Zen garden

 

The weather was dry this weekend, so we drove down to Powellswood Garden in Federal Way. We've never been there in January, and the massive banana trees and giant gunneras had collapsed into a soggy mess on the ground. In a few weeks, the tops will emerge again like prehistoric creatures. 

It was peaceful, although cold and muddy so we didn't walk down into the ravine. The 3-acre garden is incredibly fecund, planted on an old county plant composting site. One of our favorite hidden places. 

On the way home, McDonald hamburgers in the front seat of the car. Sigh. Memories are made of this. The dining rooms in most fast food restaurants are still closed. Finding a clean restroom when you are out and about is almost impossible these days. 

We wonder sometimes if McDonalds will ever reopen the lobbies, making money hand over fist with a limited drive thru menu.  It looked like the kitchen was staffed with a gaggle of confused teenagers. They don't even supply them with the dorky uniform, no doubt making it a more attractive place to work for kids.

Anyway. Sunday was all about football and what exciting games. How about those Bengals?  I love it when the underdog wins. We have family in Cincinnati, making it all the sweeter. 

Speaking of sweet, check out Maya's "Everything You Want" booth, constructed this weekend with some help from her dad. Think big and just ask Maya. 

Well, today we say a fond farewell, or maybe good riddance, to the long month of January. And everyone looking forward to spring days and lighter times ahead.

"The dearest freshness"

"If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"  

The sun made a blinding appearance yesterday and the world lit up in technicolor. It was like suddenly going from black and white film noir to a Disney cartoon-- beautiful but disorientating. 

 

Signs of spring now everywhere on my walk. Seeing the bulbs poke up thorough winter mess and city trash always reminds me of this line from a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins:

 

And for all this, nature is never spent;

    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things...

And in our yard, the pale pink camellia decided to bloom early. Always the first real flower of the season, delicate looking but tough as nails.

I spent some time yesterday with a hospice patient who will not see another spring. This experience puts things profoundly and instantly into perspective, which is beautiful and painful, like the sun piercing through the fog.

Can I go for a single day without complaining about something trivial, or worrying about things I have no control over? How easily our negative thought patterns become habits. And our habits, good and bad, define who we are.

Well, some big football games to watch this weekend which should be fun. Hope you have a good one. See you Monday.

Enough fog, already

 

They're saying Sunday now, when we finally break out of this cold fog weather pattern. This stagnant air makes walking around outside downright unpleasant, not to mention, unhealthy.

But we're wrapping up the long month of January and there's cause for celebration. Yesterday was the first after 5 pm sunset. That's 9 hours and 18 minutes of grey daylight in Seattle. The Big Dark (or I should say, the Big Murk) is gradually coming to an end.  

January 27th is Chocolate Cake Day, so go ahead.

Chocolate cake with raspberries and Turkish coffee. Doesn't that look good? 

 

A good book

 

 

How would we get through the long dreary winter without good books? 

I've really been looking forward to "Crossroads," Jonathan Frazen's newest novel. I splurged and bought it on evil Amazon to read slowly (600 pages) then share around. No one writes about American family dynamics like Frazen. Every paragraph is a gem. There's another black sheep son in this story, similar to "The Corrections," his first novel and a big hit in 2001.

Before that, something I picked up from a little lending library because I liked the cover. "Juliet's Nurse" is a retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story from the perspective of the nurse-- with a few twists in the plot.

And before that, another escapist novel called "Red Lotus." A tad violent, but one of those books where you can really lose yourself in the characters and foreign culture.

And before that, "The Hearts of Horses" by Molly Gloss. It's a lovely story about a woman who gentles young horses in Eastern Oregon in the era of WWI. One of the best descriptions of natural horse behavior and patient training, written by someone who truly loves and understands them in a realistic way. An original  "horse whisperer” story without all that sappy, over-emotionalized nonsense.

And last but not least, "After River" another book I fished from a lending library on one of my walks. A poignant story about the Vietnam War years, and an American deserter who lives with a family on a dairy farm in British Columbia.

