Moss Lady in AZ

Surf City

2011-10-27T18:41:00.001-07:00

Larry and I have been staying in Surf City--Hungtington Beach, CA. He has been consulting for Boeing for this week. They have put us up in the Hilton on the beach. It's a tough life, but I'm coping! While Larry has gone off to work each day, I've had to figure out how to entertain myself. Monday, I took a long walk, then a nap until he got back to the hotel. Tuesday, I went off to the Fashion District in downtown LA for some fabric shopping. Wednesday, I went to Disneyland, and today I was off to Catalina Island. Whew! I've still got tomorrow left to hang out at the beach. I'm not sure what I'll decide to do. I think I may need some down time. Before I forget, I'll give some highlights of my 3 adventurous days.

Courage and determination! That's what I have kept in mind. It may not seem like much to those people use to driving on SoCal freeways and using nav systems, but to me it was a big deal. I did it! For the past 3 days I have set out by myself to far flung places using the nav system on our 5 year old Prius. I wasn't totally at ease with using it for a couple of reasons. First, it has taken us on some pretty round about routes that don't seem quite right. Second, it is the kind of system that relies on what was programmed 5 years ago. Sometimes streets change and it doesn't work out. We haven't had the system reprogrammed because it would cost $300. Maybe it would be worth it. I don't know. Plus we are thinking about getting a smartphone with GPS, so we wouldn't need to upgrade our Prius system. At any rate, I made a go for it with our existing nav system and wasn't disappointed. In fact, I was proud of myself for using it and getting to where I wanted to go all by myself on the dreaded SoCal freeways. To warm up, on Monday I made it to a vegan restaurant for lunch. Then on Tuesday I had the big test of driving to the fashion district on 3 freeways. The system didn't fail me during the hour long drive there, then back. I made it to Disneyland just fine, even during rush hour. When I missed one freeway transition, I exited and the system got me back on without a problem. Today I made it to the Long Beach Catalina Express terminal without a hitch. I guess I am sold on our system. What I especially like is that it shows the lanes of the freeway and whether exits are to the right or left. The visual cues are helpful!

Here are a few notes on my adventures. First, the fabric shopping on Tuesday. It was fun. I found some treasures for not much money. I think I got at least 20 yards of fabric, enough for plenty of experimenting. This time I had a car to take it with me. I discovered Michael Levine's loft, which I think I missed during my August trip with ASG'ers. I went there at the end of my day there, so was tired or would have gotten more. Everything there was sold by the pound, with solid colors half off. I found some solid slinky, plus a fun cotton knit for t-shirts. I also toured some of the ready-to-wear stores, but didn't find anything to tempt me.

Wednesday I made it to Disneyland right on schedule. I walked in the gates when they opened and kept going strong until after the closing parade. I decided just to do Disneyland this time, skipping CA Adventure. I wasn't disappointed. I found plenty to do. I revisited my favorite rides such as Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, and the Haunted Mansion. I did these 3 times each to take in all the details. I also went to some places we usually skip, such as Tom Sawyer's Island, the River Boat, and Casey Jr. train. I did most of the rides in Fantasy Land. Captain EO was back, as was Star Tours, so I revisited them also. The parade was surprisingly good. Several floats with dancers, each according to a movie theme. I made it back to the hotel in only 30 minutes. It's actually not too far from Huntington Beach.

Today I went to Catalina Island, the island of romance. 22 miles across the sea... I took the Catalina Express from Long Beach to get there. It was a comfortable, fast way to go, although it took me 45 minutes to get from the hotel to the terminal. The ride itself took only 1 hour and went past the Queen Mary. The water was nice and calm, so I napped both ways. At Avalon, on the island, I had in mind to do 2 things. I wanted to go to the historical museum to learn about the history and see the exhibit on Marilyn Monroe, who lived there for a year during WWII. I headed there first and wasn't disappointed. Marilyn was just 16 when she married a young merchant marine, who was assigned to train serviceman for the war. They lived in Avalon for a year, before she was Marilyn. There were some great photos and information on her early life. I asked one of the ladies who worked there what she liked to do on the island. She recommended going to the botanical gardens and mausoleum for Wrigley. I then formulated my plan for after the museum. I had lunch at a vegan friendly restaurant I had read about, Cafe Metropole. It was great. I had a nice grilled vegetable sandwich and cup of Thai soup. I then took off for the gardens. It turned out to be quite a hike. Most people who visit there drive golf carts. I made it anyway and walked up all the stairs at the mausoleum. I was rewarded with quite a view. The gardens feature some plants that are native only to the island or near-by areas, as well as some cactii that looked familiar from Tucson. On the return trip, I had a good view of the Queen Mary, docked in Long Beach. All in all, I liked my trip to Catalina Island and would recommend it.

Last Night in Paris

2011-09-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

Our vacation is drawing to a close. We had an uneventful trip from Prague to Paris. Logistics: we walked to the train station in Prague, took the Airport Express bus for $2.50 a piece, and made it to the airport in plenty of time. We flew Czech Airlines, which took me back in time. They had no charges for checking one bag, gave out sandwiches and beer or wine, and arrived on schedule. We were able to get a good airfare, too--$130 a piece for a 2 hour flight. We struggled a bit figuring out how to get to our B&B in Paris. The owners recommended the Air France bus, which cost 15 euros. After just paying $2.50 to get to the airport in Prague, that seemed a bit stiff. We opted to take Metro instead. It took longer since there was a transfer involved, but we made it. We will take the Air France bus tomorrow since we don't want to mess around before our morning flight.

We are staying at the Gentle Gourmet B&B, the "world's first urban vegan B&B". I heard about the place from my vegan cooking teacher, who sometimes teaches classes here. They gave us an entire spacious apartment for the night. It is very nice, quiet and comfortable. We had time to walk around the neighborhood before dark. It is near the Arc d Triomphe and a long walk from the Eiffel Tower. Here is their website if you want to check it out: gentlegourmetbandb.com I wouldn't mind staying here again! We have an early vegan breakfast before taking the Air France bus to the airport. Not a bad way to start the day!

Funny Bones

2011-09-10T09:46:00.001-07:00

My blog today is dedicated to son Phil, who was absolutely crazy about skeletons as a young child. His favorite book was "Funny Bones."

Today Larry and I had a nice day trip to Kutna Hora. Kutna Hora is a town of 20,000 that sits on top of what used to be Europe's largest silver mine. Unfortunately, the silver veins ran out in the 1700's, so the city lost it's money. But from the 1300's to that time, it had money! That means that there are some fabulous old buildings to see there. It's 40 miles east of Prague and accessible by train.

Sedlec Ossuary, or the Bone Church, looks normal on the outside. But on the inside, the bones of 40,000 people decorate the walls and ceilings. The monks got their raw material from the 14th century plagues and the 15th century wars. The monks wanted viewers to remember that the earthly church is a community of both the living and the dead.

Some of the bone designs were quite attractive.

Here is the masterpiece, a chandelier that includes every bone in the human body.

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Cliff's friend Tracy might be interested in the evidence of dental decay in 14th century people.

Church across the street from the Bone Church. It was lovely inside.

The woodcarving is amazing.

There were several chapels in this cathedral. All of them were remarkable.

Here are St. Vincent's relics.

I would have liked to have heard a pipe organ concert this trip, since I saw so many beautiful instruments in Kutna Hora and in Prague, but I never managed it.

This apartment building may have been built during the Soviet era. They have done a nice job of adding color to make it seem warmer and more inviting. I noticed that with many apartment buildings in a blocky style. They tend to be painted. I have also been impressed by how well most buildings have been kept up.
The Czech Republic recycles just like in Seattle, but the citizens have to separate their stuff.
I was amused by these babies decorating the building in cubist style.
St. Barbara's Cathedral, a truly majestic building. I love the different style of the roof towers. The cathedral itself is old. Miners founded it in 1388. Frescoes inside feature mining and minting.
The countryside from near the cathedral.
An old cathedral, not as fancy as St. Barbara's.
Here is Sally H. at age 20--as cute as a button. In this life she is a tour guide at the Silver Museum.

The road to St. Barbara's had many statues.
Inside St. Barbara's.
Gorgeous stained glass windows!

Love those gargoyles!

Kutna Hora has an excellent museum of modern art that is housed in an old palace. Some of the art works seemed to be a reaction against communism. They reminded me of the memorial we saw a couple of days ago for the people who were lost during communism.

To sum up our experience at Kutna Hora--it is a great place to visit! Don't miss it if you visit the area. The town itself has charm and does not feel overrun with tourists like Prague. It seems to be a reflection of typical life in the Czech Republic. The top three things to see are the Bone Church, St. Barbara's Cathedral, and the Silver Mine Museum and Tour. The art museum is also very nice.

Larry and I especially enjoyed the Silver Mine Tour. Admission is with a tour group only, and we were told there were no more tours in English by the time we made it there. We decided to go on the tour anyway. A young man who leads tours there decided to give us the tour in English anyway. He was charming and gave a detailed explanation of what silver mining was like then and how the miners managed. We went underground to take a look at some of the tunnels. It was memorable!

Note on logistics: there are many trains that go there, but all of them are not direct from the main train station in Prague. It isn't so bad to transfer in Kolin, which we did both ways. The fare is quite reasonable, $16 roundtrip for two.

Looking Back on our Trip

2011-09-09T22:58:00.000-07:00

Larry and I returned home to Seattle yesterday afternoon and agree that our trip was a success. We both had fun. We had so many new things to do and see that we didn't seem to go crazy being together 24/7 for 19 days. In fact, we were only separated for 1 hour while I went window shopping by myself. We did fine without cell phones to communicate with each other. Whenever we started to head toward disagreement about what to do, we just picked up a guidebook and did what it told us to do. We didn't watch much TV at all and each managed to read a few trashy novels. We did have a computer along since we had Wi-fi at each place we stayed. That was helpful in tracking down sights, entrance fees, and figuring out train time tables and airline notices. It also doubled as a DVD player when we needed to veg out. We ended up opening a Skype account so we could make phone calls or receive voicemails if needed. We liked all of the places where we stayed. The format for our trip worked for us pretty well. We wonder if we would be happier participating in an organized tour vs. renting our own apartments here and there. We were able to feel settled in each city, but had to figure out many things for ourselves, even with our trusty guidebooks at hand. If we were on an organized tour, we wouldn't have to worry about little details, would have an agenda for most days, and may make new friends. The down side could be that we might be stuck with a few people we might find irritating, would have to pack up and move frequently, and I may not be able to find vegetarian/vegan food that could work for all meals. We'll probably try an organized group tour to a place we are less sure about than Europe to see how it feels.

What would we do differently? First, packing. I tried to travel light and succeeded to some extent. I could cut down on clothes even more as long as I knew we would have a washer available. I didn't need shorts, my skirt and top, and batik outfit. I was glad I brought both my knit hoodie as well as pink nylon rain jacket. The temperatures of the cities we visited varied by 20 degrees. We had both warm weather (Budapest) and cool, wet weather (Prague). Athletic shoes and sandals seemed to do both of us well. I'm glad I brought my most sturdy pairs since we sometimes walked on rough cobblestones and were on our feet so much. We could have used another tube of sunblock. I brought too many US dollars along for emergencies. Cash machines worked well and we never used the dollars. The foreign exchange booths had poor exchange rates for dollars, so I'm glad we didn't need to use them. Next for next trip, which is probably at least a year away, I might consider an e-reader of some sort. It would have been handy to have books downloaded as well as maps and travel guides. I keep thinking the technology on them will improve and it is better to wait a little while.

What did I get out of traveling? One big thing I noticed is that I lived in the moment more. It was refreshing to be concerned only with what was going on around me and observing life instead of thinking about day-to-day worries. Many people showed us small kindnesses. In Paris, where some people think of the natives as aloof, several people stopped and asked us if we needed help when they saw us discussing the map. That was also true in Budapest and Prague. I felt good about the nature of people on this trip. I also got a feeling of confidence from trouble shooting the many day-to-day problems that came up, such as figuring out how to get to places on public transportation, understanding money, going shopping in grocery stores, reading signs, and using appliances with sketchy directions. Larry and I seemed to pull together as a team in figuring out things, which helped us bond. And, of course, we learned more about how other people lived.

On the Trail of Art Nouveau

2011-09-09T08:43:00.001-07:00

Princess Hyacinth by Alphse Mucha.

Today we took to the streets in search of Art Nouveau. We had read that Prague was the center of the movement in the early 1900's and has the most and best preserved buildings from that era. We didn't even have to leave our building for the first two shots of attractive buildings. This is taken from our living room window. It shows the Church of St. Vltech.

This is the window down the stairs from our apartment.
Dancing Houses! For real. Janet Davies have you seen this building? (She painted our picture Dancing Houses that we have hanging in Seattle.) Ginger is on the left, with 8 legs, and Fred, with his hat on, is on the right. This was designed by Frank Gehry, who designed Seattle's Experience Music Project. I like this one better than EMP.

A lovely touch of stained glass at a ticket booth.

Larry liked this building.
The State Opera House
The ugliest building around! It is the Museum of Communism right across the street from the impressive National Museum.
A memorial to victims of communism.
St. Wenceslas, of course, on his Square.

Here he is again inside the lovely Lucerna Gallery. It's a grand mall with some leftover Art Deco glamour from the 1930's. This is a sculpture by David Cerny (1999) called Wenceslas Riding an Upside-Down Horse.
The Municipal House.
On Wenceslas Square, we passed some women getting pedicures. Fish were eating away at their dry, dead skin. I've heard that it feels good and is actually pretty sanitary. I decided not to have it done, though.

We liked the looks of this hotel on Wenceslas Square.

This hotel is famous because people leading rallies against the government would speak from the balconies. It is also on Wenceslas Square.
More Cubist Statues with sore necks!
I was waiting to see if these two fellows would accidently grab on to something embarassing to steady themselves as they worked.
To infinity--the cycle of tanks, then rebuilding.
We spent most of our afternoon at the Mucha Museum. He was a popular Czech artist famous for his Art Nouveau posters and considered one of the founders of the movement.

Geezer Travel

2011-09-09T00:19:00.000-07:00

I described my trip preparations to my friend, Helen, who had recently traveled to Paris. She dubbed my efforts "Geezer Travel". I wanted to be prepared for medical emergencies, so thought of the chronic health problems Larry and I had been having. First, both of us have had a history of floaters in our eyes. This is a common problem with age, and nothing much can be done about it. Our eye doctors have emphasized that if they get too bad, someone should take a look at our eyes to make sure our retinas are OK. I started getting floaters the week before we left, so I had my eyes examined. My retina looked good, so the eye doctor told me to go and not worry. He did say it was good to have had him check out my eye. I decided that I should prep for other things that could go wrong. I made a photocopy of my last colonoscopy results, since I get diverticulitis on rare occasions. If I were to travel far again, I think I would also ask my doctor for the names of the medications she treated me with the last time I had it and even see if she would think I should travel with those prescriptions. I also have a kidney stone and have a DVD of my last imaging and statement from my urologist about it in case I have trouble. I also contacted my health insurance company to see what I should do if either of us needs medical attention overseas. I found out we would be covered, but should call immediately for advice.

I would add a few things to my preparations for our next trip. I would make a master list of my chronic health problems (medical history), the doctors I see, the medications I take, and my health plan numbers. I would include with the doctors' names, their emails and phone numbers. If I didn't have their emails, I would call them and request them since it can be easier to communicate via email from Europe than to try to call, considering the time change and difficulty getting through to a person not machine when calling. I would have a print out of this information to give to a local doctor who might be able to read English better than speak it. Plus, if the problem were serious, it would be less stressful to have the information available than to try to create such lists. I would make sure I had this information for Larry also.

