Leap Day

 

More than a calendar correction, February 29th was once the day when roles were reversed and the woman could pick herself a husband.

The tradition started in ancient Ireland and eventually reached the United States. Of course, in our patriarchal society, it became a thing of mockery. Cartoons and postcards depicted aggressive old maids doing whatever it took to capture a poor, unsuspecting man. The weird old postcards are funny in a cringey sort of way.

Speaking of gender stereotypes, the other night we watched "Fly with Me" on PBS American Experience, about the "women who wanted to see the world and ended up changing it." An excellent program and reminder of how far we've come. In some ways.

Anyway, since there are 366 days in 2024, think of it like this --sometimes a little extra time is all we need to make a big difference. Happy Leap Day to you.

Whatever it takes...

 

To bring a little spring into the house. The pussy willows came from Trader Joes yesterday. I went there for just the usual things, but hard to resist those bunches right outside the front door. Like Costco, you some need some strong willpower to not succumb to impulse shopping. Anyway, a cheerful sight on the mantle for a few weeks.

Nothing much to talk about except the bad weather, which is not exactly newsworthy in February. There is an astonishing amount of snow falling in the mountains this week. That's a good thing, if you don't have to travel. February is the snowiest month in the Northwest and the La Nina is fading. The ski areas are ecstatic.

Down here in the lowlands, another story entirely. Despite the cold temperatures, the early trees are starting to bloom along our street. 

This map shows the many different micro climates, and our neighborhood is sometimes referred to as the "banana belt" of Seattle. 

Congratulation to us, today is our 31st anniversary. February 27th is an easy date to forget! I asked John this morning,"who the heck gets married in February?" He said, "we must have been in a hurry."

Timing is everything

 

The mountain passes are pretty much shut down this morning, but I had an excellent driving window on Saturday just before the storm. Dry roads and light traffic, you can't ask for anything more. I left Twisp at first light and encountered maybe a dozen cars the first 75 miles to Lone Pine. 

It was an uneventful drive until just outside Cle Elum, when large herd of elk crossing the highway brought traffic to a stop. What magnificent creatures, especially up close like that!

Speaking of the beauty of nature, did you know the equine eye is the largest of all land mammals? Their incredible, deep eyes simply can't be ignored. The selfie above is with "Buttons." I walked her around the pasture for exercise (both of us) while Nova was riding on Friday.

Anyway, just settling into our usual routines and getting ready for company. We'll see Bruce and Karen this weekend, and my sister Marji arrives next week. Hopefully the weather settles down some by then.

 

Sunshine lollipops

 

The overcast finally cleared out and gave us a faux spring day. It really lifted spirits. The locals are grumbling that "if it's going to be cloudy, it could at least snow." They don’t like low-hanging, useless winter clouds. 

My favorite time of day here is right about now. On a clear morning, the big moon sets outside the kitchen window to the west while the sky gradually lightens in the east. When the sun rises above the mountains, the river and trees turn sparkling gold for a few magical minutes. There are stars visible this morning, so it's going to be another nice day.

Yesterday was busy. I dropped Nova off to visit a friend, then Maya and I had lunch at Three-Fingered Jacks in Winthrop. She was disappointed that Sheri's Sweet Shop, a local ice cream institution, was closed, but she still managed to find some candy at a tourist shop.

Good grief. We polished off two gigantic orders of fish and chips...

And then last night Tom made a fabulous Pad Thai dinner with all the authentic trimmings. He is an excellent cook, and what a pleasure eating food someone else prepared. Tonight, after we get back from horse chores, the four of us are eating out at the local Mexican restaurant. I should think about getting some real exercise.

I'm going home tomorrow morning-- good timing. They're predicting several feet of new snow in the mountains next week. That is welcome news for the snow pack, but makes for rough-going if you have to drive the mountain passes.

Have a good weekend.

