While on vacation in Washington, I've been exposed to culture upon culture. The first part of the culture that's been interesting is the weather. We were warned to bring jackets and wear layers because the highs would only be in the sixties. When we arrived on Thursday we encountered their highest temps to date. We've only made the children wear jackets once.

On Friday we visited Seattle's Pike Place Market. We expected a general market experience akin to the Renicks of Ukraine. We encountered the tourist trap a la Andrevsky's Spoosk located on Andrew's Descent in Kiev. The prices were high and the street was crowded. Puddin N Pie and Bubba both found places to buy expensive souvenirs with some of their "Nana/Poppi" money. Little Bit is saving hers for today's adventure.

Saturday was interesting because my blushing bride's cousin was getting married (thus the timing of the trip). I'd never been to a Celtic wedding before. No, it had nothing to do with basketball, but was rather more of a druid affair. I'm still processing the differences that were thrown at me during the ceremony. Congratulations to the happy couple.

Culture moment, next: I had the opportunity to preach in my father-by-law's pulpit. It was a great experience as he had asked me to preach on missions (including some info about our time in Ukraine). As any good Baptist I chose as my text the Great Commission found in Matthew 28. This particular experience was not nearly so earth-moving as other cultural moments because it is a SBC church. What was really exhilarating was, due to the size of the room, the house was almost packed.

Finally, Blushing Bride and I got to attend the evening service of the Grace Slavic Baptist Church not far from the in-laws' home. Worship drew us back to Ukraine for even just a moment. We understood enough to catch the gist of the sermons (there were only two this time), and sing along with the worship team. My only struggle with the music was that there was a post and a light obscuring about one-quarter of the projection. I was whisked back to worship in a cine theater in Kiev where I found some of the most heartfelt worship times in my sojourn there.

All in all, I think we've had a culturally good time. We're off to visit the Northwest Trek tourist event today.