 

Murk

A long streak of calm, dry weather is pretty rare in January. In the summer, a high pressure system overhead is a happy thing, bringing clear skies and fair weather.  But in the winter, it's called a "dirty high" because clouds and fog (and pollution) are trapped under the bubble of high pressure. 

So here we are under the murk until Friday, when rain returns to clean things out. Ironically, clear skies are 1,000 feet above our heads. Oh, what a happy day to fly out of Seattle. If only.

Anyway, at least Saturday was sunny before the fog settled in. I pruned the roses. That seems early, but there's already a feeling of turning the corner to spring. Bulbs coming up, shrubs and trees starting to bud.

And of course, football and food to fill the indoor hours. I get bored with those games that don't look close, then wander away and miss the great ending when the underdog comes roaring back. That would have been a mistake this weekend. Go, Bengals.

Looking at those stadiums full of unmasked, happy, yelling people, it seems the pandemic is over except for depressing Seattle. People wear masks everywhere in public, and some still cross the street when they see you coming. Of course, Seattle is not famous as a friendly city. I once read an article that claimed conservatives were basically happier than liberals. Might be something to that...we tend to be whiners. 

 

Get Up

 

Between the winter weather and the pandemic, it's easy to become socially isolated. And frankly, things that were once easy and enjoyable are stressful. Before you know it, you're in an unhealthy rut cooped up in the house all day. It takes an effort to change. 

"Get Up Offa That Thing" says the King of Soul. No excuses.

Our Senior Center is still open, but I stopped going to the weekly ukulele practice. A few brave souls show up, but between the small room, singing, and casual mask wearing, it seems like pushing your luck a little too far. 

Yesterday I decided to check out the weekly Arts and Crafts session. It was fun. People bring whatever they enjoy doing, like knitting, painting, collage, beading, etc. I like pencil drawing, especially copying flowers and plants from botanical books. Lately I have hard time concentrating at home. There's too many distractions, and I'm jumping up and down.

So it was relaxing to just sit for a couple of hours drawing and listening to people chatter. The session is very causal, but there's an instructor of sorts, who answers questions and gives suggestions if you ask. Anyway, she said my flowers would be pretty with a touch of watercolor and will give me some tips next week, something to look forward to.

Have a good weekend. Get out there if you can.

So good

 

I was getting self-righteous about how "we don't eat beef anymore," and then Safeway put sirloin steak on special for $3.99 a pound and that flew out the window. Steak fajitas-- boy, were they ever good, and certainly the highlight of another long day at home. And enough leftover for lunch today.

 

Today is National Cheese Lovers Day. I've only known a couple of Americans who didn't like any kind of cheese. 

 

American's consume on average over 40 pounds of cheese a year, probably most of it on burgers and pizza. We are a fat country, that's for sure. And speak of the devil, pizza is on the menu here tonight. Vegetarian made with TJ's refrigerated crust. At 2 bucks, a good lazy product.

The longest month

 

How many months does this month have?

After December, January always feels like the longest month. There's a scientific explanation, because time flies when we're having fun. The brain produces the neurotransmitter dopamine, which speeds up our internal clock, making time seem to move faster. It's the stuff that triggers pleasure in that first glass of wine.

The monotonous January weather doesn't help. It isn't especially cold or hot or wet or dry-- just grey and damp. But slowly but surely, the late afternoons are a bit lighter. 

"The shortest day has passed, and whatever nastiness of weather we may look forward to in January and February, at least we notice that the days are getting longer.  Minute by minute they lengthen out.  It takes some weeks before we become aware of the change.  It is imperceptible even as the growth of a child, as you watch it day by day, until the moment comes when with a start of delighted surprise we realize that we can stay out of doors in a twilight lasting for another quarter of a precious hour."
 

-  Vita Sackville-West

 

 

Tea for two

 

Maya and Nova at the Rocking Horse Bakery in Winthrop. Also shared, one cupcake, divided exactly down the middle.

