In the deep, mid-winter

 

It's been a busy 48 hours and I've barely opened my computer, kind of nice, actually. We drove to Twisp early yesterday morning, taking advantage of a short break between mountain storms and the highways were OK. 

However, there's a jaw-dropping amount of snow here in town (and fell more last night.) It's piled so high on the deck we can't even see the river, or the deer, for that matter, without standing up. 

Fortunately, the driveway was recently but somewhat sloppily plowed, so still pretty rough going maneuvering in and out of the garage. We managed to get unstuck with an old trick involving door mats. John also figured out how (and where) to put on the new chains. Which I'm sure he hopes was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

This is just a winter short visit and I don't expect to be back now for many weeks, possibly months. Not much is planned for the next two days, but I'll make dinner for everyone here tonight and we'll have our belated Christmas gift exchange. 

As the year winds down, wishing you health and happiness in 2023.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Everything but the gobble

 

"The Soup" by Pablo Picasso, 1902

We cooked the turkey carcass yesterday with onions and celery, not a pretty sight. After hours of simmering, the hot mess has to be carefully strained through a fine sieve.  Then you can pick through the gunk for nice bits of meat. Or not. 

Reminds me of that old saying: "Laws are like sausage. It's better not to see them being made." 

I always refrigerate the broth overnight so the fat solidifies on top. The final result is an excellent base for all kinds of soup, from Mexican style to plain old turkey noodle. Like nothing that comes out of a can, with the good feeling of creating something delicious from scraps that are usually thrown out.

What else is new? The next weather treat is a major windstorm with possible power outages. Yet another day spent inside.

To Boredom, by Charles Simic

I’m the child of your rainy Sundays.
I watched time crawl
Over the ceiling
Like a wounded fly.
A day would last forever,
Making pellets of bread,
Waiting for a branch
On a bare tree to move.
The silence would deepen,
The sky would darken,
As grandmother knitted
With a ball of black yarn.
I know Heaven’s like that,
In eternity’s classrooms,
The angels sit like bored children
With their heads bowed.

Boxing Day

 

Lurching from one weather extreme to the next, this week is starting out mild and wet. That brings a new set of travel problems like mountain avalanches, freezing rain and lowland flooding. 

It's supposed to be windy, in fact I hear it howling in the chimney now and rain beating on the windows. Who knows when we can make it to Twisp again?

I hope you had a nice Christmas. Our morning mess was modest compared to the glorious chaos of past years with 2 kids, 5 or so adults and a dog in our living room. And me, always trying to cook a big ham dinner in my small kitchen at the same time. We sure missed the family. Here they are in Twisp yesterday morning. Looks like plenty of gifts from Santa including a new toy for Nica.

 

John always finds me the most thoughtful presents. For example, an excellent bicycle pump from REI, a cute space heater for the cold bathroom in Twisp, kitchen shears, a nifty charger, concert tickets and so on. And always a slave gift, like the handheld steam cleaner (hum) that soon revealed just how dirty the kitchen floor grout really is. Ignorance was probably bliss on that one.

He is more difficult to buy for since his retirement, because now he has time to shop online for exactly what he wants. But I got him some sweaters from LL Bean, food carving tools, calendar, little things like that. I guess my daily gift to John is excellent food, and we had a nice turkey dinner last night. Unfortunately, I dropped a razor sharp knife and it nicked the top of my hand-- a weird and painful way to cut yourself. That put me in a pretty glum mood for the rest of the night.

So the year is quickly wrapping up. The days after Christmas feel suspended in time-- the old year hanging on and the new just around the corner. And always those thoughts of what joys and sadness it might bring. 

The smart money

 

 

The worst ice event in a decade shut Seattle down yesterday. All forms of transportation ground to a halt. The smart money stayed home. 

Just how slippery was it?  So slick that parked cars slid down steep hills all by themselves! Naturally, some folks ventured out anyway, causing hundreds of car accidents. The emergency rooms soon filled with people who fell down. Merry Christmas. One guy actually skated around the Wallingford neighborhood on the thick glaze of ice.