It turns out that I did have a situation come up early in our trip that could have been serious. I emailed my doctor, who got back to me right away. He felt I could delay getting medical treatment as long as I didn't exhibit certain symptoms. I did as he suggested and made an appointment for the day after we get back. Being able to contact him easily saved our trip, or at least a big chunk of time we would have spend trying to get an evaluation in Europe.

Larry and I had easy access to Wi-fi, but not cell phones. We promptly got a Skype account so that we could potentially call people and we could receive voicemail. We have been getting by fine without a regular cell phone.

Larry and I found emergency medical clinic information in our guidebooks for each city. We could have asked our apartment hosts for help also. At any rate, these preparations have given me some peace of mind and confidence that I could handle potentially difficult situations that I know can occur. You might wonder why with all of this preparation we didn't get trip interruption insurance. I thought about it and decided that we could get by in an emergency fairly well in the cities where we were. In addition, I had had a bad experience with trip insurance over preexisting conditions. The problems Larry and I are most likely to have could be argued as being preexisting and trip insurance may not cover them anyway. So I didn't check out that type of insurance.

How John Lennon Rocked Prague

2011-09-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

These are copies of King Wencheslas' crown, orb, and scepture, located in the Castle.

This sign kept puzzling Larry and me. Could we or couldn't we take pictures? I decided it was OK to photograph the sign at least.
St. Vitus Cathedral.
Inside St. Vitus
There were many silver mines near Prague, so it isn't surprising to see things made out of silver.
The stained glass windows seemed especially nice here.

St. Vitus has a Rose Window as well as many gargoyles.
Love those gargoyles!
Violence at the gate--beware troublemakers!

Before we climbed up to the Castle, we saw this memorial to the victims of Communism on Petin Hill. In Czechoslovakia, 205,486 people were imprisoned, 248 were executed, 4,500 died in prison, 327 were shot attempting to cross the border, and 170,938 left the country.

Art near the Vltava River.

There is a new fad in Europe for couples to express their devotion to each other. They buy padlocks, put their initials on them, then lock them to bridges. We noticed this first in Paris, but didn't think it was an international craze. Now we know.
This is Lennon Wall. During the 60's John Lennon's ideas gave many residents hope and vision. When he was killed in 1980, a large wall was spontaneously covered with memorial graffiti. The guidebook says that night after night, the police would paint over the "All You Need is Love" and "Imagine" graffiti. Day after day it would reappear. Local hippies would gather here until independence came in 1989. Locals still maintain it.

Larry below Kind Wencheslas.
When I was in college, I studied German literature. Franz Kafka was included. He was really Czech, but wrote in German and was influential in the early 1900's. He wrote a book on The Castle which I remember being about someone who tried and tried, but could never make it to the castle. Today in Prague, Larry and I tried and tried and made it to the castle, even passing one of Kafka's residences there. According to Wikipedia (so it must be right) "Dark and at times surreal, The Castle is about alienation, bureaucracy, the seemingly endless frustrations of man's attempts to stand against the system, and the futile and hopeless pursuit of an unobtainable goal". Here we go across the Charles Bridge toward the Castle.
View from the Charles Bridge. Notice how gray it is. It rained today.King Wencheslas on Charles Bridge.

Random Thoughts on Prague

2011-09-08T01:02:00.000-07:00

Prague is an absolutely gorgeous looking city. I am wowed by the lovely buildings here, especially the ones that are in Art Nouveau style. The city is definitely worth seeing. That being said, it is also over run by tourists. Perhaps it wouldn't be so in the outlying areas. However, we are where the historical sites are, so we are with all the tourists. It seems a little more crowded with tourists than Budapest did. It is close to Germany, so we hear lots of German. There are many Americans also. I'm guessing timing has something to do with it. In another month, through spring, there are bound to be fewer tourists.

The streets here are like mazes, and since the language is unfamiliar to us, it is harder to remember the street names. We always carry a map and remember that our apartment is only a block away from the Vltava River.

The city streets here are paved with cobblestone-like material. It looks pretty, appears fairly new, and must last a long time, but is harder on the feet. It is a little harder to roll a suitcase down the road. It would be easier to turn ankles, too, not to mention walking in high heels. Consider the pavement when selecting shoes for a trip here. I saw one lady in a wheel chair struggling a bit on the pavement. That brings to mind another observation, true for Budapest and Paris as well, there are many more stairs here than at home in Seattle. There are fewer elevators at the tourist spots and fewer accommodations for the disabled. I would have been out of luck on Metro in Paris if I couldn't do stairs. However, the bus would have been an alternative there. Some elevators in older buildings are a bit scary to ride on. They are small and tend to jerk to a stop.

Most people are friendly and I felt comfortable asking for help or directions. I have always felt safe walking wherever I have been. Not just safe from muggers, but from car drivers. The drivers actually seem to slow down and stop when they see us in a cross walk. It hasn't been difficult ordering at restaurants. Most of the waiters have spoken English or we have pointed to what we want from English menus.

European toilets almost all have two flush buttons, depending on what you need to flush down. They seem efficient. The toilet seats are rounded and not as wide as American ones, which is a little difference in comfort if you sit on one for long. And speaking of toilets, there are more pay toilets here than at home. I don't mind as long as there is potty parity with the men.

European washers have efficiency features, tend to take longer on their wash cycles, and spin clothes almost dry. It is easy to hang up clothes to dry instead of using a clothes dryer.

The cities we've visited have been clean and spruced up for the most part. I keep wondering where the money has come from for restorations in Budapest and Prague over the past 20 years. There are hardly any signs of communist design. There doesn't seem to be much of a recession here. Prague's tourist trade certainly has appeared lively, but I wonder if Budapest's has been down a bit.

Darth Vader in Prague

2011-09-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

Dear readers, your challenge today is to find Darth Vader in my photos!

This is the lovely, gothic Old-New Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter, of course. Next to it is the Jewish Town Hall.

Inside the Old-New Synagogue.
This is the Spanish Synagogue. It is lovely both inside and out.
Inside the Spanish Synagogue
Still another synagogue. This one is the Pinkas Synagogue, which also has a memorial to the 77,297 Jews from Czechoslovakia who perished in the Holocaust.
The memorial. Larry and I found Baums and Sterns and other familiar last names on the walls.
The Old-New Synagogue and Town Hall. The numbers on the lower clock are in Hebrew.
The Old Jewish Cemetery where there are 12,000 tombstones for about 100,000 people buried here. We found out that this was the only burial ground allowed for the Jews in Prague until 1787.
Exhibit of Judaica at one of the synagogues.
Art near the Museum of Terror in Prague.
Franz Kafka's statue by the Spanish Synagogue. Kafka himself was Jewish and attended the Old-New Synagogue when he lived in Prague. His bar mitzvah was held here.
Larry liked this Egyptian motif on a building.
Two pink fellows with sore backs!
Kafka's house, now a bookstore.

Nespresso is big in Europe and has upscale shops all over. This one has a window display honoring the Astronomical Clock. They wouldn't let me take a photo of the inside of the shop. I can't imagine why!

Astonomical Clock in the Old Town
The apostles go by once an hour to remind us of our own mortality.

Prague's Old Town Square has it all when it comes to architectural styles: Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, and Art Nouveau.
The Gothic Tyn Church
The monument to Jan Hus. He is an important figure to the Czechs and symbolizes the long struggle for Czech freedom. He was burned at the stake 600 years ago after taking a stand for church reform.
The Baroque Church of St. Nicholas.

You found him--Darth Vader!
A nice looking building.

Kelmentium, the National Library

Today was our first full day of sightseeing in Prague. We have been trying to follow our guide books recommendations on the order of doing things so that we have a plan. Generally that means doing the "must-sees" first. The reasoning is that if something goes wrong later (such as closure due to an unknown holiday, a rain storm, illness, etc.) the most important things will be done. That plan seems to work for us. We headed out for the Old Town, lunch, then the Jewish Quarter. It made for a full day. We ended up spending most of our time in the Jewish Quarter. As you might expect, there weren't many signs of Jews around currently since so many perished in the Holocaust.

The Road to Prague

2011-09-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Brno taken from the train. I have heard about Brno for about 20 years now since Larry attended The World Puzzle Championship there. It's more developed now, but still not much of a tourist hangout.

Another shot of Brno.
Brno
We also went through Bratislava, which two wild and crazy guys made famous on Saturday Night Live (if I'm not mistaken). It seems to have Soviet style blocks of apartments.
Bratislava
Bratislava
This was a little station in Northern Hungary. I wanted to show the graffiti I kept seeing outside of Budpest. I'm not sure if there is gang activity there or not. It's too bad that so many attractive smaller buildings have been defaced that way.

We traveled from Budapest to Prague by train today. It was an enjoyable experience without any major difficulties. We previously bought our train tickets so that we wouldn't have to worry about it this morning. We were pleasantly surprised that the tickets only cost about $45 a piece for reserved 2nd class. The trip is 350 miles and took 7 hours, so this seemed like a reasonable price. I couldn't find anything comparable in air travel. Bus would have cost less (only $30 a piece), but wouldn't have been as comfortable. It would have taken us the same amount of time. We were delighted to have a cabin with 6 reclining seats all to ourselves. It was clean, comfortable, and had air conditioning. We were able to get to the train station in Budapest from our place in about 20 minutes door to station. We walked about 10 minutes, then took a bus the rest of the way. The whole process was easy. We we arrived in Prague, we found a cash machine, then looked for a tourist information booth. Unfortunately, there did not appear to be any booths with people to help us. Instead we found a store that sold tourist maps. The woman there told us exactly what we needed to know. The train depot was close enough to our apartment to walk, which we did. It felt good to move around after sitting on the train.

Our new apartment is beautiful! It's a renovated apartment in an Art Nouveau building across the street from "Dvorak's Church". It is also just a block away from the Vltava River. Here is the website with more photos: http://www.vrbo.com/283152. The first thing we did was head to the supermarket about half a mile away to lay in a few supplies. That was as well stocked as our QFC in Wallingford. Tonight we are charting what sightseeing we want to do tomorrow.

The Pause that Refreshes

2011-09-05T08:35:00.001-07:00

The inside of the Budapest Opera House, which we didn't get to see. Oh well, at least we enjoyed the lobby.

Today we went inside St. Stephen's Basilica, saw his relic--his right hand, and climbed up 364 stairs to the top for a great view of Budapest.
We spent most of the day at the Szecheyi Baths in the City Park. It was great fun.

Today we had a different pace for our sightseeing. We started off with our usual touring of a major sight, St. Istvan's (Stephen's) Basilica. It is a magnificent church that was built fairly recently as churches go. It celebrates Hungary's first Christian king and even has a chapel for a relic from him, his withered right hand. Three architects in succession over 50 years were used to construct it. The dome collapsed at first, so had to be redesigned. It was finished around 1896 in time for the millennial celebration. The outside is fun, too. We climbed up 364 steps to the top viewing area and were treated to amazing vistas of Budapest.

After doing our sightseeing duty, we headed for Szechenyi Baths, which are located in the City Park. First, you go in and pay a fee for entrance and a little changing cabin which you can share. Then you go start soaking in dozens of thermal spas. There is also a large outdoor lap swimming pool as well as warm water pools. You can spend all day moving back and forth between one kind of pool and another. I decided to try a massage. The fellow who worked on me was great--he didn't bother asking me any questions and went right to work on my legs and back. I had 20-minutes of bliss. I really noticed a difference afterward. Touristing is hard on the muscles. There are menus of spa services there. I would go back! It was amazing to see so many people just sitting around in the water relaxing. They didn't have cell phones with them or books to read. Maybe that's what the US needs more of--time to just sit in warm water and destress.

We were all set to swing by the Opera House for a tour on the way back. Unfortunately, they changed the tour time for the day and we missed it. We took a good look around the lobby instead. We got falafel and hummus sandwiches for a late lunch and hydrated with some good beer. For dessert we got some funnel cakes. I'm going to miss them.

Random Impressions of Budapest

2011-09-05T00:23:00.000-07:00

Before arriving in Budapest, I had certain ideas in mind about what it would be like. Since it had been occupied by the Soviets for over 40 years, I thought it might have depressing blocks of uninteresting architecture. I thought that there might be a fair amount of poverty and many beggars on the streets. Those were misconceptions, it turns out. In the central, historic parts of the city, the buildings are beautiful and reflect the past glories of the city. It is clear that there once was money here--enough for elaborate palaces and the Bel Epoch style of architecture also popular in Paris. There may still be Soviet style blocks of apartment buildings outside the central area, but I didn't see any. As to poverty, there were some beggars on the street, but no more than I have noticed in Seattle.

We have had a bit more trouble getting around town than in Paris, probably due to the language differences. We are more familiar with French than Hungarian, of course. Our maps here aren't quite as good as the maps we had in Paris. This has caused a bit of stress. The Metro and public transportation systems are similar to those in Paris. We have always felt safe when walking in the evening.

The people here are friendly. Many have helped us figure out where to catch buses. This morning a man behind me in the grocery store check out line helped me weigh and label our fruit. They use a different system here. I have felt welcome.

The air seems more polluted here than in Paris. It is also warmer and more humid. A guide said this weather was a little bit warmer than usual for September. She actually liked it as hot as it was.

The water appears safe to drink. We alternate between buying mineral water and drinking from the tap. The green movement doesn't seem to have hit here yet. In Seattle, people are encouraged to use canteens and drink tap water instead of buying bottled water. Bottled water is frequently used here.

This isn't the most vegan-friendly restaurant town. I'm not suffering too much, though. I was able to get a nice dinner last night by asking for a few sides not listed separately on the menu. Happy Cow has suggestions also.

Our apartment is comfortable,modern, and attractive. However, the building it is in has some patches of peeling plaster and paint. It needs an HOA special assessment perhaps to take it to its former glory. I still find the building attractive and would stay here again. Larry won't forget the elevator that jerks when it stops at our floor.

Our amount of time here seems just right for a first visit. We are spending 5 nights total, which has given us 4 full days of sight-seeing. We have managed to visit most of the major sights listed in the guidebooks and figure we've done well. Now, off to the baths for the rest of our last day!

The Jewish Quarter

2011-09-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

As always, my text is below. Enjoy the photos, then read more if you like.

Inside the Museum of Ethnography there were many lovely textiles and exhibits of what life was like for ordinary, rural citizens before WWI.

Wedding outfits for a young couple.
Ceramics with whimsy.
The bed shows what a dowry might have involved.

This costume reminds me of a Norwegian Bunad. What do you think, Joanne?
The House of Parliament. We didn't get to go inside. The place was closed.
The Tree of Life Memorial near the Great Synagogue. Each of the leaves honors some one who save Jews during the Holocaust. They are called Righteous Gentiles.
Inside the Great Synagogue

The main entry to the synagogue.

If we didn't know what we were looking for, it would have been hard to spot the Jewish quarter in Budapest. There weren't the falafel stands, etc. that we saw in the Paris Jewish quarter. As you might have expected, Jews in Budapest were deported to concentration camps or imprisoned in the ghetto and the population went way down. You might expect not much to be left. However, even before that the Great Synagogue in Budapest looked more Christian than Jewish. It was designed by a couple of Christians and built in 1859. The design is supposedly based on the descriptions of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. It has two towers which are not typical of synagogues. They even threw in a rose window. One cynic said it was the most beautiful Catholic synagogue in the world. It even has a pipe organ on the inside. That keeps Orthodox Jews from attending. There are other synagogues in the neighborhood that the Orthodox attend. At any rate, this synagogue is an amazing site to visit. It wasn't destroyed during WWII, although it was damaged some. The Gestapo used it for head quarters knowing that the Allies wouldn't bomb it. Catholic priests hid the important scrolls from the Nazis, then returned them to the Great Synagogue so the important original scrolls are still there. The Jews in Hungary were actually treated comparatively well and didn't get in to serious trouble until 1944. About 25% of the population of Budapest was Jewish before the war. Of course, only a small percentage of them made it through--about 70,000 people I think. Back to the Great Synagogue, Tony Curtis (of Hungarian Jewish decent) played a big part in fund raising for the restoration. His daughter, Jamie Lee, is continuing the work.

