New Year wishes

 

May this new year find you
healthier and happier,
peaceful, content, satisfied,
looking forward
to fresh, revitalizing interests,
a variety of pleasures,
interesting new people,
material and personal successes
to make this new year
the best one yet.
Happy New Year!

By Joanna Fuchs

Perhaps the silver lining of this horrendous year has been better appreciating the small blessings that still fill our lives.  Family, friendships, nature, health, hobbies, simplicity, love.  

It's been many years since we left the house on New Years Eve and tonight will be no different. We have some great memories, though. The best were long ago, when the Seattle Symphony put on a Viennese concert full of waltzes and other light classical pieces. 

After the concert, we would go out for a late dinner with friends at an Irish restaurant near the Seattle Center, share a bottle of bubbly, and then step outside the restaurant with our glasses at midnight to toast the fireworks at the Space Needle. Seattle was a very different place back then. And this year the fireworks are “virtual.”

Anyway, maybe a healthful night's sleep is the best way to welcome in 2021? Whatever you do, we wish you the happiest of new years. We have to believe better times are coming.

Soup weather

 

There's usually some leftover seasoned meat when we have tacos, and I use it to make soup the next day. A healthy winter lunch and no recipe required. The extra freezes well.

Just dice and saute some vegetables like onion, carrots, celery and peppers. Use fresh jalapenos if you like spicy. When the vegetables are soft, dump in a can of Mexican style tomatoes, a can of red or black beans, a box of beef broth and the leftover meat. Simmer for a half hour or so, it needs very little seasoning. Sometimes I put a little blob of sour cream on top, which John thinks is disgusting. 

Oh, the weather. Dreary doesn't even begin to describe it. Our window candle with the light sensor never went off yesterday, it was so dark. The forecast calls for a "continuous caravan of Pacific storms" over the next week. Five feet of snow piling up in the mountains, and here in the lowlands, even wetter than normal, which is really saying something this time of year.  

The plume of moisture headed our way...

 

A good one

 

 “The great secret that all old people share,” wrote Doris Lessing, “is that you really don’t change in seventy or eighty years. Your body changes, but you don’t change at all. And that, of course, causes great confusion.” 

Found that great quote on a blog I follow called The Owl Underground. 

I miss working and playing at the West Seattle Senior Center. People lucky enough to live a long time are often pretty interesting. The young assume all old people are exactly the same. The pandemic sure hasn't helped, lumping seniors into the same frail, vulnerable category. You can't downplay the risk, but most will do just fine.

Anyway, good news with the vaccine going out to nursing homes. Yesterday, on my Uke Zoom meeting, we invited a 96 year old woman who has basically been confined to her room at a care center for the last 9 months. Imagine that?  And yet she looked as perky as ever.  How resilient some people are. 

She doesn't play ukulele, but loved our weekly sing-along at the Senior Center.  A true Ukes groupie! It was fun seeing her. I'm up to 10 invites, which is getting to be quite a wrangle. The only complaint is 40 minutes is not long enough.

We can't play together at the same time on Zoom, but the brave ones do solos while everyone else mutes and plays along in silence. No judgement, just encouragement no matter how bad we sing.

I played "Hey, Good Lookin'" yesterday, and sang the entire song the wrong key! 

You think a Hank Williams 3-chord ditty is a piece of cake?  Ha. 

He wasn't called the Shakespeare Hillbilly for nothing. 

So long, December

 

 

Considering the empty calendar, devoid of concerts, parties and the usual holiday events, the days felt busy and full this month. A jammed (or empty) calendar says nothing really about richness of life.     

So many lessons in this horrendous year. With life stripped down to basics, the smallest things became more meaningful, even precious, as I suppose as they should have been all along. It's only human to miss doing what you once enjoyed, but other things filled the empty spaces.

The world will be different when we come out of this, because we have changed. Poor 2021 has lots to live up to, especially the first 6 months.  Patience.

Switching gears. How about our handsome 96-year-old Dad, in his new holiday clothes? Dad walks outdoors every morning, reads a daily newspaper along with a big stack of library books each week. He is the perfect example of how to take each day as it comes and enjoy the moment. Go Dad. Despite the year long separation, our family has become closer in many ways. 

 

 

Gift show off time. It wouldn't be Christmas without an Apple bauble under the tree. Thank you, John! That little white ball is a HomePod mini, cute as a Baby Yoda and sounds better than the tall floor speakers we had in the 1980's. Now Siri plays woo-woo music while I do yoga in the second bedroom. 

In a few days we can say goodbye to 2020, a year we will never forget. There's going to be a "virtual" fireworks display at the Space Needle on New Years Eve, which sounds like an appropriate end to a surreal year. 