Chores

 

I enjoyed watching Nova take care of the mares yesterday. She is so self-assured and confident handling the big, unpredictable animals. In exchange for doing chores (and if you love horses, such sweet work) she gets to ride Ginger, above. The horses will soon return to the little riding academy adjacent to Liberty Bell School. Winter vacation is over. Nova also helps out there with the lessons. 

For kids, the main problem here is picking and choosing from the many opportunities and activities. It might be remote, but nothing like the boring rural life I remember as a teen. Girl's wrestling season is over, but soon track starts, so there's a new schedule to juggle with horse responsibilities and everything else that goes along with high school.

Nova is also applying around town for a part time job that will take her through the summer. She is already looking ahead to those college applications. She's a straight A student, but good grades are not enough these days. Anyway, I'm glad they have so many rich choices. Maya starts middle school in the fall and she's just getting started.  Sisters being sisters, I'll bet she takes a different path than Nova.

Wonders never cease

 

I spotted this guy yesterday walking down a street in town. So large you couldn't miss him. The amazing iPhone lets you identify plants, animals and insects just by tapping on the photo image. Up popped a link to Jerusalem Cricket.  Despite the alarming appearance, they are harmless and beneficial. 

It seemed early for a bug to take spring stroll, but then it's been strangely warm. And unlike previous winters, the deer aren't hanging around the yard in their snow beds. Well, there isn't any snow. I suppose the deer are at higher elevations. 

However, the second largest living rodent has kept busy. We had (past tense) a nice little stand of aspen trees on our river front, now history. One by one, the beavers gnawed the trunks into portable lengths and hauled them off to eat. There are no dams within miles of here. Maya couldn’t drag this heavy one into the low river, but the spring run-off will soon float it away.

On the other side

 

My Valentines flowers were too pretty to throw away, but not quite fresh enough to carry all the way to Twisp. So I left them on the deck yesterday to drop their petals without making a mess inside for John.

The weather here is dreary, with bare ground and grey drippy skies, but no complaints. I have a good window for driving and this pattern should hold until Saturday. Next week they expect a big mountain  storm. I'll be safely back in Seattle by then. 

 

The girls are on winter break, unfortunately at the same time Amanda has an extremely busy week. She is completing her preceptorship hours in Wenatchee, then a final immersion testing weekend at Gonzaga over in Spokane. 

She's finally on the last stretch of her degree (yay!) and what a tremendous accomplishment in such a remote area. Thousands upon thousands of driving miles-- and this advanced degree would be hard enough living in a major city.

Anyway, my job is keeping an eye on the girls while Tom works. They are pretty independent, but Nova has chores at the barn where she works in exchange for riding lessons, so I'll drive her there and get some exercise helping out. Maya and I will find something to do. And I'm just enjoying the peaceful house in shoulder season. Everything exactly as I left it-- what a treat.

Bluebird days

 

Some photos of Amanda and the girls skiing with friends at Mission Ridge this week. Looks like a perfect day, which have been few and far between this winter. It's been drier and cloudier than usual in central Washington.

Helmets and goggles are now de rigueur. What a good thing. Not to mention, snow pants. I loved skiing as a teenager, and sewed myself a pair of corduroy knickers. I wore them with my school knee high socks. Only rich people had real down coats. In Colorado you can ski in jeans and in the spring wear shorts, the snow is powder dry and the sun so intense. No one cared back then because skiing was for ordinary people and not that expensive.

But what I wouldn't have given for an outfit like this!

 

The days of our lives

 

February is passing by so quickly compared to January, the longest month of the year. I know, we should never wish the days of our lives away-- at this age, time goes fast enough as it is. 

Still, I'm looking forward to March, a month packed with interesting things. Our friends Bruce and Karen return from seven weeks in Mexico, and will stay with us before heading back to the Methow. Can't wait to hear about their adventures.

Here they are, looking relaxed and happy. Bruce has been teaching art at the local elementary school.

Right after Bruce and Karen leave, my sister Marji arrives for a long overdue visit. We'll give the Las Vegas gal a taste of the Seattle lifestyle, including some fried oysters down on Alki. Then mid-month, we head over to Twisp to see Maya perform in The Merc Theater production of "James and the Giant Peach." 