After our tour of the Great Synagogue, we went by the cemetery next to it. Ordinarily Jewish cemeteries are not next to synagogues, but in this case there were so many Jews slaughtered during the confinement to the ghetto during 1944 that they needed to be buried there. We went on to the Tree of Life monument which honored gentiles who saved Jews. As an added treat, we also were shown where a street festival was. Local artists and bakers had booths. We tried a pastry that reminded me of a rolled up elephant ear, kürtős kalács. I want to try to make them when I get home. Google that name if you'd like to find out more. If you open a franchise in Seattle, I promise to patronize it!

Our stay in the Jewish Quarter concluded with a visit to the Jewish Museum of History. We had a great tour guide who explained the significance of some ceremonial pieces and taught us the name hanukiah for the Hanukkah menorah. The tour concluded with a grim reminder of what Jews endured during WWII and even into Communist rule. Larry has had enough of the Holocaust memorials. It depresses him too much.

We had energy enough for one last tourist site. We chose the Museum of Ethnography, which is right across the street from the magnificent Parliament Building. The Museum itself is in a really impressive building that originally house the Supreme Court. It only takes up a fraction of the building and feels off the tourist beat. It has a nice collection of of costumes, tools, wagons, furniture, and ceramics of many ordinary people who lived in pre WWI Hungary. It had a special exhibit of rugs made in the area.

We went back to our apartment to rest up--sight seeing can be exhausting especially when it's hot out! We feel like we have been taking in most of the important sights around town, though, so have a sense of accomplishment. We had dinner at Cyrano again and enjoyed it. They had something for both of us. We each had potato pancakes and peppers in tomato sauce. Larry added a steak.

Down Another Champs-Élysées

2011-09-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

My text is below the pictures. Life is short--eat dessert first!

I thought of sister Suzy as we walked by the Swaroski Crystal shop. The Art Nouveau doorway is lined with crystals.

This is a monument to aLutheran pastor who rescued 2,000 local Jews.
His back must be killing him!
The Opera House.
From inside the House of Terror. On the walls are photos of people killed there.

The monuments to the heroes of Hungary erected for their millennium celebration in 1896.
The art museum
This is a broken clock called the Time Wheel. It was made for the celebration when Hungary joined the European Union on May 1, 2004. The wheel has sand inside the circle, acting like a giant hourglass. It's supposed to be manually rotated 180 degrees every year to restart it. But there was condensation inside, which gummed up the works to it doesn't work anymore. Nobody yet has bothered to fix it or haul it away.
The park's castle with 4 types of architecture is in the background.
George Washington.
The park is a lovely place to spend some time. We could have gone boating.

More shots of the castle combo.

This is a Romanesque Church where a wedding was about to take place.
Shots from our cruise along the Danube. This is a statue on Buda, overlooking the river and Pest.

I love the way the Parliament Building looks. It is still another building erected for the Millennium Celebration in 1896.
Here I am with our guide Fru, on Margaret Island.
The Japanese Garden on Margaret Island.

Now, for the main course:
Today we set off with just one major goal--to see the House of Terror. We looked at our city map and decided to try walking there down Andrassy ut, what our guidebook describes as the Champs-Elysees of Budapest. Andrassy ut is the main boulevard lined with trees, shops, and cafes. Like Paris it has distinctive architecture. It is two miles long and ends at the Millenium Park/Heroes Square. Along the route we went into the Postal Museum, which is in a lovely old mansion that never was destroyed or carved up into smaller apartments during various rules. We went by the Opera House, but weren't there at the right time for a tour. We enjoyed the outside of the building, though. We proceeded by Franz Liszt Square before finally making it to the House of Terror.

The House of Terror is the museum in the building where two tragic periods of Hungarian history took place, the Nazi era and the Communist era. During the Nazi era the building was the "House of Loyalty" for the Hungarian Nazi party. Then, when the Communists took over, many citizens were also brought there for torture. The museum effectively used video clips of victims and family members, newspaper articles, furnishings of the time, and cells with torture implements. The exhibits were very well done and the whole experience was moving.

We were ready for something on a lighter note after the House of Terror, so headed on down Andrassy ut for Heroes' Square and the city park. Heroes' Square was built for the country's 1000 birthday in 1896. It is the site of not only a grand looking monument for heroes throughout Hungarian history, but also a couple of museums. The statues there are impressive. We walked on to the park where we saw a statue of George Washington. We found Vajdahunyad Castle, which was erected for the Millennial National Exhibition there. It has four parts, each representing a high point in Hungarian architectural style. It is funky, but likable. Next to it is a Romanesque Benedictine chapel where a wedding was about to take place. We wrapped up our tour of the park by checking out the Szechenyi Baths, which we plan to return to on Monday.

We weren't ready to go home yet, so decided to try going to the Memento Park, where all the old Soviet sculptures got stuck. We thought it would be interesting. However, it's outside of town and hard to get to on public transit. We decided to leave that for another time. Instead, we headed for a cruise of the Danube and tour of Margaret Island. It was a fun relaxing way to end our day of touring. On Margaret Island, in the middle of the Danube between Buda and Pest, we were guided by a lovely young woman, Fru, who showed us the main sites and explained there significance. She mentioned that she had just been to Bainbridge Island visiting friends this July. Small world. Fru also said that she didn't think the Memento Park was so important to see. Hurray! Now we won't have to struggle figuring out the transit for that. After the tour, we went to the Greek restaurant near us called Dionysus Taverna. The food was outstanding and the service great. What a long, but pleasant day we had!

Budapest, Our Something New

2011-09-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

My text is below. I always seem to have a little trouble putting the photos into blogger where I want them.

These are Swedish soccer fans who were raising a happy ruckus with some support from police. They were orderly and fun to listen to.

The Basilica which proclaims in gold, Ego Sum Via Veritas Et Vita. Larry, who took Latin at Montgomery Academy, translated to: I am the way to truth and life.
This is the raven or Turul Bird that led the migrating Magyar people into their permanent home in Hungary.

Beethoven must have performed here.
A vista from Buda looking over to where our apartment is on the left side of the bridge.Lion statues were everywhere. Nice kitty, Paula says.I loved the fountain of King Mattias at the castle.

The castle was destroyed many times, then rebuilt.

This was taken inside of Matthias Church. It is decorated with a Hungarian twist.

St. Istvan, Hungary's first Christian king who tamed the nomadic, pagan Magyars.

We saw a procession of musicians in folk costumes.

St. Mary Magdalene's church, which was bombed out in WWII. They rebuilt it as a monument.

Buda from the Pest side.
Our apartment courtyard. You can see the old style of architecture. It is an attractive building, which just needs a little sprucing up here and there.

Larry is working on the locks. It takes awhile to master the locking. You can see how bright the sun is.

Yesterday we left Paris and flew to Budapest. We left the comforts of a magnificent city for the adventure of an unknown place. So far it seems like we made a good choice. First, I do want to report the mundane details so we or my readers can recreate our journey. We traveled from our apartment in Paris to Orly Airport by Metro and the Orlybus. That was easy, economical, and only took about 1 hour. There were a few stairs to go up and down, but nothing like we would have had if we had taken Metro all the way, which was a possibility. We flew with EasyJet. We found an inexpensive airfare on the internet and booked the flight before we left. It was in the neighborhood of $100 a person and only took 1 hour and 45 minutes. I was a little apprehensive about flying with EasyJet because I had heard that they were sticklers for carry-on baggage and charged exorbitant fees if you tried to exceed their limit. They do only allow 1 carry-on period, but are very clear about what they allow, so it is not a mystery to anyone. We checked one expandable suitcase for 15 euros, which was comparable to US fees, and each carried on a bag. The flight was comfortable and went smoothly. I would do it again. We looked up how to get from the Budapest airport to our apartment downtown on public transit from information supplied by our host and also in Rick Steves book. It was as straightforward as it sounded. However, Larry was a little shaky about the process. First, we found a cash machine to get the local currency (not Euros). Then we bought our transit passes, then found the bus that would take us to the Metro (underground). A friendly lady helped us find the metro station (blue line). Before we knew it, we were at our stop. It was a little chaotic finding the right direction to walk to the apartment, but we didn't get too lost. Our apartment is right by the Danube, so we just had to head for the river. Why didn't we take a taxi? I had read that scamming by taxi drivers is a huge problem in Budapest, so I didn't want to deal with that. Plus, our directions on public transportation were clear. We are already prepared for our train trip to Prague. We bought our train tickets today at the station, so know the route and how long it will take.

We are staying in a comfortable 1 bedroom apartment near the tourist attractions and the Danube. Here is the website which has some good photos of the apartment: http://www.holidayinbudapest.com/ Unfortunately, the apartment has some challenges. The washer, a newer one, has icons on it. We are just guessing on how to use it until the owner emails the manual to us. The shower diverter is broken, so we are making due with baths. The doors are tricky to lock. Other than these challenges, the apartment is spacious and comfortable with all the modern conveniences we would want. It is just a few minutes' walk to the "food hall", which is similar to Pike Place Market. It has a grocery store in the basement, so it is easy for us to pick up things.

Enough about little details! You are wondering what we did on our first full day in Budapest. We decided to by a comprehensive Legenda Pass that is good for 4 days of transit plus a river cruise and museum discounts. It took us about an hour to trek over to the place that sold them. We then decided to take the transit over to the train depot to check on tickets for Prague. After taking care of that, we wanted to do the walking tour of old Buda, the city on top of the hills on the other side of the Danube. We thought we were on a roll with the transit and hopped on a bus that we thought we could hop off of. Instead, we discovered it was an express bus that didn't stop where we thought it should. When we finally got off of it, we were puzzling over how to get to the right place, when a helpful man directed us to the correct transfer point. Once we made it there, we still wandered around for several minutes before finding the bus up the hill to the castle. We were much relieved when we finally made it there. Larry points out that we don't have as detailed a map of Budapest as we had in Paris. That made it easier to figure out what to do.

My annotated photos above show what we saw on our walking tour. It was very pleasant to go to Bud in mid afternoon. The crowds weren't bad at all and there was enough shade to make the temperatures pleasant. I loved the views across the river into Pest as well as the old, historic buildings. Larry and I walked back. It was mostly downhill, so it wasn't a bad walk. We found a grocery store for a few more supplies, then walked along a tourist area street where we heard some Swedish soccer fans wildly celebrating their team playing tonight. By chance we stumbled upon a nice restaurant that advertised a vegetarian menu as well as Hungarian specialties, Cyrano. Both of us were happy with our selections. We returned home, tired but happy.

Last Full Day in Paris

2011-08-31T09:18:00.001-07:00

This obelisk is 3,300 years old. It came from Luxor and is the centerpiece of place de la Concorde. It marks the spot where Louis XVI was beheaded. It was carted from Egypt in the 1830's.

This McDonalds on the Champs-Elysees is supposed to be very popular with the French and a huge money maker. We weren't tempted to eat there, though.
Here is a stirring relief, La Marseillaise on the Arc de Triomphe. Lady liberty is leading soldiers as she rallies them to fight oppression.

This is the tomb of the unknown soldier from WWI.

The Arc has lists of all the victories since the French revolution. It would have been moving in a different way if they also listed defeats.

The Resistance workers are honored.

We hit the streets for one last time here in Paris. We decided to walk over to the Arc de Triomphe and then down the Champs-Elysees. It was a pleasant enough walk and didn't take us too long. The Arc is impressive. I imagined what it would have been like during WWII with Nazi swastikas hanging from it. I expected to see more designer shops and perfumeries as we walked down the Champs-Elysees. We ended up finding a treasure, though, the Petit Palais. It is a museum with some Art Nouveau furniture and rooms plus lesser known paintings by Pissaro and Monet. It was a pleasant place to wander around. The building itself is beautiful. Tonight we are going out for dinner one last time before heading to Budapest.

Walking Tours

2011-08-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

Rossini's grave.
Chopin's grave.
Jim Morrison's grave.
Edith Piaf's grave.

WWII moved many people.
Another monument for Holocaust victimes.
A monument/grave for Holocaust victims.
A weird painting from the Carnavalet--people pulling the devil.
Just change this scrawny cat to grey and you'd have Tally.
Below is the Bastille monument and the Opera House.

In the past, Larry and I have had times of discontent during vacations--what to do. Each of us will ask the other what he/she wants to do that day, then get a little frustrated when we hear, "I don't know. What do you want to do?" This trip we've got scripts to fall back on if we don't have original ideas on what to do. We just look at Rick Steve's guide books and follow his recommendations for exploring neighborhoods. He has guided walks as well as ideas for what to look at in the major museums. It's perfect for when you don't want to have to plan too much, but don't want to be on a big guided tour with hoards of other people. Of course, this strategy only works when you don't feel self-conscious about walking around with a guide book and map. It didn't bother us, especially since this is the height of tourist season and many Parisians are gone on vacations themselves.

Today we started with the Marais walking tour. We got there on Metro, which was easy. We looked at what was left of the Bastille, which is only a tall monument in a traffic circle. A new opera house is in the background. We found Victor Hugo's house, the lovely square, Place des Vosges, then found the Carnavalet Museum, which specializes in Parisian history. We were not really planning on going to any more museums today, but discovered that Rick recommended this place and there was no admission charge. We went for it. The building is a converted mansion that is lovely to look at and the exhibits were interesting. We continued on in the Jewish Quarter (the Marais). We needed lunch and fell back on our strategy to just do what Rick suggests--in this case a falafel sandwich. It was vegetarian and great!

We had enough time for a second walking tour. We chose the Pere Lachaise Cemetery Tour, which we accessed by the #69 bus instead of Metro for a change. Rick had a handy diagram in his book. We followed it through the impressive cemetery, passed tombs of Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, Frederic Chopin, and G. Rossini. Although it was interesting to see the graves of those famous people--and others, it was moving to see the graves and memorials to WWII victims including concentration camps and resistance workers. We were tired after this tour, so went on home via the #69 bus, which took us right to the Eiffel Tower. We decided upon a light dinner of fruit and green salad, which we bought at our supermarket.

Last Day of Museums

2011-08-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

Montparnasse

(I'm not really touching this work of art.)

City Hall at the center of Paris

The Sorbonne

Today was the last day we could use our museum passes. We no longer will have to rush around trying to figure out what museums to squeeze in. We agreed that what we saw today was well worth it. We headed over to the Cluny Museum, or National Museum of the Middle Ages, in a 15th century mansion built on top of Roman baths. It has great atmosphere. It had a fun exhibit on swords, including a clip from Mony Python's Holy Grail.

After the Cluny we walked passed the Sorbonne, then by the center of Paris--the Hotel de Ville (City Hall). Finally, we made it to Notre Dame. We joined the crowds and went inside to view the gorgeous Rose Windows and Gothic architecture.

Larry hit the wall and needed lunch fast, so he had a sandwich at Starbucks before our next stop at the Pompidou Center. The National Museum of Modern Art is there and it is most worthwhile. We felt right at home with the modern art. The crowds were not bad either. Here are a few photos:

We ended our day of museums at the Jewish History Museum, which also was worth seeing. I have further respect for Napoleon. He insisted on assimilation of Jews as equals in French society. There is another museum that is devoted entirely to the deportation of Jews and Holocaust. Larry doesn't want to go to that.

