Blogs from Bainbridge Island, Washington, United States, North America - page 2

Uggg.....I think there must be over 100 boxes in this house. My kitchen has become a labyrinth to the coffee pot. While that may be good for someone who wants to cut down on their coffee consumption it is frustrating to me as I stub my toes while making my way for that 6 am cup of java. I have no motivation and no energy left. Thank God my sister came to help me or I would just sit and stare at the massive amount of boxes there were to be packed. Packing is such a boring thankless job. I have a new respect for packers and the job they do. Packed my husbands leather and sheepskin coat. Actually it was the last item in that box of clothing in my room. Hummm...what to label the ... read more

Japanese New Year’s Mochi Celebration Have you ever celebrated the New Year with a Mochi Festival? Today was my first time. No, I am not in Japan, but on Bainbridge Island just across Puget Sound from of Seattle Washington. It’s a bright, cold winter’s day at Island Wood, an environmental education center, and the community is celebrating the coming New Year with the Japanese custom of making and eating mochi. . So what is mochi and how do you make it? After washing sweet rice, you soak it overnight. You then steam the rice in wooden boxes over an open fire until it’s sticky. You place the hot glutinous rice in a large usu or stone mortar. Now comes the exciting part. The tool used to pound the rice is huge, the size of an ... read more

...continued Cahors would be the last time I would ever see The Way. As I sat, as I wandered through the small picturesque town situated on a bend upon the Lot River—as I felt my body and listened deeper to a purpose gone unknown—I came to understand much about Le Chemin de Saint Jacques de Compostelle. The Way presented itself with all I had dreamt of: it was rough, it was a challenge, and it was isolation and segregation from the external world beyond me. The Way of Saint James was immense, and its’ scope of power and realization fulfilled my expectations, but it guided me in the opposite direction. From the outset, I imagined walking alone. I saw myself wayfaring with the simple contents of a backpack filled with few clothes, tent and sleeping equipment, ... read more

Due to Travelblog's system failure, ten articles were lost and will be re-published. Sorry for the filling of your mailbox... but... drink your urine: Praise be to the body and its' glory! A chilly winter day called us out: two friends coming together on another adventure. Yes, we laughed. We laughed wondering what the hell we were doing at five in the morning driving for the coast. With surfboards packed and wetsuits folded, we picked up our Nalgene bottles of hot tea and drank; warming our bloodstreams, busying our kidneys, filling our bladders. Soon we would need to empty them—our bladders that is— and at the thought we smiled, beside ourselves with joy. It’s like no other feeling: surfing in a wetsuit in frigid waters and then to suddenly have a release of warmth circulate throughout ... read more

Due to Travelblog.org's memory failure, this article had to be re-published. I rose from my evening’s indulgence. Pushing pause, I passed through the dark room, glowing with a crystal glare, and entered the kitchen. Flicking on the lights, white recessed cans struck their yellow casts onto shadows with a soft incandescence, like a candle on a corner bookshelf. I reached the pantry, opened its wooden doors and pulled down two contents. One was a can of Equal Exchange Organic Hot Cocoa. The other was a plastic bag of Western Family Marshmallows—jumbo. Outside, a layer of clouds blocked the night sky. A sheet of rain fell and piddled on the patio. As the teakettle came to a boil, whistling a harmonizing melody of the Swiss Alps as if a yodeler in search of his Lassie, I turned ... read more