⬤ eClips: Spiral
Happy new moon! Throughout the next few days, keep an eye out for Mars and Venus, as well as summer’s “signature star pattern,” the Summer Triangle.
This week, the cooler air smells so sweet. I’ve been watching bees climb up into the cups of foxglove, and dodging bell-shaped yucca dangling over the sidewalks.
Last weekend, I sat on a beach and made something beautiful and ephemeral with some friends. I loved creating a piece of art together that we’d never see again. The act of slowly forming a spiral by placing the stones side by side in the sand was intentional and meditative, a way to slow down and breathe in the middle of summer’s rush.
⬤ RELAX AND BREATHE: Do Nothing for 10 Minutes
⬤ Zaila Avant-garde wins Scripps National Spelling Bee
⬤ Photographer followed seven months for this epic timelapse of a herd of sheep
⬤ Lots of tiny fish and a seal! Squalicum harbor.
⬤ 30 Minutes of Relaxing Visuals from Studio Ghibli
Spotlight: Luke Brummer
Luke Brummer is an ~aquadude~ who lives in Seattle. [We joke about being related, since a branch of each of our families comes from the same small Kansas region. But whether or not that’s true, Luke is a brother to me, who in true brotherly fashion has been teasing me and making me laugh for 13 years and counting. For this conversation, we met on the banks of Green Lake at sunset, just before he planned to go on a night run.]
Do you like running in the dark?
Sometimes. Less people. I always like to stop at one of the piers and look out over the lake, and that’s my halfway resting spot. And it just gives me a little time, my blood’s flowing, my brain’s thinking, it just feels really good.
Do you try to run year-round, or do you feel like you’re running more in summer?
I mean, I’ve tried to keep up a rhythm, a schedule to it, but I’ve been failing, especially since I started working. I’m not home, so that makes it a lot harder.
The go, go, go of the summer season doesn’t leave a lot of room for it.
How do you feel about summer usually?
It’s my season! I mean, I can walk around in shorts and no shoes, and get my feet dirty. I can go just about anywhere outside. It’s a good feeling.
What do you like to do outside?
Definitely be on the water. I feel the pull and the urge, especially this year, with having the paddleboards and floaties. And it’s the second year I’m not working during the evenings, when I can get out on the water for sunset.
And then, more recently, it’s just been trying to get somewhere new. Because I love it [at Green Lake], but on the paddleboard, at least, I’ve been just about everywhere, I think. I’m trying to discover new places. I just want that feeling, I want that rush of a new little area or cove, like the little parks that I’ve found in South Lake Union.
What do you think about when you’re out on the water?
Well, for part of it, it’s like, even when the wind doesn’t look crazy, it’s picking up in a way that pushes you out, so for the most part, you don’t have a lot of time to think. If you let yourself go 10 minutes, all of a sudden you’re on the other side of the lake, so you have to power back through. So, Kate and I got an anchor recently, and that’s allowed us to chill out in the middle, or in another little spot where we have an open area, nothing around us, no people, and that’s made it really nice just to be out there.
I guess I think about my whole day. And everything that’s kind of going on. And it’s easy to also forget that, which is nice — to just be out there, and all of a sudden, you can’t really think about anything but your surroundings.
Have you had any interactions with wildlife out there?
Recently, an animal interaction came about as Kate and I paddleboarded in front of Gas Works Park. A family of ducklings, eight or so, and their mother came close, and we thought they wanted to be fed, but this time around, they just wanted a bit of shelter and a resting place on our paddleboards. They surrounded us, and before I knew it, I had little ones crawling around me, and they even let Kate pick up and hold them. We noticed some bigger geese were harassing them, so we held them on our boards until the bigger birds moved on, and then we went and safely dropped them off near the shore. Super special, and not something I ever thought would happen when we were first getting into paddleboarding.
What are some of the rituals or activities or smells that you associate with this season? Or foods?
Corn, always corn!
And then, more recently, with all the floating, the pungency of the water, of the lily pads and water moss and everything like that. And then, pulling up the anchor and smelling that not-quite-saltwater smell, of everything that picks up on the anchor.
Oh! Grass, freshly cut grass. I hate kept lawns, but there’s something about the fresh smell of cut grass. I think it’s a nostalgic thing, of everyone in Kansas, where you go down any street, from late spring to summer, and you just get that smell all the time, and you know it’s the season. You smell that, and you just know it’s the season.
So true. Speaking of plants, is there a particular plant that you’re drawn to right now?