Merry Christmas to all

 

OK.  We have enough puzzles to last us right through the next pandemic. John gave me this 1,000 piece Wentworth, one of those beautiful all wood puzzles made in England with the darling, tiny whimsy shapes. 

And I gave him the big felt puzzle board, which looks like it will be quite handy until the happy day when we gather around the dining room table once again with friends and family.

We hope you're enjoying a nice, leisurely Christmas morning with your closest loved ones. The scent of paper white narcissus a sweet reminder Spring will return again.

 

Gnocchi perfection

 

 OK, put to shame by my own sous chef with this batch of handmade perfection. John made these for dinner while I had a nice refreshing nap. I'll never make another gnocchi again.

A tidy little Christmas

 

This looks nothing like our usual rowdy, messy, over-the top Christmas. Much less work and much less fun. Still, some presents under the tree to open tomorrow and good things to eat (Italian tonight, roast beef for Christmas dinner.) 

Enjoy your Christmas Eve.

Wordless Wednesday

Rare photographs from Victorian Christmas.

The first day of winter

Yesterday began with a record high temperature of 59 and ended with snow. It was one of the strangest weather days ever seen in Seattle. Our wet storms typically come up from the south or west, so it was oddly disconcerting hearing rain beat sideways on the north windows all afternoon.

Almost 2 inches fell (another record) causing widespread urban flooding. If that wasn't enough, the temperature dropped in the afternoon and it started to snow about 6.  All this crazy whiplash caused by the unusual convergence of two strong storms over Seattle, one from the tropical Pacific and another down from the north. Winter started with a bang.

But there was a nice bit of sunshine to the day--  fruits from the desert sent by my sister. We look forward to these delicious homegrown Meyer lemons to make lemonade on Christmas morning. But since it's just the two of us this year, I'll probably save them for something else. Lemon meringue pie?

The lemons come from a generous friend, but she grows the delicious pomegranates in her Las Vegas backyard. 

Trust the cycle

 

A single Christmas rose blooming in our yard yesterday. A bright spot up against a leaden Seattle sky.  

There was a beautifully written article in the New York Times this week called "How We Survive the Winter." 

In a year that "stripped life to bare fundamentals," the author wrote how "the moment when darkness is greatest is also the moment light is about to return."  Welcome Solstice.

Here's another bright sight. A couple of busy cookie bakers and their very artistic creations. 

Our brave nurses

 

Amanda and her good friend from work got the first of two Pfizer/BioNTech shots yesterday at North Valley Hospital in Tonasket.  I'm glad she didn't have to make the long drive alone. She says a sore arm and tired today, but otherwise fine.  So inspiring to seeing these nurses set an example for the community.  Hopefully, they will soon be giving the shots at their own clinic.

Rivers of rain

 

According to a survey from the census bureau, among the nation's 15 largest metro areas, Seattle had the highest rate of depressed adults in November. No big surprise there. Even in an ordinary year, our dark winters are a bummer, and now we're locked down once again adding insult to injury. 

This lockdown hurts, not just because of the holidays, but because we were doing well during the summer keeping infection rates comparatively low in Washington.  It feels like we're back were we started in March. Well, not exactly, the vaccine is a bright spot on the far horizon. 

Hopefully, Amanda and her friend can make it to Tonasket hospital for theirs, if the Loup Loup Pass isn't too snowy. If so, they will be the lucky ones. Over the next few weeks, it sounds like the states will receive much less vaccine than originally thought.  There are big hospitals here in Seattle that don't even have it yet. Pretty amazing that a little rural hospital got enough for most heath workers in the county.

Anyway, daily life goes on, and we're grateful for a cozy, clean home with plenty of good things to eat and drink. I complained about the weather yesterday morning, and as often happens, it turned into a lovely afternoon. Sunshine, blue skies and a pleasure getting in my 8,000 outdoor steps. Hardly anyone was out, and the people I encountered usually crossed the street a block away to avoid me. It's funny how something that once looked rude is now the polite thing to do.

We have those atmospheric rivers setting up for the weekend, which means drenching (relatively warm) rain. After that, some clear and colder days before Christmas.  I'm looking forward to a couple of outdoor social visits with my friend Nancy and our brother Dave. 

The Solstice arrives on Monday, and we turn to corner to light. It can't come soon enough.

Have a good weekend.

Cookie-cutter days

A day isn't really good or bad-- until you put a label on it.  Like the lyrics from that old Paul Simon song, "Slip Slidin' Away."

I know a woman
Became a wife
These are the very words she uses
To describe her life
She said a good day
Ain't got no rain
She said a bad day's when I lie in bed
And think of things that might have been.