We had dinner at a vegetarian/vegan restaurant just around the corner from the Jewish Museum, Le Potager du Marais. It was pretty good. The soup we had for a first course was nice, the vegetable gratin with hazelnuts I had for a second course had good textures but would have benefited from a heavier hand with seasonings. The chocolate mousse dessert was good. We walked home, which took us about 1-1/2 hours.

Observations on Paris

2011-08-28T23:46:00.000-07:00

Paris, of course, is a beautiful city that has a romantic atmosphere. I don't need to talk about that in this blog. Here are some impressions for visitors. The natives, on the whole, have been friendly and welcoming. We have encountered few cranky people--a couple of workers at the museums who oddly enough acted like we should have understood directions in French. That was the very location that you would expect bilingualism.

It is expensive here! Our apartment is a good value, so I'm not complaining about that. However, food in grocery stores and in restaurants is pricey. There is a supermarket near us, which is large by French standards. Food costs at least 20% more there than at home at our QFC. Restaurants are at least 20% higher also, that is after converting Euros into dollars. Service is included, so maybe it's not quite so bad. Maybe people make a little more considering the exchange rate. For whatever reason, we are eating modestly. The Lebanese restaurant down the road appears better priced than others we have noticed. There are more specialty shops than in Seattle. There are bakeries and fruit and vegetable stands on every block. There are butcher shops also, but not quite as many. There are convenience stores, of course, as well as larger supermarkets, but nothing as large as we have in Seattle. That makes sense because of the urban setting here.

Our clothes dryer in the apartment just went out, unfortunately. It started making a loud sound that was not right--after several load of clothes without a problem. All the appliances in our apartment are newer and feature energy saving technology. At any rate, our manager came over to size up the problem and decided that he needed to order a new dryer. I was a little surprised that he didn't call a repairman. However, it wasn't my business. (By the way, he, of course, did not think it was our fault that the thing broke.) It just made me think of the life span of newer, computerized appliances compared with older ones. It doesn't seem right that they only last 5 years or so without problems, but that sure seems to be what happens here in Europe as well as in the US.

Another observation. It appears that Parisians are happy with smaller size TV screens. In looking out our window over at many apartments across the street, I see smaller screens. In the US we may have gotten a little crazy about size.

A Visitor plus a 1000 stairs

2011-08-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

I forget who painted this in the Middle Ages. The faces are all stylized and look similar.
This painting is in the same room as the Mona Lisa. No one seems to stop by to admire her, even though she is pretty and is exposing her breasts. She needs a better publicist!
See--I finally made it close enough to the Mona Lisa to have my photo taken with her.
At last I was close enough to take this!
Rembrandt's self-portrait as an old man.
Rembrandt as a young man.
Here is the largest pyramid at the Louvre.
Paula, petting the lion.

At the Eiffel Tower. We walked up 720 steps to get there.
It's tall. Not the place to go if you don't like heights.

Rodin's garden: the Burghers of Calais.
This is another of Rodin's works, the gates of hell. The Thinker is at the top looking down.

Larry's nephew David visited us for a few hours. He was on his way to Marseille for a math conference and had a stopover here enroute. He took a shower here, then we went off for lunch in the neighborhood. We tried the Lebanese restaurant a few blocks away. It was good. We were happy that David could order in French. We then rushed off to St. Sulpice, the location of David's favorite macaroon shop. We had to try some, too. Then, before we knew it, David had to rush off to meet his train. It was fun having a visitor from home. The macaroon shop has a website: www.pierreherme.com.

After parting with David, we decided to explore the neighborhood we were in. We were right in front of St. Sulpice Church. I had forgotten that it was featured in the Da Vinci Code. The church disclaims some of the mysticism about the astrological clock. It made me want to watch the movie again, though, just to see how the sights were used. We also walked on to the Luxembourg Garden, which was lovely. It is used by the locals for family outings. It has an old palace on it that now houses the Senate. We then walked over to the Delacroix Museum, which was a nice old house of Eugene Delacroix, the painter. It was worth seeing, but doesn't have a big wow effect.

We decided to walk back to our apartment. The Louvre was on the way and our museum passes were burning holes in our pockets, so we went back. This time I wanted to see the Mona Lisa when it wasn't so crowded, Rembrandt, and some other Dutch painters. We found them all this time. The crowds really are less late in the afternoon. We concluded our outing by walking along the Seine. We returned home exhausted, but feeling virtuous enough to eat some treats for desert.

I forgot to say that we began our day by going up the stairs to the Eiffel Tower's second level, 720 steps. The top level is not accessible to the public by stairs or I may have tried it. We enjoyed the views and were pleased that the trek up the stairs did not wind us. I figured it would be fine because of all the stairs we go up and down at our townhouse. I also didn't mention that the Louvre has plenty of stairs also. We went up and down at least 200 stairs there.

Paris Continued

2011-08-28T02:27:00.000-07:00

We continued working our way through our must list: the Musee d'Orsay, the Rodin Museum, and Napolean's Tomb. I love the d'Orsay. We got there right when it opened and went straight to the Impressionists. It was not crowded and the paintings were easy to look at and admire. Renoir's work was my favorite. Before I think I liked Monet better. It's hard to choose. The building itself is lovely--a converted train station in the Art Noveau style. It had just the right amount of art to look at in less than 2 hours, unlike the Louvre. There is so much to see at the Louvre that even under less crowded conditions, it would be hard to leave after several hours thinking you had seen all of the important pieces.

After the d'Orsay, we headed over to the rue Cler to have lunch. Rick Steves has made this street famous for food and he recommends several places in his book. Unfortunately, the restaurant we chose to sit at had either poor service, or we sat in just the right no-man's land for waiters not to see us. We left without ordering. We decided to look for another place on the way to the Rodin Museum and were rewarded with a cafe across the street from it with excellent service and good food. We both had salads. I was amused to see that Heinz ketchup was served with one of the popular meat dishes that locals were ordering. It reminded me of my father asking for ketchup when we took him out to nice restaurants.

We liked the Rodin Museum, which is in an old villa. It has just works by Rodin in an attractive setting, both indoors and out. However, for some reason, I like the Rodin sculpture garden at Stanford a little better. Both are worth seeing.

Napolean's Tomb is close to the Rodin Museum, so it is a good place to go next. It is a bit gaudy, but still impressive. We went back to our apartment afterward and Googled Napolean to read up on all of his accomplishments. I found out why people here liked him so much in spite of his emperor thing and disaster in Russia. He did a lot to improve the justice system and to reform aristocracy. I do recommend his tomb--it's hard to miss in the skyline. Just look for the gold dome.

Moss Lady in Europe

2011-08-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

This is a shop front near our apartment. I am wearing the "vest-s-cape" I made at the ASG convention in Los Angeles.

Larry and I are in Paris now. The trip is supposed to be a celebration in honor of his 60th birthday. I hatched the idea rather suddenly when I got an email advertising lower cost to Paris. I checked the dates and thought--why not? Larry didn't need too much persuading to agree to the plan. We agreed that it would be good to have a balance between a familiar place and something new. We decided to spend a week in Paris (the familiar favorite) and try 5 days in Budapest and 5 days in Prague (new places). I am going to include some mundane details of our trip in this blog so that I can remember how we got here, what the apartment and neighborhood were like, and places to return to or to avoid. If anyone else is reading this, I apologize in advance if it is a little boring.

First, the how. We flew Delta to Atlanta, then its flight partner Air France to Paris. The first leg left Seattle at a convenient early afternoon time. We were able to take the light rail to the airport with no problems. The flight was on time and actually reached Atlanta a little early. We had only 1 hour between flights to make the connection, which seemed a little risky. It all worked out fine. I liked flying Air France. The plane was packed, but still confortable. We flew on an Airbus that must have been pretty new. Each seat had its own entertainment console. They passed out eye masks, ear plugs, and had complementary pillows and blankets for those people who wanted to try sleeping during the overnight flight. I reclined and got comfortable but couldn't sleep. Instead, I watched a couple of movies, including Midnight in Paris. That was the perfect film to watch on the way. It got me psyched up for walking in the rain here. Air France also provided me with a vegan dinner with champagne and breakfast, all at no additional charge. In these days of fees for everything, I felt like the flight was a value. The flight arrived early, too. We managed to exchange money and find the correct RER B train to town to get to our apartment. The manager was waiting for us. I was psychically prepared for little things to go wrong on the trip over and was relieved that things actually went so smoothly. If you'd like to see where we are staying, just check out the website www.yellowflat.com. The owner's photos are better than what I could do!

On our first day here, with jet lag hovering over us, we decided to just follow advice from Rick Steves--buy a 4 day museum pass and first see the musts. In our case the top of the musts was the Louvre. We headed off with guidebook in hand and our pockets filled with just a few euros so that if we would run into pick-pockets we wouldn't lose very much. We made it to the Louvre and bought a 4 day museum pass at the Tabac shop. They required cash, which we didn't have quite enough of, so got some more at a nearby cash machine. The Louvre requires everyone entering to be scanned, which makes sense. You just can't get in quite as easily that way. There was no advantage to holding the pass in terms of speed of entry at the Louvre. Since there are so many choices of wonderful things to see at the Louvre, we decided just to follow suggestions from Rick Steves' book. We set out to find Venus de Milo and ran into a few glitches, not to mention thousands of people. The place was packed! We temporarily scrapped the plan to see Venus d M, and instead followed the signs for the Mona Lisa. That we did find, but couldn't get very close to it due to the hoards of people. We decided to find Venus, then leave. Actually we did see many nice paintings en route, but just quick views. It was too crowded to be comfortable. Two hours at the Louvre isn't enough to see much, but it was still worth doing. Perhaps we'll return near closing time when it's not supposed to be so crowded.

Although the Louvre had its ups and downs, we did manage to see two other nearby museums that were definitely worth a trip, even if they hadn't been on our passes. We went to the Decorative Arts museum and found a fashion designer featured: Hussein Chalayan. For more information his name or try connecting http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/fashion/hussein-chalayan-on-exhibit-in-paris.html. He had some pretty wearable clothes, but mostly far-out creations including a dress with straps held up by balloons. The museum also had a special exhibit of some gorgeous vintage autos that we passed in a distance.

Our last museum stop was the Musée de l'Orangerie, which is an art gallery of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings located on the Place de la Concorde in Paris. It has the Water Lilies paintings, which were featured in Woody Allen's film Midnight in Paris that we just saw on the flight over. That was a fun context for us. We saw some other lovely Impressionist paintings and decided that we were glad we left the Louvre. Here are some photos taken on the way back to our apartment.

It Feels Cold!

2011-05-09T17:27:00.000-07:00

We are back in the Emerald City now. We spent the first four days or so just taking care of things around the house. Although we had a housesitter who kept things safe, his cleaning standards were different from ours. The house and back yard are whipped into shape now. We got Phil's car worked on, since it had an oil leak. We'll have the Prius serviced tomorrow and hope that we won't have any more repair bills for a long time.

Our cat is another matter. Dear old Tally will be 18 this summer and is really starting to look it. He isn't able to groom himself very well and our housesitter didn't brush him, so he had many mats in his coat. I cut them out as best as I could, but accidentally cut Tally. I think it is a minor injury. I called the vet and found out how to treat it. We are going to postpone his bath for a couple of days to let the wound heal. The poor thing smells! He still eats, uses the cat box and walks around, so he doesn't seem sick--just old.

Cold Again

2011-05-05T23:43:00.000-07:00

We made it back to Seattle yesterday. The drive back was lovely. I'm going to jot down some notes about places and restaurants so that we can remember them for next year. You can skip ahead if this bores you. We spent our first night after leaving Tucson in Santa Clarita, CA, which is in northern LA. It's the last stop before the pass to Grapevine. It's actually a pretty spot in the foothills. It was green with pleasant views. We stayed at the same Hampton Inn as before and were comfortable. There are many little restaurants near it. The hotel had a good breakfast, even for this vegan. Our drive to SF the next day was uneventful. The weather was sunny, but windy. The only thing I hope to remember for next time is to buy an actual map of the state of CA. We needed to cut over to 101 on Hwy 522, then get to 280 to get to SF and Cliff's place. I don't trust our nav system with the right routes. It helps to have a real map in front of you.

We had a nice time in SF. Cliff invited us to stay at his apartment in Nopa. I was touched to see how carefully he had cleaned for our stay .He even got me flowers in honor of Mother's Day. He stayed with his girlfriend Tracy. We were comfortable and enjoyed the location. Every morning I went for a walk into Golden Gate Park. The weather was sunny, with a little chill in the air. We also walked over to Tracy's apartment in Lower Sunset. It was fun checking out a new neighborhood. We had dinner near her apartment a couple of nights, at a vegetarian restaurant and at a Thai restaurant. Both were good. I discovered a new trend: "flights". Flights are three complementary wines in separate glasses that are served lined up. It is fun sampling a variety of wines that way. Tracy lives close to a gelato shop that served 12 flavors of vegan gelato. I appreciated the selection and went their 3 times. Cliff took us to Gracias Madre, a vegan Mexican restaurant for brunch on Sunday. It was in the Mission District and a long walk from his apartment. It was excellent. Sunday night we heard the news about Osama b L and were caught up in the reports on television. Tracy is a New Yorker and lived close to ground zero, so she felt the importance of the event.

We left SF on Tuesday morning and had a beautiful drive to Ashland. I kept noticing the green. It must be because of the contrast with Tucson's desert scenery. Once again, we would have appreciated a map of CA to help anticipate the route. We stayed at the Windmill Inn again. I like it there. We had a nice, big room and a beautiful view. Tuesday night we saw Julius Caesar, which had a female lead. It was well done and thought provoking. We are likely to add Ashland to our trip schedule. We had enough time before the performance to go for a hike at Lithia Park, then dinner at Sesame. We may want to try a different restaurant next time. Neither one of us raved about the food as much as before when we ate there.

We headed straight to Seattle on Wednesday, with few stops along the way. As before, the drive went through some spectacular scenery. It wasn't uneventful, though. We were rear ended by an older driver in some stop and go commuter traffic outside of Olympia. The driver had been driving erratically beforehand and Larry tried to get some distance away from him, but it didn't work out. We weren't hurt and our car's bumper had just minor damage. It still was a little unnerving, though. When we got back to town, we found that our house sitter was not a good housecleaner. We had to work for hours getting the house clean enough for comfort.

I will write later on what it feels like to be back.

Annual Review

2011-04-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

Larry and I are starting to get organized to leave Tucson this week. I'd like to do an annual review of how our life has gone here. In looking back at last year's review I notice some differences. Let me start with the things I like about Tucson. The sunshine makes me feel good. I have never gotten tired of it, although I haven't minded the few days it's rained here. There are many interesting things to do. The newspaper lists cultural as well as outdoor activities everyday. There are lectures at the U of A as well as performances that make me feel that there are people here who enjoy the intellectual stimulation. The Bookfest last month was huge--a hundred thousand people came to meet their favorite authors from around the country and hear discussions on books. There are many artists and musicians here. There are always galleries open and musicians performing a wide range of music. I like country line dancing and have met a great group of women to dance with at nearby Udall Center. I have fun with my sewing friends met through ASG neighborhood groups. I appreciate how many people have told me that they'll miss me and to hurry back. Although the restaurant scene isn't as great as in Seattle, I did find a special vegetarian/vegan restaurant that makes me happy.