I’d say the staghorn fern I saw in California. It’s just been on my mind. At this place, they had to grow it on the side of a block of wood, and it grows a layer, almost like a cabbage kind of thing, and then the leaves come off, and they look like mounted horns. I just have never seen something like that.
Is that what drew you to it? The uniqueness of it?
Yeah. It really did look like a mounted pair of horns. And I was like, “Oh, I’d much rather have that on my wall than a pair of mountain elk horns or something.”
Yeah, like a dead animal head.
Yeah. And I loved how it looked like something else in nature, and got its name because of that.
Yeah, that’s really cool. And where did you see that?
That was in California, at this little plant shop we went to, like this little greenhouse. It was such a trip to go in there and see these regional Californian, mostly succulent, plants. And I instantly was transported, like, “Oh, we’re in California.” It was a huge change, which was really cool. It just opened up my mind instantly, and it just put a smile on my face instantly, to be surrounded by all these plants and colorful cacti. It just took me by surprise, and it’s the highlight of the trip for me. Going to a plant store.
And the other thing about this plant store is, they let the plants grow how they want, nothing’s kept in a certain way, so there’s these tiny little aisles, and you just have to get around the plants. So we had to, like, do limbo underneath some of them, and skirt around while one’s in your face.
That’s so nice, to have a place not just exclusively cater to the humans’ needs!
Yeah! It’s like, “We’re at your mercy!” Which is how it should be.
So, what summer plants have you been seeing around here, if any?
I’ve been noticing star jasmine. Something that, it was all around me, but now that Kate got one, and I’ve smelled it closely multiple times, I start to smell it when I’m out, and I’ll look up and be like, “Oh, yeah, there’s blossoming white flowers everywhere!”
Last year, you were helping on a friend’s farm, and I’m curious about what that experience was like for you. Was that your first time growing things? Were you engaging with plants in a new way through that experience?
Oh, completely. I wouldn’t say it was my first. It was my first time in sustainable organic farming, especially a no-till situation, and doing the hard labor. Toiling away, weeding every single day. I mean, I think it was worth it. It was starting up a farm from scratch from almost nothing, whereas now, this year, it gets a little easier every year because it’s already set up.
Oh, because the farm was brand-new last year?
Yeah, yeah. It hadn’t been farmed on for at least a couple years.
So what did that entail, helping to build it up from scratch?
Building out each of the little trenches and rows and everything. We’d use cardboard to cover anything that we dug up, so that the weeds wouldn’t grow up through it. So, we’d block out the weeds with the cardboard, and then we’d remove it, pick up the cardboard, and it’s just covered in snails, and we fed those to the chickens. And then you’d get the row ready, and then you’d plant.
I think one of the things I had the biggest hand in was pinto beans, where I got to prep it, get the area ready, drop the beans down in a row — you could see how my row got a little off — and then see it grow, and then I got to harvest them too. And I’d definitely never harvested beans before. To be honest, I did not even know how they came out when they were harvested. So that was an interesting one.
My favorite thing out there was to go sniff the basil. Because it really was unlike any other basil I’d ever smelled. It just had deep, deep vanilla and almost, like, the flavors of a root beer inside the basil. Sometimes I’d just go pick one to have in my hands to sniff for a while. And I’d always try to pick the shishito, but I think it was mostly past its prime. But I still grabbed a bunch of it anyway.
How does that grow?
It grows kind of like a basil, but it grows much, much bigger if you don’t pull it in time. So, it starts off like a little bush, and then it just gets to be a huge bush that’s about 4 feet tall. And by that time, it’s almost too leafy to use in a lot of things, so [my friends] would chop it up and pickle it and put it in a sesame and seaweed Japanese dish, to be like a thing you put on the side. Like a Japanese pickle.
There was something to it out there. Just being in that field, being away from a lot of people, being out. And you’d get the view of the Cascades, and these empty blueberry fields surrounding you.
What from that experience do you feel like you’ll carry forward with you?
Much more respect for small sustainable farmers, anyone at the farmers market. It’s not easy. It is not easy. And whenever you go there and you’re like, “Oh, it costs more here!” It’s like, there’s a reason for that. And the fact that they’re learning, but also they’re dealing with pests too, you know, that took out all the brassicas while we were out there.
And also, like I said, with the beans, not knowing how they grew. To a certain extent, peas were the same way. I was like, “Oh, the pea comes from the flower!” I always thought peas were just like little, you know, leaves on the side, and the flower was something totally separate. I was like, “Oh, no, everything comes from a flower like that!” Or, not everything, but most of the things.