 

Big day yesterday. Woo hoo. I ordered 4 new puzzles from Bits and Pieces. A winter entertainment bargain, compared to what I once spent recreational bargain shopping in a typical January. 

 

Speaking of rain. It just keeps coming and coming. We're yearning for some natural vitamin D up here. The weather looks wet and dreary, right through next week. One storm following the other in from the Pacific. The cold monsoon season in the Northwest.

 

A white Christmas is rare in Seattle, they say about a 10% chance in any given year.  A few years ago, we had a beautiful snow. We were excited, but Nova and Maya were just ho-hum.  Over where they live, Christmas is always frozen white. A green lawn and rain in the winter is more interesting to them.

 

We will miss them very much. What I won't miss is worrying about the family making that long drive over the mountains to get here in time for Christmas. The snow is really piling up this week. 

 

The latest news on vaccination is Amanda must go to the rural hospital in Tonasket for the shot. She doesn't know when vaccine will actually arrive in their Valley, and doesn't want to wait with the infection rates rising.

 

Twisp feels pretty isolated, but Tonasket is way, way out there. Check the map. The town is a 120 mile RT drive from Twisp, over the Loup Loup Pass then north of Omak. Winter driving the whole way. She has an appointment on Friday morning with another nurse she works with. It is a bit scary, even for medical professionals, so I'm glad they can keep each other company.

Chocolate

 

 

December 16th is "National Chocolate Covered Anything Day." Sounds good. I have an excellent recipe for dark chocolate date pecan turtles. It sounds complicated, but only has three ingredients with pinch of flake sea salt on top. The dates replace the too sweet caramel in turtles, so this is about as healthy a candy as you can get.  Everyone knows dark chocolate (in moderation) is a good thing.  

I can't say "a good thing" without thinking of Martha Stewart. That's one of her favorite phrases. I get her magazine because it's only $10 a year. It was once full of housewifey advice, but now showcases fantasy life at her different rich estates. Not a mention of Covid, but she must be holed up in luxury with a few faithful retainers. I liked the old bossy Martha better, writing articles on how to iron and fold fitted sheets. WHAT? You make a bed with wrinkled sheets? 

There's a big, exciting snowstorm back east today.  Our weather couldn't be more boring.  The 24 hour temperature range stays between 40-45 degrees, with just about constant rain. What can you say about December in Seattle?

All I want for Christmas

How cute is that?  I'm so jealous. Where on earth can you get an adorable shepherd and his flock lighted lawn display?  I've noticed on my walks that people have gone all out with decorations this year. Some evening when it isn't raining (ha ha) I told John we need to take a drive around the neighborhood and see the lights. 

I guess that will be the extent of our Christmas outings. Not a single thing written on the fridge calendar this month, which is already half over.  Yea. Soon it will be time to raise a glass and toast how we weathered 2020.

As for cookies, not as many this year, but something I can still safely give to friends and neighbors.  So far I've made sugar cookies, snowballs, shortbread, date nut balls, white chocolate cranberry, and of course, one batch of coconut dream bars. 

It helps fill the long hours at home. And a little plate of cookies with tea in front of the TV is pretty nice on a dark, wet December night.  In 2021, a new resolution to ditch the stretchy pants.

Cold chicken feet

 

Only one of the hens is smart (or dumb) enough to tolerate the chicken walking harness, go for sleigh rides in the yard and generally get treated like a baby. In fact, "Hey-Hey" seems to enjoy the winter attention. 

Speaking of cold feet and chickens. The vaccine is coming.  It's normal to be apprehensive about something so new, but astonishing how many people absolutely refuse to take it. 

How can anyone believe these ridiculous and wild conspiracy theories? Maybe it's more interesting than actual hard science. Trust me, I worked for him once. Bill Gates couldn’t care less where you go. 

It's been a year since I snuggled with my granddaughters or hugged my dad and sister. Since we traveled more than a few miles from home. Ate in a restaurant. Went to the gym. Listened to a live concert. Entertained our friends and family indoors. It's hard not feeling resentful, when many people never stopped doing these things. And now we pay the price, reflected in the horrible number of deaths. Just another conspiracy? Unfortunately, too real.

Anyway, the vaccine is the first step on the long road back to normal life. I really was moved to tears yesterday, watching the planes and trucks loaded, ready to transport doses to every corner of the country, including the little rural clinic where Amanda works as a nurse. So many good people are working hard around the clock. God speed.

Amanda and her coworkers might get the first vaccinations this week!  She said it's exciting and a bit scary, but she feels privileged being at the front of the line. After that comes the hard work of managing the immunizations, and convincing a skeptical community this is the right thing to do.

When the going gets tough

 

The tough go shopping! Online, that is. I ordered two of these occasional tables from a catalog, and they showed up on the porch yesterday in giant boxes. 