I read over what I didn't like about Tucson last year. The traffic and drivers were a big thing. I don't think about either so much this year. That must mean I'm used to the differences. Even the red light cameras don't cause me as much concern anymore. What does bother me is that some Tucsonans are militant about gun rights and would be fine with people carrying concealed weapons on campuses and into public buildings. The theory is that these people would be licensed and trained on how to use the guns correctly and would protect people from the bad guys who have guns. Most people I know are democrats and think progressively. Guns just seem to be an issue.

Another thing that bothers me is the state of the economy and the fallout in the state. Tucson's public schools are not well funded and class sizes are large. They are rated almost at the bottom in achievement compared to other states. I'm trying to make a little difference by volunteering with a reading program at an elementary school. I worry about the kids and their teachers who are trying to make a difference.

The dryness does not bother me very much. The water softener has helped tremendously. We stay pretty comfortable on the whole. The temperatures in the 80's and 90's don't seem to phase me now, so I guess I'm used to the difference in climate. I don't dream about going to the beach or Hawaii the way some people here apparently do.

On the whole, Tucson passes my annual review. I have a good life here. I've made friends and enjoy doing things with them. I miss my friends and relatives in the Seattle area, though, and will be glad to see them again.

97 Degrees

2011-04-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

What can I say about 97 degrees? It was that hot yesterday. We kept to our usual routines and were comfortable inside. In the morning and at night it was pleasant spending time outside. I guess I can't complain about the heat--yet anyway.

Hot Wednesday

2011-03-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

It's heating up in Tucson. Today it reached the mid 80's. It's supposed to reach the mid 90's by Friday. I'm happy that the mornings and evenings are pleasant. Of course, the natives say that it's not hot till it reaches 100.

I've been keeping myself busy sewing these days. I'm try to make a pair of pants with the new software program I have for drafting patterns. I also am working on some tops for hot weather. I also have a stack of novels to read. I never seem to get bored around here.

It's Been Awhile

2011-03-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why I haven't blogged for awhile. My life seems rich. I have been busy doing some fun things and the days seem to go whizzing by. Noteworthy this week was a visit by some old friends, Paul and Janet, and their daughter Libby. They came Sunday afternoon and stayed with us that night before heading off to Madera Canyon for a few days of birding and hiking. We went hiking at Saguaro East, out to dinner at El Charro, then off to the Desert Museum the next morning. It was great to reconnect. We first met each other in 1974 and I feel fortunate to still keep in contact. Other highlights of this week include teaching how to make a simple shrug to my neighborhood ASG group, getting together with Edna to look at Pattern Master together, starting my line dancing and yoga classes again after a couple week's break, and teaching sewing to the refugees. This weekend we have off from retirement activities. I hope to rest up a bit!

Turtle Parts

2011-03-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

I've been cutting up fabric for turtle pillows like crazy. The national ASG Community Service project this year is to make turtle pillows for the Hole in the Wall Children's Camps, which serve children with severe illnesses. Some of my friends in my neighborhood group have taken on this project with much enthusiasm. They have recognized my skill in using a rotary cutter to cut out the pieces needed for the turtles and have relegated cutting tasks to me. We found some suitable fabric for free at the Aviva Sew-a-thon last Saturday. Today I cut for over 3 hours. Next Millie is supposed to put together the pieces into kits for others to sew up into turtles.

It's fun to have projects to work on with friends.

Booths, Books, Authors

2011-03-13T18:14:00.000-07:00

Larry and I went to the Tucson Festival of Books today. It was a huge event held on campus at the U of A. Organizers estimated that 100,000 people came over the two days it was held. Authors, publishers, organizations, food vendors, etc. had booths to help publisize their causes. Authors from around the country came to give panel discussions on various topics. I had the pleasure of hearing a couple of women writers whose novels took place around the time of wars, a panel of mystery writers who set their books in Southern CA, and then concluded the day by hearing JA Jance. She's a celebrity both in Tucson and Seattle, and is a snowbird like we are. She is revered at the U of A where she was given an honorary doctorate and was dubbed queen of the bookfest. I'm looking forward to reading her latest books.

Tucson seems to have lots going on besides the rodeo and gem shows. There are many classes, lectures, concerts, and festivals to give intellectual stimulation for a variety of tastes. This is the first March we've been here. I like what is happening!

Sewing Bags

2011-03-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

Today I did another charity sew-a-thon. This time it was sewing bags for Aviva, an organization that serves children removed from their homes and placed into foster care. They are given attractive bags in which to pack up their possessions and move instead of having to use paper bags for their possessions. I spent 6 hours working with at least 100 others on these bags at Pima Community College. It was a fun day. I feel fortunate now to have enough sewing friends to recognize some of the participants and to have friends to sit with. I was impressed with how well the organizers had things planned. They even had greeters to unload cars and give directions. Door prizes were given out, along with snacks and a nice lunch. Everyone I talked to wants to do it again next year.

Fabric Distribution Day

2011-03-08T21:30:00.000-08:00

Today I worked for Iskashitaa at the fabric distribution day. Iskashitaa gets many donations of fabric, sewing machines, and other sewing related things from estates or charities. We use some of the materials in sewing classes. The other materials are given away during distribution days at the office. Recently I've found some fabric treasures that I think would be good to use in class, so I had fun looking through the giant stash. I now have piles of material in our garage that I will eventually get to my sewing students or back to the office for another distribution day. A large number of refugees are interested in sewing, which is gratefying. I feel like I am able to put my sewing knowledge to work for a good cause by volunteering with their sewing program.

Larry and I decompressed tonight by going to dollar day at the movies. We saw Tangled. I was a fun movie.

Demo Day

2011-03-05T21:24:00.000-08:00

Today I went to Green Valley for the ASG chapter's Demo Day. It is a big event held at a country club during which 5 presenters give lessons on how to sew different things. The group breaks down into smaller groups and each rotates to the different presentations. It was fun. I participated in the fashion show at lunch time. I modeled my bias top and skirt outfit that I made following easy methods outlined in Threads Magazine. The outfit was a big hit. I got many compliments. I also was asked to model 3 other items for people who couldn't be there. I was flattered to be asked to do it. It made me feel like I was part of the group. I had many people greet me by name and chat. Tucson is feeling more and more like home.

Trying to Read

2011-02-22T17:34:00.000-08:00

Today I had relatively few things scheduled. I went to Pilates class in the morning, did some shopping on my way home, then had hopes to finish the book I'm reading. The book, A Dead Man's Tale by James Doss is pretty good. It is set in the SW and has bits of humor and mysticism thrown in. It was so pretty outside that I sat on our patio to read. I feel asleep, but did manage to read a sizable chunk of the book, but I probably won't finish it by tomorrow when it is due at the library. I guess I'll just opt to keep it a day or two longer and pay the fine.

The library that we usually go to on Wilmot has just been remodeled. It's quite nice. It's not as grand as the Bellevue library, but has charm, including a beautiful view of the mountains. I'm glad that funding didn't disappear for its remodel.

Holiday?

2011-02-21T21:38:00.000-08:00

Now that I'm retired, I don't seem to have many holidays. Today was a holiday for most people, but my usual activities were not canceled. The schools here in Tucson do not close for Presidents' Day. Instead there is no school on Thursday and Friday so that the children can go to the rodeo parade and rodeo. That makes sense. I did my usual coaching in reading with two fourth grade boys. My ASG group met today in spite of the holiday. I enjoyed seeing what other people are making. A woman gave a nice trunk show on vintage/heirloom clothes. It was interesting to see what women and children used to wear and look at how clothes were constructed. Clothing was constructed in the same manner from Victorian times until about the 60's. Then sergers and other developments changed sewing. We started buying clothes that didn't need to last very long. I suppose I have that mentality. When I make or buy an outfit, I don't worry about it lasting for more than about 3 years. I'm constantly donating things. It was a fun day, even though I didn't get a holiday. I'm not complaining.

PMB Day

2011-02-19T21:01:00.000-08:00

Today my new friend Edna and I went to a Pattern Master Boutique users group meeting held south of town. Nine of us got together to share what we've been sewing and to help each other with design and fit problems. It was fun. We not only helped each other with sewing, but with life's problems in general. After getting more ideas for future projects, we started talking about life in the summer in Tucson. Most of the ladies live on larger lots on the outskirts of town. They all reported seeing snakes, bobcats, and coyotes, not to mention giant spiders, bigger than tarantulas in the summer. Tarantulas don't climb walls, they said and corn snakes are a blessing because they eat rattle snakes. Mountain lions are more rarely seen, as are bears. Interesting. I didn't hear anyone complain about bird mites!

Sewing with the Refugees

2011-02-18T21:51:00.000-08:00

My sewing class with the refugees from Nepal is going well. We get together once a week on Friday afternoons. There are usually around 10 who participate. We have fallen into a comfortable routine. Setting up the room is automatic. The students are waiting for me to arrive, then we all move our machines and supplies out into the larger room. I don't need to ask anyone to start to work. They are self-motivated and help each other. They do ask me for help with the sewing machines, material selection, and design ideas. I try to reinforce some basic sewing vocabulary, which I think they are picking up. Usually I demonstrate some technique, then they carry it out. A few of the students are advanced in their sewing skills and take it seriously. Some appear to attend class for the companionship, but always work. They made a number of harvest bags to sell and a few bags from recycled jeans. At some point we need to move on. I just need to figure out when and what else to make.

A Leap of Faith Garment

2011-02-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

Last night I gave a demonstration for the Eastside Evening Group of the Tucson ASG Chapter. It was fun. With her blessings, I used Sally's notes on how to create a simple bias skirt. I held a lottery to see who in the crowd I'd make it for, then used her dimensions to cut it to her size. It went together in a flash, with some serger magic. I showed the bias top made from just two squares of fabric, as shown in Threads Magazine a couple of years ago. That was well received also. I'm glad I practiced making the garments. They are "leaps of faith" garments--they are not intuitively constructed. You have to trust the designer and follow each step. At any rate, it was a fun evening. I was invited to model my bias outfit in the upcoming style show. It's not fancy, but is fun. I find that I'm making a lot of friends by volunteering to do things. One of these days I'll get my camera out again and post a photo of me in the outfit.

Just Busy

2011-02-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted much recently mainly because I've just been busy. It's a good feeling to be connected with things here. I've made new friends through sewing and have enjoyed doing things with them. The gem show was a treat, even if I didn't buy much. Larry is feeling better after being sick with a cold for weeks. I'll have to think of more things going on here to report on. I'm not bored and have been having fun.

What a Crowd!

2011-02-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

Tonight Larry and I wanted to do something different for a change. We have gotten into the routine of watching TV together at night and wanted something a little more stimulating. I had seen an ad in the paper for a free lecture at the U of A by Christopher D. Impey on the Big Bang Theory. It sounded like fun. We headed over to campus, figuring a modest crowd would show up. We were wrong! The huge crowd was lined up for 3 blocks waiting to get in the doors of the Centenniel Hall auditorium. I'm sure at least 2,000 people squeezed in to hear the talk. At least half were senior citizens. What intellectual energy! His talk was well done and entertaining. He used humor to make the material as assessible as possible, showing clips from Monty Pyton to Jim Carey with Stephen Hawkin. Next week there is another lecture. Maybe we'll go again. It's kind of fun getting out to something besides Dollar Day at the movies.

Larry Doesn't Get It!

2011-02-07T17:31:00.000-08:00

I went to even more gem shows today, but dragged along Larry to help me find my way around town. We started out at the Hotel Tucson. I was pleased to have found it right away and also pleased that parking was easy. The tents there had many fossils and minerals and not so many finished gems. We appreciated how beautiful the geodes were. They varied in size from small balls to human size. Most were cut open and often revealed amethyst crystals. Some were made into tables. In addition to the geodes, we saw fossil wall placks and tables and lamps. We also saw a few dinosaur nests from China. That was fascinating. The eggs in it cost $2000 a piece, so we passed on buying it. Larry kept remarking that he just didn't get it. He meant that he didn't understand how so many people would crate such heavy pieces to Tucson for the shows. He also didn't understand why so many people come to the shows. He repeated himself when we parked for the second set, which was west of the Convention Center. We were again amazed at the scope of the shows and how much was there for sale. Apparently the shows are successful or so many people wouldn't attend as buyers and sellers. We passed another cluster of white tents as we drove down to 22nd St. We were too tired to stop, though. I bought a few little things: two silver Ohm pendants and another pendant with amethyst and silver.

Next year I will hope to go back to the bead show with Edna, who was a most instructive guide. I would also hope to go to the gem show at TEP with Cherie. I also won't hesitate to try going to some shows by myself now that I know where they are, how to park, etc. The show at TEP was really my favorite because it had such a variety and some very good prices. However, I had great success finding beautiful bags with Edna, so will try to find that show next year. I am remembering that we will be back in Tucson next year and that I don't have to do it all this year!

Gem Show Fun

2011-02-06T21:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to a large gem show with my old friend, Cherie, who lives in Tucson. She had gone to this one at Tucson Electric Park several years in a row and knew her way around. We both found many treasures, most of which were inexpensive. There were spectacular fossils for sale. I was impressed by how they can be displayed as art. Some reminded me of cave paintings. There were minerals and geodes cut into sculpture forms that also appealed to me. I couldn't figure out where to put them at the house, though, or how I would get them home. They were heavy. I settled for a small sculpture of fossils, a Himalayan salt lamp, a few necklaces, and some onyx coasters. Cherie likes wearing pendants, so bought one and a string of tourquoise to wear it with.

Today I went to a bead show to check out a tip on African fabric and hand made bags. There were lots of people there. In addition to beads, there was a farmer's market to explore. I ended up buying some salsa made from Hatch chilis. Now I have to find time to cook along with having fun exploring.

Nothing to Gloat About

2011-01-31T21:29:00.000-08:00

Today I can honestly say that I can't gloat about the weather here. It's turned cold and we even got a little rain. The rain was not monsoon style with a sudden big downpour. Instead it was more Seattle style, but only for a couple of hours before clearing up. The weather forecast is for a few days of cold weather with highs of 50 before it warms up for next weekend, when it will be back in the 60's.

I did manage to volunteer an hour this morning at the elementary school nearby. I'm a "reading coach" with the Reading Seed program and work with two fourth graders. I read with them and try to make it fun for them. I do this once a week.

The Tenor's Aunt

2011-01-30T20:56:00.001-08:00

Today I went to see Turandot produced by AZ Opera. It was a nice production. Larry decided to stay home since he has been sick with a cold. The women sitting around me, seeing that I was alone, starting talking to me during the intermissions. The lead tenor, Antonio Nagore, was their cousin/nephew. They had come to town to hear him in the opera. Across the balcony sat his mother and more relatives. I got to hear about his early life. The cousin next to me used to babysit for him. I asked her if he sang to her. She said no, that she sang to him. I wonder if he did an encore of Nessun Dorma for family after the opera. It would be fun to have a tenor in the family to sing to me now and then!

A Sing-n-Sew

2011-01-28T20:51:00.000-08:00

Today I taught sewing to refugees again. Once more I was impressed by my students, who are apparently all from Nepal. Most of them actually know how to sew, but need help with machine operation. They are self-directed, but will listen and watch when I ask them to stop. We worked on harvest bags today. Most managed to thread machines OK and wind bobbins, which was a relief. I had a few work with a pattern I drafted for the harvest bags and they seemed to take right to it. As an added bonus, one of the men in class started singing some folk tunes as he worked. I couldn't help but think of another sing-n-sew I had been to. While a group I was in was sewing rags for Ronald McDonald House, friend Diane R. would start singing camp songs. What fun

Across the Parking Lot

2011-01-28T20:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had a busy time at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I went there to meet a woman who had a sling to show me that the refugees could sew. After consulting with her I walked out to the parking lot, then another sewing friend, Karen, called out to me to say hello and chat. It's beginning to feel a lot like home here, to meet friends at the fabric store.