Well, the ice storm is history this morning, other than the damage left behind. It warmed up quickly yesterday afternoon, and soon we heard the happy sound of ice crashing down everywhere.  

My poor pretty olive tree, the three main branches were bent almost to the ground. If it survives, it will never look the same. Which reminds me of Robert Frost's wonderful poem, "The Birches." 

After all the preparation and anticipation, Christmas Eve still has a way of sneaking up. Italian food for us tonight. A well-stocked pantry and freezer means I don't have to rush to the grocery store with thousands of people this morning for frantic last-minute shopping. After the storm, the shelves are probably picked bare anyway.

Dear friends and family, have a warm and safe holiday.

Ice storm

 

 

I woke up around 2:30 am. Something did not seem right. After tossing and turning, I finally went in the kitchen and the window was covered in a glaze of ice- like looking through an ice cube. The freezing rain had arrived just as predicted. 

 

Everything is slippery as a skating rink. Ice storms (fortunately) are rare here. The city is shut down, public transportation suspended. SeaTac Airport closed with hundreds of flights cancelled. And the roads and highways already clogged with wrecks caused by people who had to go out this morning (or thought they did.)

I turned the thermostat up to 70 to heat the house, several degrees warmer than usual, just in case we lost power later. I made coffee and took a few things out of the fridge. The ice was building up so quickly an outage seemed likely.

Here's the good news. It's 26 degrees now, but by the end of the day we'll be 15 degrees warmer. Also the freezing rain has eased off somewhat, at least here in Seattle. A long nap is in order today, hopefully to the sound of real dripping rain this afternoon.

You ain't goin' nowhere

 

A view of Alki Beach yesterday, just down the hill from us. Only 17 degrees this morning in Seattle, bitter cold, but warm compared to 20 below on the other side of the mountains.  

The sidewalks and side streets are covered in a sheet of ice. It would be challenging just loading the car in the dark. And then-- 230 miles of snow covered mountain highways all the way to Twisp in sub-zero temperatures. And then-- not sure we could even get down the driveway when we arrive. Disappointing, but these senior citizens will take a rain check on travel today.

This too shall pass, but not without more misery first. A warm and wet Pacific front is aimed at the Northwest, so they're predicting an ice storm tomorrow as it transitions over to rain. Then flooding possible next week from an atmospheric river. The weather delights just keep on coming. There's plenty to share all across the country.

In the meantime. Everyone is safe and warm at home this morning. Thank goodness. Amanda and Nova were actually in Seattle yesterday (we didn't see them) with a group of friends. They came over to see a Broadway musical and do some shopping, then made the long trip back to the Valley last night.

Frozen palms

 

Seattle is frozen solid this morning and we won't even get above 30 degrees until Friday. The streets are covered in ice and snow. But you think that's cold? Tonight will be minus 17 in Twisp, with a high of about 1 degree for the next several days. 

I'm praying to the god of water pipes that nothing freezes under the house. This extreme cold is unusual, even by central Washington standards. After the dry cold snap breaks, there's snow in the forecast next week, making for more treacherous driving through the mountains. Not to mention, a snowed in driveway. So we're modifying our holiday travel plans somewhat. After all, the whole point of having a vacation home is the flexibility.

December 21st is "Look on the Bright Side Day." A reminder to count your blessings and reflect how happy you are to be alive and healthy. 

We are grateful that our strong 98-year old Dad is starting to recover from a serious chest cold, thanks to my sister's excellent care and some timely medical intervention. Hope you are feeling much better by Christmas, Dad!

And despite being out and about in germy crowds all weekend, John and I have avoided the plague of viruses (so far) this winter. I keep expecting to wake up with that sore throat, but I'm fit as a fiddle. 

Yes, indeed-- a good day to look on the bright side.

