A Cascadian Prep's Commute Home

One would think that for an urban region with mountains and snow about 30 miles east, we would be used to driving in a little of it here. NOT!

(Play with sound ON)

(music by Ra Ra Riot)

(music by incredible Portland, OR band - The Shins)

The Joys of Summer

Cascadia is settling in for the "90 Day Gray".  We had a nice December, but Mother Nature is making up for it now... cold... wet... windy.  So naturally, our thoughts turn to sunnier days.

Shark Reef Park - Lopez Island

It was early September - the best time to sail in The San Juan Islands. Mrs. Cascadian Prep and I were anchored in a little cove off of Lopez.  Just a warm and cloudless summer day spent on the foredeck reading and rocking gently with the waves. She - a bikini top and shorts from that lemon (lululemon?) place. He - Orvis quick dry shorts, sans shirt, and Top-siders. The other "she" - at Grandma's place. Could life get any better?

Suddenly, I felt the need to change the tunes and freshen my Dark 'N' Stormy, so down the companionway to the chart table I sprang. Upon my return, I noticed something else had changed.  Her Top was beSide her.

Life did get better.

Jay Ferguson's Thunder Island (I was a wee lad when it came out. Loved it then, love it now.)

Doin' lines at lunch, part II

(For Part I, click here.)



Crystal Mountain

Hers - tight turns right. His - big turns left.

Shorts Weather

Well, it is finally "shorts weather" in Greater Cascadia and after this l-o-n-g winter the shorts are riding higher than Bob Marley on horseback.  Shorts weather here also means sunglasses weather.  Sure, sunglasses for the bright sun, but more than that, sunglasses for the pasty white Cascadian skin that hasn't seen the light of day since mid September.

Cape Madras "Vail"  in (34) thank you very much

I can't wait to sport these babies while I tear up the golf course (literally), for the golf course is one of the few venues where a Cascadian prep can let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew! I'm not alone on this quest for prepdom in the Pacific Northwest," he thinks to himself when he sees some prepped-out golfers the next fairway over.

"Uh, yeah you are," he later thinks when he finds out, at the 19th hole, that those same golfers are in on business from Connecticut.

Distant Sun

Today, under a building overhang, a stranger said to me that it could be a long time before we get reliably sunny weather. Just at that moment, we each were sprayed with dirty street water from a passing bus.  We weren't strangers anymore.

(Good thing I was wearing rainy-weather shoes, or as we like to say here in Cascadia - "shoes.") 

a desert island song & band - Crowded House's "Distant Sun"

If you ever have a chance to see Crowded House or Neil Finn's solo act, do it. You don't have to be a Gen X'er, but being born in the 1970s, or earlier decades, might help. These Kiwis don't come to North America very often, and heaven forbid they go on the casino or free concert-in-the-park circuit, but even if they have a less desirable venue, it would be worth your while. It was mine.

So You'd Rather Be Sailing?

frozen halyard line

22 degrees Fahrenheit. Ice on the deck. Frozen lines and sheets. 19.8 nautical miles. 5.6 knots average boat speed. 5 crew when we normally have 9. And 4 1/2 hours of fun, fun, fun.

The Corinthian Yacht Club's 2011 Tramp Harbor Race. We finished second in our class and second in the race overall.  (I think there were three boats total.)

But none of this matters because we do it for the kinship and the camaraderie... and the beer and booze.  We do it for the stories we can tell tomorrow or next year. We do it for the gear we "need" (really just want). But most of all, we do it for that perfect moment when all the work is done and you can stare out over the water and think about nothing at all.

Yeah, I'd rather be sailing. 

 

snowy rooftops



self-explanatory



Skiing the Cascades - a Slippery Slope

Skiing (and snowboarding) in the Cascades is a risky proposition.  The conditions - like the apparel observed on the mountain or in the lodge - are unpredictable; you just never know what you are going to get. One may witness rain, snow, sun, and wind in the same day, just as one may see Dale of Norway, Arc'teryx, Carthartt, and Cabela's. But, hey, it takes all kind, right?!  



a sunny February day at Crystal Mt., WA, USA

 


pinched from Stuff White People Like




The author, in repose, donning L.L. Bean
flannel-lined chinos & Sorel Caribou boots



 

Skiing and snowboarding, like golf and wine tasting, are becoming more accessible to a wider range of enthusiasts.  Get used to it!  The influx of diversity doesn't threaten the [Cascadian] prep sensibility; it strengthens it as it become more unique. And from an economic standpoint, greater numbers coming into a sport or hobby, hopefully raise the quality and quantity of venue. What's wrong with that?!




a six-year old angel in pink (center)



Dress FOR the weather, not LIKE the weather

So Seattle and the rest of Pugetropolis is at Day 44 of the "90 Day Gray." Haven't seen the sun in some time, nor will we.  But why, pray tell, must we dress as monochromatic as the skies?

Waiting for the Interurban

 

Have we no spirit, no joie de vivre?  Alas, it is true; we've given up as a people, taken on too much water, and just want to get to the other side (May/June?) in order to dry out before we head back across, again.



Washington State Ferry