Wordless Wednesday

Desert landscapes

Russell White

1921-1987

A new chapter

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, married to Queen Elizabeth II since 1947, is known for his dry humor and wit.  When he finally retired from public duties at age 96, he quipped, "I've done my bit."

Well, someone else has "done his bit" for 41 years at Boeing Commercial Airplane Company. Starting on March 1st, no more 4:30 am alarms clocks in this house, unless we have an early flight to a sunny destination.  Yes, John is retiring, and we're about to begin an exciting new chapter in our lives. I'm very proud of him.

And soon...

A good weekend

We really enjoyed the actor Hershey Felder playing "Monsieur Chopin" at the Rep Theater on Saturday.  I always try to find tickets for something out of the ordinary as a Christmas present. Last year, remember, I bought those ballet tickets, then it snowed a foot that day in February and we couldn't go. This time it worked out great.  Other than occasional rain, the weather was decent and the Seattle Center peaceful. I think most people stayed home this weekend after all the New Year celebrations, so it was a good time to get out.

In this one-person play, "Chopin" talks about his life while giving a music lesson in his Paris apartment, the beautifully decorated stage. Felder plays Chopin's music, and also interacts with the audience as his "students."  He took random questions from the audience, and the way he answered in character without missing a beat was quite brilliant. 

At one point, he even invited a young pianist on the stage for a "lesson." Felder really took on Chopin's physical image and character so it was amazing acting. He also portrays other famous composers like Beethoven, Gershwin and Berlin in similar shows. I hope to see him again sometime.

On the way home, we stopped at Salty's on Alki for happy hour.  For a change, the bar was almost deserted so we had a million dollar view table looking out at rainy Seattle lights across the bay. John had a beef slider and clam chowder, I had oysters and a fish taco.  Beer and wine, topped off with 3 coconut shrimp. What a nice day.

Did you hear the Seahawks completely surprised everyone and won a wildcard game in Philadelphia yesterday? That's our team, ya' just never know what you're gonna' get.  And the Patriots lost, so whatever happens, we don't have to see them at the Super Bowl for a change.  Life is good.

Fruitcake Toss Day

Years ago, I always made a big batch of fruitcake around Thanksgiving. I'd soak them with cheap brandy then "age" them outside in the shed in a tight can until Christmas.  I can't believe I once did stuff like that! Showing no mercy, I gave them away as gifts. 

I don't remember anyone raving over my fruitcake except an English friend who called them "Christmas cakes." Dense, heavy fruitcakes are more popular in Great Britain.

Oh yea, when my brother went on his wilderness treks in the 1980's, he took my fruitcake along in his backpack as emergency survival food.  That was before energy bars had been invented.  And my grandmother, who never threw anything out, kept hers in the refrigerator for years.  

Despite all the bad jokes, a thin slice of well-made fruitcake is pretty good with a cup of tea now and then.  Anyway-- enough about fruitcake! If you have one, January 3 is the official day to pass it along.

I just read that December was the cloudiest, darkest month in Seattle in the past 5 years. Only 2 days in the entire month even qualified as partly cloudy-- every other day was officially cloudy.  Well, that's all behind us now, and we can look forward to rain and wind this weekend.

On the bright side, tomorrow we have tickets to a play called Monsieur Chopin at the Rep Theater. On Sunday, perhaps the final Seahawk game of the season?

Have a good weekend.

Christmas all gone

For all the world, this feels like a typical Monday morning.  It really is discombobulating when major holidays fall in the middle of the week.  But Thursday or not, here we go.  2020 is just getting rolling, with a slew of things on my to-do list.

It didn't rain at all yesterday, the sun actually came out, which was great for showing up the dust and pine needles after I took down the tree and packed up the Christmas stuff.  We hoisted all the bins and boxes up into the attic crawlspace for another year, and that was that.  Except for the cleaning up part.

I bought a couple of new plastic tubs this week, thinking I'd retire some of the old ones, but somehow they all got filled anyway.  A mystery, since I only added 3 ornaments to the collection this year.  Honestly, the stuff just multiplies.

By the end of the day (I wear a FitBit) I'd gone 11,455 steps and walked 5.6 miles around the house, just putting away Christmas.  OK, that is not a complaint, just a fact.

For lunch, we had a couple slices of the leftover vegetarian pizza from New Years Eve.

Then for a special dinner, I cooked the other half of that fabulous New York strip roast. No wonder I was tired. And after all the indulgences of the past few weeks, time to get back to our regular routines for a while.

Looking back, looking forward

"My life has been full of terrible misfortunes 

most of which never happened."

 Michel de Montaigne

1533-1592 

Now that's a strange and creepy New Year's card. Along with the celebration, January 1 always brings that slight feeling of trepidation about the future.

After being so lucky for almost 7 decades, is this the year when the shoe finally drops?  (Well, probably not.)  But as mom used to say, "If I worry about it, it won't happen."  She has a point. It's  always the stuff we don't see coming.

There. That's better.

On to my recycled resolutions. BTW John doesn't bother making any resolutions, being mostly perfect and vice free. And if you don't make em' you don't break em'. Ha!

I'm keeping it simple this year:

1. Complain less.

2.  Blah, blah, blah, the usual. 

Happy New Year!