Out With The Old…

2019 was quite a year, a blur of travel with (or to visit) family - my two favorite things. It pretty much started on Christmas day last year…

A Sad Sayonara to our Beloved Viaduct

I hate change. The viaduct was old and ugly, but it was ours. And it was the absolute best way for new arrivals to experience the wonders of Seattle on the drive into the city for the first time, viewing the Sound and the snow-capped Olympics on the left and the skyscrapers of our growing city on the right. Now that’s all gone, flushed down into a tunnel. A tunnel.

The head of the University of Washington’s School of Engineering had proposed an infinitely better solution: a concave bridge that would arch majestically out over Elliot Bay then swoop back in. It would have been a landmark for the ages: bracketing a stunning view of the Olympics from the city, creating an unforgettable view of the city itself from any arriving vessel, and of course providing a 360 degree tour of the most beautiful urban setting in North America. All for half the price of a tunnel. But no, we had to have a tunnel. Maybe that’s why 2019 became a year of travel.

A bit of background

The past few years have been difficult and, frankly, stressful. We have suffered a fair amount loss - Fran’s father Frank, Taiga, Jonny, and Vicki - just to name a few in the immediate family. Illness has followed us as well, with Norm suffering what looked like another heart attack just after our visit to Afghanistan and getting evacuated to Delhi for treatment.

Meanwhile, both Fran and I seem to mirror the economic and social realities of the 21st century: we are both working more than we ever have, each of us balancing three or more major projects and acutely aware of the tolls that can take on relationships and on the focus needed for each individual project. (Don’t even get me started on the ‘writing’ projects!) Then, something caused me to look back at this year and realize, hey, it’s been quite a year. We’ve been all over the world, and we’ve seen or been with family at every juncture. With all the sadness, this has actually been the most ‘connected’ year I have experienced in past memory. Which may not be saying much; my memory is not what is used to be!

A bit of Onboarding

You’ll notice a little thumbnail gallery below each paragraph. Click/tap to view a lightbox and swipe through the pictures.

In most cases, there is an accompanying gallery link with photos that are not centered on family and friends.

Gallery: 2019 Yearbook

January - Vietnam

Gallery: Danang & Hoi An

Katherine and Josephine joined our annual company trip, this time to central Vietnam - Danang, Hue and Hoi An. It started at the top of Ba Na Hills, a kind of weird fairyland at the top of a huge jungle-enshrouded mountain nearly 5,000 feet above the ocean.

February - The “Big Snow”

Normally, it snows maybe once or twice a year in Seattle, and it only sticks for a few days. This winter we got the ‘big snow’ and it lasted nearly two weeks. The snow was so heavy that it collapsed the main entry gate to the Barn - just two days before a big yoga retreat was scheduled! Luckily family and friends were on hand - Reese, Fran, Brad and Ray - to put up an entirely new, solid, support for the gateway. Okay, it was mostly Ray…

… and a ‘normal’ snow

Three days in the San Juans with the Voellers: a day each for alpine/downhill, AT skin up/ski down, and X-C. Plus a day with Michael S. at Keystone.

March - Amsterdam

Gallery: Amsterdam

We finally found the time to get over to Amsterdam, where Will & Lucy have been living for nearly two years. Slept on a blow-up mattress in their cute, newly purchased apartment overlooking the Amstel River.

- and Cinque Terre

Gallery: Italy’s Cinque Terre

Their life is so idyllic: on the weekend, just hop a plane for $100 to practically anywhere in Europe. The Adriatic coast, Portugal, Berlin, wherever. This weekend, we joined them for a quick jaunt down to Italy and were lucky to walk most of the trail that connects the five villages of Cinque Terre before the summer crowds arrived.

April - JE’s Birthday

We celebrated Jon-Erik’s birthday with friends and extended family, including more than one ex. Reminded me of one of my favorite children’s stories, “There’s a party at Mona’s tonight.”

May - “Less Work, More Flo”

Back out to Vietnam for an outing with my other company, FloWare. This is a larger group so the team-building activities are all arranged by a “team & tour” company that specializes in such trips. I used to participate in these activities in the early years but as of late have become content with watching from the sidelines and building rapport with my partner, Dan, at the poolside bar.

