Tea in winter

"When one day in winter, on my return home, my mother, seeing that I was cold, offered me some tea, a thing I did not ordinarily take. I declined at first, and then, for no particular reason, changed my mind. She sent for one of those squat, plump little cakes called petites madeleines, which look as though they had been molded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell.

"And soon, mechanically, dispirited after a dreary day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shiver ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin.

"And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory - this new sensation having had the effect, which love has, of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me, it-was-me.

"I had ceased now to feel mediocre, contingent, mortal. When could it have come to me, this all-powerful joy? I sensed that it was connected with the taste of the tea and the cake, but that it infinitely transcended those savors..."

From, Remembrances of Things Past  
Marcel Proust 1871-1922.

Chinese New Year

I was at Southcenter Mall yesterday and it was all decorated with Chinese New Year displays. I don't know why that surprised me, since shopping is a big part of Chinese New Year festivities. And of course, we have a large Asian community in Seattle.

The first day of Chinese New Year is February 19th this year, but preparation for the holiday begins many days in advance, with traditional chores and activities for each day.

Before the New Year festivities begin, the house must be purged of bad juju and dirt.  Then homage must be paid to the Kitchen God, or Stove God, who oversees every Chinese kitchen and watches over the domestic affairs of the family.

On February 11, the Kitchen God visits homes and then reports back to the Jade Emperor in heaven, who decides whether or not to reward the family in the coming year.  For this reason people leave candy, beans, and fruit in hope of flattering the Kitchen God.

Maybe that was the meaning of the oranges stacked under the trees at the mall?

Does life feel empty today?

No wonder. February 4th is "Create a Vacuum Day."  Since there is absolutely no information on the origin or meaning of this ridiculous day, you can just use your imagination.

Oh, the joy of being a 1950's housewife...

 

Gloomy weather

Here's Amanda and Nova at the Winthrop ice rink.  Something cheerful for a dark, wet morning in Seattle. We were spoiled by that long stretch of faux spring weather in January, and now the "rain train" is aimed right at us again.

And here's that little video of Nova and Maya I tried to post a few days ago. Most of you had trouble opening it.

The morning after

Ground Hog Day
by Andrew Wyeth

Well, Seattle feels like a giant deflated balloon this morning. What a heart-breaking loss. To make it worse, it's pretty hard (make that impossible) to put a happy spin on the last minute of that game.  

As we sat in a befuddled haze watching the strange and endless half-time show,  John said, "Why don't you write about this on the blog?"

I wouldn't know where to begin. Who are these famous people we've never seen before? How does she change costumes so fast? What are those creatures?  Is this really real, or computer simulation?  What does it mean? They should have wheeled out Sting or Bruce Springfield for a few minutes, just to give us old fogies something to look at.

No surprise that Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow this morning, predicting six more weeks of winter.

Our mascot

"Taima" the hawk 

The big day is almost here.  What will we talk about in Seattle when football is over?

Taima made an appearance at the Superbowl last year but was grounded. By the way, there is no such bird as a "Sea Hawk." Taima is Auger Hawk (also known as the auger buzzard) native to Africa.  She lives at a bird sanctuary in Spokane, and is trained to fly out of the tunnel ahead of the players at home games.

This week, Taima is on a strict diet to get down to ideal Super Bowl weight.  The problem being the warmer weather in Phoenix, which could cause a slower flight and mess up the precise timing of the game opening. Or worse.

You never know what you're gonna see at a Seahawks game.  In November, Taima committed a personal foul and later apologized on Twitter for her unsportsmanlike behavior.