Memories from 13th Ave and the Pussycat Ale

I had the good fortune to live with Lara, Steve Hyde, and Steve DeWitte for a couple of years in a house on 13th and Pine in Seattle in the mid 90s.

Lara had boundless energy and a love for all things outdoors that inspired our neighbors to nickname our household “the action hippies.” Of course she was the leader. She had an excellent sense of humor, and put simply was very passionate about everything that she did, period.

One of the funniest stories I remember about those times was Lara constantly bemoaning the fact that all the boys brewed batches of beer and why couldn’t she. So she did. She brewed a batch of Pale Ale that was unveiled at a party one Friday night. Our landlord’s 20-something nephews somehow ended up at the party and they were bona fide beer geeks, speaking of nothing but beer and brewing the entire time. Well, Lara’s beer ended up having a distinct lemon flavor despite having no citrus or lemon added whatsoever. I would call it contaminated but it was really good. The beer geeks kept bugging her on how she made such a delicious beer and she kept saying with a devilish grin and a twinkle in her eye, “sorry guys, secret recipe.”

Lara will be greatly missed.

She was the driving force behind many mid-week overnight camping trips where we would truck out somewhere on the I-90 corridor, hike in, spend the night, wake up, and head straight to work the next morning.

She was at the center of many a gear explosion where the entire first floor of the house would be covered with various, coats, pants, lights, stoves, climbing gear, bicycles, packs, kayaks, cameras, photos, sunscreen, tents, tarps, bivy saks, socks, dogs . . . as she looked for that one missing piece.

She had a penchant for picking up puppies and giving them as gifts to people who really weren’t looking to adopt a dog, but never said no.

She could do the best impression of an older Latvian woman or Latvian man in the world.

She was the best correspondent. Every Christmas she would break out her address book and actually hand write letters, many letters.

She had a passion for life, and lived it to the fullest. I am honored to have known her.

Doug Oh-Keith
Portland, Oregon