Nau speak: Washington: Sunset at Picnic Point park

Coming from the Mojave desert and its unfriendly clime full of rattlesnakes, scorpions, mountain lions, Gila monsters, and seemingly endless inhospitable expanses of desiccated, arid land, Washington state is something of a mind-blower to nestle into. Not only does life profusely pop up from any crevice it can take a root in, as exemplified by the colorful variety of mosses that pop up upon startlingly varied surfaces or the curious caps of any variety of mushroom that makes its way to the surface from the mysterious depths below, or the dense groves of forest crawling from any uninhabited corner, but it thrives! Never before in my life, or Antho's, have we witnessed such a profligate procession of fungus! Or moss! It's so wet here, things gladly grow and grow. It's strange to be so inundated with moisture that you have ample to spare, after our lives being so deeply marked by the severe absence of this necessary fluid. I spent years, literally years, suffering from dry, cracking lips that would sometimes be so severe that the simple act of smiling or trying to speak would lead to bleeding. It was the pits, and no amount of chapstick seemed to help- hell, if anything, it leads to more intense shedding of my epidermis. No fun, believe you me. Two months in Washington's moist climate (say it with me, MOIST), the ambient humidity of the environment has healed what years and profuse amounts of money couldn't. Maybe I should have just bought a humidifier...

So, naturally, when we had more time to spare prior to nailing down our current jobs, we'd spend much of our free-time exploring. There's no shortage of places to adventure off to, with Seattle itself having over 6,000 acres of parks incorporated into it, and the outlying areas riddled with hiking trails and forests. We're pretty close to the Puget Sound in our new home, and we couldn't take root without going to see what all the fuss is about! Amusingly, during our very first walk along Picnic Point park's beach, a group of young stoners was loudly going about their teenaged shenanigans, and one of the youth's approached us to compliment Antho on his sweater and muse on the wonders of Washington. "Where else can you watch the sun rise over the Cascades and set over the Olympics?!"

Nowhere, man. Thanks for reminding us, dude.

And it's beautiful here. Crowded, yes, with roughly 7 million people living in the Seattle metropolitan area, but I strove to minimize the intrusion of other humans into my shots, so you get a vision of the park that isn't exactly 100% on point with the reality of the situation, but lets us enjoy the beauty of the scenery. After all, bright, sunny days are often a rarefied commodity here in the Pacific Northwest, where winters can seem to stretch interminably in their grey days, so you can't really fault the locals for wanting to get out and enjoy it while the loveliness lasts!

Picnic Point Park is surrounded by residential areas, too, despite being so close to the water. I can't begin to imagine how expensive the homes with the views are, and there are private beaches not far from this public place, but the park remains open to the public to enjoy and take in the view, for which we're grateful. There's a whole world of wonders out there to explore, and it's pretty cool to have a glimpse of some the more natural offerings from our own backyard.