{ the jaunty magpie }

Can you not already tell how much I'm making the most of these waning days of sun-filled skies? It had been a long time since we had left the homestead to visit family -- the Mister and I joined a gathering with his grandfather, who will be turning 90 (we celebrated early -- why not??). We all met up at his aunt and uncle's house in Brewster, which is just outside of Chelan, if you're familiar with that part of Washington State. If you've never headed out there, you should -- it's a uniquely beautiful landscape, so different from what we see on our evergreen, tree-filled horizon.

Driving out East is where the summer takes the longest to depart -- which sounds counter-intuitive, I know, but it's so much hotter out there!  It's also the region where a lot of our Washington apples (and pears) come from, along with other agriculture, including my favorite type of farms: wineries. You can grow apple and pear trees in the Seattle area just fine, but holy moly -- the size of the Fuji apples we brought back with us were insane! 

It was just a short weekend visit, but it's a beautiful drive out past Leavenworth, watching the leaves changing color, the pine tree-covered mountains falling away, and a dusky, desert landscape taking its place. The deep blue of an island-dotted Sound is replaced with wide rivers like the great Columbia River. I'm so used to waves and whitecaps on the water, it's startling to see the river's surface smooth as glass. The blue skies seem even more blue against the golden rocky hills, and at night, when you look above, it's as if the galaxy exploded a thousand times over. You forget how much city light drowns out nature's own light show. I was overdue for a weekend trip, and it was a lovely reminder why I live in this state and how it never fails to amaze me.

Jaunty Fine Print: Photos by Denise Sakaki