Alki lunch

Spring beach attire

If you ask me, it's always chilly down the street at Alki Beach. The water temperature stays a pretty constant 44 degrees year-round. Even so, some hearty people swim in Puget Sound.  Mostly kids in the summer, but today with a stiff breeze blowing,  there were several adults flailing up and down the shore as fast as they could. No wonder! Without wet suits!  How long does it take to get hypothermia?

A Polar Bear Club or some other gathering of crazies, no doubt. There's something for everyone in Seattle on a Sunday afternoon.

I'd rather eat fish n' chips. We had a nice lunch at the Sun Fish, our favorite little fish restaurant.  It's owned and run by a pair of grumpy Greek brothers, former commercial fishermen. We've been going there for years, often with visiting family members, so he always throws a third fillet on the double cod we share. Yes, it's lightly fried, but everything totally fresh and delicious.  Where else can you get a Greek salad at a fish n' chip joint?

Too much news?

"

"On April 29th, Donald Trump will have occupied the Oval Office for one hundred days.  For most people, the luxury of living in a relatively stable democracy is the luxury of not following politics with nerve racking constancy.  Trump does not afford this.  His presidency has become a demoralizing daily obsession of anyone concerned with global security,  the vitality of the natural world, the national health, constitutionalism, civil rights, criminal justice, a free press, science, public education and the distinction between fact and its opposite."

The New Yorker
Talk of the Town
May 1, 2017

It's scary how many times a day I look at my phone now to check the news feed or CNN.   I never used to do that, and it creates this background hum of low-grade anxiety.  Really, what an unhealthy habit. I talk to my friends, and at least I'm not alone.

Wise words from Pope Francis:

"When media and the digital world become omnipresent, their influence can stop people from learning how to live wisely, to think deeply and to love generously. You don't have to believe in God to know that time is a gift and how we spend it is vital to our happiness and engagement with life."

I'll leave you with that thought. I hope your weekend is filled with interesting conversation and nature instead of digital obsessions.

As the merry month of May approaches our weather is finally trending positive.  By next week, they're saying expect sunny days with a high of 70.  Be still my heart.

Emerald City

When the sun makes a surprise appearance the world suddenly lights up. It's blindingly green and bright (harsh on our weak winter eyes) when the clouds part.  Of course we don't usually see it, but sunrise is before 6 am now.  The April sun is strong at this latitude. 

The Seattle humanoids are turning into salamanders, but the garden loves this constant, intermittent drenching. If only we could spread out the rain over the whole dang summer, instead of taking such a lickin' now.  By August, the lawns are crispy brown and I'll be complaining again about watering.

In almost 40 years scratching around this little plot, I've never seen the plants quite so rampant and lush, especially the roses. I fertilize them earlier than most people, right when they start leafing out in February. When the warmth finally hits, the flowers should be glorious.

This was a Costco tulip purchase last fall. I forgot I also planted a bag of hyacinths. No wonder we had so many nice ones.

September 2016

Planting fall bulbs is an exercise in optimism.  We put them into the ground in the fall, just when everything is dying. Who will enjoy those flowers?  Will it be us?  Spring says so much about our faith.

And here we are, as the season rolls around again. A nice display seen from the bedroom window.

It's been too cold and wet to work much outside. I'm behind. Those pretty flopping tulips are hiding a mess of weeds and other spring flowers that need to be cleared out to make room for the changing of the guard.

A big hands-and-knees job for a warm afternoon...

O' my sweet clematis

Your bloom so short

I want your blooms

To never stop...

Richard McCellan

Yes, yes, very sweet. But enough, already. I'm tired of tracking this into the house. 

Nature is messy.

Just how wet?

"This has been a terrible winter. It was just wet. There's no way around that," says Mike McFarland, a Seattle meteorologist.

 

Eye candy

Sorry, fellas. Not that kind of eye candy.  I ran across an article about "drip cakes," the latest craze in baking.  Ganauche, caramel or chocolate is drizzled down the sides of a tall layer cake decorated with fruit and flowers.  Aren't they wonderful? 

Don't blow these trumpets

Datura Inoxia

"Devil's Trumpet"

It's another wet, dreary morning and I was looking at our sunny vacation pictures, which already seems like a long time ago.  This enormous flower was blooming at the Moorten Botanical Garden in Palm Springs. The delicate-looking, pure white flower basks in the scorching sun without wilting.

I asked the kid at the desk and he told me it was a Datura, commonly known as Devil's Trumpet. Then he snickered something under his breath about not eating the seeds. 