I also have made another friend, Edna. She and I are in a pilates class together, got to chatting after class, and discovered that we have a lot in common. She likes to sew and wants to join ASG. We got together for lunch, then looked at sewing things together. It's great fun to have somebody to do things with!

Trip to Nepal

2011-01-21T17:24:00.000-08:00

Cousin Joanne likes to go trekking in exotic locations. I think she included Nepal in her journeys several years ago. She brings back hundreds of photos and talks about how the people lived and what they wore. Today I had my own trek there. I taught sewing to about 10 refugees from Nepal. Instead of traveling thousands of miles, I went to their apartment complex across town for an adventure. I am working for Iskashitaa, an agency that helps refugees with resettlement here. Sewing is one of the programs that they are trying to promote in addition to harvesting fruit and nuts. The group I worked with was great. They spoke little English so we communicated with gestures and by pointing. Their cultural differences were obvious. They had a strong sense of community and a hands-on approach to learning. I had the sewing machines set up and spaced a couple of feet apart from each other. They moved in much closer to each other. They immediately started touching the machines, but did follow me as I taught them how to thread them. The ones who had trouble got support from those around them while I was helping others. They were able to sew straight seams quite easily and even made a few mini-bags and doll-like clothes out of fabric scraps. We were able to start constructing bags out of old jeans. They apparently sell well and are easy to make. At the end of class, I was happy to see that everyone pitched in to clean up without having to be asked. All in all, it was a good trip. I'm planning on being a return visitor.

New Exercises

2011-01-19T19:44:00.000-08:00

Larry and I want to keep our minds as young as possible, so we are trying some supposed strategies for maintaining mental functions. He is determined to read some great books. So far, he's tried Faulkner and Hemingway. Faulkner was a bust and Hemingway was OK. Now he is trying Edith Wharton. I suppose I'll try reading the same book so we can have our own private book club going. I myself will read a serious novel maybe one out of seven books I read. Currently I'm reading "Cool in Tucson" by Elizabeth Gunn. It's a mystery set in Tucson, of course. It has lots of local color. I'm not far enough into it to decide how well I like it, but so far it's not bad. I'm listening to the latest Inspector Linley novel by Seattle writer Elizabeth George. It's set in London, though, which makes it fun.

My new mind development project is to learn how to do Sudoku puzzles. Larry is a whiz at them. I find them hard. I'm asking him to give me lessons. So far, it's slow!

Sewing Activities

2011-01-15T21:15:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of days I have been busy with sewing activities. I haven't actually sewn anything, though. Yesterday I went to scope out the place where I'll start teaching sewing to refugees next week. I had to make sure that the machines were working and that the supplies were there. It should be an adventure. No one is quite sure how many refugees will participate because people just have a way of showing up. I've got a plan, at any rate, to be flexible, start with basic machine operation, and sew a few shopping bags to start with.

Today the AZ PMB'ers came to our house for the monthly meeting. About 8 others came to show what they've been sewing and to get help with measuring and fit. We also used a program I have for body analysis to help style selection. It was fun having them over. I'm feeling more a part of the group and am having fun with sewing. Tomorrow I have free from any commitments. Then Monday I'll be off to another sewing activity. Sewing groups are a great way to make friends.

Fun at the Recreation Center

2011-01-12T19:44:00.000-08:00

I signed up for a few classes at Udall Park's Recreation Center this term. They just started this week. I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality of instruction for them. I'm taking a pilates mat class twice a week, a hatha yoga class, and line dancing. All of the teachers are outstanding and the facility is pleasant. They aren't over crowded either. The Rec Center is a short walk away, so Larry can take the car if he wants and I can still get to classes. They are also reasonably priced, about $6 per class. I consider myself fortunate!

In the News

2011-01-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

Tucson is still in the national spotlight following the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby. I hear that President Obama is coming tonight and will speak at the U of A. I hope he stays safe. Most people are still in a state of shock that such a thing could happen here. Some are trying to find something to blame. I myself think that mental health programs should be bolstered, that gun laws should be revamped so that not everyone here in town has the right to carry a concealed weapon, and that right wing extremists should tone down their rhetoric. Bad things would still happen, but maybe not as many.

I personally continue to be impressed by how many nice, friendly people I've met here. They always seem willing to help and tend to be kind and respectful toward seniors. I'm sure there are some exceptions, but I haven't met many of them.

Out With the Old

2011-01-10T19:11:00.001-08:00

Today we got our new gas grill. Our old one just worked partially and did not have good temperature control. We found a new home for it by posting on Craigslist. A happy couple took it away. Now we have a new Ducane one that seems to work better. I think we are going to stop replacing appliances now. We have decided that we like our washer and dryer, dishwasher, and refrigerator. Back in Wallingford, our beautiful refrigerator that was only 5 years old broke down. The problem was its computer chip. That got us thinking that it is good to hold on to major appliances that don't have computer chips!

New Art

2011-01-09T19:33:00.000-08:00

Today Larry and I visited the studio of a local artist, Jennifer North. We met her at the outdoor arts and crafts fair we attended last weekend. Jennifer showed us her studio, which is near our house, and demonstrated her process of making her photos into tiles. She used to work for Disney as a colorist, first in Australia, then in CA. Her knowledge of color really shows in her pieces. Now Jennifer takes photos of scenes around town, makes them into tiles, and uses them in pieces of art set in cabinet doors which she paints. We are having fun slowly changing out some of the art we have had in our house here.

We Are Safe

2011-01-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

The shooting in Tucson that occurred this morning was an awful thing. Thanks to all of our friends and family who have been checking in with Larry and me to see if we are OK. Our house is several miles to the southeast from where it happened and neither of us was at the event. I still feel touched by it, though. I volunteer at an agency that helps refugees resettle in Tucson and am working on a sewing program. At the time of the shooting, I was sitting in a courtyard by a swimming pool surrounded by refugees and old sewing machines that I was tuning up for them. The director, Barbara, got a call immediately after the shooting from a friend at the town square meeting. At that time, it was hard to tell how many people were injured or killed. Barbara took the news hard and was obviously shaken up. She tried to explain what happened to the refugees. I don't think they fully understood due to the language barrier. They certainly would have understood needless violence, fear for their lives, and having friends and loved ones killed. I hope the best for the victims and their families. Perhaps some helpful dialog will come of this.

I included a wedding picture of Congresswoman Gabby and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly. Larry and I saw Mark last year at the Air and Space Museum. He gave a memorable program about his life as an astronaut. They are a special couple.

Book Report

2011-01-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned earlier, one of Larry's goals for retirement has been to read more. He wanted to try a few American classics. First he started with Faulkner's Sound and Fury and hated it. Then he decided to try Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. He wasn't much crazy about that one either. I volunteered to read the Hemingway novel to see if I would like it. This is my book report. I figure it's only been about 40 years since I had to write one, so it wouldn't kill me to try it again. Here it goes. My form will be freer than in high school. It's my blog, I can use whatever format I want!

The Sun Also Rises is Ernest Hemingway's masterpiece about the lost generation of Americans living in Paris after WWI. What a lot of drinking they did! I can't believe all they consumed. They also poisoned their bodies with nicotine. They stayed up late carousing in bars and nightclubs and gambled. What a waste of talent! It's true that the hero of the story fought in WWI and had his balls blown off. That would pretty much make anyone depressed and inclined to drink. He's also in love with a hot English lady who loves him, but doesn't want to settle down with an impotent man. She apparently can settle for only one kind of sexual satisfaction. What a shame! She keeps messing up her relationships with other men and falls back to the hero for support. No wonder he has problems! At any rate, after drinking and carousing in Paris, the group of friends, consisting of several men and the English lady who is engaged to one of them, goes to Spain for fishing and bullfighting in Pamplona. Hemingway's descriptions of the scenery and people are all first-rate. I could easily imagine being with them. I even had the urge to pour myself a glass of red wine or brandy while I was reading about their actions. I didn't understand the significance of the fishing trip that Hemingway describes before the bull fighting. The descriptions were fabulous, but I don't really see how that carried the plot forward. I suppose I could read some literary criticism to find out. But I'm 60 and if something doesn't hit me over the head the first time around, then I figure I don't need to figure it out. The bullfighting scenes, on the other hand, were clear in their meaning. Hemingway's hero has what the locals call "aficionado", passion for the bull fights. The hero is given special treatment by the innkeeper, who knows that he understands bulls and bull fights. The bulls are unloaded from cages one at a time and there were steers in the corrals to receive them and keep them from fighting. Some of the steers were killed by the bulls, but usually their presence calmed the bulls down. Our hero is a steer, I suppose in his crowd of bulls who were all competing for the same English lady. The English lady ends up falling for the young matador, runs away from her current fiance with him, then later leaves him. As usual, she calls on our hero to help her pick up the pieces.

Pros: beautifully written descriptions of life in Paris in the 1920's, plus bullfighting. Good character development plus spiritual dissolution. A reasonably quick read that can go with Mumms or Chateau Margaux.

Cons: the characters drink too much. Hemingway presents drinking as a matter of fact way of life. I suppose it was true then, but I still don't like it. There is anti-Semitism. One of the main characters is Jewish. He is portrayed as a jerk. The sentiment among the characters seems to be that because he is Jewish he is a jerk. Nowadays, I think an author with any sense would slant his character to be a jerk who just happens to be Jewish. The bull fighting scenes are brutal. I know that bull fighting is a cultural, spiritual thing, and when the bull is killed the man and beast become one, but isn't that what some serial killers also think--they are never closer to someone else as when they are killing them? I get the connection between sexuality, masculinity, and bullfighting. I just don't enjoy thinking about it or visualizing the death of magnificent animals.

I suppose I give Hemingway a thumbs up for this one. Could all those English teachers be wrong? I just don't think it's the best thing I ever read.

A Trip to the Fabric Store

2011-01-04T21:52:00.000-08:00

Today I went on a treasure hunt. I went to the SAS Fabric Store in Tucson to find some inexpensive fabrics to experiment with. I have volunteered to teach a class on making a bias skirt and I have to practice on some real fabric beforehand. Going to SAS is a bit risky. The store sells mill ends and overstocks, so you never know what they'll have at anyone time. They are constantly getting new fabrics in and just put it out on tables in piles. You have to dig through things to see what they have. Fabric content is not labeled for the most part. It can be hard to dig through the piles of fabric on tables. Fortunately, today the stock was fairly well organized and folded up so I could see what they had. I did find a few inexpensive pieces that will be good for experimenting for my skirt class. I also found some Western themed t-shirt fabric. One piece has a variety of snakes on it. I decided I had to get it in honor of our snake that lives somewhere near our house and is now hibernating.

Larry and I have another project going together. He started reading Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises" and isn't crazy about it. I volunteered to read it also to let him know what I think. So far I share his opinion. It seems a bit depressing and anti-Semitic. I'm old enough now to not care if I don't like an iconic author's work. When I was younger, I would probably not admit that. We both have decided to finish the book to see if our opinions change. I have a rule of thumb when reading a book. I try to stick it out for the first 2-3 chapters and will quit if I don't like the book. If I make it half way, I finish it. Maybe I'll write a book report when I finish this book for old time's sake.

Some of My Friends are Cowgirls

2011-01-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

I think my alter ego is a cowgirl. I remember having a cowgirl costume as a young child and remember watching Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. I have always liked cowgirl boots and denim. My favorite jacket in high school was fringed suede and western style. As I got older and moved to Tucson part of the year, I sewed more Western themed clothes including a cowgirl apron and a fleece jacket. I am always on the look out for cute cowgirl fabric. Little did I dream that I would become friends with a couple of real cowgirls!

I made my first cowgirl friend, Millie, at a daytime ASG meeting. I have turned to her for creative advice during sit-and-sews and we trade stories. I knew that Millie was compassionate about animals and owns some dogs that her family rescued. Recently Millie showed an amazing wall hanging with a cow being roped by her grandson. She explained that she and her family kept a cattle ranch and she often roped cattle. She is a sophisticated sewist who I could imagine being at home in Manhattan. Apparently I was wrong with my guess about her background.

My second cowgirl sewing friend, Karen, is a banker with a machine embroidery business. In her younger years she lived in Cody, Wyoming on a cattle ranch where she helped her husband take care of a large herd of cattle. This included getting hay to them in the bitter winter, moving them around, and helping with the birthing that went on for a months. She said that she lived in a barn during birthing time and must have helped with the delivery of over 1,000 calves. I guess that qualifies her as a cowgirl. She does not walk around with boots and spurs anymore, but I bet she has pictures of herself in her former work clothes. Now she embroiders Western wear for groups participating in the rodeo coming up in February.

I'm glad that I now know some real cowgirls who even sew. It makes me wonder how many more I'll meet here in Tucson.

Light Pollution

2011-01-02T22:33:00.000-08:00

Here in Tucson there often is talk about light pollution at night. People seem to take their star gazing seriously and want to minimize the ambient light. In our housing development we have only dim lights on at night. There are noticeably fewer street lights compared to Seattle. I really don't mind since I enjoy looking at the sky at night. In Seattle a change in lighting wouldn't matter because the skies are so cloudy that star gazing isn't possible much of the time. I also appreciate the way that the newspaper has columns on what to look for in the skies at night. There are even guided walks at night to look at stars and nocturnal animals.

I just finished reading a book called The Sherlockian. It is a clever historical fiction that gave me a glimpse of life in the early 1900's in London. One of the points made was that the conversion from gaslights to electric lights made a huge impact on visibility on the streets. I suppose Londoners couldn't do much star gazing even with the dimmer gaslights so the brighter lights would be welcomed. Not so in Tucson!

A Cold New Year

2011-01-01T09:23:00.001-08:00

I admit to being spoiled by the pleasant weather over the winter in Tucson. So when it turned cold a few days ago, I felt it! Just like in Seattle, when there was snow forcast, or snow fell, those were top news stories. We also got rain, which is badly needed. It's cold and clear now and I can see snow in the mountain tops nearby. Tomorrow the temperatures should be above freezing and back into the 60's for highs. I enjoy a little variety in weather.

Larry and I had a good New Year's Eve. We took a long walk in the cold, then came back for a dinner of popcorn soup. The soup was not a big success. On a documentary TV show I heard that popcorn was a staple of the old West and was used unpopped in soups. I found a recipe on the internet to try. I think I'll keep searching. I'm trying to learn more about SW cooking, so try new things when I hear about them. If I could be sure of correct identification of mesquite pods, I also would try making flour out of them. I could try asking our neighborhood naturalist for help. We actually do have one, Cindy, who advises on plant care and removal. I also have a book on solar cooking which I hope to get to one of these years. In spite of the soup not being a big success, I did make some outstanding "vice cream", a frozen dessert made from cashew nuts and cocoa. Larry did his part by making margaritas. We enjoyed watching television by the fire in our fireplace and considered ourselves lucky!

A Storm Pushes Through

2010-12-29T21:59:00.000-08:00

Today a storm pushed through town. Big deal, you might say, especially if you are in the Seattle area. We reacted the way we did in Bellevue when we heard a storm was coming. We rushed to Costco to get any supplies we might need. It seemed liked Tucsonans don't react the same way since Costco was not especially busy. It was fun watching the storm coming in. We are near the Catalina Mountains and could see white at the top and clouds gradually hiding them. At Costco a native said the storm would hit where we were in an hour, based on how visible the mountains were. She was right! Tomorrow we are supposed to get even more cold, wet weather and possibly snow. I'm not used to the darkness here that the cloud cover gives. I'm a tough Seattleite, so I can handle it. We are well provisioned and I've got a couple of good books to read. Let it snow!

