Upon Reflection

I've enjoyed having my son, W, here today. I picked him up at the Fairhaven Transit Station just before 11 a.m., and after coffee at Mount Bakery, we went to Good Earth Pottery, one of our favorite shops. It features a wide range of local potters and is always a pleasure to visit. Following a thorough perusal of all the lovely items, we each bought a small bowl by a favorite potter.

A short block away was Village Books, and that's another fine place to spend some time, as regular readers of this journal know! In addition to looking at books and chatting with a friend who works there, we also ate lunch in the excellent Book Fare Cafe, where we relished yam tarragon bisque and iced lavender lemonade.

Moving on to one of the reasons W came to Bellingham, I dropped him at his dentist's office in the main part of town, left my car there, and had a good wander through downtown Bellingham, taking photos and popping into shops as my fancy led me. I liked these watery reflections on wall tiles near the Pickford Theater, our local independent movie house, best of all the photos I took on my walk.

After W's appointment, we spent some time with Phil and Miss Annie at home, and then went out for an excellent meal at Boundary Bay Brewery -- a lamb burger and roast potatoes for Phil, a pesto and grilled wild salmon sandwich on foccacia with salad for W, and cornmeal-crusted local oysters with citrus remoulade and cole slaw for me. We all enjoyed the brewery's Cabin Fever, a seasonal "winter warmer" that went well with our varied viands.

Then it was back home again for a celebratory raspberry and chocolate heart-shaped cake that W had chosen that morning from Mount Bakery. It was just big enough for each of us to have a few bites, which was all we had room for.

Miss Annie went along for the ride when we took W to catch his bus back to Seattle. We're looking forward to seeing him -- and his sister M -- when they come to Bellingham in a couple of weeks to celebrate my birthday -- and we'll have a bigger cake for that!