Happy girl

 

You just can't pack more into a single day in Twisp.  Maya's 10th birthday yesterday, and Amanda said the kid was up at 3 am checking out Nova's decorations, and the first round of presents, of course. No, she did not go back to sleep and the fun was just getting started.

Great turnout and vibe at the Saturday market. The Senior Center held their annual Halloween rummage sale, much anticipated by the community. The girls scored a big basket of creative costume ingredients. 

Pirate girl...guess who?

And then in the afternoon, a big skating birthday party at the Community Center. It was very sweet and fun. Nice job, Amanda and Tom.

I made pulled pork sandwiches and beans for dinner. Everyone came down to eat on the deck. Guess what? Even more fun presents for the happy girl. A birthday to remember. 

The beautiful dry weather continues with the full Hunter Moon and Jupiter rising over the river. Early to bed for all.

Semi-sunless in Seattle

 

The mornings have been gloomy and chilly this week, sometimes clearing out late in the day. Alki beach was so nice yesterday afternoon it was absolutely surreal for October. 

Of course, everyone was out enjoying the strange weather so parking was a drag. I lugged my folding chair, stand and ukulele a couple of blocks to the jam. Some of the smart players have these cute folding wagons to cart around all their stuff. Santa?

Anyway, with the iPad, at least I wasn't weighted down with music binders, although I almost threw the dang thing into Puget Sound. Like those football players on the sidelines dashing their Surface Pros to the ground in frustration.

It kept reverting back to the wrong link causing me to miss the beginning of some songs. Not operator error, because my friend had exactly the same problem. Some idiosyncrasy with the touch index. She said she slaps her iPad occasionally then it behaves. Note to self.

We're off to Twisp today. It looks like nice fall weather all across the state, although still smoky in places.

WSUP

 

 

Meet the "West Seattle Ukulele Players." This was taken last Thursday at the South Seattle Community College Arboretum. Now that the bridge is open, many of these folks drive over from other parts of the city. The group keeps growing. 

The big gazebo held everyone and was a perfect outdoor setting on a beautiful fall afternoon. A lively, happy jam-- we had a terrific time. As I mentioned, some of these players are quite good and performed together often before the pandemic.

This afternoon we're meeting again on Alki Beach, which is not as ideal for outdoor playing. The bad thing about dry weather this time of year is morning fog, that may or may not burn off by afternoon. This morning looks like another murky soup of ground fog and smoke. Still unknown as to where we'll meet when the weather truly turns to winter. 

I finally got all the ukulele song books loaded on a old iPad we had laying around. One more thing to keep charged but a good use for it. Well, I did it with John's help, as some of the email links needed some serious tinkering around.

So, I don't have to balance big floppy binders on my flimsy music stand. I can fumble with an iPad on my music stand like everyone else. You would be amazed (maybe) how long it takes to get 20 people "on the same page" to start each song. 😅 All part of the fun group dynamics.

The endless summer

 

No complaints, but I can't remember when dry weather like this continued way into October. The rain curtain has always slammed down by now. It's a comin', but for now the atmosphere is stuck in a persistent pattern. Which seems to happen more and more often. 

Unfortunately, you can see how the wildfire smoke from across the state drifts our way, without rain or ocean air to clear it out. Or push it back.

A slow news day here-- nothing wrong with that. After a long summer of cooking delicious fatty meat, a good time to clean the gas grill for the winter. The job is ten times nastier on a rainy day.

 

It's in the wash

 

This is a fair-sized house for two people, but there isn't a square yard to spare. We use every room. Unless we have company, John has the basement for his hobbies which isn't ideal but he doesn't complain. Of course, I'm always walking back and forth through "his space" to the laundry room or pantry, or hanging undies up to dry in the bathroom where he's sharpening knives. 

Anyway, to make a long story short, I've wanted to try watercolor painting for a long time but the main deterrent was finding a place for a new hobby.  My oak desk is too nice for messy painting, but I had a old wicker dressing table only used to park my purse. I cleared it off and made a little art area. 

First step is learning how to do washes. There are hundreds of YouTube instruction videos, many of them quite good. A wash is just a thin layer of color(s) and the starting point for almost all watercolor paintings. It's a much more forgiving medium than I imagined and the results are satisfying, even if you don't know what you're doing.  

We got our updated Covid boosters at Safeway yesterday good for us. Instead of the harried pharmacist rushing out to stick in needle in your  arm, they had an outsourced  "shot giver" all set up in the room and she was very skillful. A big improvement over the old grocery store pharmacy system. I felt like crap in the middle of the night, my head and every muscle hurt. Maybe you're supposed to suffer through the side effects, but I took an Advil and feel better this morning, just tired. 

A good concert

 

Downtown Seattle was bustling yesterday. It was a summer-like afternoon and the Mariners were playing a big home game. Did you hear our baseball team finally made the playoffs after a 21 year drought (a pitiful MLB record.) That sure brings out Seattle's fair weather baseball lovers. Cubs fans we are not.

Anyway, things felt almost like normal again. Masks are "strongly recommended" in the hall, but perhaps a third of the symphony members and audience bothered.

Proof of vaccination is no long required to enter Benaroya Hall, so we breezed into the lobby and then waited in line to buy a $3 coffee cup for the self-service carafe. The bartender said it was on the house. Maybe we looked like we needed some caffeine.

Along with the rather heavy Dvořák Symphony #7, we heard Esa-Pekka Salonen's Cello Concerto, written several years ago with Yo Yo Ma in mind. The 30 minute piece was inspired by science fiction and outer space, chaos and comets. It was not "tuneful" as a lady at intermission commented, but interesting with electronic feedback loops on the cello and conga drums.

Our 4th row seats aren't that great for piano soloists (unless you like looking at shiny shoes) but perfect for watching string soloists up close and personal. 

The very intense German-French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt (above) wore huge black harem pants. His hair was much longer than in this picture.  As he flipped it around, I was afraid it might get tangled in his instrument. John said he was barefoot, but I was so caught up in the strange sounds I missed that detail. 

But he came back out on the stage in stocking feet for the standing ovation and did a more "tuneful" Baroque encore. He seemed to be a big hit with the matinee audience-- we might be old but we're not uptight.