Smiling for Science. Sleeping for Science. Pilates for Science. Gardening for Science. Kale for Science. Carpooling for Science. Bicycling for Science. Walking Commute for Science. Neighbors for Science. Prayer for Science. Vegetarianism for Science. Vegan for Science. Unity for Science. Diversity for Science. Meditation for Science. Health for Science. Exercise for Science. Yoga for Science. Medicine for Science. Pharmacy for Science. Farming for Science. Family for Science. Fresh Air for Science. All Weather for Science. Oceans for Science. Friendship for Science. Frisbee for Science. Playing for Science. Farmers’ Market for Science. Breastfeeding for Science. Greenlake walk for Science. Tulips for Science. Bees for Science. Solidarity for Science. 

Earth Day 2017: March for Science. We celebrated in solidarity. We enjoyed nature, family and community all day and throughout the weekend. We thought of all the marchers around the world with great respect. Thank you for marching yesterday friends! We love you! We love our Earth! We love Art! We love Science!



Dear Lake, when you were small there was an empty lot next door. We could look out above the kitchen sink in spring and see a bower of flowers.

I write this because it could very well have a big house built upon it before Lake is old enough to recall.

The vacant lot has a bit of the wild in it. A bit of untamed free space. Naturalized. Something defiant in the vacancy, in the thick of the urban density.

Our next door lot harkens me back to the vacant corner lot adjacent to the spot where Nana grew up in Spokane on Cliff Drive. Eventually my grandparents did purchase it. Thinking to save it from building, to preserve it as a conservation corner. In a strange twist of fate, their vacant lot and the double lot with their home on it, sold after my grandfather died to a developer who bulldozed the entirety and posted it for sale as three lots for building about ten years ago. In some ways the vacant lot is the only thing that this remains unchanged. It took some courage to re-visit the now entirely vacant lot, where the house my mother grew up in once sat, and where my brother and I would visit my grandparents in the winters. I made this pilgrimage on October 19th 2009. My photographer friend Stephen Chalmers commemorated the scene with a collection entitled Pics For Sweet Tolle (of a house which wasn’t there) 10-19-2009.

My grandfather used to grow crops on the vacant lot. Mostly potatoes. Sometimes other vegetables, too, like garlic.  Both my grandparents liked to watch the birds there. My brother tells me the for sale properties are still standing there vacant. Naturalized. I think the vacant lot adjacent to our new house has been that way approximately the same length of time. The neighbors tell us the house burned down about ten years ago and it’s been vacant ever since. I dream of farming potatoes and garlic and kale there. For now I look out the kitchen window and I wonder what the future holds for this Secret Garden, this unbridled riot of flora, this proud and humble vacant lot.

Lake tricked me again tonight. His fourth night in a row where he went to sleep without his pajamas. Before his pajamas. Before his night nappy. The hour, the moment where he is asleep, out like a light, it sneaks up on me and I’m not accustomed to it. Tonight he was fast asleep by 7:15pm… Perhaps this is typical and non-notable for some parents of 10 1/2 month olds. But for us, we have been used to his staying up rather late. Typically he beds down for the night first at 9:30 or even 11pm. It’s new for me. I thought I was prepared to have him sleep-ready early. Then he fell asleep earlier still. He’s the Early Bird to bed! Let’s send out the invitation now: Pajama party at 7pm tomorrow. Lake you’re invited!

Not only can Lake escape his bed, he can also open our new baby gate. I watched him open it. And the cats can both jump over it. Mr. Silky, aka Friendly the Cat, jumped into the top cupboard in Lake’s room, where we house his children’s book collection. Then I watched Mr. Cat climb over the super tall baby gate. We use the baby gates at the top of our flights of stairs for dual purposes: Lake’s safety but also to contain the wild cats a bit. Now, what can these brothers not do? Lake is learning from the masters. 

This little man is ready to go!

Lake is getting really interested in exploring his environment these days. He can’t walk yet, but that doesn’t slow him down from experiencing his surroundings to the fullest. He’s checking out all the elements. Earth. Water. Fire. Metal. Air. He loves it all. And he gets right out there. Up close. Feels the feelings. Tastes the offerings. Lake is not afraid to get a little dirty, wet, hot or cold. He indulges his curiosity without restraint. 

Happy Easter, Dears! We wish you a happy Springtime feeling! And very Happy Lake greetings! Love, the VanLaanen Family 

Since Michael was working the weekend, Jo and I took the opportunity to visit our best friends in Portland. We wanted to have a girls’ road trip with Lake for friendship, shopping and a bit of experiencing the Portlandia culture! We left Seattle after work on Friday amidst high winds and reports of pervasive power outages. Michael had refurbished and installed the next-size-up in delux car seats accommodations *Just in the nick of time* and *Bonus* because we found it for free on the sidewalk last weekend!

