Kirkland to Seattle

We can drive from Kirkland to downtown Seattle in 20 minutes or less, nonrush hour.

We have several options for going west to Seattle. We can drive on I-405 down, around, and then I-5 north into Seattle. We can take a "short cut" and cross Lake Washington on I-90 and its bridge or go over the SR-520 bridge. 

It takes about 10 minutes to get to the I-90 floating bridge that goes over the lake, onto Mercer Island, and then the rest of the way over the lake into Seattle. The first Lake Washington (I-90) bridge was built in 1940. The SR-520 bridge is closer to us, only 5 minutes or so from here. It was opened in 1963. Both bridges are floating bridges. 

Until 1940 the shortest way to get to Seattle was by boat across Lake Washington. Ferry service between Kirkland and Seattle started in the late 1800s and continued until 1950.

Click here to read more about ferry service on Lake Washington. Be sure to read to the end of the linked article to find out the fate of the last regular service ferry boat on Lake Washington. 

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Area History - Houghton & Shipbuilding

There is a rich history of shipbuilding in this area. Click here for information about this photo of the Anderson Shipyard in Houghton. Houghton is a neighborhood that's now part of Kirkland. It's just a 10-15 minute walk from our place. 

Grandson's Eagle Project

Grandson Daniel did his Eagle project recently with lots of help from his church congregation. 29 people showed up on a gloriously sunny Saturday morning to help with the trails project at Larsen Lake Blueberry Farms, a Bellevue park. We spread mulch on trails and gravel and mulch on some low places in the trail. 

Ready to go

Reddish bushes are blueberries

The group tackled a HUGE pile of mulch that was full of steam and dust. 

Raking the mulch

Gravel was spread on low, wet spots and mulch put over the gravel.

Michael, Daniel & Joe

Daniel worked with a contact in Bellevue Parks to get everything 

organized and ready for Saturday morning. 

Part of the finished project - 

with walkers on the freshly mulched trail already. 

Blueberries bushes line both sides of the trail. 

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The parks representative mentioned several times how impressed he was with the number of people and the speed and quality of the work – and how everyone worked together so well. He said he oversees a lot of volunteer projects and he’s never seen one go this well and so quickly. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do so many service projects that they tend to know how to self organize and get the work done well and quickly. Michael said there’s a core of people in the ward, many of them empty nesters, who consistently show up to help with Eagle and other service projects.  

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Michael commented that Daniel’s Eagle will be the fourth generation in our family. Scouting started in the early 1900s in this country. I don’t think my grandfather, Caryl Holton, would have had a chance to be a Scout or earn an Eagle in tiny Sidell, Illinois. He would have been almost too old even if Scouting did reach Sidell. So Dad, William Holton, was the first generation of Holtons that could have earned an Eagle. Dad earned an Eagle as did my brother Tom, and then Michel earned his Eagle. Now Daniel will join the convocation (term for a group of Eagles, had to add that in memory of Dad) – after he completes his report and has the Court of Honor. Another grandson is on track to receive his Eagle after he completes his project. My brother's son also earned an Eagle. 

Joe The Optimist

This man is an optimist. 

It's the beginning of winter in Seattle 

and he just bought a solar powered, wireless keyboard! 

Speaking of solar powered -  46 solar powered trash compactors were recently installed in downtown Kirkland. With winter on its way, that's optimism or someone did a great sales job! 

PS - According to Joe, once the keyboard is fully charged, it will work for three months in the dark. Hope we don't have to test that out. 

Abundant Life

An Abundant Life - so says the plaque. These women are a huge part of the abundant life I had in Central Ohio.  One of the wonderful aspects of our life in Columbus was that it included three generations of our family. We enjoyed each others' company and made time for get-togethers. There is a wonderful combination of mothers, mothers-in-law, daughters, daughters-in-law, sisters, sisters-in-law - you get the idea - and young children - and I don't want to forget the male side of the family. This good-bye brunch at my sister Jan's home on February 26 was just for the girls in the family.  All the youngsters joined us also. 

Angie, Sally, Jan, Julia, Christen, Betty, Gayle, Kathryn, Jenni. Missing from this picture is Rosie. She's in the picture below. Vicky & baby Zane couldn't join us due to illness. 

Angie, Christen & Rosie

Celia & Julia - Celia is named for her Great, great grandmother Celia Cathcart Holton and has the Holton red hair. 4 year old Celia has Batten Disease. 

Celia's mother blogs about their journey here. 

Angie, Julia, Jan, Betty & Gayle

Jan & Betty

Jan is my younger sister. Betty and I have been friends since second grade. 

Up To Snuff - Origin Of Phrase

Every once in a while I hear a familiar phrase and wonder about its origin. Recently I was in the temple and one of the workers commented about training. She said she had to be "up to snuff." This struck me as humorous, especially in this setting. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints don't use tobacco. 

Here's what I found about about the origin of the phrase.

"UP TO SNUFF: Originally the expression ‘up to snuff’ meant ‘sharp, keen, wise, all-knowing.’ Presumably it got its meaning because a person who has just sniffed some snuff would have a brief sense of exhilaration and might feel that he was a lot brighter than other people. Gradually the term came to be applied more and more to a persons [sic] physical condition. If you feel ‘up to snuff’ nowadays, you feel that you’re in good shape, in normal health." 

From Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, quoted on the Wordwizard

From the Phrase Finder   'Up to snuff' originated in the early 19th century. In 1811, the English playwright John Poole wrote Hamlet Travestie, a parody of Shakespeare, in the style of Doctor Johnson and George Steevens, which included the expression.

"He knows well enough The game we're after: Zooks, he's up to snuff." &

"He is up to snuff, i.e. he is the knowing one."

A slightly later citation of the phrase, in Grose's Dictionary, 1823, lists it as 'up to snuff and a pinch above it', and defines the term as 'flash'*. This clearly shows the derivation to be from 'snuff', the powdered tobacco that had become fashionable to inhale in the late 17th century. The phrase derives from the stimulating effect of taking snuff. The association of the phrase with sharpness of mind was enhanced by the fashionability and high cost of snuff and by the elaborate decorative boxes that it was kept in."

See more information here. 

Most of the sources said the phrase now means "up to the required standard."

PS - ABC News Radio indicated the phrase has to do with hounds being able to track down or sniff out a fox. It's the only place I found that meaning. 

*I searched and searched to see why the term flash "clearly shows the derivation to be from snuff." Perhaps one of you can find the connection. 

Image: The Phrase Finder

Christ's Invitation To Follow Him

"And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23

 “The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.” St. John 1:43

 “And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphæus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.” Mark 2:14

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“His invitation to follow Him is not just to ‘hang out and see what happens.’ It means to do the things He has done – to become as He is.” (Walter Selden)