Happy 100th Birthday, Dad!

2010-12-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

Today my father, Paul, would have turned 100. He lived to be 89 and had a full, mostly happy life as far as I could tell. If he were alive, I'm sure we'd celebrate by getting the whole extended family together for a duck or salmon dinner with pie for dessert and play the old Edison record player that his parents got in the early 1900's. His favorite song was "Mrs. Murphy's Chowder". I always liked "Over There" from the record collection and would also play that. We would give him Blue Nun wine to drink and he probably would start talking about the old days, meaning his youth before I was born. He often mentioned the Spanish Influenza flu epidemic of 1918 and how many of his friends at Garfield Elementary School died from it. He sometimes talked about Nov. 11 and how he got out of school early to celebrate Armistice Day, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month--the end of the War to End All Wars. He sometimes would look at his old photo album of his trip up Glacier Peak with his friends after he graduated from Everett High School. Before heading for the wilderness, the group of buddies stopped at Birch Bay. It was there that he met his first love, Josephine, who lived in Bellingham. She died a few years later of rheumatic fever. Dad was proud of his scaling Glacier Peak and referred to it often as we were growing up. He kept his ice pick and some hiking sticks from that trip until he died. He came back from that trip to face life in the Great Depression. He talked about some of the struggles of making mortgage payments on the family business. He took a job for Mr. Metzger, a business man, and chauffered him around the area. Later, when he married my mother, they spent time in Los Angeles while he worked for Metzger. Dad also liked to talk about his time at the shipyard in Everett during WWII. He gave me a "thousand dollar" bracelet that he made there. Apparently, they weren't always busy and he made it to have something to do. It always seemed to me that those war years were happy ones for my parents. They lived with my mother's parents and all seemed to get along. I don't remember Dad talking about being scared during the war or losing friend in battle. I'm sure that he must have experienced those things. He just never talked about them. Family gatherings were always the highpoints of his life. He would have enjoyed the party we would have given him!

One down, one to go

2010-12-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

My friend, Mike, inspired me to start blogging as a way to stay in touch with friends and family while gone from home. Mike is away from home again and blogging, so I want to keep up my blog more regularly to keep in touch.

We took Cliff to the airport early this morning. He always leaves early so he can still get in most of a day's work when he gets back. Vacation time is precious for him. I remember and do not miss those years when I carefully planned out each vacation day! Phil will also fly back to Seattle today, but later on. He should be getting back just in time before snow hits Seattle. Snow is also a possibility for Tucson on Friday. We have been having unseasonably warm, sunny weather for a few weeks. It's supposed to turn cold all of a sudden on Thursday and Friday as a storm system from Seattle comes our way. The difference here is that the moisture rarely sticks around for long. I can't complain about the weather here.

Getting Ready

2010-12-23T23:16:00.000-08:00

Cliff is coming tomorrow and called this afternoon to discuss meals and movies. It's good that he is a planner. Cliff wanted some input on the menu for Christmas so that he could help with the cooking. I gave him the choice of steaks or turkey, figuring that a vegan meal wouldn't cut it. He settled on steaks. We will have waffles for Christmas brunch. I shouldn't have been so surprised by his request for plans because he managed an eating club at Stanford for 2 or 3 years. He is also lining up some social activities. He wants to see a few movies while here and sent us a list of possibilities. His planning made me wonder what has happened to my own scheduling. I know I used to plan menus and meals, get us all through our daily activities, and plan some sort of social life. When did it end? I used to be more like Cliff. When did I switch to planning meals 15 minutes before dinner time?

Phil Arrives

2010-12-21T22:07:00.000-08:00

Early this morning I viewed the lunar eclipse. I was able to see it when it was almost total and looked orange. It was memorable, but only was visible a little while because clouds rolled in. It lasted longer than my glimpses of meteors, though. Larry missed out because he waited a little too long and saw the moon only filtered through the clouds. A little luck, and a little sacrifice (of sleep) made the difference in our experiences. We won't have another opportunity for an eclipse like this for 80 years. I'm glad I seized the day (or night!).

Phil arrived this afternoon. I'm not sure how we'll spend the week with him. One chore will be trying to fill his prescription at the least expensive pharmacy. He doesn't have health insurance for this month due to a quirk in the new law about coverage. We can pay Cobra for him if something big happened, but we'd rather not. If times were a little different, we could hop across the border in Mexico and have the prescription filled at a greatly reduced cost. There are lists of reputable pharmacies to go to, so I wouldn't hesitate. However, I am apprehensive about traveling in Mexico right now with the drug wars going on. I listen to the long-time residents advice to not go right now.

Waiting for the Lunar Eclipse

2010-12-20T22:55:00.000-08:00

Once again I'm waiting for a spectacular event in the sky. This time it's a lunar eclipse. Larry and I dashed out to see it start. I'm determined to stay up to see the moon when it is totally eclipsed. After all, it's the first day of winter and a full moon. The timing seems auspicious.

Meteors!

2010-12-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

Larry and I watched a meteor shower Monday night. It was beautiful! The sky around our house perhaps wasn't dark enough for the best viewing, but we still managed to see several meteors. They don't look like fireworks displays. Instead the light is a brief streak in the sky that lasts only a second or less. I couldn't help thinking that my life is like a falling star that appears suddenly in the middle of the sky and vanishes so quickly that you hardly know it's been there. The more love I give and feel, the brighter the streak I make.

Waiting for the Meteor Shower

2010-12-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

It's been over a month since I last posted an entry to my blog. I don't have any good excuses. I just got out of the habit of writing. Tonight Larry and I are waiting until midnight to go outside to watch the meteor shower, so I figured I'd summarize what I have been doing. My purpose in writing this blog is to let family and friends know what Larry and I have been doing and what challenges we face. I'm thinking that there is an outside chance that my grandchildren and future descendents may want to know something about my life even if no one else does now. I hear of books written about pioneer journals. Why not my blog in the twenty-second century? Maybe some of my mundane observations will eventually interest a future scholar or novelist.

I enjoy thinking up titles for my days. In trying to catch up, I'll start with titles for my paragraphs.

Gordon was right! My cousin Gordon is father of two. When he saw me holding baby Clifford, he remarked that parents never stop worrying about there children even when they are grown up. How true that is! Cliff had been fretting about finding a new job, both because he had been tired of his current job and also because it was going to end in March. He finally found another job which sounds great. The worry is that he told us he needed a car. We had already had preliminary discussions with him and had decided to give him one of our Priuses. However, the problem has been how to get the Prius in Wallingford down to him in SF. It was obvious that he did not want to fly up and drive it down. He also got pretty sick with tonsillitis and needed to rest. We finally decided to find an auto transport company to move it for us. The only problem with that is deciding on a reputable one. We soon found that there are hundreds of companies and that the decision was not so easy. We finally decided to go with a broker in Tucson so that I could have face-to-face contact if things didn't go smoothly. Penny is helping with the loading in Seattle. Things are still in process, but we aren't worried yet. Phil has been struggling to finish college. It looks like he can make it, but needed to take a couple of incompletes in his final classes. He is busy moving out of his apartment in Bellingham and into our townhouse in Wallingford, as planned.

A dozen TV's! Larry and I started out with a simple plan to replace our older technology televisions with hi-def ones as a little luxury to celebrate retirement. We had a general shopping strategy to first check out Costco, which always has a great return policy. We found TV's number 1-3 in our first round. We got a 46" Samsung for the great room plus two 32" Westinghouses for the bedrooms. We didn't like the Westinghouse ones, so brought them back. We discovered a special on a 46" Visio, so returned the Samsung to save a considerable amount of money. We ended up hating the Visio and started looking for another 46" TV. We were impressed by the 3D Samsung at Best Buy, but thought it was too pricey until we found the same TV on Amazon for a great price. We ordered it in a bundle. That TV appeared too dark, which made us think that something was wrong with it. Amazon graciously agreed to send another one. In the mean time, the 3D kit came. We discovered that we got headaches from using the 3D glasses and decided we couldn't keep the bundle or the TV and returned them all. We kept looking for a great picture and decided the Sharp was worth a try. We bought one for a good price in an open box at Ultimate Electronics. When we got the TV home, we discovered that it didn't have a remote control or power cord and a few other things. We took it back and was given a brand new one. In case you've lost count--that is TV number six for the great room. Fortunately, Number Six is the charm. It seems to be working well and has a nice picture. Now the bedroom TV story--Costco took back the 2 Westinghouses. We ordered Hannspree's from Costco.com instead because of their stellar ratings and inexpensive prices. However, I had a problem ordering with my new credit card. I got frustrated after multiple attempts and finally had Larry order the 2 TV's. It turns out that both my order for 2 TV's and Larry's order for 2 TV's went through. 4 televisions arrived for us on the same truck. We took 2 back to the warehouse, of course. The total count for the bedroom TV's is 6. Out of the 12 that we purchased, we did keep 3, so only sent back 9. We really were not trying to be difficult customers. We just had a hard time evaluating the TV's in the stores. The pictures really do look different at home with various sources for pictures and stores seem to compete with each other to have favorable return policies to make it easy to try out the sets at home.

Heat Wave in December! Larry has reminded me several times not to gloat about our weather here. Today hit 84 degrees. It feels great. I heard about the snow storms in different parts of the country and am thankful for our beautiful weather. I just love walking around without a jacket.

Lists! I've been in the making lists and finishing up projects mode for the past few days. It always makes me feel like I've accomplished something when I go down a list and check things off. Today I finished incomplete sewing projects, wrote Christmas cards, and worked on our calendar.

I'm getting sleepy now as the hour approaches for star gazing. I think I will sign off. Tomorrow I'll report on what we see.

A Day Off from Retirement

2010-11-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

We have been so busy this week that Larry declared that tomorrow would be his day off from retirement. I may follow his lead. We both have been trying to forge connections in the community here. Larry has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, has started going to a bridge club, and has joined me in shopping for new televisions. I have attended ASG meetings, started taking line dancing lessons and yoga at the recreation center, have attended volunteer tutor training, and have done some serious sewing. I just checked out a novel from the library and think I'll join Larry and sit and read most of the day.

I have read about the Technology Sabbath movement, where people go off line, turn off cell phones, and televisions for one day a week. I know that could be good for me, but I'm not quite there yet. I have lived far more days without computers and cell phones than with them and remember what it was like. I played music, cooked, and read books more. Maybe I'll try TS next week.

What Were They Thinking of!!

2010-11-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

Our house in Tucson has a romantic sounding street address: Placita de la Intriga, or "place of intrigue." When it was likely that we would want to buy our house, I was thankful that we didn't have young children who would have to learn how to spell the address, but didn't think much more of it. Now I am ready to petition for a change of street name! Here's the trouble. It turns out that not only Kindergarteners and first graders have trouble with the spelling. I often have to spell out the street when giving out my address. It's spelled like it sounds, except the Spanish worries people. It's not as easy as 3433 119th to spell out, by any means.

The real problem with our street name has just become obvious to us. Our street address is about 25 characters long in a text field in a computer program. We just tried to order something from Costco.com and couldn't because their program would not accept such a long address. Our credit card company was worried that we were victims of fraud when they noticed our attempt to place our order to our AZ address. It took multiple phone calls and a couple of hours to get the business straightened out. At the end, a Costco.com employee told me just to place my orders over the phone because nothing could be done to correct the problem with our long address!

Tucson vs. Vitamix?

2010-11-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

I've been filling up my psychic space with trivial decisions. I've been missing certain things from Seattle, and have been trying to obtain the equivalencies here. I have missed having a good blender for making sauces and smoothies. Smoothies taste great when it's hot out. Our old blender here in Tucson just doesn't perform like our Vita-mix in Seattle. I started my shopping for a new blender with the energy I used to put into writing a research paper for school. Now the difference is that I have the internet available with many, many resources. There is quite a thread on-line on Vita-mix vs. Blendtec, with no clear winner that I could see. My favorite place to buy appliances and most non consumables is Costco. So, naturally, I started looking at what Costco had. The first day I looked at our local warehouse, they did not have a super blender, meaning a Vita-mix or Blendtec. I went home and did some research about road shows for both brands and found that Blendtec was going to be at the Tucson Costco starting Nov. 5. I went there expecting to watch a demonstration and found that they had both blenders for the same price. I decided to try the Blendtec and have been happily making smoothies and soup ever since. Time will tell which blender I'll prefer.

This experience of Vita-mix vs. Blendtec makes me think of Tucson vs. Seattle. We are slowly trying to evaluate whether we want to live in one place or the other or continue as snowbirds. We won't make such a decision for at least a couple of years, but are doing our research. We have nice, but modest homes in both places. In fact, the square footage is equivalent. Both neighborhoods are walkable, although Wallingford is a little more urban. Shopping is easy. There are good recreational opportunities in both places. Seattle has Greenlake to walk around. Tucson has Sabino Canyon. Seattle has more restaurants that interest me, but Tucson has some that make us happy. Seattle's opera house is much nicer than Tucson's venue for opera,but Tucson does have a respectable opera season. Both places have good opportunities for volunteer work. Both have ASG and bridge clubs. One has lots of sunshine, the other has 4 seasons with fairly moderate temperatures. Seattle has our old friends and family. Tucson has potential for new friends and our family members and friends often come to visit. I'm glad that Larry and I are in agreement that we don't have to make any decisions about living arrangements any time soon!

Something Old, Something New

2010-11-04T22:50:00.000-07:00

Today I was busy, but satisfying. I attended an ASG Neighborhood Group sit-and-sew session, where I enjoyed the company of 4 women I met last year. They made me feel welcome and reminded me of my sewing friends in Seattle. I worked on a shrug and managed to complete it. The group liked it enough to suggest that I teach a session on it. I may be on the program for April! I will get together with the group again in less than 2 weeks when we have a more traditional NG meeting.

Tonight I went to a yoga class at Udall Regional Park. I was pleasantly surprised. I suppose I was expecting more of an exercise class like I took there a couple of years ago. This teacher, Cheryl, was a more classic yoga teacher in the Hatha tradition. Her focus was on body awareness, not exercise. I can practice Iyengar style at home, then participate in her class for a new experience and to meet some new people.

Double Day

2010-11-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

Life's little pleasures come along now and then. I'm still learning about shopping here and discovered Sunshine Market. I went there to replenish our old spices and bulk foods as well as to try their produce. Their specials overlap on Wednesdays, so I did pretty well cost wise. The quality seems to be pretty good. It isn't PCC, which now has beautiful stores, but it will do in Tucson. I found another double pleasure. I had a massage at Cortiva Institute. They asked for volunteers for a second session. I stayed and had two hours of massage therapy--I felt loose the rest of the day!

Pinging

2010-11-02T21:13:00.000-07:00

Larry and I have been in Tucson for a week now and are feeling more settled. We are sticking to our plan to check out volunteer opportunities early on. Larry went to an orientation for Habitat for Humanity this afternoon. I'm going to an orientation session for a tutoring program for schools next week. I also have a sit-and-sew session to attend this week, along with a yoga class at the recreation center that I signed up for. We want to make some connections here and hope that these things will help.

I've been trying to take care of some little things around the house and find that my mind is pinging away. I keep thinking of one more thing to do while I'm working on something else. I wonder if modern technology has made it more likely for this to happen. I keep looking up one thing, then another on the internet. I think once I'm settled in more and down to a routine that I'll become more focused.

We are trying to sell our big TV that we are replacing in the living room. A potential buyer came today and left a deposit. I hope he'll come back. We are going to have our faithful handyman reconstruct our entertainment center to accommodate our new equipment. It should be nice when it's finished.