Last but not least, at the end of the month a California trip to Desert Hot Springs and our old favorite place in downtown Palm Springs, which has changed hands, been renamed and renovated. I don't know if for better or worse, but we'll find out when we get there. Anyway, lots to look forward to.

Have a good weekend.

Wintry mix

 

A bit of snow fell last night, although it will soon change over to cold rain. February is typically the last month to see white stuff in Seattle, so let's just call it winter's swan song. 

We are tired of winter. Thanks to La Nina, it's been a relatively mild one in the Northwest, but still our usual share of grey, wet, cold days.

Ironically, my last regular shift at the Senior Center Cafe yesterday was the best ever! The customers were like familiar old friends! The kitchen manager said she would miss me because "I know what I'm doing." Her first compliment! The volunteer coordinator gave me flowers! I guess there's nothing like leaving to generate sudden appreciation. 

Anyway, I offered to work as a substitute in the Cafe, a good compromise. And it's nice to know I'd be welcomed back later in another volunteer capacity. Why burn bridges?

Like mustard on a weenie

 

Way back when, this was most exciting day of the school year. There was a cardboard mailbox, decorated with construction paper hearts, where everyone deposited their little valentines in envelopes.

We had already addressed them at home the night before, using a class list. In the afternoon, after a long day of anticipation, the teacher picked a couple of lucky kids to be postmen and deliver the valentines around to each desk where we waited patiently. Finally, that pink cupcake or cookie treat on a napkin.

The cards were usually just signed on the back, but sometimes, a thrilling XXXOOO from a daring secret admirer. 

Have a sweet day.

Mardi Gras

 

Fat Tuesday is the last chance to binge on drink and rich foods before the Lenten fast. Today is known as "pancake day" in Great Britain, the time to use up the butter and eggs so they don't go to waste during Lent. 

Seattle isn't much of a party town when it comes to Mardi Gras. Tonight we're just having leftover roast beef from Superbowl Sunday. Yea, no cooking for a change, so that is a holiday.

Sorry to bombard you with weird images this morning. Along with Valentine's Day, tomorrow is also Ash Wednesday, early this year. The date is always 46 days before Easter, which falls on the Sunday following the first full moon on or after the March equinox. Got that? 

So Easter is on March 31st, the day after my birthday. If all goes according to plan, I'll be soaking these old bones in hot mineral water that day. 

Anyway, the month is passing by quickly. I hoped to get some yard work done and the windows washed, but it's too cold and wet this week. There's even talk of snow flurries on Wednesday. 

In other news, tomorrow is my last day at the Cafe. Fourteen months was enough and maybe I'll look for a new volunteer gig in the fall. Some of the seniors I'll miss, the hard work not so much.

 

Mossy mess

 

The first yard cleanups of the year are always over-whelming. I look around and think, oh boy, here we go again. Already. 

Those old bricks have a wabu-sabi charm in the summer, but in February they're just a mossy mess. I spent a few hours cutting back dead perennial tops and scraping bricks. The lovely picture above is the "after" so you can image what I started with.

Anyway, roses pruned and fertilized, another bed weeded-- progress made. Like many things in life, getting started is the hardest part.

We ate our roast beef dinner in front of the TV during the Superbowl halftime show. It was a fun game to watch, wasn't it?

National Pizza Day

 

 

 

Sometimes, there's nothing to talk about but food. How about this nice vegetarian we made the other night?

Enjoy your weekend.

1.5 billion

 

That's how many chicken wings will be consumed on Super Bowl Sunday. We got a head start last night. Yes, shame on me, I bought a giant bag of frozen wings from Costco, ten pounds for $20. We'll be eating them for the foreseeable future with barbecue sauce, teriyaki, marinade or the wing classic above, Franks Red Hot Sauce.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, our Symphony concerts usually fall on that Sunday afternoon. It isn't a big deal, because the spectacle is barely half over when we get home around 5. This Sunday is an exception, so we'll be parked in front of the TV for hours along with everyone else. 

