Saturday, March 30, 2013

Things Are Happening!

Spring-type things, that is.

You have to look closely, but you can see them.




And I've got a five-day weekend, so I have some time to wander around outside without feeling too guilty.




Microscopic flowers are sneaking out.



Even the bike path is blooming...





 Everything is waking up! Even this tree.




Can you see it's goofy tree face? 



Unfortunately the net on the tennis court has yet to make an appearance, but it shouldn't be long!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Okanogan

...is a city and a county.


This Saturday we hopped in the truck and drove three hours northwest of Spokane.

A friend of ours needed a ride to a beautiful chunk of land he owned, and we needed to leave the city. Here they are enjoying the non-citiness.




We also needed to see the Grande Coulee dam, which was on the way. There it is, all 12 million cubic yards of concrete.



Overlooking the dam is a little visitor's center.


When they opened the dam, they had 48 princesses pour in water from 48 states out of these jugs. There's good ol' Michigan. I think they should have specified where the water came from. Lake Superior? Lake  Michigan? Lake Huron? C'mon!

What else did we see? A lot of dry land and rocks and mountains and telephone poles and abandoned buildings.












And quite a few red trucks:




Cedric also really needed to test out his new kite:





There wasn't quite enough wind for mine, but his seemed to work just fine. 

Monday, March 11, 2013

Sea-Food Gut

The AWP Writing Conference was exactly how I remembered it from the last time I went: so many panels to sit in on, so many old friends to reunite with, so many new places to visit, so much food to eat, and only a few days to do it all.

It's both unbearably exhausting and incredibly inspiring.

And now, somehow, I'm supposed to tell you about it without overwhelming you with photos. That's not going to be possible, so get ready.

Our quick trip started with a pretty flight.



We got to Boston late, but met some friends for dinner anyway. When you've got 4 1/2 days to see a whole city and attend a conference with 11,000 people, you try not to worry about things like sleep.

Food trumps rest.

Especially when there is so much to try: lobster bisque, lobster rolls, calamari, Boston creme pie, crab towers with avocado and mango, martinis with cucumber and mint, clam chowder and clam chowder and clam chowderrrrrrrr!


Here's Cedric and his first Lobster roll.



A friend and I ate falafel at a Mediterranean restaurant.




I couldn't get over their lamps. 


          



The first morning there, it was raining down some thick, sloppy snow.






Wet socks for everyone!




But we didn't mind. We just hid inside places and watched out the window.



Actually, gazing out windows is how I spent a lot of spare moments during the conference. The convention center overlooked some pretty views.











And even with the snowing and blowing, we wandered around to see some more.












One day, the sun even came out.


















I hope the people who live in Boston appreciate their public library:







Look at it!

In one of the library's rooms, Cedric found a set of shadowboxes with people just his size.









Before we had to leave for the airport, we finally managed to find the bakery I spotted our first night. I was determined to see what pastries a place called flour might have.



The crowd inside prevented me from taking pictures of the case, but it was a glowing masterpiece of the most beautiful French macarons, tarts, cookies, croissants, etc. 

Here's Joe after eating a delicious BLT. He's been positioned strategically so you can see their adorable logo on the cup's sleeve. I love that the o is an egg yolk.



Can you see the sadness in his eyes? We ate in front of a window facing the city and its collection of neat old buildings. 


We agreed Boston is our favorite city so far.


Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Boston!

 Cedric has been getting a little stir-crazy.



Especially since he hasn't done much of anything but teach and plan and grade since the semester started.




Cedric, you shouldn't keep your office so dim!

But lucky for him, we're leaving for Boston in the morning. We will be joining 11,000 people at the AWP writing conference!


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