A Visit to Hulda Klager's Lilac Garden and to Fort Bale

Thursday, 22 April 2010 --

With our long-time good friend, Margaret, the Grand Mother and Grumpy journeyed down to the Southern wilds of the State on a fine, sunny day. When we left King County, the sky was dark and threatening, but by the time we arrived at our destination, we were glad for any shade we could find to park the car! 

Our first stop was at the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens. We had visited once before, a couple years ago but it was late in the lilac season and many of them were past their peak of glory. This time, although only just four or five days after the beginning of their "Lilac Days" festivities in this small town, we found several of the lilacs had already bloomed and gone into their seed-producing phase. However, there were many more that were in the prime of flowering and emanating sweet aromas. The Grand Mother and Margaret strolled through the various plantings, "oohing and aahing" -- and sniffing!! (At least the Grand Mother and Grumpy -- we are both allergic to the smell of these beautiful plants! But we enjoy them so much that we just admire, sniff and blow! Or, in Grumpy's case, use his coat sleeve.)

The most unusual lilac was the Sensation, which has dark purple petals with white edges around each petal! Grumpy mumbled to himself about where he would put such a prize. And there were others that he would covet as well.

Another one which Grumpy thought impressive was the dark purple Arch McKeen. This one was of a double (multi-petaled) character. The flower bunches were monstrous, as can be seen in this photo on left.

Probably the best "blooming" surprise of all was when the Grand Mother convinced Grumpy to make a short detour to "The Tulip Festival". Hadn't we already traveled North just last week to see the "famous Skagit Flats tulip fields"?? But what a shock!! When we rounded the corner at the end of a dead-end road this is the sight we beheld. And the rows were all right next to the road!! Unlike what we experienced up North.

After walking around the lilac garden and "tip-toeing through the tulips", a healthy appetite had developed, so we headed up the road to Fort Bale where the Swede of the Fort had generously invited us for lunch. 

As usual, when we arrived, we were greeted by our two tow-headed Great Grandsons, Jamey and Arthur. They each had to show us their newly-acquired chickens and rabbits. The Swede got into the act also, showing off her "very secure" fenced enclosure where her laying hens and rooster hold court, removing the vegetation from the ground while fertilizing the area for later planting of prospective garden vegetables. The "security" had been slightly compromised, however, as two hens had discovered the "secret" hole by which they had found freedom to explore the ranch. One, named "Dolly", always seems to find a way to escape the confines of the "secure" enclosure; she then purposefully strolls up to the lawn in front of the Fort, blatantly showing off her revolutionary freedom, and immediately sets about picking up insects or seeds that she seems to know are always there.

Of course, Jamey "had" to show Great Grumpy the trampoline; And his flipping trick, depicted here in this two-shot sequence:

All in all, a pleasant time was enjoyed, visiting and seeing the animals, the new garden areas and the Great Grandsons. We wish we lived closer so we could enjoy them more often!

Chopin on the Piano

Saturday 17 April 2010 --
The Grand Mother and Grumpy, with friend Margaret, journeyed again to Bellingham, this time to hear 24 versions (Etudes) of Chopin. We had heard about this performance the previous week when we went up to Bellingham to listen to Rachel's Junior Concert. Great enthusiasm about listening to Chopin was expressed by members of our tour group, so an immediate commitment was made to return this Saturday for more music. Besides, Rachel would again be playing!

We didn't have to start so early in the morning as we had the week before, since we were not going to tour the Tulip fields again. However, the Grand Mother had desired to preview a motel at which we might stay when we come up (again!!) on 24 May when Rachel will be accompanying the University Orchestra. Reviews on the Internet indicated that the Day's Inn tentatively chosen by Grumpy might be "in a dangerous-looking area". Upon arriving at the motel for the "inspection", we were greeted by a young lady, "who was not the manager!" who explained where the "dangerous area" was: a grove of trees about two or three blocks away, in which allegedly "the gangs do their business" when it gets dark.

