Sorting it Out

I should post a blog, but my mind is a muddle. I can't settle on a topic. 

It's 4:00 and almost dark, 43° and spitting rain. I took my camera with me to the mail box just now, hoping for some inspiration. 

I have been doing lots of political reading lately, editorials and articles from our Seattle Times, opinion pieces from the New York Times, which come to me via email, and links from Facebook supplied by friends or MSNBC. Most, but not all, are progressive or moderate voices. Some are not.  Reading various perspectives keeps me informed. Reading comments from right wing sites keeps me concerned. So much hatred being spewed. 

There is still beauty to be found amidst the decay. There is still light in the darkness.

But the dark is very dark - terrorism leading to fear mongering and xenophobia. Today it's Islamophobia, as if every Muslim is our enemy. Before Friday the 13th, it was anti-knowledge, with presidential candidates making up their own reality. 

Yes, I watched the last Republican Debate, and on Saturday I watched the Democratic Debate.  I care about this stuff, and I care about the truth. There seems to be a dirth of truth among some Republican candidates: pyramids as grain storage, a 3 page tax code, sending 11,000,000 illegals home to Mexico, slashing taxes and increasing military spending? Really? 

On Saturday I also stood in the rain for two kid's soccer matches. I care about my grand kids too. 

 They are the beauty amidst the decay, the life against the dying. 

And I care what kind of a world they will live in. 

Some would say to me "Quit watching this stuff, stop reading those commentaries and comments, turn your head away", but I have a need to know, and if truth be told, I relish the intellectual stimulation this dialogue gives me.  And I care what kind of world we live in. 

Something else I did on Saturday was to make soup, hot, comforting turkey soup, made from the remains of that little pre-Thanksgiving dinner we shared on Wednesday. There were left overs for dinner on Sunday as we settled in to watch the Seahawks come from behind, only to lose it in the end. Football fans suffer, but at least it's not life or death suffering. 

There will be more soup tonight, the end of the batch, and just the thing for this dark and drippy night.

Yes, my mind is a muddle, but it's a good muddle, and I'll keep myself occupied sorting it out. 

Making Hay When the Sun Shines, Or At Least When It's Not Raining.

It's not exactly sunny, and we didn't really make hay, but we did get some work done on this dry morning.

Actually the sun did shine yesterday, but we were busy. Since it was Veteran's Day and a no-school day, Jill requested that we have a little early Thanksgiving dinner for her and the kids.  The grands will not be with us for the real Thanksgiving, as they are going to Colorado to be with their other grandparents and their father's family. So we cooked turkey and ate and played a very long game of Monopoly, where Isaac "Trumped" us all. 

But back to "making hay" today. I raked leaves, very pretty leaves. 

 Now the leaves are off the lawn and are scattered in the planting beds for mulch. 

 I cleaned up the drifts of cedar droppings off the patio (again) and the lawn. 

Those cedar droppings are now mulch for the garden path. 

 Tom cleaned up the driveway and the front walk. 

 The Full Moon Maple is just about finished with it's glorious show. ( The header photo is from that tree.) The leaves are in the planting beds here too. 

Tom moved the last of his bonsai trees off of the display benches and out to a garden box, under a clothe, where they will be protected for cold winds and too much moisture. 

 Lastly, I planted a few allium bulbs for color next spring. 

Then we went for a two mile walk before calling it quits for the morning. 

Now, late this afternoon, the sky is very dark and the rain has arrived. They say we're in for another storm. 

And more clean up, of course. 

End of the Season

We are Sounders fans.  

We are season ticket holders and go to all of the home matches.  We march and we sing and we chant. We sit on the edge of our seats feeling the tension and waiting, waiting for that goal, for a Sounders goal, and when it happens we erupt in a roar of cheers along with the rest of the 40,00 fanatics around us.  

During the season, from March to November, our hall tree looks like this. 

 But, alas, yesterday the Sounders season came to an end, not easily, but finally, after 90 minutes of regulation play, plus 30 minutes of overtime, plus a shoot out. It left the Seattle side drained, including all of us fans watching on TVs all over the region, and the Dallas players and fans exuberant to be moving on in the playoffs. 

Now it's Monday morning, time to move on.  It's dreary and raining non-stop again, depressing. And it is with sadness that I pack up our supporter gear and stow it away for this season. 

Maybe the sun will shine tomorrow.  I know we'll be back in March, supporting Sounders, wearing gear. 

Beauty On a Rainy Walk

We needed to get a walk in this morning.  We thought the rain was done. It wasn't. But with our rain gear on, we were fine, and enjoyed getting out into the cool, fresh air.

And in our neighborhood park, we were blessed with beauty this Sunday morning. 

It's partly sunny now this afternoon, but we're happy to be inside, taking it easy and awaiting the Sounders playoff match on TV later. After standing in the rain at two grand kid's soccer games Saturday, there is something to be said for watching from the comfort on your recliner.  

Working Trip to Rockaway Beach

Last week we worked at the Whidbey Island family cabin.  This week, cabin work took us to the Oregon coast.

We left the drizzle behind as we headed south and west, and found clearing skies that made for a must stop at our favorite overlook on Neakanie Mountain along the coast highway, a view that's hard to beat. 

Upon arriving at the cabin in Rockaway Beach, we unloaded our gear, did some measuring, and then headed for the builder's supply in Tillamook. 

 Tuesday morning we got busy, setting up shop, and getting started on our projects. 

 The weather was dry and even sunny, so we could easily do our sawing outside in the open. 

First job - build shelves for the upstairs closet.  The upstairs has been recently enlarged from a loft to more sleeping space by raising the roof. (See the original look on the side bar.) We were also required to raise the whole cabin above the flood level. It has been a long and expensive process so we family members pitch in to do as much of the work as possible. 

Closet storage done.

We moved on to the windows. They needed to be finished - wrapped, sills, and trim. 

There was lots of cutting and fitting and trips up and down two sets of stairs. I was gopher, consultant and keeper of measurements.  I had to keep track of which board of which length should be cut for each window to have the least waste. We had 8', 10', and 12' lumber. 

Tuesday evening Tom hung the new mobile that he had created at home from beach material. He was replacing a previous mobile that was lost during construction. I was the ladder holder and photo documentarion. 

On Wednesday we were back working on the windows. Here's how they look wrapped and framed. 

We got this big one done and three smaller ones before we ran out of materials. 

I spent some time removing blackberries and planting crocosmia bulbs that I had dug from our home garden.

Some day they'll look like this. 

We will be making more changes, including adding a second toilet/water closet, so I cleaned off shelving in that space, cleaned out the shed, and moved the shelving out of the cabin and into the shed. 

It was after three o'clock by the time we ran out of lumber and out of steam.  We got all of the tools packed up and cleaned up everything, and then we had time for a late afternoon walk on the beach. 

We had originally planned to meet my sister in the valley on Thursday, but we cancelled those plans, and were gifted with a slow day for getting back to Seattle.

We went to the Bayfront Bakery in Garibaldi for my apple fritter. 

 We stopped and shopped at the Wheeler Antique Mall. 

And we had lunch at the Wet Dog Brew Pub in Astoria. 

We made it home in time to settle in for some TV watching and some kitty petting. 

It's good to be home.