Again in town for my annual medical checkup, up popped a chance to attend a Seattle Symphony Concert at their new home, Benaroya Hall, on 3rd Avenue in the heart of downtown. Inexpensive senior seats go on sale an hour before the start of the concert and one thing led to another; back again in the 2nd row "Orchestra Pit" *front and center* looking up at the stage and the underside of the Steinway concert grand. A contemporary work by composer-in-residence of the Seattle Symphony, Samuel Jones, brought a standing ovation from the house. His "Suite from Roundings" was harmonious, pleasing to the ear, and based on the Photos taken during the Depression. This brought pictures to the mind as well as to the ear. Delightful concert; spirited performance, magnificent building.

Seattle is also a city of flowers: their parks are well-maintained and give pleasure to the eye.Their impatiens plants are definitely doing better than ours; must be the cooler weather there.. and the leaves are turning fall colors.

and after Seattle was a dash to Anchorage - the airlines are trying to get people flying again. I love to travel - and with the passengers now empowered to help keep order in the cabin, flying is safer than ever. So I took advantage of the low airfare to Anchorage and went up for the weekend.
It was the last weekend of Fall up there. Dry roads, autumn colors gave way while I was there to a weather system which brought 5-7 inches of snow to the hillside. The snowfall did not make it to the airport weather station in West Anchorage, so officially Anchorage had no snow... but try to tell it to those in the 77 minor fender-benders that occurred as people learned to drive on snow again!

 

This week in Sequim:

It will be Harvest Festival Saturday the 18th, here in Sequim.
Ten farms are open to the public for visits. The evening's finale is a harvest celebration dinner with all seats sold out, at the Lost Mountain Ranch's new barn facility. The meal is created completely from locally-grown foods, prepared by leading chefs from local restaurants. This Harvest Festival is a chance to get acquainted with many of the local growers/ranchers, featuring alpacas to ostriches, apples to pumpkins and corn, and for the eye, dahlias

and the QFC grocery store had a grand-re-opening for the last week. There had been much chaos in the store in the path of a remodel and realignment of the groceries - It is an exciting challenge to find all the items which had been moved, as one normally 'knows' where there are. Or were. The store is very refreshed with new carts, chiller showcases, and aprons for the the personnel. Amanda Bacon, QFC's barrista, greeted shoppers with songs from her new CD in the parking lot as they emerged from their cars -coffee and cake were shared- kudos to managers Steve and Don, and their staff, for surviving the remodel so cheerfully. It's a great place to shop. Like so many Sequim stores...

© Helen Hille and deebrrs, 2001, 2002
Updated September 30, 2002