And then, seeing the other edible parts of a plant that definitely don’t get picked up or sold at big box stores. Squash blossoms were one of my favorites, but carrot tops are really big for pestos and things. And then the broccoli rabe and the flowers of that were fun to mess around with. And then shishitos, I would grab as many as I could, because they were so perfect just heated up by themselves.
There are so many things we could eat, but don’t! Is there anything you like to go around Seattle and forage and eat?
Right now, because I’m not too versed, it’s herbs, anytime I see an herb or something that I know I can eat. Salmonberries. Come the season in a couple months, any kind of blackberry, I’ll pick them all. I almost don’t care if they’re just hanging right on the highway. I almost don’t care if they’re, like, dipped into Lake Washington. And I probably should care.
And then, I think fennel is one that’s fun. I don’t really use it for anything, but it’s fun to get a little tingle in my mouth. And, before a year or two ago, I didn’t really know what it looked like.
I know you like to commune with nature and watch nature documentaries. What’s meaningful to you about being in the natural world, or learning how it works?
I mean, what’s meaningful to me is, it centers me. More and more, as I kind of grow older, if I’m stressed or anything, I just want to be outdoors. I just want to be surrounded by it. Or when we do our hiking and camping, you just take that whiff of the air out there, and I start to recognize it now, where I’m just inhaling, and it’s different. It’s not the city, and it’s invigorating. And it eases any head pain or headache I have.
And it’s not a screen. And that’s nice.
I’m sure you know I’m going to ask you about the moon and the stars. And, OK, well, I know you just recently saw something fall out of the sky.
Yes, yes. I thought it was a natural occurrence, and I thought it was the luckiest time of my life. I was like, “I’m never going to see anything like this again!” And then, oh, no, it’s just Elon Musk’s fucking space junk. I remember being on the bike and almost crashing. I was not too far from here, on Ravenna, and just seeing it stream across. And you know, having that conundrum of, do I film this? And I tried to, and it came out really bad, but I think it came out really bad because I was just watching it, just holding up my phone, so.
Yes, billionaires sending their junk into space is really a trend. So, do you like to follow the moon cycles and look at the stars, or do you feel more connected to the sun, since you’re out on the water in the sun so much?
I definitely have a longing of wanting to connect to the moon more. And I always like keeping tabs on it, when I’m physically present and seeing it, like where it is, where it’s moving to, because I don’t fully understand how it moves across the sky, and I want to know more about that.
I feel like I’m being introduced by friends and loved ones to everything, and then that rubs off too, and I want to follow it more, and I’m getting better at recognizing the changes.
I think stars, especially, I’ve always loved seeing what I can. Just last year — all my life, I had never really seen a shooting star — and when we were camping out in Oregon, the sky was so clear, and it was even during smoke season too, and it was still clear, and I remember seeing a huge shooting star that just trailed across the sky. And I was like, “Oh my god, that’s what people are talking about!” Before, I think I just, you know, your eyes play tricks on you, you’re like, “That must’ve been one. OK, that was it.” I feel like I went many, many years of my life without seeing one, just thinking they were these fast blips that you almost couldn’t even catch. And then, seeing one that was more pronounced, I was just like, “Oh, now I don’t want to stop looking at the sky.”
You’ve probably seen a lot of sunsets in the past year.
Every one is still good. They don’t get old. The colors of the sky, that’s what gets me the most. I love the differences. Some days, the gradients, the purple, the light blues and oranges together, that’s what always gets me.
How was that heat wave for you? Oh yeah, you weren’t in it! You were in California!
I missed it. And I feel like I kind of missed out. I should be happy to have missed out, it’s like, breaking these records in Seattle, which is not a good thing. But I feel like I didn’t have to put up with it, and I feel like I should’ve, to earn my stripes.
There’s definitely a community feeling of coming together to figure out how to get through it. What else is on your mind lately?
Honestly, I’ve been trying to figure that out. For years, I’ve been doing everything I can to get a job using the skills I’ve learned, which has been such a headache. So many lows, and a few highs. So getting on somewhere semi-permanent, and having that kind of taken care of — that role of, OK, well, it’s feeding me, I’m learning, I’m getting paid for these skills I’ve learned and everything — it’s kind of made me realize that’s what I was focused on for so long. What do I focus on now? And it’s been really difficult to try to pinpoint that. But also, it’s kind of fun. It’s like, OK, because I’ve been so stagnant with my creative work — I haven’t touched my camera in like a year, probably, it’s just sitting there — I kind of feel those juices start to come back. I’m going to start using that as a little tool to start getting me out and doing things.
