the Cascades at the Snoqualmie Pass. Magically, the descend ends right as we drive under the overpass. The highway straightens and becomes perfectly flat. The terrain ahead is empty and desert-like. In the summer, you can see tumbleweed rolling on the side of the highway.

The opposite happens when driving west along I-90. At this overpass, the desert ends, and tall evergreen trees spring up on both sides of the highway. The engine revs as the car begins the climb into the mountains. We have left Eastern Washington behind on our way to Seattle.

Vacation So Far

I have been on vacation since last Saturday, but today marks the first day when I did not have something I absolutely had to do while at home.

Review of the week:

• Saturday--2 hour workout at the gym, pack, run over to the airport, fly to Seattle.
• Sunday--lunch with friends, stuff, stamp and close up the holiday cards.
• Monday--short run, make two toy frogs which involved ironing, cutting out and sewing the fabric, stuffing and closing up the first frog.


• Tuesday--run, lunch with friends, prepare more holiday cards for mailing while Nick drove the car, shop for clothes for our upcoming trip to Yosemite National Park, iron 12 towels (5 minutes each!), wash the towels (thankfully not by hand), stuff and close up the second frog.
• Wednesday--drive to Walla Walla, get a haircut.
• Thursday--run (in the fields!), finally mail our holiday cards, make Parker House Rolls, eat a ton of food.

And that brings me to today. I think I finally do not have any immediate tasks with a deadline hanging over me. (If I do, I have completely forgotten what they were. Hopefully they were not too important.)

We started the day by opening presents, followed by a traditional enormous brunch. Later while Nick napped, I joined a couple avid birders in the family for a short trip to look for owls near Frog Hollow Road just outside of Walla Walla.

The drive took us through the rolling fields, where we saw many pheasants. Red-tailed hawks sat on many telephone poles along the road. We were lucky--we saw two great horned owls. Nick's uncle, Nat, took some great photos of it through his telescope.

Tree Cards

Click on the photo to read more about these cards.

Nick's World

A few nights ago I noticed an enormous bruise on Nick's leg. When I pointed it out to Nick, he was as surprised to see it as I was and examined it in the mirror.

Now, if I just discovered a bruise on my body, I would probably wonder what I bumped into.

Walking away from the mirror deep in thought, Nick mumbled that he needed to "remember all the things [he] ran into in the last couple of days."

Halloween on Beacon Hill

I have lived in Boston for several years now, but I did not know that Beacon Hill is such a happening place on Halloween. This year I ended up on Beacon Hill on the night of Halloween because I was helping out with Boston By Foot's "Beacon Hill With A Boo" tour.

The tour itself fits in with the Halloween spirit very well, uncovering the stories of mystery and murder that still haunt the neighborhood. While listening to these stories, we walked through the usually quiet streets of Beacon Hill now filled with crowds of people dressed in costumes. It seemed like the entire population of greater Boston has gathered on the hill. Almost every house proudly displayed carved pumpkins on their steps and spider webs spread across the windows. The neighborhood residents sat around on their doorsteps sipping wine and giving out candy to children. Even Senator John Kerry, who lives in Louisburg Square, came out to greet the crowds gathered at his doorsteps while someone from his house was offering candy.

After the tour ended, Nick and I spent more time walking the streets of Beacon Hill. I particularly enjoyed a little garden on Chestnut Street where a headless knight and ghosts flying overhead greeted the passers by.

Ten Years Since My First Trip to Vancouver BC

Ten years ago today Nick and I met for the very first time.

We drove to Vancouver together with our mutual friends, Brooke and Van, where we promptly spent 5 hours sitting in a car in pouring rain waiting for Canadian Automobile Association to come help us with a blown tire.

U2 360 Tour

U2--what a band! On Sunday, September 20th, Nick and I went to see U2 perform at the Gillette Stadium. First we spent a long time bonding with other U2 fans.

Tightly squeezed in between other lucky General Admission (GA) tickets holders, we waited for hours to be let into the stadium. However, it was all worth it, we ended up just a few yards away from the stage. We jumped and danced, clapped our hands and sang along with the songs, watching the band perform right in front of us. U2 delivered a great performance, and we had an incredible time.

Perhaps the set list was not particularly “unusual”, but just hearing Unforgettable Fire performed live was incredible enough. I will definitely have to go to more U2 concerts, because the band did not play Bad—one of my favorite songs ever. Bono did forget the lyrics on a couple of occasions, but for me that did not take away from the quality of the show.

This concert was my fourth U2 concert, but it was only the second time I got to watch the band standing no more than ten feet away from the stage. As awesome as this concert was, my first ever U2 concert, just over four year ago, still remains the absolute best rock concert experience ever. The concert back in 2005 was a completely new experience for me, and just like this time, Nick and I got to stand really close to the stage. It is hard to imagine that we almost did not go!

I was not a huge fan of U2. In fact I was completely oblivious until in 2001 Nick made me listen to two of their albums, Joshua Tree and Actung Baby. I loved the music, but knew nothing about the band. If they were really the punks I saw on the photos of the Achtung Baby album cover, then I did not want to know.

Then, in 2005 they were coming to Boston, and I decided that I wanted to see the band that wrote One and Love Is Blindness live. As I started reading more about the band and Bono’s philanthropy work, the punk image quickly dissolved. By the time we went to the concert on May 29, 2005, I was a fan, and I was in rock music heaven. I did not want to touch Bono, unlike many people in the GA line. I did, however, want to listen to U2 all the time. I learned the lyrics. I read more about the band.

At the risk of appearing incredibly immature, I now admit that the memorable U2 concert in May 2005 became a turning point for me. I was inspired. I was not sure what to do, but I wanted to volunteer and to do more charity work. When I came back from my first trip to Honduras in 2006, people asked me if the trip has changed my life. No, it did not. I went to Honduras exactly because my outlook on life has changed.