It's a clever design because you fill the wire "barrel" with corks. We've been saving corks in this house for over 28 years.  Folks, that's a heap of wine bottles. Of course, we had a little help from our friends along the way.  

I love this picture of the 'tween girls sledding in their masks and matching Costco jackets.  That's Nova on the far right next to little Maya. They got more fresh snow in the Methow Valley this week.  On our side of the mountains, just rain.  

December has been relatively warm so far, although the weather gurus are excited about the strong La Nina winter shaping up, which usually means colder than usual.  Still plenty of time for snow in the lowlands. I'm looking forward to it. Snow is beautiful when there's simply no place we need to go in hilly Seattle.

Have a good weekend.

To boredom

 To Boredom

I’m the child of rainy Sundays.
I watched time crawl
Like an injured fly
Over the wet windowpane.
Or waited for a branch
On a tree to stop shaking,
While Grandmother knitted
Making a ball of yarn
Roll over like a kitten at her feet.
I knew every clock in the house
Had stopped ticking
And that this day will last forever.

Charles Simic 

 

 

 

Food ads

 

You know life is pretty dull when the weekly food ad is a big deal. Wine time followed by dinner is the highlight of the day around here.

Just look at these prices. Hamburger $1.99 a pound, a box of pasta 49 cents, canned tomatoes 49 cents, bread $1.50.  You could cook a huge spaghetti dinner for the price of a fancy cup of coffee.

And yet people are going hungry in this country.  I know everyone doesn't have easy access to cheap grocery stores, much less the time and ability to cook frugal meals from scratch. 

How did our mom stretch a can of tuna into five white bread sandwiches?  Lots of Miracle Whip and celery. Girls learned these these tricks hanging around the kitchen. Fast food wasn't invented yet.

With so many restaurants closed, I suppose the food supply chain readjusted. Which could explain the cheap hamburger. A few weeks ago I bought 10 pounds of Russet potatoes for 88 cents.  The kind of perfect baked potato you'd get in a steak house. Well, the problem in this house is too much of good thing.

Enough talk about food. The vaccine news this week is wonderful, coming at the darkest time of the year. Incredibly, some people refuse to believe the pandemic is real. People apparently don't want to hear the facts, preferring their own echo chambers of "news."

Mark Twain:  A lie races around the world before Truth puts on its shoes.

Amanda said the family practice clinic where she works already put in an order for vaccines, and she and another nurse have promised to give each other the shots as soon as they can.

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

400 year old Cedar trees, Nagano, Japan

Sanctuary

 

The Nature Sanctuary, by Jonathan Luxon 

After an unusual December dry spell, we finally woke up to steady rain this morning. I hear the wind blowing in the chimney. A good day to skip the long walk, stay inside and bake a few cookies. 

This year, I don't have to mass produce coconut dream bars, the most popular item by far in the annual Boeing cookie bowls. It's an two-step Betty Crocker recipe, frankly not much fun to make, but people who like coconut go crazy for them. They're a little too sweet for my taste-- old Betty Crocker had a heavy hand with the sugar.

As the winter closes in, our cozy home feels like a sanctuary in the storm.  As for going "out" I'm probably somewhere in the middle-- less than most people, but more than some. For example, I still do my own grocery shopping, mail an occasional package, etc.

Speaking of that, I stopped by our post office to mail Christmas cards, and the line stretched outside the building and down the block.  All those poor people holding packages, trying to stay 6 feet apart.  Our 98116 post office is tiny and inadequate for the huge population growth in the urban village. 

Not much else in the way of news. The days are monotonous but overall pleasant.  I don't know how else to describe it.  

I started a weekly Zoom meeting with a few people from The Ukes group.  Zoom is basically a corporate animal and a poor platform for recreational music. Only one person at a time can take the "center stage." 

Since our different devices all stream at slightly different rates, if we try to play together it sounds like a garbled mess.  So, we take turns each picking a song and being the soloist while the others mute their audio and strum along if they wish. 

This takes more courage that you might imagine. None of us can really sing! But it's very sweet and no one cares. The best part is seeing these familiar faces after almost a year. 

Enough is enough

 

A scaled down Christmas, but still pretty. Maybe even prettier? 

I pulled out a few favorite old decorations and hung about half of the ornaments on the tree. Then we shoved 6 big tubs back into the attic without unpacking them.  Maybe next year?

Or maybe not...

I finished decorating in a couple of of hours, instead of the usual all-day marathon.  And putting everything back in January will be just as easy.  This year, less is more.

Not to mention

 

The girls' cats "Millie" and "Georgia" also get their fair share of attention. I want an entertaining pet.

A dog's life

 

A dog's life at Christmas, if you're lucky enough to live with two girls.