The view from here

Cape Cod Morning
Edward Hopper

All I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked another way,
And saw three islands in a bay.
So with my eyes I traced the line
Of the horizon, thin and fine,
Straight around till I was come
Back to where I'd started from;
And all I saw from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood.
Over these things I could not see;
These were the things that bounded me;
And I could touch them with my hand,
Almost, I thought, from where I stand.
And all at once things seemed so small
My breath came short, and scarce at all.

From, Renascence
Edna Vincent Millay


At this moment in time, our mutual view is a computer screen. But if I glance to the left, I see the little garden view framed by this window. What do you see? From here, I can't see Puget Sound or the Olympic Mountains or the beautiful sunrise over the Cascades. Sometimes my view seems small, but then again, views are all relative. To put things in perspective, there are hospital walls and cubicle walls and nursing home walls. And so our world contracts as we age until the view eventually goes inward. And what will that view be?

The sweetest rose

English Garden Rose
David Austin

People love roses for different reasons, and there's something for everyone in genus Rosa. The rose family has 2830 species, ranging from tough Rugosas that grow near salty beaches to Hybrid Teas which are susceptible to every disease and pest known to flowers. The florist roses we love in February (mostly field-grown in Columbia) are extravagant eye candy-- for fragrance nothing compares to the old garden varieties.

I wish you could plunge your nose in this picture! We have some beautiful old roses, but none have the spicy, sweet, unique scent of English Garden. Maybe it was the rain, because this is the most beautiful bloom in the 15 years since we planted it. Each flower has hundreds of individual, delicate petals. The fragrance is described as "old rose, musk and myrrh." And we think a hint of something like cloves.

The Perfume Maker
Ernst Rodolphe

Rose perfumes are made from the oil or "attar" of roses. Flowers are harvested by hand before sunrise and the oil is steam-distilled from the crushed petals. The technique originated in Persia and then spread through India and Arabia. It's a labor intensive process and the oil content of roses is low, so attar of roses is extremely valuable. It takes about 2,000 flowers to produce just one gram of rose oil. I wish I could distill English Garden and open that vial on a cold morning in January...

Battle of the weeds

Good grass vs bad grass

A weed is just a plant in the wrong place. Grass can become a weed when it decides to grow up in ornamental grass that is not a weed. Make sense? "Weeds" that make you ponder this weird logic on your hands and knees are the worst kind.

There's nothing subtle about this weed:


I don't know its name, but it's ubiquitous in West Seattle parking strips where using herbicides isn't politically correct anymore. It looks like a tough-ass dandelion. Or a dandelion on steroids. The leaves spread like a platter across a lawn and it grows amazingly fast. The tap root breaks off when you pull it. If you resort to a squirt of Round-Up when no one is looking, it dies but leaves a hole along with an incriminating circle of yellow grass telling your neighbors what you did.

Anyway, everyone loves to hate dandelions but they're sweet compared to that weed. Edible and medicinal, too. I remember my mother in early spring with an old paring knife cutting and filling a colander with the first dandelions. That dandelion salad was a big treat in the days when you couldn't buy fresh leafy lettuce all year. And a spring tonic to boot-- dandelion is loaded with vitamins and good for liver detoxification. After a long winter, who doesn't need some of that?

Will to Live

I think of all things that show a zest
For life, the dandelion beats the rest.
The little winged seeds from its white fluff ball
Settle and grow with no urging at all.
Settle in most unlikely places
And soon there's a crop of dandelion faces.

They are man's worst pest, but a child's playthings.
Sometimes I wish I had light down wings
Like a dandelion seed, and could settle at will
On a velvety lawn or a sun-spread hill,
And live with the eagerness and zest
Of the wanton little dandelion pest.

Mary Tripleti

An island getaway

As it turned out, we didn't spend the weekend eating black beans and feeling sorry for ourselves about the weather. Sunday morning was a fine surprise-- sunny and not a cloud in the sky. I had a sudden urge to be out on the water and far away from garden chores!

If you live on Puget Sound and don't own a boat, a Washington State ferry ride is always an option. So, after early blueberry pancakes we were waiting at the Fauntleroy Ferry dock in time for the 10:45 sailing to Vashon Island.

With all this in our backyard, it's embarrassing to admit how rarely we take the ferry. Anywhere. And the trip over to Vashon Island from West Seattle takes just 20 minutes. The last time I remember being on Vashon, Amanda was a little girl at summer camp.

We drove out to the Point Robinson lighthouse on Maury Island, which is attached to larger Vashon by a narrow strip of land and a highway. At one time Maury could only be reached at high tide by boat. The lighthouse was built back in 1885. With its beautiful setting and relative closeness to civilization, Point Robinson was a coveted station for Coast Guard keepers and their families up until 1978.

