If Willy Wonka had been a florist instead of a candy maker…

… his world would look like this. The colors of these flowers are almost obscenely vivid and rich, to the point of surreality.

We are visiting family in western Washington during tulip season! Usually we visit during the holidays or the summertime, so this is a rare treat.

For better event and travel information than I can give you (because my advice would be “Call my mother-in-law, and she’ll tell you everything you need to know,” and I’m not sure she’s up for that), visit the Tulip Festival and RoozenGaarde.

I’ll let my photos* do the rest of the talking. You start planning your trip for next April.

I can’t take him anywhere. #selfiespoiler
Recreating an iconic family photo: the preparation
Nailed it!
On the left, our sons in 2004, which was the last time we tiptoed through the tulips. The boys were 9 and 7 at the time, and our family was stationed in Bremerton, WA.
On the right, these two parents in 2018, ages 51 and 49.


* I used the auto-enhance feature on these photos, but no filters. In person, the colors of these flowers are so vibrant and luscious, you may be tempted to lick them. I do not recommend it.

As the Buddha would say, “Jesus, Emily. Look *up*.”

We’ve been here nearly two weeks, spending tons of time making memories with family, and taking advantage of rare non-rainy days to walk along the bay.

On this morning’s sojourn, I chanced to look up.

It’s a rule of Western Washington that I often forget: Every now and then, pull your eyes from the placid waters, the intense greenery, the snow-capped Olympics and Cascades, and the hipsters with their coffees, and gaze skyward, to the very tops of the cedars.
Because that’s where the bald eagles are, dummy.
Today, I saw four. Actually, I think Eagle 1 and Eagle 4 were a case of same-bird-different-tree, so maybe I saw only three.

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See them? Center tree, up top.
See them?
Center tree, up top.
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Still there. Same tree. But better shot of the truck, yes?
My apologies for poor photo quality. This was one of the rare occasions on which I wished I still had a real camera, as the iPhone just doesn’t do very well at capturing things that are way the hell up there.