A September mushrooming outing somewhere near Skykomish. Maybe. Mushroom hunters have a reputation for obfuscating their picking spots. It's not that I'm protective of my mushrooming spots -- just ask to come along and I'll gladly show you the way, no blindfolding required! It's just that when I get out in the woods chasing mushrooms I tend to wander rather purposefully, eyes on the ground, in search of edible mushrooms. So if someone asks "Where did you find these?" my h

September and October are my favorite months in the Pacific Northwest. The mountains are beautiful, gardens are full, mushrooms are starting to show up -- the days are long, the nights starting to get crisp. Early last September I headed east to visit my brother in Yakima, where the fruit tree growers reign supreme. He lives on a piece of property that includes a grove of old English Walnut trees. The grove has long been the site of a u-pick operation, which he now operate

Labor Day weekend is often a real beaut here in the PNW, and for the last few years Gabe and Dave have taken full advantage by having their birthday celebrations that weekend in Woodland Park, a lovely bit of acreage adjacent to the always popular Green Lake in north Seattle. Woodland Park contains a number of covered picknicking facilities, and a couple of remnants from the civic and community minded past: a lawn bowling green and a huge lane of covered horseshoe pits. Th

In which an undersea adventure yields tasty treats at moderate risk to life and limb. Lessons are learned. I visited Paul and Hillary out on Vashon Island early in September. Vashon Island is a beautiful, agrarian-feeling place a very short ferry ride from West Seattle - an easy way to get an island outing as a day trip from the city. Paul and Hillary have a little walk-up place right on the south west shoreline of the island. The weather was great and Paul suggested we t