It’s funny how something can remind you of something totally differentJuly 11th, 2007 @ 5:01 am
I remember the first time The King and I stepped out of the subway in Rome and saw the Coliseum. What you don’t see in any pictures is that it’s right there in the middle of a busy intersection. There are cars racing all around it and people everywhere.
We were there in the middle of what seemed to be rush hour. I stood there in awe of what I was looking at and wondered how all of those people could be rushing past this amazing wonder without stopping to gasp along side us. How could they be used to seeing this?
I think sometimes we just forget to look up from what we’re doing.
Last week on my walk home I looked up and was reminded of one more reason why I love living in Seattle in the summer time.
Do you see the water in the background? It’s amazingly close and amazingly beautiful. And I forget about it all the time.
On Saturday I spent the day with a group of very close friends of mine. We decided to spend the afternoon down at Pike Place Market, or just The Market to us locals. While we were walking the mere blocks from my apartment to the market one of my friends told us that she had just read that Seattle had just been voted the #3 vacation destination in the United States.
This really surprised me. I know why I like Seattle, but why would anyone else want to visit? You’ve all heard about the rain, right? I am here to tell you it is not a myth. The rain, it is never ending (7 months out of the year). Plus if you are looking for shopping, New York is much better. If you are looking for better beaches, you might want to try Southern California.
I’m just saying.
By the time we got to the market I had been giving this a lot of thought. Especially when I saw that the market was full of tourist. And by full, I mean so full I was afraid I was going to get unintentionally felt-up. Is Seattle the only place with a freakin’ farmers market? I doubt it.
I stopped at the first fruit stand I could to get to and loaded up on fresh Rainer cherries, oranges and some peaches and then we got the heck outta there. I ate the cherries as soon as we got home. Babboo ate the oranges on Sunday. And this morning at work, well, I ate the peach.
And can I just say, damn. I forgot how good fresh peaches are.
As soon as I had finished it I wanted more. When a coworker went out for lunch I requested he stop at the market and pick me up another one.
I could eat myself sick from peaches.
The problem is that they cost so much. $2.99 a pound is much more then I’m used to paying. Back where I’m from peaches grow on trees right in your front yard.
My parents house is located in the middle of a working orchard. Their property came with it’s own mini orchard of 52 fruit trees. It may not sound like a lot of trees, but it is.
(Peaches from my parents orchard, picture taken last summer.)
I remember when I was younger, I’d get a hankering for a peach pie from time to time. I’d grab a basket and head outside to pick some fresh peaches for a pie. Or maybe it was a cherry pie I wanted. Or plum jam. Or any number of fruit concoction. We always had fresh homemade jam that my dad made. We had ice cream with fresh fruit on top, or fruit milkshakes at the end of the day. We weren’t messing around.
Today while eating my afternoon peach I thought about the orchard and I missed it. I e-mailed my dad and ask him how the orchard was looking. He said there is about 3 more weeks until their peaches are ripe, but the cherries are out in full force. In fact my brother, sister and their families had been down there last weekend to pick some fruit to take home.
(my younger brother shows his daughter the correct way to pick cherries.)
I asked my Dad to take some pictures to send me. He said he had to go out there and do a few things anyway. He’d take his camera and get some pictures to share.
Something about seeing this picture with the ladder ready to reach the high parts and the rooster walking around reminds me of the Coliseum. It reminds me I need to look up and see the things around me. And appreciate them just a little more.
It also reminds me that The King, Babboo, and I need to buy plane tickets to go and visit my family.
—————
Want to know what I did on Sunday night, with pictures and everything? Read all about it here.
They're just my family · Vacation · Back in the day
velocibadgergirl
said,
July 11, 2007 at 11:35 am
MB and I came out to Seattle and Olympic National Park last October, and we absolutely loved it. Best trip we’ve taken so far.
Great post!