Is camera work the type of creative work that brings you the most joy?
I like capturing the one-off scenes that are just beautiful, and you know when you’ve caught it.
Of scenery, or people, or both?
Both. Usually of people in scenery.
Plus, for years, I was so into food culture from working in restaurants. And I still am, but I think after giving up drinking, I for some reason don’t have the same desire there. I still want it, but not as much, so I’m kind of focused on other things now. I think it really is just trying to find a passion project, something I’m really, really into. And I haven’t found it yet.
You will.
Yeah.
I don’t know if this is true for you, but I feel like not drinking anymore, I went through the same process of being like, well, that was taking up a lot of time and energy. What do I put in its place?
Yeah. And that’s been kind of nice too, to think about. For the most part, coming out more, doing things outside, and not in a bar. It’s definitely kind of helped with that.
Do you feel like there’s a standout moment when you were like, “I’m done drinking!” Or was it more an experiment, something you wanted to try?
I thought, I’ll give it a shot, see what it’s like. Because I really didn’t think I could give up beer. And to be honest, I still have cravings for beer all the time. Or wine, sometimes.
I think I noticed that my partying was way too much before. But there’s something to having a drink with a meal and enjoying the flavors together. So if I ever do start to drink again, not anytime soon, but if I ever do, it would be like that.
Yeah, like your relationship to it would be a little different. I feel the same way. I don’t start up again because I don’t want to. But if I did, I feel like it would just be a really different relationship. Before, I was convinced I needed it for everything. Once you prove to yourself that’s not true … that’s such a limiting belief that’s just gone now.
It’s still interesting to me. Like, some people drink to connect with other people. But like, people always saying, “Go, you deserve a drink, go have yourself a drink!” Little things like that, it’s just like putting drinking culture higher. Like, “Yeah, we’re gonna rage tonight!”
Yeah. It’s sort of like, well, actually, you’re just going to do the same thing you do all the time. I don’t regret any of my party years, but in the end, they felt sort of all the same instead of exciting. I was like, running into the same problems over and over again. And I was like, why am I stuck?
And, god, the hangovers were ghastly. Getting worse and worse.
Yeah. Like a whole day every weekend.
Like, two to three days!
It’s nice to be in a different phase of my relationship with alcohol, however it continues. It’s still not what it was.
I mean, I have to look back at my own perception, as a bartender for years. Until you stopped drinking, and started to open my mind a little bit.
You’re also just trying to sell, sell, sell, and get the tab up too, so you’re just like, “Drinks? Drinks?”
Exactly. It’s your job!
Which, now, smart restaurants and businesses can offer nonalcoholic cocktails — that cost so much.
Yeah, people love new markets. Announcement: Here’s a new market! It’s not even new. But it’s emerging, it’s growing.
It’s growing, yeah. I feel like you’re a failure of a business if you don’t adjust to it.
Exactly! Is there anything else that keeps you grounded that you want to mention?
I mean, I think going running for me has been that. Getting my blood pumping, going, and it also makes me think, oh, because I’m keeping my heart healthy, I’ll be able to keep up, and keep doing things outdoors that I love doing for longer, which is what I really want. I think staying active on the bike and running are really putting me in a good place to keep hiking, keep backpacking, keep trying to achieve the epic hikes and long backpacking trips I want to.
It’s hard to give our future selves that consideration, so that’s a really cool way of putting it.
Yeah. And for me, it really helps to have a rhythm. Green Lake is my spot, so I run around that, and then it makes it easier to be like, well, I know how long that is, I know how far it is, and I’ll even listen to the same playlist every single time. I’ve gotten to a point where I know the next song coming on, and I know where I am, so it’s comforting, when you would think it wouldn’t be. You’d think it’d get annoying. But I like that about it.
Familiarity’s comforting! So, the interview’s formally over, unless there’s anything you didn’t get to say. A life philosophy, or…
Never say no.
Never say no? That’s terrible advice!
But it’s gotten me a lot of good situations too!
Just, have no boundaries!
No, it’s that whole, try everything at least once, kind of thing. Five times, maybe!
Five times?! We don’t live long enough for that.
Then you really know. Five is like, I really like it, or I really hate this thing.
[Laughter.]