Originally, it was tended by a single keeper. In 1897, one keeper blew the steam powered whistle for 528 hours straight and shoveled 35 tons of coal to keep it going. Not long after, a second keeper was sent to the station. The automated lighthouse still still flashes a white light every 12 seconds along the notoriously foggy coastline.


These keeper cottages were once occupied by lucky Coast Guard families. In the early 1990's, there was a plan to lease the Point Robinson land to a seafood processing factory. The locals joined with the Vashon Parks Department and formed a group called the Keepers of Point Robinson. They negotiated a 15 year lease with the Coast Guard, and in 2003 these houses were renovated and offered for vacation rentals. $1,500 a week high season, if you're interested.

No fog yesterday-- and as we like to say, "The Mountain was out," making for some classic Northwest views across the Sound.

Rice and black beans

It's nearly July, so wouldn't a person expect to be grilling outdoors now? No such luck. It rained on and off yesterday, and this morning dawned (you guessed it) cool and gray. In fact, John just turned on the furnace to take the chill out of the house.

I like to make shrimp fajitas in my grill basket, but didn't feel like standing outside shivering last night. Of course an old cast iron frying pan works on a dismal summer night, and has the benefit of heating up the kitchen at the same time.

There are shelves and shelves of packaged rice and pasta mixes at the grocery store. Some are probably fine, but most things out of boxes and bags are too salty and have that funny "processed food" aftertaste. If you're frugal like me and save little bags of leftover rice in the freezer, it's as easy to make a healthy side dish from scratch.
OK, it does have 2 slices of chopped bacon, but you can also use olive oil to brown the jalapeño and onion.
Then add the leftover rice and about a half cup of hot salsa.
Rinse and drain a can of black beans...season with salt, pepper and chili powder.
And it would be fine as a light main dish with tortillas. Since we're still on hearty winter rations here, we had it last night with cheesy shrimp fajitas. And flan for dessert.

Too much of a good thing

"Flo"

I had a nice time at the barn yesterday. Of course riding is fun, but I like all the other work that goes along with it. Which is a good, since the chores are a big part of the horse package. Movie stars and queens have wranglers to bring their horses in from pasture, groom them, tack them up-- then do it all in reverse after they jump off and fling the reins to their groom. I think that mostly happens in the movies.

Is it any wonder recreational riding is a sport dominated by women? Sometimes there are lonely men horse owners at boarding facilities, but most of them will tack up fast and just get in the saddle. While the ladies enjoy all that fussing with their big, pampered animals. Not to mention we're usually chatting with friends the whole time. No surprise the men try to get out of the barn as fast as possible.

John once said (as another package arrived in the mail from a horse supply company) that he never knew you could "hang so many things off a horse." When I showed him this picture yesterday, he asked if Flo was "biting" and had to wear a muzzle? Ha! I educated him (once again) on another highly specialized piece of horse equipment.

Flo is wearing a "grazing muzzle" to prevent her from eating too much grass. It's been so wet this year and the pastures are still lush. Flo isn't fat, but there are other diet-related hoof diseases that come from rich feed, and her owner is taking no chances. Although it looks cruel, the muzzle allows her to be out with the herd going through the motions of grazing, instead being penned up in a small enclosure.


The little gray circle in the center is her lips. Funny! She can drink water but grass is another story.


Being an elegant Arabian, she manages to look regal even with her humiliating mask.
No harm in trying. I noticed she was already good at twirling the muzzle in a small circle and sucking up blades like through a straw. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Pie

Strawberry-rhubarb

No poem, no quote, no story today.
A pretty good pie picture speaks for itself.

(Now where did I put those elastic waist pants?)

Retreats

Sometimes you have to step out of the game to stay in. Meditation, prayer, nature, music, art, or-- whatever? Just being quiet for a few minutes and trying to let go of your big old self-centered Self. Easier said than done.

That wild clematis vitalba is spreading right around the rocking chair in our gazebo. It's listing and the plywood floor is starting to rot, but I like to sit in there with coffee or in a pleasant winey mood after dinner. I can see most of the flower garden while the noisy world passes by just on the other side of the hedge. It reminds me of a fairy tale place. Our entire house would soon be swallowed up if we weren't endlessly cutting back vegetation.

The years sped past. In the castle grounds, the trees grew tall. The bushes became thick and straggling, the grass invaded the courtyards and the creepers spread up the walls. In a hundred years, a dense forest grew up.

From, Sleeping Beauty
Published in 1697 by Charles Perrault Tales of Mother Goose.

Maxfield Parrish

Sleeping Beauty

Thomas Spence
Sleeping Beauty

Henry Rheam
Sleeping Beauty

William Breakspeare
Sleeping Beauty

18 hours of light

Today is the summer solstice. In Seattle it will occur at exactly 10:16 am. Tonight it will be completely dark for only about 6 hours and then we start the long crawl toward the winter solstice. After months of clouds and rain, it feels like summer has reached it's peak without even starting. But right now, this early summer morning is bright and clear. Our neighborhood will be buzzing with power tools long after we've called it a day in this house.