Jezer
said,
July 11, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Man, I love our Farmer’s Market, and it barely covers 1/4 acre. But still, there’s nothing like fresh corn on the cob and peaches and blueberries. I hope you guys get to take that trip home soon–Babboo will love peach-pickin’!
meritt
said,
July 11, 2007 at 1:27 pm
So true! Great post this morning to sip over coffee. I do this too - realize that I need to look around me. We’ve lived all over the USA and sadly, I always ‘forget’ (?) to take advantage of all my current cities offer because I’m either too busy being a wife and Mom, or I just grow accustomed to it.
I too, have been to the Coliseum and you are right - it’s breath taking for a visit to come upon and you DO wonder; “how can you all just pass by this every day? don’t you realize what you are looking at?” but of course… we do it too! LOL.
Emily
said,
July 11, 2007 at 1:29 pm
You know the main reason I wanna go to Seattle? To see the guys at the markets throw the fish. I don’t even like fish, but I’ve just always wanted to see that.
Keri
said,
July 11, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I never fully appreciated seattle when I lived there and now, boy do I miss it.
Operation Pink Herring
said,
July 11, 2007 at 1:47 pm
I love Seattle. I would go there for vacation again in a heartbeat. I just love the city, the water, the breeze, everything. It’s so bustly and busy, but in a friendly way. But I feel the same way when I see tourists in Baltimore. Why? There are better museums and historical things 45 min away in DC, and better shopping and shows three hours away in NYC. Why Bmore? Are the crabs really that great?
I should look around and appreciate it more. I do love living here (most of the time), but it seems like an odd place to go on vacation!
Brittany
said,
July 11, 2007 at 1:51 pm
We have farmer’s markets here every Saturday. I’ve never been because I’m a loser.
You buy those plane tickets right now sister!
Fraulein N
said,
July 11, 2007 at 2:02 pm
For the longest time, I’ve wanted to live it Seattle. I don’t mind that kind of weather; it certainly beats the sticky summers in Philadelphia.
Oh, and where I’m from? 52 trees? Right around your house? Is a LOT.
Marriage-101
said,
July 11, 2007 at 2:39 pm
We have a farmer’s market in St. Louis.
Seattle is in my list of top places I’d like to visit…soon! When I buy my ticket, I’m hitting you up to help me put together an agenda of places to see and things to do.
And where do your parents live? I hope to have my own orchard some day.
Carrisa
said,
July 11, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Oh man those cherries look amazing. I really want a cherry tree in a major way.
And yes I can totally see myself vacationing in Seattle.
heidikins
said,
July 11, 2007 at 3:00 pm
We didn’t have a full orchard, but we had about a dozen different fruit trees on our property. Grandma Pack (who is not my grandma, but everyone in my hometown calls her that) had an enormous orchard and we’d always buy bushels of peaches and cherries and apples from her trees…. yum!
Whitney
said,
July 11, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Back a few months ago I entered a drawing for free roundtrip plane tickets at my work and I told Emily I’d take her with me. The one place she demanded we go if I won them? Seattle. I was mainly all about Hawaii but then I read the fine print that said “Continental U.S.” After that I was ok with Seattle.
Stefanie
said,
July 11, 2007 at 3:20 pm
I remember thinking the same thing when I was in Rome. Stonehenge had the same effect, too. It’s right alongside a crazy-busy highway! I expected a serene field of nothing-ness from the pictures I’d seen before.
janet
said,
July 11, 2007 at 3:46 pm
you really do live in a great place. my DC-BFF just got back from a vacation to seattle and some other good friends are honeymooning there in august. so, really, you are popular!!
Sara
said,
July 11, 2007 at 3:59 pm
I have lived out here for 5 years, and I still appreciate being able to walk out of Target and see Mt Rainier on a clear day and the view of the Sound from my office. It’s important to me to appreciate how very very lucky I am to live here. There is something about this area; all the trees, the sky, the water, the mountains that make it so much more spectacular to actually live in than any other place I have ever been. And after growing up in the Mid West I appreciate the mildness of the PNW (besides the last couple of days, of course!). Even the rain, compared to what I grew up with is nothing, 7 months of “rain” is better than 4+ months of snow and 4+ months of humid heat! Plus, a warm, sunny day makes all that rain totally worth it.
