11/15, Saturday. 2:30-4pm.
Volunteer Park Trust hosts a tree tour by the local tree expert
Arthur Lee Jacobson.
I arrived ~5 minutes late, sweating profusing (walked ~50 min, uphill).
Surprised to find ~30 people gathered around the black sun sculpture, and Arthur speaking, in the rain.
I made a note of these:
- a tall Himalaya Cedar near the black sun.
- a Western Red Cedar cultivar Zebrina (zebra cedar, not a true cedar).
- a Jeffery Pine,
- a very large poplar with unusually gnarly trunk west (below) the tennis court,
- The world's tallest hawthorn (supposed to be a shrub), behind the amphitheatre. I tasted its tiny red seed: no taste. Later, we walked by a hybrid: Carriere Hawthorn: larger berry, and thick leaf.
- picked up a black walnut under the tree, and it was slimy. The outer layer was disintegrating. Arthur said that it's more flavorful than a regular walnut. But the nut is very hard to crack.
- an English Yew, supposed to have sweet fruit (bigger than our native yew).
I was invited to the Bulger party this year by one of the 3 finishers this year.
I arrived around 6pm, already a lot of people, and quite some food containers empty.
Since I took the bus, brought a party-size Kettle chips and some roasted delicata squash (cold).
Saw a whole box of donuts (untouched). Who brought that?!
I only know 4 other people here.
Apparently the 3 new Bulger finishers don't know each other, nor other bulgers.
Many old geezers knew each other.
The presentation started around 7pm.
The recount of the
Bulger pioneers.
Apparently Bulger came from a misheard bludger (an Aussie term for a loafer, who live off other people's work).
What to these folks do after they finished the 100: more lists. Example this top 200 just added a few more.
A few people were mentioned, including Patty, who's here. She's 83, and still climbs!
One started swimming all backcountry lakes. 2 started flying.
Some set-backs. The accident this May. They mentioned Tim, who had climbed 99.
One 2024 finisher died this year climbing.
Then the 3 newly minted bulger-finishers each gave a speech.
Each signed a helmet. Each gets a t-shirt with their number and order of finish.
Most of them gave thanks. Mr #103 had this funny slide of his bulger journey. He actually filled the whole slide with punctured remarks.
At the end, all the bulger-finishers present took the stage and had photo taken.
Of course, many didn't come. Many who came are like me, not even working on bulger list, including a baby crawling under chairs back and forth: has potential.
11/16, inspired by Arthur's comment yesterday, went to see maple colors in the arboretum: the woodland section.
Alas, a week or two too late. Most leaves are on the ground. However, it's always nice to walk here, even with a bit of rain.
Some camelias are still blooming, so are some azaleas.
Saw these interesting ones:
Pacific Northwest Ballet's 
