The best for last

 

Our Spartan dwarf apples aren't ripe until early October, and by then the worms have usually got to them. So I was surprised to still find some nice ones, and took this box over to our neighbors. Also made one of these:

Yet another pie picture on the blog. Instead of a labor intensive butter crust, I used the Jiffy pie crust mix in that little box, our mom's favorite pie hack. Between the homegrown fruit and the crust, it tasted exactly like one of her pies.

On Sunday afternoon, we went to a National Geographic Live lecture at Benaroya Hall downtown. The Symphony gave us free tickets, so why not? 

The presentation was called "The Beginning of Us" by paleoanthropologist Lee Berger. In 2008, he made a monumental find in a truly claustrophobic African cave--a new hominid species that made tools, art, and even buried its dead. What was most fascinating is this different species lived "only" 250,000 years ago, the same time as our modern human ancestors. Naturally, in the cutthroat academic world, this is all up for argument.

To counterbalance the educational portion of the weekend, we ate pie and watched a silly old Bob Hope movie last night. Tonight, of course, is Monday Night Football. All attention on the Seahawks now. The Mariners, our baseball team, didn't even make the playoffs.

It was an absolute stunner of a fall weekend in the Northwest. Tom took this postcard picture of Maya in the North Cascades near Washington Pass, on a hike with friends. Amanda is still working in Pt. Townsend, but gets back to Twisp later this week for a well-deserved home break. The girls and Tom will be so glad to see her!