Poinsettia Day

Poinsettia Day was declared by an Act of Congress in honor of Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first Ambassador to Mexico.  While living in Mexico, Poinsett noticed the brilliant blooms growing along the roadside like weeds in the Taxco area. He sent the plants home to his friends and later grew them in his N.C. greenhouses.

The Aztecs decorated their homes with the flowers and used the milky white sap for treating fevers. When I was a florist, people were convinced they were deadly, but poinsettias are only mildly toxic to pets. I read somewhere that a 50-pound child would have to eat over 500 poinsettia leaves to reach a potentially toxic dose from the plant.

I bought mine from the West Seattle Nursery. It's so perfect it almost looks fake and hasn't dropped a single leaf in three weeks. They were selling them from their fancy new greenhouse of tropical houseplants.  It was pricier than Home Depot, but those sit in the chilly warehouse and usually die from shock when you bring them home. 

We went to the Seattle Symphony Christmas Pops concert on Saturday afternoon.  Our usual seats are in the fourth row, but this time we sat in the first row of the third tier.  It was really pretty seeing Benaroya Hall decorated far below us.

The concert finished early and I thought it would be fun to walk around downtown and see the lights. The weather was miserable with sideways cold rain, so we just had an early dinner at the Rock Bottom Brewery on Fifth Avenue.  We've been there a a few times before, not fabulous dining, but a comfortable casual place.  Well, we won't be going back.  The mood inside was a bit subdued and the waiter said the restaurant was closing down in two weeks.  The entire street under the iconic Rainier Tower will be ripped out for new development.  Downtown Seattle is changing so fast.

Sunday was another dismal weather day, and we stayed inside watching a dismal football game in Green Bay.  I eventually lost count, but think Wilson got picked off five times.  The Seahawks have another chance to redeem themselves this week on Thursday Night Football.

The poem of the air

"To face unafraid the plans that we made, 

walkin' in a winter wonderland."

This the first measurable snowfall in Seattle in two years.  From the cozy house I watched John scrape off Little Beep at 5:00 am and head off to work down the snowy deserted street.  I couldn't read his mind, but it might have been something along the lines of: retirement sounds pretty good right now.

Anyway, it won't stick around for long.  We'll have a high of 40 today with rain moving in.   

Snowflakes

Out of the bosom of the Air,

      Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,

Over the woodlands brown and bare,

      Over the harvest-fields forsaken,

            Silent, and soft, and slow

            Descends the snow.

Even as our cloudy fancies take

      Suddenly shape in some divine expression,

Even as the troubled heart doth make

      In the white countenance confession,

            The troubled sky reveals

            The grief it feels.

This is the poem of the air,

      Slowly in silent syllables recorded;

This is the secret of despair,

      Long in its cloudy bosom hoarded,

            Now whispered and revealed

            To wood and field.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

The Great Northern Railroad

This is the north portal of the mile-long railroad tunnel that runs under downtown Seattle. It was built by Great Northern Railroad in 1905 by two teams working continuously around the clock. In less than two years of digging they met in the middle.

As Bertha labors painstakingly along under the waterfront (6,197 of 9,270 feet completed) you wonder how that tunnel was constructed so quickly over 100 years ago?

Here's a summary from the History Link website:

An advance crew of expert miners tunneled ahead first, making a shaft eight feet high and six feet wide. Next, crews working about 100 feet back from the advance crew dug debris from the sides of the tunnel and made temporary walls of timber to protect the crews removing the core debris. Finally a permanent roof was installed and the entire length of the tunnel was lined in concrete. During construction the tunnel was lit with electric lights and ventilated with large electric fans. Small electric trains removed the loose dirt from inside the tunnel. Large electric shovels transferred the accumulated dirt to gondola cars where it was transported to the King Street Station building site and used as fill.

I've been working with historic collections at the MOHAI Archives for years, but I'm still amazed at the industry and determination of the Seattle pioneers.  Of course back then natural resources were considered unlimited. And Environmental Impact Statements? Ha.

The 100-year old tunnel is still in use. Trains carrying up to three million gallons of highly flammable crude oil run several times a day right under downtown Seattle. According to Seattle fire officials, the tunnel does not meet modern safety standards and lacks emergency fire suppression systems, emergency communications, adequate train staffing, built-in ventilation, safe access for first responders and flame-fighting foam.

No one knows how a fire burning so much oil underground would affect the the city above.  At the very least, the entire downtown would have to evacuated.

However, the City of Seattle has almost no authority over oil trains or the tunnel. So it is pushing for state and federal policy changes to require BNSF Railway to make safety upgrades and to pay for those upgrades.  Good luck on that.

"Kitchen Sink" Advisory

That video was filmed in November.  Goodness, what an energetic city.  Just watching it made me feel kind of tired this morning.

The weather forecast is pretty exciting, too. From the KOMO News weather blog:

"An approaching storm Thursday will likely combine all the elements of widespread snow, rain, foothill winds, interior winds, and even potentially some freezing rain, potentially causing a wide range of impacts to the region. If the National Weather Service had a "Kitchen Sink Advisory" -- this would be the time to trot it out."

I don't have to stray far from home for the next couple days, and John leaves for work so early in trusty "Little Beep" he never has a problem getting to work.  The freezer is packed with food, there's cookies to make and this morning the appliance repairman comes to (hopefully) fix the dishwasher. 

It would probably make more sense to just get a new one and be done with it. But if we can repair it for $200, why not?  We are so wasteful in this country throwing things away things that are hardly used.  Of course I might be buying another one anyway in a few months, but thought I'd take the chance.  And give a local repairman a bit of Christmas money. 

St. Nicholas Day

On Sunday we began the first week of Advent and December 6th is the feast day of Saint Nicholas. He was the Bishop of Lycia in Turkey and lived during the 4th century.  Known for his miracles, good deeds and generosity, he gave anonymous gifts to the poor.  Nicholas rode a white horse or donkey, carrying gifts for children.  Of course he was the precursor of Santa Claus.

 1915 postcard

Now how did they get that donkey up there?

We had just a dusting of snow yesterday.  The bigger excitement arrives Thursday.  The forecast says temperatures in the low 20's with strong north winds and lowland snow.  Til then, bright and cold.

Winter sunrise in Seattle

December weekend in the Methow Valley

Thanks for the pictures, Amanda.  Wish we were there. That's what Christmas is supposed to look like.

Saturday started with "Breakfast with Santa" at the Twisp Grange. Then everyone piled in the car to search for the perfect tree up in the snowy hills.

Cute, but too small...

That's more like it...

Bringing the prize home...

Perfection!