One of those weeks

 

It's enough to make you pull the covers over your head and go back to sleep until 2023. Hard to imagine a worse winter weather forecast for Christmas week travel: Several rounds of snow followed by extreme cold, eventually warming up to freezing rain and then topped off with the prospect of avalanches in the mountains and urban flooding when the temperature hits a balmy 50 degrees on Christmas day.

Burrr

 

Some cute pictures Amanda sent this weekend. They were in cold and snowy Levenworth on Saturday, and went to the Nutcracker Museum which has the largest collection of antique nutcrackers in the world. What fun.

Speaking of cold and snow. It started falling In Seattle after we got home from the Symphony yesterday. Looks like an inch or so on the ground this morning, with more on the way. It's going to be extremely cold in the Northwest all week, with no real warm up until the rain finally returns on Christmas. 

We just had a big dose of holiday entertainment. On Saturday, a 3-hour play at the Seattle Rep called "Mr. Dickens and His Carol," which sounded like light entertainment when I bought the tickets. One scathing review described it as "a seemingly biographical play that never happened...and shouldn't have." Ha. You had to feel for those fine actors slogging though that material. 

And then "Handel's Messiah" on Sunday, another 3 hours of sitting. The "Messiah" is the most famous English oratorio, which is a large scale work for orchestra and voices. It's almost like an opera, but without the "distraction" of costumes and sets. 

Like listening to Wagner, you need a certain mindset to appreciate (endure?) Handel and the endless lyric repetition. The hall was full, and it was a different audience than our usual Sunday afternoon crowd. People loved it. Everyone jumped out of their seats and stood reverently for the Hallelujah chorus, like church. Quite a different experience. 

Well, time to get off my you-know-what and think about some exercise.

Well-worn

 

I'm feeling like this cookbook today. My mom gave it to me for my 17th birthday. Yes, that old. That nice lady Betty Crocker taught me how to cook.

OK. Enough already with the Christmas cookies! I was in the kitchen at 6 am making the perennial Boeing favorite: coconut pecan dream bars. Apparently they used to fight over them at the holiday party.

It's a finicky cookie that takes a few tricks you only learn from trial and error. Betty Crocker assumes you already know the basics of cooking, so she doesn't baby her readers with detailed instruction.

I made so many dream bars over the years I took a break last year and probably lost my knack. I doubled the recipe this morning, a dangerous thing to do at the bleary hour. However, John is having lunch with a coworker today, so I thought I'd be nice and send some along for her. 

There. Just out of the oven. They look OK. Now they need to be cut into fussy little squares.

We have a big weekend coming up, with tickets to a fun play at the Seattle Rep tomorrow afternoon, then Symphony on Sunday for some serious music. They're doing Handel's Messiah (talk about perennial holiday favorites.) Sorry to sound like Scrooge, but the “Hallelujah” chorus at the end is the reward for sitting through the long thing. No wonder it gets people so excited.

Crowded indoor places are unnerving once again, with so many people sick with assorted viruses. Somehow we've escaped so far-- knock wood. Masks are in order again, for sure.  

Have a good weekend.

 

 

A Maxfield Parrish morning

 

I took these pictures around the yard on Monday morning, just before we left Twisp. After the big snow, blue skies and a clear sunrise-- spectacular! That is, if you don't mind cold weather-- the golden light looking for all the world like a Maxfield Parrish winter painting.

See what I mean?

And I always take a parting shot inside before closing the door. So pretty. Everything perfectly clean and neat before hitting the road. That's the reward when we return. After the long drive, who wants to open the door to a messy house? 

In the winter, there's always uncertainty as to when we'll we back, not to mention, what we'll find when we get there. This is the land of extreme weather, fire and floods. But why borrow trouble? So far, so good.

Christmas decorations are at a minimum. The lack of clutter is restful and we have plenty of holiday excess right here in Seattle! Sure, a big natural tree would be pretty in front of that window, maybe someday. 

Two sleeping angels

 

 

Maya and Nova, exactly 10 years ago.  Then we blinked.

National Cocoa Day

 

'Tis the season for hot chocolate. The perception of cocoa these days is a sweet treat for ladies and children, something a man might drink occasionally, if ever. 

