Adventures of a Discoverer

Lake Sutherland is a wonderful little lake hidden in the middle of the Olympic Peninsula. Not many people know about it, and not only it is a beautiful place surrounded by trees, but also it has a very convenient public boat launch. And it was there that I put my kayak on the water two weeks ago, to spend some very pleasant couple of hours paddling through the calm waters. At the beginning, there was a thin drizzle, but it didn't bother at all and on the other hand it made so that I had an entire lake just for myself. In fact, it was pretty to see the rain drops falling on the surface of the water, and fortunately there was no wind whatsoever. The waters were very transparent, and I could see many fishes and aquatic vegetation, and also some very shallow parts of the lake (there were a number of buoys warning the boats to not come close, but my kayak is perfect for shallow waters). Everything was so calm that I could see deer roaming the empty lake houses at the margins. It was a

The Beacon is one of my favorite movie theaters in Seattle: it's small but very well kept, with comfortable seats, a bright projection, and great sound. It doesn't show the regular comercial fare, preferring instead to show independent movies, and also some classic movies from the past ( as I saw myself the first time I went there, when I watched "Sorcerer", a classic movie from the 70's). Among other cool things, from time to time The Beacon has a Secret Cinema session. The idea is this: as marked in their calendar, on a given day they will have a session in which they will not divulge which movie will be shown. To make things more interesting, that given session will be completely free: all you have to do is show up. Doors open half an hour in advance, by which time there already is a line outside (as you can see in one of the pictures below). People are allowed in until the room gets fully occupied and then, at the scheduled time, an employee from The Beaco

Most people are familiar with food trucks. But... what about a concert truck ? The idea, sponsored by the Seattle Chamber Music Society and various donors, is to use a truck, similar to the ones used by food trucks, that carries a small stage and can go to different places and play classical music for all those who want to watch. However, better than a food truck, the concert truck is free: you can just go to the park or other public venue and listen to some talented musicians play a really nice selection of classical masterpieces. I just returned from one such presentation. The truck was parked at the Arboretum, that public park that consists of some of the original forest that used to cover Seattle. It was a beautiful afternoon, bright and sunny, but not too hot, allowing people to bring their picnic blankets and just enjoy the music. It is great to listen to Classical Music in some big fancy concert venue, but it is also amazing to listen to such music in the middle of nature. As a

Yesterday I went hiking to what turned out to be a really interesting (and surprising) trail: the High Rock Lookout Trail. The trail is located at the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, pretty close to the border of the Mt Rainier National Park, and ends at a currently inactive fire lookout. It is not a long trail (3.2 miles to the end and back) but it goes up without any respite from the trailhead up to the lookout. Initially you're surrounded by forest, but after sometime you're high enough that you reach the sub-alpine vegetation, and towards the end there is only naked rock. One aspect of this trail that makes things more "exciting" is that the trail follows a narrow mountain ridge that gets narrower and narrower the further you go, and by the time you reach the lookout you're surrounded by sheer cliffs on three sides. In fact, to actually get to the lookout platform, you need to give some steps on the naked rock that are a little bit too close for comfort to th