A visit to a typical room, and the observation that this motel had an elevator, resulted in a unanimous conclusion that this motel was acceptable. Grumpy made the reservations and then instructed Margaret and the First Wife that they should think twice before taking a walk "over there towards those woods" after 10 pm or so at night.

The performances this evening consisted of twelve Etudes of Chopin, Opus 10, played by twelve different students or faculty, an intermission, then six different performances of music by other composers; another intermission, and finally another twelve Etudes of Chopin, Opus 25, played by yet another twelve different students or faculty.

Prior to the start of the first twelve Etudes, of which the eleventh was to be played by Rachel, Grumpy had his camera calibrated (see left) to take photos in the ambient artificial light, using ISO 1600. Being fascinated by the markedly different postures of the hands of some of the pianists, Grumpy's camera "clicked" as he photographed four of the earlier performers as well as six or eight of Rachel (see below, right).
At the first intermission, the professor who played the Etude just before Rachel's, approached me to complain about the camera flashes and lens clicking, both of which were distracting to the pianists. I plead guilty to camera clicks but "not guilty" to using a flash. Later we discovered the guilty party who used the flash was several rows behind us.

Grumpy examined his camera very carefully to see if there was a mode in which the artificial "click" sound could be turned off (for taking photos of birds or animals, for example). Finding none, he took no more pictures during the remainder of the performances and has vowed to be more considerate in the future.

We enjoyed all of the musical performances and, after a dinner together with Rachel and her parents, we returned home, with Grumpy crawling into bed at 10 pm -- long after his usual bedtime. The next three days were all going to be busy for him, driving hither and thither!

Rachel's Junior Concert

Friday, 9 April 2010 --
With our friend Margaret, the Grand Mother and Grumpy traveled to Bellingham on this Friday to listen to the musical concert arranged by our Granddaughter as satisfaction of her Junior year requirement. Although we proud Grandparents expected an excellent program, we were pleasantly surprised by the audience reaction to the final selection. More about that later.

On the way to Bellingham, we planned to revisit the Tulip fields near Mt. Vernon, and especially to have a piece of fresh berry pie at the Berry Barn after our lunch. Remember, on our previous visit, a couple of weeks previously, we had found the Berry Barn closed until April 1st, and so we had  to"suffer" without dessert. Our disappointment this time was that, although individual small pies were freshly-baked and could be eaten on the premises, the proprietor informed us that newly-enforced State restaurant regulations prohibited them from serving slices of pie ala mode as had been available two or three years before.

The Tulip fields were also somewhat of a disappointment in that there doesn't seem to be as many as in years gone by, and most of the ones that were there were at least an eighth of a mile from the nearest public road. The photo taken here, was done despite the sign that said, "NO PARKING AT ANY TIME". The Grand Mother chastised Grumpy severely.

Rachel's Junior Concert was a program that she had to arrange, including scheduling the performers (Rachel had to provide the piano accompaniment for each of them), reserving the Performing Arts Hall, advertising or promoting the concert, and designing and distributing the program brochures. The program comprised three parts: a bassoon duet, an opera aria, and a violin & cello duet. Wind instruments, voice, and string instruments; a nice variety.

The bassoonists were a couple of senior-level students from the college, I believe. Grumpy much enjoys the soothing sounds of the bassoon, in any case. But the well-synchronized harmony of these two were indeed a huge treat. The Grand Mother enjoyed the next piece (opera singing) much more than Grumpy did -- but that's just Grumpy!!
Finally, the violin and cello performers entered the stage. They were a high school brother-sister pair to whom Rachel had given piano lessons  starting when they were about 6-8 years old! Overcoming what seemed to be a bit of stage-fright at the very beginning, these two young people came alive with their beautiful blending of the wide range of notes from the violin's extreme highs to the cello's soul-vibrating lows.

When they had finished, the audience started applauding, then rose to their feet to give them a standing ovation. In addition, the applauding continued strongly after they exited, calling them back for three encores! Grumpy was bursting with pride that his Granddaughter had arranged such an outstanding set of performances for her concert.

She sure ought to get an A+!!