maize

[ironymaiden]

we did a corn maze last night as part of amheriksha's rolling birthday celebration.

Tacoma was on fire, so we burned new neural pathways as we detoured around on our way to Tumwater.

it was an oddly familiar - the grass parking area, the hq in a morton building, the puppy chasing the cats, the homemade fire pit, the handlettered signs, the kids behind the counter...it was a scene out of my childhood, but with pine trees. it was odd to see field corn still completely green in October. (i'd never been to a corn maze, or heard of one before moving here. C and i were wondering if this was some western thing. nope. and that was brother-in-law M's alma mater.)

we pulled out the maglites and started to tromp through the field. even with the lack of local light pollution, the heavy cloud cover reflected a dim glow that made the flashlights mostly unnecessary. you can just run around, or you can attempt to find all of the checkpoints and punch your ticket at each station. (the prize for completion was useless to us, but it was fun to find them anyway.) it was cool, and dark, and strangely empty and quiet for the number of people who were there. i realized that the attraction is an excuse to run around outside at night on a fall evening. that felt great. the snacks were reasonably priced and the firepit was cheerful. lovely. the only thing missing was apple cider*.

this morning we walked down to breakfast at Hattie's and the ivy on the Guitar Emporium building has gone scarlet. after breakfast we picked up salad mix (with nasturtiums and dill - yum), soap, wine and cheese from Vashon (an experiment), and pumpkin-hazelnut ice cream. i'm looking at my $5 bouquet of mums. today's most interesting busker was playing hammered dulcimer; a nice soundtrack for a nice morning.

i'm looking forward to Canadian Thanksgiving (Observed) this evening. it's a good day for it.




*fucking state fruit is the apple and they don't make anything out of it. practically no apple cider, no apple butter, no apple sauce, no caramel or candy apples, and only the occasional apple dumpling or pie. maybe that stuff doesn't make it over the Cascades?

Comments

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

That corn mase things sounds like a lot of fun, particularly as a group party thing. What was the useless prize?

[ironymaiden]

a free appetizer at the Olympia Outback Steakhouse. none of us lived close enough, and even if it was good for the one at home, we would be making a special trip just to use the coupon.

[samildanach.livejournal.com]

A few autumns ago we went to Persephone Farm, the CSA my parents belong to, to press and bottle homemade cider (http://samildanach.livejournal.com/40856.html). We decided not to go this year, but we really want to find a CSA on our side of the Sound that does something similar.

[mimerki.livejournal.com]

fucking state fruit is the apple and they don't make anything out of it.

it's because the locals think the golden delicious is the epitome of apple goodness. i'm serious, i had a conversation about it at work last week: they think apples are supposed to be bland and sweet. which is why they don't make anything out of their bland, sweet apples: because the apples aren't good for that.

(bitter? me?)

[buhrger]

they think apples are supposed to be bland and sweet
what idiots! oops, i mean, "they're entitled to their opinions".
idiots