Many cultures celebrate festivals at the summer solstice. In ancient mythology, the sun is never a goddess. The sun is a strong dude.

Ra

To the Egyptians, the sun god Ra was the most important deity. He represented light and growth and ruled everything he created. People were created from Ra's tears and sweat and so the Egyptians called themselves the "Cattle of Ra."

Sungod Surya

The Hindu god Surya controls the heat, light and seasons of the entire universe. Looking relaxed, he drives his sun chariot across the skies pulled by seven horses.

Acintya

On Bali, there is a trend toward monotheism, and the radiating sun god Acintya is believed to be the one true god and the origin of the universe.

Kachina Tawa

The kachina is a spirit in Pueblo native American culture. It can represent anything in the natural world or cosmos. Kachina Tawa is the spirit of the sun.

Helios

Helios was a handsome Greek god who drove the chariot of the sun across the sky. His solar steeds were named: Pyrois, Aeos, Aethon and Phlegon.

Apollo

Apollo is a god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, medicine, healing, plague, music, poetry, arts and more. Religious diversity is a positive thing for many people. We follow our own faith, but also respect the traditions of others. The themes that run though centuries of mythology are universal and our Christian traditions took motifs from the legends of sun mythology.

"The result of the Church's encounter with the sun-cults of antiquity was nothing less than the dethronement of Helios."

Dr. Hugo Rahner, Greek Myths and Christian Mystery

True Grit

Movie Night at Taos Theater
Oscar Berninghaus
1939

I loved Westerns when I was a kid. First it was about the horses and as I got older, the cowboys. In the movies back then, galloping horses were often thrown to the ground when the rider was "shot off." Actors who didn't know how to ride bounced and yanked their horse's heads around. No one ever walked unless it was Gene Autry singing a song. Cowboys, Indians and stagecoaches all took off down rocky trails at a run. Now that I know better, it was darn poor horsemanship. I guess horses were more like livestock than the cosseted, expensive pets they are now. Westerns were popular action films, and few people thought of it as abusive at the time.

Now we can watch a movie and be mostly reassured that: no animals were harmed in the making of this film. The Film and TV Unit of the American Humane Society posted a article on their website explaining how the rough horse scenes were made in the new True Grit movie. For example, "Little Blackie" was taught by positive reinforcement (treats) how to lay down and play dead. It would take many patient months to teach the right horse this trick. Sizzle would not have done it for all the carrots in the world! Cruelty aside, trained "animal actors" are now valuable and hard to replace.

The 1969 True Grit is one of my favorite movies. I was never a big John Wayne fan, but the movie takes its wonderful dialog from the Charles Portis novel and young Kim Darby steals the show as Matty Ross. John Wayne played John Wayne, and Glenn Campbell was a sweet dufus as the Texas ranger. Not much of an actor, but he sang the nice title song.

Remaking a classic film like that is risky. The new True Grit has good acting, although it's darker and more graphic than the original. We watched it on Netflix this weekend. Sometimes I wonder about these PG-13 ratings. It was filmed in Texas and New Mexico in the bleak winter, while the 1969 film has beautiful Colorado aspen fall scenery. I haven't read the Portis novel, but I suspect the gritty movie remake follows the story more closely than the earlier movie. The end is not sugarcoated. Rooster Cogburn doesn't ride off into the sunset on a new horse, and Mattie grows up to be a severe woman who never finds true love.

Original book cover
True Grit

The 1968 True Grit book was first published as a serial in The Saturday Evening Post. When all is said and done, "true grit" isn't just about shooting people or falling off running horses.

Father's Day

Being a dad was never an easy job, but here's some pictures from simpler times. Happy Father's Day to all the great dads in our family.

That's better

Last September when I drove to Sizzle's barn to pick up my things, I just stuffed two plastic tubs with dirty horse brushes, bridles, hairy saddle pads and all the odds and ends a horse seems to accumulate over a long life. It was that same sad-funny day I stood on the breakwater at Alki and got smacked with a cold wave.


Well, I couldn't stand to open the lid on those boxes all winter so they sat out in the damp shed. But everything was covered with dear brown hair, barn dust, horse saliva, sweat and her familiar smell. (Horses don't all smell alike-- ask any doting owner.) Sometimes I'd open the box for a quick look and sniff and then close the lid again on that jumbled mess.

Yesterday I finally took out my leather kit, pulled every dirty thing apart and spent a morning on the deck cleaning. I polished the silver trimmed bridle everyone always admired on her, and finally gave her old things the respect they deserved.

When John came home from work the first thing he said was, "there's a FUNNY smell outside and inside the house." Yup, that would be saddle soap and horse. They're back. :-)