Musings
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The 5 Spot was hands-down my favorite restaurant we’ve eaten at so far on our trip and one of my favorite restaurants of all time. The place itself was cool, hip without trying, filled with interesting people and great servers. The menu was inventive without being too foodie (I can be a little under-adventurous sometimes). The food was great, tasty and fresh and the prices reasonable. They use grass-fed beef of which I’m a big proponent and that’s something hard to find in a restaurant. To sum it up: The 5 Spot rocked!
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The first half of the Woodland Park Zoo was amazing. I’ve never been to a zoo that didn’t make me feel at least a little sorry for the animals, but these guys are living it up at a 5 star hotel. The experience for the visitor was stunning as well. The whole place was heavily wooded with a trickle of a path running through. The path wound round and round and brought you to viewing spots where you had to think for a moment how it was that the animals were staying in their environment while you stayed in yours. The boundaries were non-conventional and effective in making you feeling like you happened upon the animals in the wild. They had a giraffe feeding experience that was top notch. Mazie and a bunch of other kids got to feed a giraffe a bunch of branches, leaves and lettuce. It was natural and unstructured and a big hit. Also, whereas most zoos have crap all about, the first half of the Woodland Park Zoo had no beverage carts, food stands, vending machines or souvenirs for sale. It was all cool zoo, all of the time. And if that’s not enough, their newest building is Gold LEED Certified; not an easy task. The second half of the zoo lost the magic and turned into a regular zoo. It was still nice, but nothing like the first half.
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My third favorite spot was Top Pot Doughnuts. The building had amazing architecture, with a mix of classic modern and deco. The facade was all windows and very unique. It had a metal structure jutting out which made me think vintage airport for some reason. The interior was great too. The ceiling was high, high, high with a loft up top for grand sitting and viewing of the downstairs. The sides of the place were bookcases, climbing all the way to the top. There were tons of old books lining all of the shelves. And the doughnuts…the doughnuts were top-notch!
SF + TKT = :-(
I know San Francisco is a great city and so I figure there was something out of whack with me during our visit. It’s not that I had a horrible time or no fun at all, but I never fell into a groove with the city. Since I don’t have much to report, I thought I’d share a few photos instead. Click through the pictures if you want to see the full image or read the description.
Deep-Fat Fried
I’m feeling like a horrible mom. I tend to be pretty blasé about certain things and the sun is one of those things. I know, I know, not putting sunscreen on your kid is a horrible crime and I’m so guilty no jury is needed. I could easily count the number of times I’ve applied sunscreen to Mazie on one hand. She’s never burned before; she’s always been the same shade of off-white. I try to ensure her sun exposure is low, keeping her in the shade or making sure that when she does get sun it’s early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Anyhoo…
We were at a park in sunny San Francisco on Saturday, getting some quality time with the all-important swing, and by nightfall a small part of Mazie’s face was puffy and red. It’s now Tuesday and she still has red spots on her face. Jamie, who is much wiser about sun things than I, had put sunscreen on her, but even that wasn’t enough to counter the devious plans of this particular sun. I remember him being worried about Mazie getting too much sun and me thinking that he worries far too much and should just chill out.
As with all things like this, I learned my lesson and changed my tune immediately. After realizing that my stupidity got my kid burned, I’ve become the sunscreen police. So, to all you moms and dads out there who religiously put sunscreen on your kids, good job.
Wiki Sticks
If you are looking for an interesting craft project to do with kids, may I introduce the Wikki Stix. Mazie was gifted a few Wikki Stixs at a restaurant a couple of weeks ago and the whole Thingelstad clan has enjoyed playing with them ever since. They are colorful, easy to sculpt, wax-covered yarn pieces. With only eight “sticks” Mazie has managed a ladder, while I’ve sculpted many a person and Jamie has fashioned multiple geometric shapes and the Seattle Space Needle. Just imagine what fun could be had with a whole package!
Face to Face with a Redwood...
or maybe that should be face to foot with a redwood. Yes, they are tall, majestic and grand. Yes, I felt tiny and timid in the midst of such greatness. And yes, I am definitely smaller than a redwood. But, I also felt peaceful and quiet amongst the giant trees and even a little protected. Because the trees are so massive and their foliage doesn’t start until high up in the sky, there is a lot of space down on the ground. I relished all that open space in a place that felt disconnected and separate from the rest of the world. It was a good day.