From ancient times, Datura was used in shamanistic rituals as a path to enlightenment.  To this day, brave and/or stupid people still experiment with it for the hallucinogenic effect, although the results are so unpleasant (dark visions, disorientation, amnesia, blurred eyesight, incontinence, etc.) they seldom repeat the experience.  Devil’s Trumpet contains a host of potent psychoactive chemicals and overdose can result in death.

Brugmansia

"Angel's Trumpet"

The Devil's Trumpet is related to the Angel's Trumpet, and this spectacular specimen was grown by our friend Tammy at her home south of Seattle.  That's quite a feat, because they don't particularly like our climate or living in pots. How does she keep it from tipping over?  Angel trumpet flowers droop modestly down instead of upward, like the brazen Devil's instrument. 

Angel or devil, the hallucinogenic effects are equally terrifying.  The author Christina Pratt, in An Encyclopedia of Shamanism, says that "Brugmansia induces a powerful trance with violent and unpleasant effects, sickening after-effects, and at times temporary insanity including a complete disconnection from reality."

Pretty to look at...

Go placidly

The Desiderata is a prose poem written in 1927. It became widely known to our generation after it was recorded in the early 1970's. Everyone has read it, but in these times it's worth revisiting.  
Have a good weekend.  Be cheerful. The universe is unfolding as it should.

Desiderata

Max Ehrmann c.1920

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Providence

There is special providence in
the fall of a sparrow.
If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to
come, it will be now; 
if it be not now, yet it will come—the
readiness is all.

Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2

Or the fall of a baby American Goldfinch. A sad sight on the deck yesterday morning after a suicide dive into the kitchen window.  He was too pretty to put in the compost, so I made a little leaf covered grave in the garden.

Speaking of Shakespeare, John gave me a Mighty Big Gift for my birthday.  This heavy box holds one hundred (!) CD's with vintage recordings of everything ever written by Shakespeare: poems, plays, sonnets, etc.  Where does he find these things?   The thought of so many words left me, well--speechless.

Old English majors love Shakespeare, but listening to a play without any stage action seemed kind of daunting. I put Hamlet on while I was puttering around the house, and was surprised how engaging it was. We're so overstimulated by media these days, it was refreshing just using your imagination.  And of course you have to really listen, a good practice for many of us.  I probably won't get through this box in my lifetime, but it's nice to know it's there if I have a sudden hankering for Shakespeare.

Sunshine and shadow

It's very beautiful outside-- in a grey, wet and chilly sort of way. The sun is surprisingly warm when it comes out between storms.   Everything bloomed at once this year, instead of our usual long, slow spring. The neighborhood is bursting with color.  I guess the plants decided now or never,  a flower can't wait around forever for a 70 degree day.

Some places have had double the normal rainfall this March and April, that's how wet it's been in the Northwest. There's a few slow bumblebees out and about, but the other pollinators are sleeping late. The plum tree is blooming in the rain, so this may be the second year without fruit. But of course it's still too early to tell.  The forecasters are teasing us with a dry and sunny day for Friday.

Beginnings and ends

Final project?

I'm not eating cereal in the MOHAI library.  This box and others like it were stuffed with thousands of photographs and negatives. It took several months to organize, carefully number and write a finding aid for the Pacific Coast Cement Company Collection.  You think cement manufacturing is boring?  Think again.  The modern city of Seattle was built with concrete. 

This was the final in a long string of sometimes tedious but immensely satisfying projects. A perfect description of archival work. 

The world changes, but at the same time, stays exactly the same. Human nature has not changed a whit in thousands of years, and history repeats itself endlessly.

I've volunteered in the archives at the Seattle Museum of History and Industry since 2009.  This morning I typed "MOHAI" into that Google search box on the top of the blog and looked at all the posts I've written over the years about the museum.

It made me nostalgic, because my volunteer gig in the library is over for the foreseeable future.  The head librarian is retiring, and unfortunately there's no plan to replace her position.  I don't know what will eventually become of the library.  I'm grateful for all the interesting projects she gave me and the gratification of seeing my finding aids published. (I know, that's just ego speaking, but we all have a bit of it.)

Of course, there's other volunteer opportunities at MOHAI and elsewhere, but I'm going to give it some thought before jumping into the next thing. In meantime, I need to find something useful to do with myself on Tuesday afternoons.

Bright Monday

Illuminated manuscript, circa 1500

British Library

I like the jaunty way Christ steps out of the tomb in this miniature painting.  As if to say: Death is nothing at all.  In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the day after Easter is called "Bright Monday" or "Renewal Monday."