(BTW Sillycow mix is pretty good.)

From The Surprising History of Hot Cocoa:

"For thousands of years, however, it was quite a different story. While we tend to think of chocolate today in its solid form, for nine-tenths of its long history, chocolate was a drink – the first true chocolate bar as we now know it was not invented until 1839. In the thousands of years before that time, chocolate was seen as an invaluable, sacred, even magical beverage — a symbol of power, a privilege of warriors and the elite, and a satisfying tonic that was consumed daily and offered the sustenance needed to tackle virile challenges." 

For example, cocoa has been an essential, life-saving staple on all the major expeditions to the North and South Poles.  

Are we having fun yet?

And cocoa has been included in military rations for centuries...

How's your weather? Our west coast storm is marching east, morphing into prairie blizzards and tornado watches. Things have settled down here for the time being. Next week they predict an arctic blast for the Northwest, with "high" temperatures barely above zero on the east side of the state.

 

The real McCoy

 

"The Nutcracker" play was delightful, and despite the weather, all performances at The Merc Playhouse in Twisp sold out. We were so proud of Nova in the lead role as "Clara" and with lines in almost every scene. Of course, we are biased, but her poise and projection on the stage were pretty remarkable for a 13 year old. All the actors were wonderful. So much talent in this small community.

Having grown up in Pennsylvania and Colorado, I've seen some snow, but this was impressive by any standards. It started on Thursday afternoon and didn't let up for 24 hours.  The river view gradually disappeared as it piled up on the deck, and before long all we could see was the heads of the deer walking by and peering in. A funny sight.

When it finally stopped, the driveway snow was over my knees. We forged a little path out to the street. Where was my new snow plower?  It was like "Waiting for Godot." We had to be patient and just wait our turn, since he was obviously slammed.

Oh happy sight, Kevin finally came to our rescue at 4:30, just as it was getting dark. And I was glad we had a chance to meet him in person-- a clear-eyed and capable young man. He soon had the driveway cleared. Needless to say, the plowers in town are making these immense mountains of snow that will be around now until spring. Quite a sight.

Now the weather switches over to another extreme--clear, dry and very cold for the next week or so. Should be spectacular with the sun out this morning as we head back to Seattle.

Timing is everything

 

There were hundreds of trucks on Snoqualmie Pass yesterday, all weaving around and chaining up along the sides of the freeway. Ugh.

The pass had shut down the day before, so they were hell-bent-for-leather to get over. But other than that, the drive was long but uneventful. And good timing, with a big winter storm nipping at our heels.

The snow started here about 4 pm yesterday and hasn't stopped yet. We're watching it creep up on the deck, the river view slowly disappearing. Beautiful, but those hot, lazy green days seem like a lifetime ago.

23 inches sez John with his yardstick.

We walked to town last night with Tom, Maya and Amanda (Nova was at the theater) for "Mistletoe Madness," a big annual event in Twisp.

Everyone was in a jolly mood-- seems like the entire friendly Valley turned out.

It was magical in the snow, with the galleries and stores full of people, wood fire pits burning everywhere and a winter market along Glover Street. 

 Someone is keeping a respectful distance :-)

Then the dark and quiet walk home in the snow, with the Twisp cross shining down from the mountain. A bowl of chili and an early night for us. 

This morning, we are well and truly snowed in. That is, until Kevin gets around to plowing the driveway. Fingers crossed he remembers us down here!

Off we go

 

Off we go. We have a short reprieve in the mountain driving weather today, before a major storm hits the Northwest tonight. Depending on how early our new driveway plower gets to work we could be well and truly snowed in for the weekend in Twisp. 

More news later from the snowy side...

Heavy mountain snow

 

 

What a rough and early start to winter. Snoqualmie Pass and I-90 are a driver's nightmare this week. But conditions can change quickly, for better or worse. We still hope to get over to Twisp for "The Nutcracker" play at the Merc Playhouse. Nova has a lead role as "Clara."