Speaking of jaw-dropping numbers, the average ticket prices for the Super Bowl game range from $10,527 to $12,082 on the secondary markets. And hotels are well over $1,000 a night on the Strip. Where does all this money (not to mention wings) come from?

Black pussy willow

 

The black pussy willow is the first thing to bloom, even before forsythia. I always cut a few branches to bring inside.

Like many things in this yard, it started life as an ugly bare root stick from Burgess Seed and Plant. (If I'd know we would still be here decades later, perhaps I would have invested in fancier plants.)

Burgess sent out pulpy catalogs packed with flower and vegetable porn, so on winter days you could daydream about Paw Paw trees, Red Colossal Gooseberries, Luffa Sponge Vines and 200-pound watermelons. 

They sold exotics like Angel Trumpets and giant elephant ears that only grow in places with black soil and steamy summer nights. But Burgess was happy to mail anything up to Seattle. Like most things in life, the reality often didn't match the fantasy. 

Now the Burgess company is combined with Gurney and you can browse online, but that's not as much fun as the old newsprint catalog that always came in January.

Well, duty calls. I'm off to the Cafe this morning. Hopefully, the the new menu price shock is wearing off.  

Moss

 

Moss on the boots and moss on the brain these days. It's still too early to attack the yard cleanup, but I miss outdoor time. The gym routine has been good for me, but it mostly replaced those long neighborhood walks in fresh air.

Only so many hours in the day, and today I'll spend some getting the tax documents organized for our accountant. Tomorrow morning my shift at The Cafe, where everyone is complaining about the menu change. Thursday, a dentist appointment. Early Friday, maybe get some overdue labs done. Skipping my morning coffee with half n' half then being poked with a needle always puts me in a foul mood.

Anyway, that's what passes for fun in February.

 Here is a poem that has appeared on the blog more than once:

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. 

 

 

 

 

Primroses

 

It's always nice seeing those colorful primroses outside the grocery stores in early February. At Thriftway (people call it Expensiveway) they had fancy primrose towers for sale.

All the big storms are hitting south in California, and it was a beautiful springlike weekend in Seattle. As far as snow goes, the winter has been a real dud. There is already concern about the lack of mountain snow pack, our main source of water. So far February looks mild and dry.

We went to the Symphony on Sunday, and the highlight was Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, The Emperor. 

Sometimes my mind wanders as I sit there in the 4th row. I thought about the Lewis and Clark expedition, which happened about the same Beethoven time wrote this masterpiece in 1809. Living in Vienna, perhaps he heard about that vast wilderness, but not in his wildest dreams could have imagined our beautiful concert hall filled with a rapt audience listening to his music. 

It looks like a quiet and ordinary week coming up. Nothing wrong with that.

The ground hog sez

 An early spring! Yea! 

And yes, today is also "World Ukulele Day." 

At our Thursday jam yesterday we celebrated Cecil, our oldest West Seattle ukulele group member, who just turned 100. I have a special affection for Cecil since he was born the same year as our Dad. 

What change these gentlemen witnessed in their long but different lives. Dad was a Pennsylvania Dutch farm boy and Cecil an African American, born in segregated Oklahoma. A century of history is really something to wrap your head around.

Yesterday, the players pressured Cecil to reveal his secret of a long life. Diet? Exercise? Teetotalism? All he had to say was "stay out of hospitals" and "hang around young people." I like that. Keep it simple.

Have a good weekend.

 

February

 

 “February is the border between winter and spring.

Terri Guillemets 

Other than doing taxes, I really like February. With more noticeable daylight, it somehow feels like a fresh start.

Today is "Spunky Old Broads Day." Time to celebrate (instead of ignore) women over 50 who are independent, self-reliant, smart, outgoing and outspoken, resourceful, bold, brave, and anything but shy. Know anyone like that? I've met a few SOB's at the Senior Center--spirited ladies still full of humor and life.