Autumn

“Her pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and the day, from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges, and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical descriptions extant of autumn--that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness--that season which has drawn from every poet worthy of being read some attempt at description, or some lines of feeling.” -Jane Austen, Persuasion

Washington State, Part II

We had crossed the Puget Sound and arrived on Vashon Island. You would think that with all of my travels abroad last year, that no place in the U.S.A. could even touch the beauty I had seen. Albeit a different variety of beauty, Vashon Island is one of the most beautiful places I have stepped foot on. 

 

A highlight of the trip was a visit to All Merciful Saviour Monastery, home to Abbot Tryphon and his monk brothers. (http://vashonmonks.com/wp/) I have been a frequent listener of Abbot T's podcast on Ancient Faith Radio for some time so meeting him was, in my mind, pretty darn close to meeting a [albeit humble] celebrity. We had the privilege of attending Sunday morning Liturgy and a communal meal with Abbot T and the monks afterwards. It was delightful. Abbot T was kind enough to give us a tour around the monastery and graciously gave me permission to take some photos. 

Abbot Tryphon himself was responsible for the planning of the monastery architecture and grounds. He modeled it off of a small Norwegian town. 

The man himself. (AKA Orthodox Gandalf)

Who says the Orthodox are stuck in the past? He has an iPhone. 

Jamming to some tunes. 

After our Sunday venture, we did some exploring and Frank showed us around his old stomping grounds.

Classy lady.

Rudy the lamb.

 The Summer 2014 Washington trip stands in my mind as an utterly delightful time with two of the dearest people in my life. Thanks for the memories. (Bob Hope's song is floating through my head right now.)

Washington State, Part I

I still have yet to post the rest of the photos from our European travels--Geneva and Austria in particular. Lord willing, I will get to those shortly. In the mean time, I want to share some photos from a recent trip to Washington State with two of the people that I hold most dear in this world. I will refrain from providing too much explanation and rather allow the photos to speak mostly for themselves.

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Once we completed our final examinations, we made a brief stop in Camp Hill, PA before heading out West. We took advantage of the J's hospitality and stopped in for some much needed rest, nourishment, conversation and hair trims. 

How appropriate, the first shots of our time in Washington are of Frank's pretty cat. She is such a poser. 

We made a few stops on our way to Seattle. Beautiful places. Beautiful people. 

Seattle, Washington, folks.

The first Starbucks ever. If you look closely, you can see Frank puking in the corner. (He is not the biggest fan of this establishment.)

Feeding the birds, as usual.

Ferry ride from Seattle to Vashon Island

Sea Ferry "American Gothic" pose