Michael Bay
said,
July 11, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I am extrememly jealous of your family’s orchard. I thought I had it good because my mom had a large vegetable (which really means veggie and fruit) garden that would feed us fresh raspberries, yellow transparent apples, zuchini, blueberries, beans, and strawberries all summer. But 52 trees all producing such bountious goodness? Why don’t you visit home every summer?
Laurel
said,
July 11, 2007 at 7:09 pm
I went to college in Tacoma, and just was back in the area visiting Seattle with AS in March. There are TONS of great things to do there!
Besides the nostalgia, it was a great place to visit with AS because he loves the out of doors. I’m more of a city traveler. So, for us a vacation where I can shop at the GIANT NORDSTROM and he can do a little hiking is a great compromise.
Frema
said,
July 11, 2007 at 7:13 pm
I’ve always wanted to visit Seattle, so it’s not surprising to me that other people do, too. Blame Starbucks, Singles, and early nineties grunge.
I also dig me some fresh peaches. And nectarines. I’m on a huge nectarine kick right now. And fifty-two fruit trees is a lot when you’ve never had even one.
the wifey
said,
July 11, 2007 at 7:30 pm
oh my gosh, what i would do to have my own orchard like that. and yes, that rocks to be able to see the water like you can in your picture. take time to smell the roses…
SJ
said,
July 11, 2007 at 8:59 pm
I feel the same way about Pikes Peak as you do about the water where you live - it’s really close but yet you forget to appreciate it.
One day I will visit Washington, it’s so beautiful in pictures. I want to see it and experience it for myself though.
And having an orchard like that in your yard would be awesome!
Rachel
said,
July 11, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Sadly, we have a Farmer’s Market here (very close to my house) and I’ve never been!!! I love love love fresh fruits and veggies!
Liz
said,
July 12, 2007 at 1:40 am
Great post. Now I want some peaches, too!
Isn’t it amazing how homesickness tastes? For me, it tastes like strawberry-rhubarb pie. My neighbor had a wonderful garden and every summer my mother and I went to pick strawberries at a local patch and then got the rhubarb from June and Eli’s garden.
It’s the only pie my mother knew how to make. Or at least the only one she ever made WELL. I’m sitting here thinking of the sweet and tart and the sugary crust…oh, Lordy!
metalia
said,
July 12, 2007 at 4:32 am
Great post, Isabel; I’m mentally planning a trip to Seattle now.
CPA Mom and Soccer Mom Angela
said,
July 12, 2007 at 6:27 pm
We have a farmer’s market but it’s NOTHING like Pike’s. Seattle is AWESOME! I can’t wait to visit again on day.
Audrey
said,
July 12, 2007 at 10:48 pm
When I studied abroad in Barcelona, my host family — an adorable retired couple whom I nicknamed Anna (because that was her name) and Good Ole’ Grampa — lived literally 2 blocks from the Sagrada Familia church. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia)
The metro stop I used to get to class was right at the base of those amazing steeples. In the 2 months I was there, I never once passed by that amazing building without looking up in awe.
Anna and Good Ole’ Grampa always had fresh peaches for dessert after every meal. Those were some of the best peaches I’ve ever had in my life. One of my fondest memories is of Good Ole’ Grampa slicing up his after-dinner peach one night, putting the slices in his glass of red wine, and triumphantly saying, “Look! Sangria!” It was truly adorable.
hola, isabel » Blog Archive » Here, take him. Promise me you’ll take good care of him. Promise me.
said,
November 12, 2007 at 6:08 pm
[…] Sunday night, while trapped driving in the car, the topic was broached. Without me even saying anything The King got defensive about his presumed notion that, if he died, I would pack up Babboo and move far, far away to live with my family in the country. Now, to be completely honest, I’ve never once said I would do this. But again, to be completely honest, I might. […]