COVER STORY WRITTEN BY ROSS ANDERSON PHOTOGRAPHED BY BETTY UDESEN
ON THE COVER: Aboard the NOAA ship McArthur, Usha Varanasi is right at home. Before becoming director of NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Research Center, Varanasi spent time on the ship as a chemist studying the effect of contaminants on marine life.

PLANT LIFE Water World Join the crowd sitting by the backyard pond. NORTHWEST LIVING Stepping Up Take the 80 stairs up to Greg Graves' garden heaven.

TASTE Vegetarian Revisited A new cookbook helps spread the word that food for those who don't eat flesh doesn't have to be dull. NOW & THEN Downhill From Here

PREVIOUS ISSUES
July 13, 2003 2003 Outdoor Living: Making it personal		July 6, 2003 Two journeys: From the trail of Discovery to the trial of denial, the Chinooks survive		June 29, 2003 The energizer: With persistence and passion, Aubrey Davis leads the political way