Summer finally comes to Seattle

Temperatures peaked at 91 degrees today at Sea-Tac Airport, just shy of a record (93 degrees) set in 1987. It looks like summer has finally arrived in Seattle and may I say it's about time - those tank tops and shorts I didn't have much use for last year can finally come out of the closet!

To celebrate the nice weather and remind ourselves why we had move to the Pacific Northwest, yesterday we decided to go for a hike up Mt. Si. The trail climbs 3,200 ft in about 4 miles, and goes as far as the summit ridge at the base of the Haystack (the summit), which we decided not to try to scale. Kiki was amazing and walked all the way up and almost the entire way back. We found many favorite spots along the trail, but Snag Flats (a plateau where one can recover from the steady uphill climb) and a short creek side trail right before it (where on the way down one can dip tired feet into icy-cold mountain creek) were among the best. Of course, the 360-degree view from the top is spectacular - we could just barely make out Seattle skyline, against the always spectacular Olympic Mountains, on the horizon.

Salman Rushdie's book reading and signing at Seattle's Town Hall

Trying to describe a Salman Rushdie novel is like trying to describe music to someone who has never heard it -- you can fumble with a plot summary but you won't be able to convey the wonder of his dazzling prose or the imaginative complexity of his vision. -- Daphne Durham

On Thursday, June 12, Salman Rushdie gave the audience assembled at Seattle's Town Hall a taste of his exquisite storytelling, reading from his new novel The Enchantress of Florence. Since then I have found myself completely immersed in my personal signed copy of this charming, entertaining and thought-provoking novel, thoroughly enjoying his complex and mesmerising proze, absorbed in a seductive tale which is part history, part fable, and yet another marvelous product of Rushdie's incredible imagination. Little wonder he's one of my favorite authors!