Sad news

 

 Dan Terrible
October 26,1948-November 22, 2025

John's brother Dan passed away in Ohio this weekend after a long illness. 

He and his wife Rebecca, married 55 years, enjoyed an active life and made many friends around the world. They traveled widely and were always engaged in art activities, in particular, the glass making and glass blowing community. 

For many years, Dan and Rebecca enjoyed spending winter at their condo in Mexico and summers at their home in rural Ohio. Despite heath challenges, I admired how they always lived life to the fullest. We will all miss Dan's big and generous personality. Rest in peace. 

 

The eye of the tiger

 

 

Maya made this painting in art class at school. Nana bias aside, it's better than many things we've seen hanging in expensive galleries. 

It makes me think of William Blake's famous poem, "The Tyger," and his illustration from the book "Songs of Innocence and Experience." 

 

The blooming Fatsia japonica sure looked pretty in the November light yesterday. It's been been a wet and warm fall so far. 

 

That's about to change. Winter arrives next week with heavy snow in the mountains. Oh boy. Just in time for Thanksgiving travel. 

 

Gifts from the desert

 

 

"O for a beaker full of the warm south!" 
John Keats, Ode to a Nightingale

A welcome gift this dark time of year-- my sister in La Vegas sent pomegranates from her backyard tree, a generous gift. Mailing anything is so darn expensive! But these homegrown fruits are much superior to those from the grocery store.  

I once made a balsamic salad with yams, pomegranate and carmelized shallots, which was perfect for Thanksgiving. We're slowly gearing up for the holidays. Wasn't it just Christmas a couple months ago?

In other news, you've heard me moaning about being one of those unlucky people who always gets a strong reaction to immunizations. I had the flu shot yesterday, and surprise, nothing! Not even a sore arm. The only effect was sleeping for 8 restful hours. My upper limit is 7.  Maybe I should get a flu shot more often. 

Speaking of flu, apparently a nasty new variant popped up this summer after the vaccine was formulated, and they don't expect the shot to be very effective. Still, any protection is better than none. Eat healthy fruit. 

Fee fi pho

 

Food is apparently the main topic of interest this week before Thanksgiving. We went to the Fred Meyer in Burien yesterday, a long trek just to "save money" on a turkey and groceries, but at least we had a good pho lunch in White Center along the way.

Fred Meyer (Kroger, actually) gives a 10% senior discount on Tuesdays, and there was plenty of company from our demographic puttering around. An elderly man came up and gave me a handful of coupons, saying "his doctor wouldn't let him eat these things anymore." (Maybe I still looked healthy enough for Haagen-Dazs.)

Anyway, Fred Meyer is one of those vast and awful everything stores, where you can throw some jeans or can of paint in the cart along with the food.

It is considerably cheaper than grocery stores up here on the north end of the peninsula, but I go mostly because they carry products you can't find anywhere else, like Hungry Jack pancake mix. 

What a boring post, I can't believe anyone is the slightest bit interested. 

Blue plate special

 

Sometimes, it's just a meatloaf kind of night. 

The happy woodcutters

 

The farmhouse is already starting to look like home. What a beautiful view from those living room windows, especially compared to downtown Twisp. 

 

The family that cuts wood together, stays together. Ha! They went on a work outing up at their property, and the looks on those teenage faces say it all. 

We were having a different sort of fun yesterday. 

 

This cheerful looking gentleman is the Austrain Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) an oddball and obsessive man with a number of unhealthy interests, including death and teenage girls. 

His 11 symphonies are now considered "monumental" romantic period masterpieces. When I hear that word describing a symphony, the first thing that comes to mind is "long." 

Bruckner's 4th Symphony, which we heard yesterday, runs about 70 minutes. Like listening to Mahler and Wagner, you have to set your brain to a different Bruckner clock. 

Trying to give something undivided attention is surely good for us, especially in these days of being "distracted from distraction by distraction." T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets.

And at least we got out of the house on a truly dreary afternoon. It hardly got light yesterday! Bruckner beats sitting on the couch watching the Seahawks lose.