We got home yesterday afternoon, fine but both very tired from the drive. The roads were all clear, a lucky window of weather for mid-January in the mountains. 

It might be a while until we get back again. That's OK. I left the house neat as a pin, and already looking forward to that great feeling of opening the door and finding everything the same. 

The deer will be happy at least, sleeping in the yard without that silly lady around who thinks it's funny to shine a flashlight in their eyes!

Our snowy winter street...

 

Wildlife

 

 

Question: Where do the deer sleep?

Answer: In a snow dormitory. In front of our house.

In the daylight, you can see deep impressions scattered around in the snow. I thought they were places where the deer paw for food, but they're actually snow beds. We watched them come in at dusk and get settled for the night. 

Since our house is dark and quiet most of the time, the perfect place to get an undisturbed night's sleep. Until early this morning when I shone a flashlight around. Pairs of glowing eyes lit up like bulbs! It was hilarious. Well, for me.

We've seen lots of wildlife this trip: Bald eagles, 5 raccoons, a flashy Barrow's Goldeneye (uncommon) in the river. And of course deer. But where are the turkeys?

We drove up to the Loup Loup Ski Bowl and had lunch with the girls yesterday. It's a little gem of a place and reminds me of the small, regional ski areas in Colorado when we were kids. Big enough to have a great time, small enough to be manageable.

Nova and Amanda in the poma lift line. All three of them great skiers.

All is well

Just a bit of snow on the deck! Like 2 feet. It was an easy winter drive with the roads clear and traffic fairly light. What a difference a week makes on the mountain passes. Everything is fine at the house and just as we left it. Our property management guy was finishing up when we got here. Driveway clear, furnace cranked up, water heater on. I felt like the queen arriving at one of her castles. Ha! Except for all the stuff to haul in (John) and put away (me.)

One mishap yesterday, or I should say, misstep. An unfortunate encounter with a patch of black ice in the grocery store parking lot in Cle Elum. The only thing hurt was my pride.  Sitting in wet jeans for the remainder of the trip reinforced the lesson learned. Don't trust innocent-looking "wet" pavement. It's not Seattle.

The daytime temperature is in the 30's - like springtime for the deer.

I watched them this morning lounging in fluffy snow beds in front of the house. Can you see their heads sticking up? Life is good if you happen to be a deer in Twisp.

No big plans today. We're driving up to the Loup Loup Pass downhill ski area to have a look. It's only 14 miles from here. Amanda and Maya are skiing this morning, and Nova has ski team practice until 2. Amanda made great pizza last night, tonight I'm cooking here.

Taking a break

 

We're entering the driest stretch of weather since last September. A whopping three days without any precipitation in the lowlands or mountains. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

It's a decent window for winter driving, so we're headed to Twisp for the weekend to check on the house and see the kids. There's still a massive amount of snow on the ground over there, and it's not going anywhere soon. Say, April?  But the roads should be mostly clear and it's a break from the monotony of January.

The weatherman said the latest storm that left us waterlogged will morph into a snowstorm on the east coast next week. Seattle has been feeling rather springlike these past few days, with temperatures in the 50's. The weather pattern is changing toward calmer weather in the west and winter storms on the east coast. Your turn. 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Maxfield Parrish, Winter paintings

I'm tired of you

This poinsettia looks like it did a month ago when I brought it home from the grocery store. These were once expensive, finicky plants from a florist shop and you were lucky if they made it through December without dropping their leaves. Now they've been genetically modified to the point of looking fake, almost forever.

 

 

The story of how a wild tropical shrub became a ubiquitous potted plant is pretty interesting. The cultivated poinsettias are actually infected with a bacteria that stunts their growth, keeping them small and compact. In fact, they don't grow at all. And the plant breeders have endlessly tinkered with the colors.

Well, fake or not, it’s something bright on yet another soaking dark day. Only the 11th, and most locations around Puget Sound have already exceeded the average rainfall for January.

