The Day Before Winter

I do know, Dear Reader, that in many parts of the world the weather we are experiencing now in the Pacific Northwest is not unusual. It is common winter weather. Snow and ice are business as usual in many, many places. However, that said, I would like to point out that an inch of snow can bring this region to its knees. Can you imagine what six to twelve inches of this white stuff is doing to us? Added to the snow, tonight we are having major winds in many places. Think temperatures in the 10 to 20 degrees F range and then factor in the wind chill of 35 mph winds. Think no heat. Think no hot water. Think no lights, Christmas or otherwise. Think no hot cocoa. Try not to think about being homeless and thank God and the municipal authorities who have opened shelters all over the area. We have had snow and record breaking cold temperates for a week now. Most of the snow was melted away the other day, although ice was still a problem. I have been out and about in town, walking carefully, like a 900-year-old woman, for fear of landing on my backside (or worse, my head!) unexpectedly. I have ventured out and slipped and slid to coffee and the post office (your gift is finally in the mail, Tiff) and the bank. I have even rather enjoyed it. Well, sort of. I am not really a fan of snow in the lowlands. I strongly believe that snow belongs in the mountains, and only in the mountains. It does not belong in cities and towns in the lowlands, especially those that lie along large bodies of salt water, like Puget Sound, fer heaven's sake. Apparently Mother Nature does not agree with me and she has the weather chops while I only have the weather whines.

It started to really snow this afternoon. Very small and cold little flakes. It snowed all three hours I was at the movies (Australia, which I enjoyed much more than the critics, by the way---amazing photography!) and it kept snowing and kept snowing and kept snowing and it's still snowing and it is getting deeper and deeper and deeper. It's cold. It's very cold. It is pretty, but it is going to be awful tomorrow for anyone who has to go anywhere. I am supposed to take my friend Rune and my granddaughter Emma to see The Nutcracker. We'll see. Emma's daddy would have to bring her to me as there is NO WAY I could drive to their house in all this. NO WAY.

Have I mentioned that it is still snowing? Well, it is.

I am going to go to bed now and pull the covers up over my head and dream of palm trees and turquoise waters lapping against the hull of a tall ship, of gentle Caribbean breezes and hot sun and cool drinks. I may well stay in bed until March, when I will make my daydreams come true.

And it won't even be officially winter until tomorrow. Anyone thinking global warming right now?

Art

Ever since last summer I have been mulling over a conversation I had with my granddaughter Emma about art. At the time we were on our way back from a ferry boat ride to Kingston with most of the family. All the clan had gathered at my house and then trooped down Main street to the ferry, where we walked on and rode over to have breakfast. Mostly it was an outing for all of us and a fun thing for the grand babies to do. The cousins see each other only a few times a year and so, when we all gather, we try and do some "kid friendly" fun activities. Anyway, that was what brought us together this particular Saturday morning in July. On the walk down I pointed out to Emma that her Granty had artwork for sale in a local home decor shop and there was a lovely glass and shell mermaid window of Granty's prominently displayed in the store's front window. Other pieces were just visible, if you peered through the shop window, hung on the wall inside. Emma seemed rather interested in what Granty had done so on the way back Emma, Granty and I stopped to give the art a closer work. (And to compliment Granty, too, of course.)

We showed the shell artwork Granty creates to Emma. She looked at it, very interestedly. Granty told her a little bit about how she made them. Emma, big blue eyes wide, took it all in. Finally I asked her what she thought about all this art.

Silence.

I pushed a little. Emma announced it was pretty and she liked all the shells and the way the colors looked. And that the shells were shiny. And the sand Granty uses as background in may of her works.....but, they were not art. Now, Dear Reader, this was said in a firm and exceedingly confident voice. Emma knew what was art and THAT WAS NOT IT. I am the first person to defend any one's take on what constitutes art to that individual person. Art is, we all know, very subjective. If Granty's work was not art to Emma, so be it. Four-year-olds aren't usually that, er, what's the word I want here.....critical? Secure in their own taste? Emma, however, is. Very sure. Very, very sure.

Granty's canvases were pretty and she truly liked them, but THEY WERE NOT ART. Nope. Not art. Not at all.

We had to know what was Emma's definition of art and why didn't Granty's things live up to that (apparently) very high, Emma set, bar!

After a lot of questioning and conversation it came out that art is sparkly. Art is glittery. Art fairly glows. Disneyland is art. The opening credits of any Disney movie, with the castle and the fireworks and the fairy dust and the glitz is art, to Emma. Granty's work was, alas, pretty but not glittery or sparkly. It did not shriek of fireworks and Tinkerbell's fairy dust or anything. It was just shells.

So, the photo below is art. To Emma.

(It's a lovely photograph of Disneyland taken by someone with the Flickr name of 'Mastery of Maps'. Please give the photographer due credit for a lovely photo.)

And how did I come to feel the need to share this with you, you ask, Dear Reader? Well, every time I look at my Christmas tree and my eye falls upon a glittery ornament, or I look at the beautiful silver glass glitter stars I both saw and bought when I was at Wendy Addison's Theatre of Dreams last August, or a bit of glitter falls from a Christmas card I received in the morning mail, I think back to Emma and her very sure definition of art.

Christmas is an arty time, isn't it? I hope your Holidays are twinkling and sparkling and joyful. And full of art.

