after attending a culinary workshop demystifying

"exotic" cuisines of the world and using

old world peruvian techniques to

grow and cook food sustainably,

 i felt inclined to..make pasta from scratch:

maggie, mops, cassidy and i went on an

avocado adventure today.

she read animal tracks in the dust and

i picked avocados from a un-surveillanced grove.

went exploring with mops today.

some type of giant black bird

(maybe a turkey vulture) soared in the sky.

and the world watches on
yet another apartheid.

for the sake of basic human rights and compassion;
world, come on.

hollyhocks are germinating!
(violas, dahlias and eggplants too!)

museum of anthropology at

university of british columbia.

had a super great exhibit about the diverse ways

indigenous youth navigate urban spaces and identity in

Canada, the US, New Zealand and Norway.

they also had hallways of drawers filled with
STUFF somehow acquired from all over.
thousands of mini egyptian figurines,
puppets from korea and masks from everywhere you can
imagine, all piled together without organization.

"museums are just institutionalized hoarders"
-my sister

vancouver, at low tide.
i sloshed around in the 
 sludge and tried to dig up clams.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

nibbled some ahi tuna poke,

waded in the pacific ocean,

and cruised down PCH in the

golden misty afternoon glow.

found a notebook of obscure drawings:

a very cool map of

aboriginal Australian languages

(250/700 of which are still used today)

dipped my toe in pool water

for the first time in months;

i became inexplicably happy

at the feeling of chlorinated water.

 ~ ~ ~

"What county in the world
best fits your personality?"

i got new zealand; good thing i studied abroad there!

"You are an adventurous individual who enjoys being

outdoors and spending time being active. You are a risk taker and

have no problem striking up a conversation with a total stranger.

When you travel you love to get to know the locals,

and their customs, and are always up for a challenge.

You thrive in a culture where others share your deep appreciation

for land, and believe life is best lived outdoors..

You thrive in a society with diversity and appreciate

a simpler way of living. You are keen on learning about cultures

and customs that are different than your own, and enjoy a deep conversation,

whether it be philosophical or spiritual."

is here!!!
(after one cray cray year of nonstop
writing, planning, drafting, collaborating,
analyzing, experimenting, trial + error,
community events and panel talks,
sleeping at 3am, lunch break chats, 12 hour days,
the entertainment of kindergartners' humor,
and a few great moments of teaching glory)

ok, back to weeding and pruning roses~

i was a banana slug and now i am a husky.

(but really i am a bananusky)

a product of kombucha in the forest
+ urban commutes in heavy traffic
(but with evergreens and rain showers)
and singing children who now know
how to sew and weave, to identity alliteration,
write petitions about problems in the world,
and 10 different types of fabric.

my mom, sister and i spent some time

at one of my favorite places

(black coffee co-op)

and then consumed alot of sugar.

after 18 years, i am finally finished with school

(as a student); now it's adventure-time!

hello spain, france, italy & greece~*~

a tropical fruit is growing in the greenhouse.

*made brunch
*returned my video recorder
*strolled washington park arboretum,
*admired plants, posted flyers,
*visited bruce lee's gravesite,
*sold 4 pieces of furniture. 
what a satisfying summer's day!

glaciers, rivers, bridges

waterfalls, trees, misty mountains

salmon migration

here's a sockeye in the ocean phase

swimming through the fish ladder.

then suddenly, a seal, sea otter, blue heron appeared

all at the same time next to the thousands of

baby salmon making their way upstream.

then my mom and i hiked around

discovery park for 4 hours

everyday for the past 9 months,

during our morning commute on i-5,

i saw an enormous beautiful snowy mountain

on the horizon of the highway.

everyday at the playground,

i pointed to mountain and said to my students:

look, it's Mount Rainier!

i finally went to it, and it really was a

a  s t u n n i n g   s n o w y

m a g i c a l

w i n t e r y

w o n d e r l a n d.

getting to the olympic peninsula involved:

ferrying across the puget sound,

driving through two islands,

crossing two bridges, and

going through forested hills bursting

with wild lupine and daisies.

we stumbled upon a clam & oyster paradise

(sequim bay) where literally every rock was covered

in creatures or had a fish, mini eel or starfish

burrowed underneath in the mud,

including a bright purple blobfish

that was speckled with gold dots near its face.

SUMMER:Day #1

one of my students called me this morning

(i gave them all my # so they can
let me know what they are up to!)

it made my day

^____^

the most magical graduation weekend!

this really is the evergreen state.

we had our kinder last-day-of-school celebration today.

cathy gave a speech in front of

all our students and their families

about me, my growth this year

and that i'm "going to shift the world"

then we both ended up getting teary eyed..

thank you so much :)

now i have a BA in Anthropology,

Minor in Education

and a Masters in Teaching!
+ a teaching credential

MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK

we celebrated my graduation by climbing

a snowy mountain and eating soup in a bread bowl.
it started snowing so much and
it felt like a winter wonderland (in summer).

GRADUATED! :)

 to the tidepools!

to sum up our unit, we went to

search for sea creatures at low tide today!

there were alot of moon jellies and
"fried egg jellyfish" floating around too.

"i'll always remember you."

said one of my students today.

i love lunch days when the

cafeteria serves fish sticks
:D 

out of my way kids!

icelandic poppies
apparently, at bars now, people can sense

me as having the energy associated

with being a kindergarten teacher.

Vesna will have a plot of land in

Saipan, Micronesia and she invited me to come

visit the beach bungalow once it is renovated.

woohoo
 for GIANT coconut crabs
in the south pacific!!

Vesna and I hiked 10 miles today

in mount baker-snoqualmie national forest.

we dangled our legs over heather lake,

ate walnuts & watched jesus bugs leap across the water.

near the end of the trail, we were literally
running down boulders and through mud
trying to get to food.

today, the kids discovered my "real" name.

they were surprised and found it

fascinating that I have a first name (Linda).

then they were shocked at how "old" i am

after i finally told them.

~ ~ ~

 i love working with kindergartners.

they are the most magical and genuine

little humans i have ever met.
i experience eternal sunshine and tiny hugs all day.
 ~ ~
ps, ellen, i inspired one
student to become a wooden figure today ;)

many great things happened today :)

(4)

i've been teaching my kids alot of

 exciting things about the world, such as:

-scientific information about sea stars

-to write persuasive petitions about solutions

to problems we see at school and in the larger world

-to apply what we have learned about the

properties of different types of fabrics to solve

problems we have in our daily lives

With 3 teachers observing me,

i had my 8th and final observation today!

my interdisciplinary science-math-art

graphing lesson went phenomenal and it makes

me so ecstatic to have such engaged students
demonstrate all that they have

learned from MY science unit on fabric.
~ ~ ~
i also calmed a stranger down at the bus stop today

who was going through a crisis. i think our

conversation might have helped prevent him from

going to jail (again). before i departed,
we shook hands and he thanked me for "being a
teacher and teaching him."

my face during the last 2 minutes of

game of thrones..

12 days until graduation!!!
(btw, this is a purple stole, not blue).

today, i taught scientific information about sea stars
to my kids. then we watched a video of an octopus
opening a jar with a crab inside.

i also chopped off 3 inches of my hair.

bridal veils falls!

danny, vesna and i picked and ate these unidentified
yellow berries (they are NOT black or rasp berries)

and stood in the massive misting of the waterfall.