Look up, look down

 

 

What is that bright thing in the sky? We've been pummeled with bad weather up here-- below freezing temperatures and snow followed by flooding rain. 

This weekend, the clouds finally lifted. The sun came out. Just a couple weeks past the winter solstice and it looks a tad higher above the horizon.

The temperature reached the high 40's, which felt almost springlike. The first tulips agree and are already poking their heads up. 

I went outside to survey the freeze wreckage (not bad) and pulled out some ugly dracenas-- no big loss. The garden skeleton is clean and tidy, the best time to think about next summer. Fewer pots, less watering, for example. The days of abundant summer rain in Seattle are past. 

 Speaking of looking up. Have you followed the successful launch of the James Webb telescope? 

 

 

If all goes well, among other wonders, the telescope will view the cosmos in infrared light, revealing wavelengths in colors human eyes have never seen.

Down here on Planet Earth, for Christmas John gave me a lightweight but quite powerful "beginners" telescope. There's a learning curve, but last night I was able to find Jupiter's moons for the first time by myself. A magical sight, even in light-polluted Seattle. From our dark summer deck in Twisp, what wonders lie ahead.

And more snow

 

The main drag through downtown Twisp yesterday morning.

And Maya waist deep in snow. Pretty impressive, even by Methow Valley snowfall standards. 

What next? Yesterday I heard from the nice neighbor who plows our driveway. He said his truck broke down and he's out of business for now. It's not like we going over anytime soon, but we still have an obligation to keep the driveway easement open. 

There are plenty of independent plowers in town, but I prefer old Chuck. In the meantime, our property management company said they will blow out the driveway when they stop by for security checks.

As far as the weather goes (not to mention the pandemic) we're off to a rough start in Washington. No one remembers a time when every single mountain pass was closed down at once.  All transportation across the state is at a standstill, until at least Saturday. Between the weather and the labor shortage, we're seeing more empty shelves in the stores. It just adds to the general sense of things being broken.

Snow

 

"You ain't going nowhere" indeed. All three major mountain passes across the state are closed in both directions today. 

The Methow Valley expects several feet of snow, enough to close the schools and shorten business and clinic hours in town. They're used to snow of course, so that's saying something. 

The girl's chickens snowed in. Their coop looks like a cozy alpine hut. And my little river house must be just about buried. I'd like to experience such a big snow storm someday.

Is there anything like the deep silence of falling snow at night? And waking up to that indescribable snow light? Anyway, a banner winter for our neighbor's driveway snow plow business. 

The snow in Seattle never materialized, just more days of cold rain ahead. What was on the ground finally melted, ditto the icy sidewalks. So we can walk around again without worrying about breaking our necks. So that's a good thing.

 

Twelfth Night

 

 Gabriel Metsu
 "The Lord of Misrule"

Today is the last of the 12 days of Christmas. January 5th is the Epiphany-- a feast day which marks the visitation of the Magi. Epiphany is a Greek word, meaning a sudden comprehension.

The Three Kings, depicted in a masterpiece 6th century mosaic. Such forward urgency and yearning expressed with tiny bits of stone.

In medieval England, they shared a cake containing a bean and a pea. The people who found them (hopefully without breaking a tooth) became the "King and Queen of Misrule."  Why does it feel like life was more fun back then?

For one night only, everything was topsy-turvy and high lords became peasants, women became men and vice versa.  Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night is all about mistaken identities. 

Twelfth Night was the finale of feasting, drinking and merry-making before things returned to dull daily life for the remainder of winter. And Lent just around the corner...

King cake is popular in New Orleans today and during the carnival season before Lent. You won't find anything that lurid in a Seattle bakery, but the one I bought yesterday in a moment of weakness is almost as wild. Obviously for people who can't make decisions. 

Another round of snow expected in the lowlands. Give us a break. The highlight of our day is making bean soup with the Christmas ham bone. We're trying to lay low during this surge (as much as possible.)

And that old song by the Byrds keeps running through my head: "You Ain't Going Nowhere."