Be Mused

It’s been a little over a month since all of our visitors left, and I have a hard time figuring out where all that time has gone. At first glance, it just seems like wasted time, since there’s little concrete evidence that I did anything for nearly a month other than edit some photographs and post a few blog entries.

Looking back more carefully, I realized that my latest technological wonders have eaten a little further into my “free” time. One of my favorite toys is Muse: the brain sensing headband. I’ve actually been using since the end of April but I managed to skip several days while I was on the road and while I had guests. I do have a 47-day streak going now, though, and have managed to reach level 22 and have improved my ability to “calm” myself through some simple meditation. Lately I’ve been meditating for 20+ minutes twice a day, especially right before bedtime. Not sure what effects it really has, but I do feel calmer and, if the stress app is right, I’m pretty relaxed whenever I measure myself.

I’ve actually been meditating off and on for over 30 years now, but I’ve never managed to be very consistent. That’s how Muse has helped me most. It keeps a record of how often you meditate and how successful you are at calming yourself. Just seeing a constant improvement in calming down provides more motivation than I’ve had in the past. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I even like the “awards” you get for new accomplishments, like being 85% calm during a 20-minute session.

My other tech toy was a new Apple watch. I got it to replace aging Polar watch/chest band and my iPod that played music and recorded my workouts. It’s actually the first time I’ve worn a watch in years since I used my iPhone to tell time in recent years. The Apple watch apps use some of the same gimmicks that the Muse uses to motivate you, though it’s a little more sophisticated. As a result, I’ve gradually increased the time I’ve spent exercising since I got the watch.

Every time you start an exercise that you’ve done before the watch suggests a goal, one that’s incrementally greater than the previous time. It’s easier to just accept the suggested goal rather than changing it so I’ve found myself actually doing more exercise. The “Exercise” part of the app wouldn’t count my birding walks (all five miles of them) as “exercise” because they were too slow. So, I found myself walking faster at the end of birding just to meet my daily “exercise” requirement. I suspect that I am in a little better shape because of the watch, but I also find myself with a few more aches than I had prior to buying it.

W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory at Wright Park

Although our Mt. Rainier visit was the highlight of Mary’s visit, she also wanted to visit the W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory at Wright Park, one of those places I visited several times when I first moved to Tacoma but have somehow managed to overlook in recent years, though I’m not sure why after our visit.

It didn’t hurt that it was a beautiful day and we began our visit with a trip through Wright Park before being greeted by the Conservatory.

Seymour

I started snapping shots almost before we got inside when greeted by these beautiful lilies.

WrightLilies

I’ve never had the patience to raise begonias,

Begonia

but I might appreciate their beauty all the more knowing how hard they are to raise year after year.

Not sure what this allium-like flower is, but it fit in nicely with all the exotic plants surrounding it.

BlueFlower

Of course, it wouldn’t be a botanical conservatory if it didn’t contain exotics I’d never encounter anywhere else.

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I sometimes think of parks as places to take kids,

Trilogy

but even three old folks can find pleasure in a quiet visit to a beautiful spot.

Mt. Rainier’s Alpine Gardens

Usually when we go to Mt. Rainier we spend most of the day at Sunrise walking and circle around the mountain to home. Mary who was visiting from Boston wanted to see the main lodge, Paradise, and we hadn’t spent as much time as usual walking at Sunrise so we decided to visit Paradise, too. Unfortunately, once we got there we found out that half of Seattle must have decided to visit on the same day. We circled the main parking lot and when we couldn’t find a parking spot decided that we would park in one of the secondary lodges and walk to the lodge the back way. That plan was waylaid when we found the trail closed due to a bear sighting between the lower parking lot and the lodge.

So, we had to settle for this view of the southern side of Mt. Rainier

SouthRainier

and the ridges on the other side of the valley.

Rdglin

Our disappointment, though, turned to awe when we discovered meadows blanketed with wildflowers, the kind you’d usually expect in late August, not July 1st.

RainierFlowers

After trying to capture their beauty in mere photographs, it became quite clear why Impressionists abandoned realism for abstract colors.

RainierFlowers2

Confronted with such timeless beauty one could see why John Muir was inspired to write,” Every one of these parks, great and small, is a garden filled knee-deep with fresh, lovely flowers of every hue, the most luxuriant and the most extravagantly beautiful of all the alpine gardens I ever beheld in all my mountain-top wanderings.”

RainierFlowers3

It was a magical visit.

Mt. Rainier

Right after the grandkids went home, Leslie’s friend Mary from Boston spent a week with us. Without the chickens to feed and dogs to care for, we managed to get out more than we did the previous two weeks, though I still didn’t get back to the gym.

For me, the highlight of the week was the day trip around Mt. Rainier, and, although it was barely July, it turned out to be the ideal time to visit the mountain. Our Summer of Sun continued in full force, and not only was Mt. Rainier beautiful from the north side

RainierPan

but I think this is the best view I’ve ever gotten of Mt Adams from the north side.

DstntMtAdams

Usually it’s blocked by haze or clouds.

Although the north side isn’t as well known for its flowers as the south entrance, the flowers were in full bloom. My favorites were the Indian Paintbrush,

HtPknIndnBrsh

which could be found in a variety of striking colors.

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Though not as bright as the Indian Paintbrush, purple and white Lupine still dominated the landscape.

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If you could take your eyes off the towering mountain long enough, you could see not only the flowers but butterflies and insects everywhere.

Bug

Despite the crowds, you almost felt like you were experiencing Nature directly.