Today is a holiday in many countries, and in Germany people go out into the fields and hold Easter egg races. Perhaps the Easter Egg Roll at the White House started from that tradition.  It isn't just a day of leftover treats. After the celebrations of the holiday, this is a time of reflection, gratitude and new resolve. 

 1911

Prayer Among Friends

Among other wonders of our lives, we are alive
with one another, we walk here
in the light of this unlikely world
that isn't our for long.
May we spend generously
the time we are giveen.
May we enact our responsibilities
as thoroughly as we enjoy our pleasures.
May we see with clarity,
may we seek a vision
that serves all beings, may we honor
the mystery surpassing our sight,
and may we hold in our hands
the gift of good work
and bear it forth whole, as we
were borne forth by a power we praise
to this one Earth, this homeland of all we love.

John Daniels

From our familiy to yours

Happy Easter!

Easter bunnies

Amanda sent these pictures of the girls this morning at an Easter egg hunt at Pearrygin Lake State Park, a few miles outside of Winthrop. 

Just look at all those eggs in the grass!  It's a beautiful day on the west side of the mountains, too.  I took the ferry over to Vashon this morning and got in a short ride with Marianne.  

The horses were pretty well-behaved, considering they haven't had saddles on their backs for weeks. A deer jumped out right in front of Moe and he didn't give fiddlesticks.  But then he refused to walk by a downed power pole that "wasn't there before."  Funny horses.

 

This is a view of the cherry tree-lined, private runway at Misty Isles Farms, just across the highway from the horse barn.  The Vashon Islanders are allowed to trail ride on a small (but beautiful) piece of the 525 acres. If you've got an extra $28 million, you can ride around the whole place.  It's for sale.

We're ready

The grass (OK, mostly moss) is mowed, windows washed, Costco geraniums planted and my new blue chairs from Home Depot ready for sittin' with a glass of wine on a warm afternoon.

We are still longingly and eagerly awaiting a day over 60 degrees.  70 seems too greedy to even wish for. 

It won't be 70, but the beautiful Easter Sunday forecast is sunny and dry. We'll take it.  Betsy and Paul are coming over for lunch, and I'm making shrimp risotto in the pressure cooker. That sounds weird, but the tried-and-true recipe is from my friend Julie, the master of pressure cookery.  And since it's Easter, I can't seem to escape The Ham.  They were practically giving them away at Safeway yesterday, so I bought a spiral sliced. Ham and rice?  I guess that works.

Marianne asked me to ride with her on Vashon Island tomorrow so I'm looking forward to that. I think. Between bad weather, travel etc. it's been weeks since I sat in a saddle. I hope my little old horse remembers how to pack around a cautious lady. 

Speaking of horses, we're watching "Ben Hur" this week.  It's our Easter tradition to watch a campy Roman movie and a nice distraction from the horrors on television.  John gave me a fabulous "Ben Hur" blu-ray gift set for Christmas, complete with books and bonus CD's packed with information.  The remastered blu-ray is so bright and clear, even better than "Ben Hur" looked in the movie theaters.

The legendary horse trainer who worked with Roy Roger's Trigger was responsible for training the horses in "Ben Hur."  It was filmed in Italy, and he traveled all over the country to find 70+ horses for all the different scenes.  None of them had ever seen a chariot, much less dragged one full speed with a nervous movie star at the reins. Oh yes, he also trained Charlton Heston and Steven Boyd how to drive horses.  Everything was for real in those movie days.

That's the news from Seattle. I hope the sun shines, wherever you are today. It's Good Friday.

Nothing loved is ever lost

"Faith, Hope and Love"

Mary Lizzie Macomber

Don’t think of her as gone away
her journey’s just begun
life holds so many facets
this earth is only one.
Just think of her as resting
from the sorrows and the tears
in a place of warmth and comfort
where there are no days or years.
Think how she must be wishing
that we could know today
how nothing but our sadness
can really pass away.
And think of her as living
in the hearts of those she touched
for nothing loved is ever lost
and she was loved so much.

By an Unknown Author

The month of April brings two sad family anniversaries. Mom passed away one year ago today, and John's father died two years ago on April 9th.  They are dearly missed.

Through his sorrow, our amazing Dad has inspired us with his strength, resiliency and grace.  Please hold him in your thoughts and prayers today.

Computer housekeeping

I cleaned out my old scrapbook file of saved art this morning. Here's some quiet pictures for these noisy times.