June - Colorado Reunions

June started with the Fragrance Lake trail run up in the Chukanut Mountains, a half-marathon and 3,000 feet vertical for me, and more than double that for J-E. Why does he look so well-rested?

Then a road trip with Josephine to Colorado for a family reunion at Big Elk Meadows, joined by Fran & Becky, then Becky and I continued on to Telluride for the Bluegrass Festival. Do I ever work? Sure I do! Scroll back up to the team building sections!

Telluride Bluegrass

After a wonderful weekend with the Jardine clan at Innisfree and Big Elk, Becky and I headed to Telluride but first stopped in Denver to visit her son Michael and get some schooling on the art of eating bacon.

I attended the first Telluride Bluegrass Fest back in - wow - 1974 when I was working in the mine there (misguided romantic vision of being an employed ski bum). Actually the first ‘festival’ was July 4, 1973 - put on by old friend Scott Brown and featuring (just) one excellent band of strummers from a place down valley called Fall Creek. It was part of the annual July 4 fireworks festival which was a mainstay from the mining days - the ‘largest fireworks display in Colorado,’ as they billed it. Anyhow in 1974 it got its own date and has grown from a rag-tag group of local musicians over one day to a huge three-day event. By the way if you haven’t heard Gregory Allen Isakov, I strongly recommend him. More folk than bluegrass but what do I know?

A Short Drive Across the West

Full gallery here

On the way back I drove across western Colorado, all of Utah, up through Nevada, and half way across Idaho in one day. I love road trips. Always have, since the summer of ‘73 and the “Kroozmobile Kids.” 25,000 miles. Another story.

July - Afghanistan
A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush

Full gallery here

We visited Fran’s sister, Marnie and her brother-in-law Norm in Afghanistan where she is executive director of PARSA, an NGO with a focuse on building Afghan communities through educating and empowering orphans and widows. Our tickets were provided by The Memory Project in return for hand-carrying nearly 2,000 hand-drawn sketches of Afghan students by American artists. Distributing them to the excited students was a highlight of the trip. Family photos shown here. Much, much more in the gallery linked above.

Istanbul Stopover

Gallery Here

Ok, Istanbul is a city of cats. Actually, cats are revered throughout the Middle East. And yes, that’s another story.

August - Home at Harper

Summer is the one season where you really really do not want to travel away from the Pacific Northwest. And that’s all I can say about that.

September - Food!

Going through the September photos, the common denominator jumped out. Fairly obiously, wouldn’t you say?

The culmination was the first annual Emerald City Supper Club benefit (click! join!), created by Mona and all four of our kids with the help of many others. They filled the Masonic Hall in Greenwood with a sell-out of 100 guests, each paying $100. MC’d by podcaster phenom Chelsey, at the end of the dinner the guests voted on which nominated charity the proceeds would go do. Eleanor presents the check.

October - Family, Up and Down the Coast

Gallery: A Short Drive Down the Pacific

Marnie visited from Afghanistan. Caroline celebrated her dad’s 40th birthday at Harper. Jon-Erik ran up and down mountains of Oregon. Eleanor delighted us with culinary alleys in San Francisco’s NOPA. And we checked out Becky’s grandson in Santa Barbara. A beautiful autumn, and more excuses for road trips.

November - Thanksgivings in Seattle and Sedona

Gallery: A Sedona Winter Monsoon

Becky came up for Thanksgiving and we went down to Sedona for a very important birthday. Lately, Mona and I (actually more Mona and Fran; I being a happy observer and sometimes dishwasher) have banded together to co-host a number of family activities and it has been a wonderful way to get everyone together.

New Homes

During the Autumn, Katherine moved into her new comfy digs aptly named Celebrity Place, in the middle of the U District and just a short walk from her new job! Josephine moved down to Portland (road trip!) and started a new job in a new house (on the ‘East Bank’, apparently). And Ross & Jack became our neighbors down at the Kenney.

December - Vietnam

We finished the year as we started, with a trip to Vietnam, this time with Jon-Erik and a delightful home-stay on the Mekong Delta, followed by a year-end party at my design company in our co-working space - yes, another of my projects.

Mekong

Gallery: A Day on the Mekong

Qamera Party at QSpace

Henley Leadership Bowling Party

We got back to Seattle just in time for a delightful bowling party with Fran’s co-workers at Henley Leadership Group. It was like being on another planet. Particularly with jet lag.