February 23, 2025

Lavender: When Summer Makes You Smile

We joke about summer in Seattle all year—and can’t stop smiling when it shows up!

Bonus is, it also smells great, especially when the lavender harvest is in.

I am so grateful when I work to establish good relationships with people who love their work, and then I enjoy the fruits of our mutual labor! Like my auto mechanic I bumped into this morning while we were waiting for iced coffees. Like the farmer at the West Seattle Farmer’s Market, who brought me some tiny lemon basil plants to humor my city girl’s green thumb, knowing all the while that I’d still buy oodles of it when she harvests, which I did (what you don’t gobble yourself makes lovely gifts).

And especially like Marcella Stachurski at Cedarbrook Lavender and Herb Farm in Sequim, Washington, who picked up the phone a few years ago, when the Seattle lavender crop had failed, and promptly filled my entire large large large order. It was literally on my doorstep the next morning (having delighted our postal carrier all day on his route). The lavender doesn’t get picked until it’s ready, and it’s shipped the same day.

Summer. Lavender. People who love their jobs.

Awesome.

© 2012 Robyn M Fritz

Bald Eagles: Neighborhood Shares

Driving home this afternoon I had to smile: a bald eagle soared overhead, ignoring the crow flying up its tailpipe, so to speak. I appreciated both the snooty “you can’t get me” that the eagles have apparently patented and the “never say never” attitude of our neighborhood crows.

Yes, this isn’t a picture of a crow chasing an eagle, but you get the idea. Yes, it’s cold all year here on our Seattle beach, but every day is wonderful.

Here are more eagle pictures from neighborhood photographer Gary R. Jones. Remember they are © 2012 Gary R. Jones. They are here at Bridging the Paradigms because he loves eagles and photography and wants to share. Please respect his copyright.

Take a good look at this one! Talk about fishing for your dinner!

 

The Other Fritzes

My version of the Fritz family is complete with two dogs and a cat (and Fallon, and …). My brother’s version has a Jack Russell terrier, Skittles, and three fantastic humans I am proud and honored to call family. Here’s Ron and Jan with Justin, graduating from the University of Oregon in 2010, and Randall cheering him on. I never thought I’d be old enough to ‘remember when,’ but I do recall the boys as babies, and how impatiently I waited until they were old enough to go on adventures. Then, somehow, they were doing wheelies in my car in a parking lot! I am proud of their vitality and enthusiasm, their humor and kindness, their hard work and commitment to community. Our future is in good hands when they belong to young people like my nephews. Carry on, boys!

(c) 2011 Robyn M Fritz