NW Bead Society Bead Bazaar

Saturday morning Nonie and I attended the 20th annual Bead Bazaar. It was fun! Be both spent more than we'd intended (but when was that not so?) and had a great time doing the spending. I got some great Thai Hill Tribe charms and three old Chinese carved wooden beads that are truly lovely. I also found Eunice's Christmas gift, which is always a worry as she's very hard to buy for. I found a very unique porcelain bead at the Off Center Productions booth. They had all sorts of wonderful porcelain pieces and they were kind enough to let me take some snapshots at their booth. I found the color range of their beads wonderful. Just looking at the colors all set out made me want to go home and paint something.

Many of the booths had displays that were a feast for the eyes. Everywhere I turned were more and more gorgeous beads, many of them I really wanted to buy, but I held back rather well (for me....)

We spent Saturday night at Grant Creek. I was disappointed again that the blackberries still aren't really truly ripe. I even saw a few blossoms. I fear I won't get any good berries this year. I do have ONE fig on my little fig tree and a pretty good crop of apples, at least two pies' worth, as my maintenance man likes to say. (I think he's mocking me. We'll see how he feels when I pull the pies out of the oven and eat them all myself!)

Sunday afternoon we headed home to Edmonds via the Port of Everett. We had lunch out on the deck at Anthony's. It was a perfect afternoon---sunny, great breeze, lots of marine traffic and the scenic gull or two. Great lunch, good company, wonderful "summer" day. I am grateful that we are having such wonderful weather now, as most of the summer was not so great. Too bad for all the children back in school, but lovely for we old folks who can really enjoy it. I fear it'll be short lived and then the rains will start again.

Nonie and I are off to Vegas tomorrow morning (5 AM!) for two nights. I am really excited as we will be seeing a different Cirque du Soleil each evening. We also have late dinner reservations at Michael Mina at the Bellagio, where we are staying. It should very interesting to see Las Vegas up close. I've never been and probably won't go back, so I plan to make the most of my short visit. I know I won't be a big winner because I don't gamble! I have 75 cents my friend Susan gave me to play in a slot for her. She might as well have thrown it down the storm drain for all the return she's likely to see from her "investment". Well, who knows, maybe Luck will be a Lady!

Guemes Island Trip

The Four "S"es went to Guemes Island and stayed in The Little Yurt in the Big Woods. And had a wonderful time! Susan found a little resort on Guemes that had cabins and yurts for rent. We opted for a 20 foot in diameter yurt and it turned out to be a wonderful choice. We were very comfortable, the yurt was fun and cozy and a grand time was had by all.

Our first stop on the trip north to Guemes was the Snow Goose produce stand, on the road to La Conner from Conway. Besides selling some really great ice cream cones, Snow Goose offers lots of produce, packaged jams and honeys, a selection of cheese and my favorite, Indian Candy (belly strips of smoked King salmon). Ummmmmmmm....yummy! I would really rather eat Indian Candy than real candy!The two Sandy/Sandi's shopping at Snow Goose.

Our next stop was the Rexville Grocery, also on the road to La Conner. If you ever have a chance, do stop in at Rexville as they offer a mind boggling selection of import foods---and cheese---and wine. It's a fun and funky place and well worth a look. The planter box out in front of Rexville Grocery is always cheerfully planted and inside you will find several shelves of hot sauces from all over the world....

Then we headed north and west to Anacortes for lunch. I insisted that we eat at Adrift, my new most favorite place in Anacortes to eat. (I commented on Adrift in an earlier post, please see hyperlink above.) I love everything about Adrift, even the menu's bad puns. See below:After lunch we headed to the Guemes Island ferry (located right down at the north end of town, just a few short blocks west of Commercial) and had a short wait before our five minute crossing. The Guemes Island Resort is at the north end of the island and it's a lovely little spot, sheltered by tall, tall trees. There are small cabins and four yurts, a rocky beach for walking, small skiffs and kayaks for the guests' use and a friendly and helpful staff. It's low key and just our style and we felt at home immediately. and believe me, we made ourselves at home in our yurt in very short time. I have to be honest and admit the that four of us do not travel lightly! It's not that we all pack a lot of clothes, but we do have our comforts....liquor, wine, cheese, smoked salmon, grapes, tomatoes, crackers and on and on and on. And games and books and gifts for each other. We never did play a game and no one sat around reading during out two day stay as we were too busy chatting and walking on the beach and exploring the island.

Our Little Yurt in the Big Woods.

Susan and Sandy explore our new "home.

The view from the beach, early morning.

We spent one day just roaming about the island. We went to the cemetery and looked at all the old gravestones. (Earliest birth date I found was 1839!) We had a huge breakfast at Anderson's Grocery and checked out all the goodies available there. Would you believe Mexican chocolate?! We found a beautiful little valley, lush and green, with a scenic barn and ripening blackberries.

We even found a crow tree!

And there are signs that autumn is around the corner----leaves turning bright colors, rose hips swelling large and just beginning to color up and the blackberries are almost ready.

I am so grateful to have these warm, loving, funny, kind and giving women in my life. We have such fun, we talk of so many subjects, we have so many points of view and life experiences to share and we like each other so much. They are just the best. I hope, Dear Reader, that you have friends who are as dear to you as these wacky women are to me.