We arrived in Portland late at night and well after the storm had passed. In the morning we woke and welcomed the warmth of Springtime. The sky seemed to be exploding with blooms. We put magnolia flowers in our hair. Portland, we are ready for you!

First, the Lan Su Chinese Gardens… such a gem to explore in downtown Portland. It’s made for hide and seek, seek and discover playful rejuvenation. You can even check out a family pass free from the library: what a cool concept!

Based upon a number of recommendations we visited Blue Star donuts where the gourmet donuts are fried in rice oil and there is an emphasis on quality over quantity. They were indeed something special. Very delicious! Then a visit to my longtime favorite Petunias Pies and Pastries could not be missed! Altogether, we ate an undisclosed amount of pastries. 

We did lots of shopping and managed a fresh wardrobe for Lake

Then, Lake learned stairs! His first go around he went all the way up! His cousins were such good motivators and coaches!

What’s not to love? We had the best hosts! Thank you dear ones! A wonderful weekend getaway all around!

Sometimes we’re not able to do what we would exactly prefer. Especially with respect to your life with an infant and also with regard to a family. Like this weekend: the days dawned sunny and beautiful; hiking would have been ideal, as I had spring fever in my bones. Indeed, as responsiblities beckon, Sunday was a day for bicycle shopping, weeding the garden, and Costco. On weekends we often do householding, the stuff of daily life. The meat and potatoes of a marriage. Or in our case, is it the carrots and hummus of marriage? 

Saturday we would have liked to go to yoga and our friends’ daughter’s first birthday party and view the cherry blossoms on the quad. Instead we were buying our weekly bread at the farmers market and cleaning our guest apartment. But you know, in spite of not having gone to the mountains or the ocean or the tropics of Asia we had a wonderful couple of days of domestic partnership. Michael called it a “Sweetheart Weekend “. Sometimes householding is enough, and precious and couldn’t be improved upon one bit. And we still somehow manage to find ways to sneak in the weekend wishlist. It just doesn’t always look as expected. Like an impromptu Sunday night game night with neighborhood friends. Or an even more spontaneous bit of yoga with your baby in the bathroom. And I was so desperate to get over to see the cherry blossom phenomenon, bursting and overflowing with cascades of frothy homespun delicate lacy pink blossoms on the Quad just a tantalizing few blocks away, that I enlisted Michaels help to ensure we had a chance for our own virewing. So we set out around sunset and dusk fell and we had our cherry trees by night. Night blossoms. Blissfully beautiful even without a bright blue backdrop. So enchanting really and ever the more special due to its unconventional take and the way it worked for us. Part of the thoughtful rendition of the Sweetheart Weekend. 

And then it’s good to remember when in the middle of a baby derived black hole that there’s always another day, too. So, Monday evening after work Lake and I returned to take in the daylight scene. It literally took my breath away. 

I have an unexplainable love affair for these blossoms. I can’t get enough. I want to see them again tomorrow. I want to see them at sunrise. They are incredible! Even so. However humbled they might be at night compared to the impressive show of the day, the night blossom viewing definitely had the most heartfelt romantic spirit and a bit of the magical!

Tonight was Lindsin Tuesday. We Lindsed around the U District and revisited the Quad. Cherry blossoms! Bonus! Again! What a lovely scene to re-experience. This evening there were petals falling like snow. And littering the grounds. It was beautiful. Lake was delighted. Apparently these iconic trees have been gracing the Quad since 1962 and are around 80 years old. We say thank you very much! Vielen Dank! Or as Michael aptly says, “Feelin’ Donkey!”  

Jo says to me as I head out the door for yoga this morning…

Have fun!

This is a really common send-off in Germany to say have a good time, viel spaß! It makes sense that she’s said this to me several times now. I just wouldn’t expect it in English typically. Have a good time, maybe, but…

Have fun at yoga, Tolle!

So, it’s starting to make an impact on me. She’s making an impression. I don’t typically associate yoga sessions with fun, per se. Health and relaxation and exercise and strength and flexibility of body and mind, but not fun, exactly. Jo, however, was working her weekend on my behalf so that I might go to this yoga session. Therefore I thought I’d try it out at least out of respect to her giving me this gift of a morning for hot yoga. Have fun at yoga, Tolle. 

So I went to hot yoga and gosh, if I didn’t have Fun! I smiled at myself gleefully in the mirror. I smiled a lot. I laughed when the teacher made a joke. I laughed when I lost my balance. I laughed when I found inner strength and kept my balance. I experienced the poses with a sense of humor. I explored the sensations with a sense of fun. Levity. Curiosity. Mirth. An open mind. Another smile! Ninety minutes of hot yoga fun…

It worked. I had fun! Why not? It’s my morning. My time to myself. My every moment that comprises my life, after all! I can have some fun with it. Or a a lot of fun even! We invite you too…

Viel spaß!