I'm still smaller than a redwood
This blog started 571 days ago, thanks to our crazy, lovable landscaper Ann. We were talking one night on the phone and she said, “At least I’m smaller than a redwood”, and for some reason I loved the saying, put it up on a wall in our house and demanded that Jamie immediately register the domain name and poof there she was, www.smallerthanaredwood.com. The site has sat idle for many of the days since then, but it seems this trip has brought out the blogger in me. Being that my site’s namesake is here in the redwood forest I felt the need to let the world wide web know…we have arrived!
A rare day of foot-loose and fancy-free
A few days ago Maril and I had 12 hours of kid-free, unstructured time on our hands. I’m here to report that it’s pretty easy, fun and relaxing to spend 12 hours of kid-free, unstructured time, even if there is no plan in place. An idle stroll though the Pearl District with a leisurely lunch, snack and dinner, a park dedication for a park that’s a sidewalk (i know, go figure), a play at the Platinum LEED certified remodeled historic Armory building, and a late night trip to Powell’s Books and Whole Foods Market. I didn’t spend much money or come home with a bunch of trinkets, but I enjoyed my time away immensely. A shout out to Kent and Jamie for hanging out with the kids all day!
Omnivore's Dilemma
Omnivore’s Dilemma is one of my favorite books that I’ve read in the recent past. I heard a couple of talks on the radio with the author Michael Pollan and the subject sounded interesting. I bought the book and I distinctly remember reading it in the parking lots of various big-box retailers in the New Jersey wasteland, where we lived for three weeks during the summer of ‘06, while Mazie napped in the backseat due to regular nap failure.
The book helped shape and change some of my ideas about the production of food, but what I most enjoyed about the book was the simple pleasure of reading it. The book is divided into four sections. Section I is a short history of corn (which I found to be really mind-blowing), Section II is a look at big organic and what that means and entails, Section III is all about one small farm in Virginia called Polyface and the move toward beyond organic or sustainable food-raising and Section IV is an interesting look at building a meal from things grown, foraged or killed by the author.
If you haven’t read it yet, I highly suggest a read. If you have read it, let me know what you think!
A Homeless Lady
Today we were at the Portland Saturday Market eating lunch and there was a woman sitting next to us who was eating some leftover food that other people had left behind. She was in her 40’s or 50’s, seemed to be lacking most of her teeth, and maybe had some type of mild mental illness. Shortly after we sat down, one of the security people for the market came up and began to give her a hard time. The employee accused her of getting the food out of the trash, which she didn’t, then when she said that she had asked people for it, told her that wasn’t acceptable either. They came to an arrangement where she continued to sit and eat her food without disruption, but she was asked to never return.
I felt bad for the woman, but understood the security guard’s position. And I have to admit that sitting next to her for 20 minutes made me uncomfortable. I paid her much more attention than I would any other person, not because I was scared of her, but because I couldn’t help wondering how she came to be this person. Normally I pass homeless people on the street, but I’m never confronted with their situation for more than a minute or two. This woman was clearly on the streets and she didn’t seem like she had it together enough to do anything other than live on the streets.
I understand that there are many different reasons why people are homeless, but I was struck that this woman was homeless because at some point she fell through a crack and at this point the crack has turned into a huge hole and there’s no getting back. I’m not sure what responsibility we as a society have to someone like her or why I’m even writing this post, but I came away with the feeling that even though having her around was unpleasant and made me uncomfortable it was a good thing. And whatever she may or may not be, she’s still a person.
Litter and it will hurt
We came across this sign a couple of days ago on the way to the zoo in Seattle. I had to take a picture and offer up a quick post. I’ve never seen a sign like this, so please forgive my ignorance if these are posted all over the Pacific Northwest. I love this sign! It’s so vaguely threatening. I wonder after reading the sign what exactly will happen to me if I litter? Will I just feel bad and therefore it will hurt or will someone come out of the bushes and beat me or will some big brother figure render a nasty fine that hurts my pocket-book or something worse? It’s just so ambiguous and I think that’s where the genius lies. If you knew exactly what was going to happen you would be able to calculate the risk and decide if it was worth it. But, with the sign as it is you have no idea if you are meant to suffer a hurt conscience, a broken bone or a life in prison. It really does make a person like me curious and I’m no litter bug!
These are a few of my favorite things...Seattle
I’d never been to Seattle before; now I have. We, me and the family had lots of fun traversing the city, mainly on foot. We checked out Folklife, Seattle Center, The Seattle Aquarium, Woodland Park Zoo, The Children’s Museum, The Space Needle, Pike Place Market, the flagship REI store and lots of cool restaurants and shops littered throughout downtown. I’ve come away with a few favorites that I’m dying to share.