Our big news, though, is that we discovered a new resident on our property, a snake! It apparently lives in holes in the ground in front of the house. We've seen it a few times. It is small and does not have rattles. I would like to know for sure if it is poisonous but figure it probably isn't. In the mean time, we watch our step as we walk on the path out front.

Settling in Again

2010-10-30T20:46:00.001-07:00

Larry and I arrived in Tucson on Tuesday afternoon. We received a warm greeting from our neighbor Bud as soon as we pulled in our driveway. That felt good. The only reluctance I have had in wintering in Tucson is being away from our friends in WA. Having neighbors that care about us here in AZ helps. We have been bustling around ever since we arrived here. We were relieved to find the house in great shape and set about locating where we left things. I thought I was being careful when making shopping lists to check for what we had on hand. We ended up buying Costco sized duplicates of a few things that we ended up returning. We both have found some volunteer opportunities to explore and are planning on how to coordinate use of the car. Yesterday our big excursion was to go to the Marana Costco to buy a new TV for the great room. We wanted newer technology and found a LED TV that we liked. Our handyman, Josh, came over and will remodel the entertainment center a little for it.

Today we attended the Tucson Rally to Preserve Sanity that Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert were hosting in WA DC. It was held at the Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson. The old hotel is lovely and made a pleasant setting for the event held on an outside patio. There was a big screen TV set up with speakers that we sat around. The event was well attended with probably 200 or so there.

I sat down at my computer to investigate hiking groups around town. There are at least a couple that sound promising. I got a little concerned, though. I browsed through articles written by club members to get an idea of what they were about. I found a few articles about mountain lion encounters at Sabino Canyon. In previous years, I have hiked up and down the tram road at Sabino Canyon thinking that it was a safe, well-peopled road that would be free from scarey wildlife encounters. Apparently, it isn't this year. A family of 4 mountain lions has been reported as being in the area. One hiker wrote that he was on the road last week and saw a lion just 10 feet away. The lion and he just stared at each other for a couple of minutes. When the lion started to growl, the hiker started blowing a whistle, which eventually scared the lion away. I'm going to buy a whistle before I go hiking again. I also think I will stick to hiking in a group.

I'm Back!

2010-10-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

After a long hiatus, I decided that I better start blogging again so family and friends can see what we're up to. We are making our way back to Tucson much the same way as last year. Two important changes are that Larry is now retired and that we have sold our house in Bellevue. I'll give a summary of some of the highlights of our trip. I'm giving some mundane details about our route, where we stayed, and where we ate so that we can use this information for future travels. Sorry if it's boring!

On day 1 of our return journey we managed to pack up our Prius and head off to Ashland at 9:20. I was really hoping to travel lightly, but we kept thinking of things that would come in handy, such as Christmas ornaments, music,extra clothes, and ice cream maker. Plus, we are taking a half dozen paintings made by Larry's aunt and mother for his nephew in Tucson. Our Prius is full! The drive to Ashland was uneventful and beautiful. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather. We arrived at the Windmill Inn by 5:00, checked in, then headed for downtown to get in a little walk before dinner We discovered that the Lithia Park had a pleasant walking trail, so were able to walk by the river at dusk before having a great dinner at Sesame restaurant. We were told that there were no plays on Mondays. However, as we were walking along the street toward our car, we saw a group of people waiting in front of the Black Swan Theater. I asked a man what they were waiting for and he explained that there was a free performance open to the public in a few minutes. Larry and I decided to go for it. It turned out to be a play with music in a modern mode. The acting and music were memorable. It was called The (Un)fortunates. I tried to look up more about it on line afterward, but couldn't find any notes.

The next morning we headed out for San Francisco. Once again we had a beautiful, uneventful drive. We left around 9:00 and made it to The City around 3:30. We stayed in the same house in NOPA as in January. This time instead of renting the whole house, we did it B&B style. The owners were pleasant to talk to and we learned more about the neighborhood. The beds were comfortable, we had off-street parking, and they let us unload our stuff in their garage. Highlights of our 3 night stay were playing trivia with Cliff and his friends at a local bar, going out for a celebratory dinner hosted by Cliff at a wonderful restaurant called The Plant Cafe, having lunch with friend Anita at a Thai restaurant called Osha, having dinner with friends Richard and Gloria at NOPA, and having lunch with cousin Lee in Berkeley. Larry, unfortunately, came down with a cold and needed to take it easy at the end of our stay in SF, but we still managed to walk a lot. We went on a walking tour of Victorian houses around Alamo Square and were amazed at the variety and complexity. We had a real treat when the owner of one, Richard Reutlinger, led our group on a tour of his house which was restored inside and out. The furnishings, woodwork, and wallpaper were amazing, with every detail appropriate for the time. In his lower level, he had a collection of mechanical pianos and music machines from the early 1900's, including a violana, a combination player violin and piano. Richard played a few instruments for us--remarkable!

We left SF for Palo Alto on Friday afternoon. We stayed at the Super 8 Motel in PA, which actually is a nice place. We had a one bedroom suite with a little kitchen and found the accommodations clean and comfortable. Originally Cliff was going to stay with us, but changed his plans when he found out that his girlfriend wanted to come to Homecoming activities with him, plus Larry came down with a bad cold. I was happy that Larry could relax in a separate room as he was sniffling and coughing. We picked up Cliff and Tracy at the Millbrae BART station, then all went to the Stanford Stadium for the Homecoming football game against WSU. We made it in time to tailgate with a couple of friends from our Stanford in Germany group. I enjoyed catching up with Alan M., who has moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon and with Lance L. and his wife, who was just a contestant on Millionare. She was sworn to secrecy about how she did, but told us her segment would air the day after Christmas. Her story was inspiring to Larry. I know he would love to get on the show, and now he has a better idea of what is involved. We bought tickets to the game from a scalper and ended up sitting in the heart of WSU territory. Although I really didn't know what was going on in the game, I did appreciate the energy and am glad that Stanford won. I had dinner with Cliff, Tracy, her brother, and some of their other friends at a restaurant called Baklava. It was excellent. Tracy is a good conversationalist and talked more about her life and how much she enjoyed talking to Cliff.

Sunday we had a pleasant drive down to Anaheim. We have to remember that highway 152 just N of Hollister is the one we want to take to get to I-5. We had to ignore our nav system at times. It pays to look at a map to get a general sense of where to go instead of blindly trusting the nav system. We stayed at the Alpine Inn, which is within walking distance of Disneyland. We stayed there last year and liked it. This year the odor of some disinfectant spray bothered Larry, but we managed to air out our room OK. The room has been updated, was spacious, clean and comfortable. It had a little refrigerator and microwave also. It's my favorite place to stay near Disneyland. We had a pleasant surprice in restaurants. We walked over to Downtown Disneyland to look around and decided to eat at the Mexican restaurant there. It was surprisingly good. We made it back to the hotel just as light rain started to fall.

We spent a full day at Disneyland and California Adventure on Monday. Disneyland opened at 8:00 and we were there. We had planned out in advance the rides we most wanted to do and found that they were not crowded a bit for the first couple of hours. Closer to noon the park started filling up, so we had to wait some in line. We then went to CA around 2:30. I love California Soaring, so went on it a couple of times. We went on the river rafting ride and got splashed. Fortunately, it was warm enough to dry us out in short time. Larry rode CA Screaming, the roller coaster, while I sat it out. Other highlights of CA included the Aladin broadway type show, A Bugs Life, and the Wonderful World of Color light and water show after dark. We had a total of 12 hours at the parks--which was plenty!

Too Much Stuff

2010-09-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

This past week has been a busy one for me. I came back ready for action after staying with my cousins after the third spraying for mites. I moved up my sewing stash again. This time it is smaller since I gave even more away. I also moved up my clothes, again finding more room than the first time around because I thinned things down. We went to IKEA and got an underbed chest so I could get my shoes out of the way. We also got Phil a chest of drawers so he won't have to put his clothes on the floor when he visits. We also hung some art. As Phil said when he visited, "It looks like you down-sized. You have art everywhere I turn my head. It's a little too much for my taste." On the other hand, friends Mike and Florence came over, helped hang a few things, and said that they liked the art because it reminded them of our house in Bellevue and the many good times we had together there. We then emptied out the self-storage unit, which took about 7 carloads to accomplish. That stuff had to go into our garage. Then, of course, I had to sort through things and stack up boxes. My goal was to have our remaining things stored in the garage with enough room for one car to park. It took awhile, but I managed. Neither Larry nor I had enough motivation to try to thin down our possessions even more right now, but we both know that will have to happen in the future. What is in the dozens of boxes stacked in our garage? Photo albums, books, school papers, things that we made, Cliff and Phil's stuff, the Villeroy and Boch dishes I like so well, but don't manage to use very often, the crystal, a few vases, bedding, and many framed photos and paintings that we don't have room to display. When I look at it, I think that we still have too much stuff. But I also give myself permission to take time to continue the down-sizing process--and I also tell myself that I have done a good job so far.

I read somewhere that someone is putting on a one-man show about the things that people save and what they throw away. There is definitely a psychology to this. I think that it is OK to hold onto some items from your past, but not to the extent that they keep you from enjoying the present.

A Taste of Adventure

2010-09-01T09:04:00.001-07:00

I have been feeling guilty about not blogging recently, so decided to do something about it. We are still dealing with the mite problem and most of my stuff is bagged up in the garage. Friday, hopefully, will be the last spraying for mites. I'm really looking forward to becoming more settled here at the townhouse, but there always seems to be something that comes up to derail my plans to unpack. The lastest unsettling event was having our refrigerator go out on Friday. The management company didn't deem it enough of an emergency to have the repair person come on the weekend. He came late in the afternoon on Tuesday, didn't have the component he needed for the repair, and promised to come today (Wednesday). We lost most of our food. Our good neighbor Phil graciously agreed to let us use one of his refrigerator shelves. We couldn't save everything, though. The appliances in these townhouses are low-end builder basics and are notoriously unreliable. A number of neighbors have already had their refrigerators go out, so it's not just bad luck on our part. The appliances are only 5 years old, which makes it sad that a company like GE doesn't make dependable products anymore. At least we don't have to pay for the repairs--being renters has advantages.

Now back to the topic of my title--our 18-year-old cat Tally got a taste of freedom on Saturday night. Larry and I went out for a little walk and didn't close our front door tightly. Tally went outside when it blew open. Back in Bellevue in recent years he never would go out the door, even when he had the chance. We thought he wouldn't go out here in Wallingford either. We are happy that Phil was at the house, discovered the open door, and started looking for him. We wouldn't have noticed for hours otherwise since Tally sleeps a lot in odd places. At any rate, after Larry and I joined him in a half-hour of frantic searching, Phil found Tally in our neighbor's yard, where he was looking around. Tally has been pawing at the front door every day since his adventure. He sits in our window, looking at the backyard, commenting now and then about how much fun it is to be there. We are wondering if he'll ever forget his adventure and are now very careful to close the door. Is Wallingford that much more exciting than Bellevue? Is Tally showing us that in our older years we can always find adventure if we enter doors that are open to us? Perhaps our old cat can teach us a thing or two about how to live.

A Lazy August Day

2010-08-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

Actually, it hasn't been such a lazy August day. I've been spending a few days with my cousins, Joanne and Gordon, in LaConner while we wait for the insecticide to dissipate. The exterminators came to our townhouse on Friday to do a second spraying to eliminate the bird mites. We all left for 3 nights to minimize exposure to it. The first time around we seemed to do OK returning after 3 nights away, so we are repeating that. I am grateful to my cousins for taking me in again. It is beautiful here in LaConner. We are right on the water, the Swinomish Channel, and can watch the boats go by. The weather turned sunny--it probably has reached 90 degrees in this afternoon. There is a pleasant breeze here, so the heat isn't too bad.

I can always count on getting enough exercise when I visit my cousins. Joanne swims almost every day with her friend, Aleta, at Shelter Bay. I joined them last night, then again this morning. The three of us do a series of water exercises for an hour. We do both aerobic and strength training. Tomorrow we'll swim in the morning to avoid the crowds when the sun heats up. Joanne and I also went to visit Cousin Charlie where he works at a bookstore in Mt. Vernon. He seems very happily employed there. We toured the Mt. Vernon farmers' market as well as the rest of the downtown area. We went on to visit Joanne's friend Betsy, then the Burlington Mall, and finally Costco. Joanne says she hasn't had time to sit down and read for a long time. I believe her. Tonight we'll relax by watching a video.

Son Phil successfully finished his quarter at WWU and got moved out of his apartment. He's going to be renting another, smaller apartment while he attends fall quarter there. Tally will be able to join him. Phil is getting oriented to Seattle. His questions about getting around the city remind me that we never did spend much time there as a family as he was growing up. He avoided going over the bridge from Bellevue to Seattle. I understand. I often would not go into Seattle for weeks when we were living in Bellevue. It feels more like home for us because we lived there before.

Lunch with Renate

2010-08-09T20:38:00.001-07:00

Today I got together with an old friend, Renate. She and I worked together for 11 years as psychologists in the preschool program at Lake WA Schools. We faced many challenges together and had fun together working with a dynamic team of specialists. She is going to work just one more year before retiring. We talked over old times, our friends and family. For a little while I missed working, but not for long. She talked about how hard it has been to keep up with the work load. That reminded me of why I retired.

Update on Project 60. Yesterday I found 7 pieces of fabric totaling 12yds. to donate to the ASG yardage sale. When I finally can put away my fabric stash in my loft, I am likely to find more. I did go through some sewing books today and found 13 books to get rid of. Instead of giving them to the ASG sale, I may see if son Phil wants to sell them on ebay. I checked and saw some of the titles listed. Next I'm ready to start in with my clothing in bags in the garage.

Project 60 Day 2

2010-08-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

Alas! I thought I was going to have to struggle a bit to find 60 things to donate. Here I'm into Day 2 of my project and I've pretty much reached my goal. I went to work on the fabric in the garage, all clean and transformed. In just 2 hours I found 38 things from my stash to donate to the ASG yardage sale: 17 patterns and 21 pieces of fabric. The total yardage for today is 51 yards. Just like our other possessions that I gave away to family, I find it easy to donate fabric that will go to friends and people who will appreciate it. As friend Helen G. pointed out, I can always visit it again at the sale and can even buy it back if I miss it. I have decided to take a lesson from a marathon runner I met on Diamond Head a day before the Honolulu Marathon. He had run marathons in every state and had even started to run marathons on every continent, including Antarctica. I asked him what he was going to do once he met his goals. He said with no hesitation that he would just start all over again. That is what I'll do. Now that I've reached 60 things after only going through about 1/5th of my possessions, I will just keep going and see how many times I reach 60. There are 3 possessions that I do plan to take great care in donating--my mother's wedding dress, my wedding dress, and my great aunt's china cabinet. I will work with the Snohomish County Museum on those items.

I spent last night in the loft upstairs that had the only visible mite infestation. We have not seen any mites there at all, but they are hard to spot. I wanted to see if I would get bitten during the night. I did get 1 bite, which isn't too bad. I was hoping for none, though. I'm thinking that the second spraying of insecticide in 10 days is probably necessary, although I have reservations about using such products. I'm going to sleep on the lower level until after the second treatment. If there are still mites after that, then we need to consult again with the pest control expert. By the end of this month, I hope that our lives will be back to normal and that the loft will be useable. It should, in fact, be better than the first time I moved my things in. I am thinning down enough things to make it less cluttered.

Project 60

2010-08-05T21:12:00.001-07:00

I am working on my Project 60. I'm going to donate 60 things in honor of my turning 60. I've gotten off to a good start. Today I took about 30 things to the Goodwill. I think I might go over my goal. Here is a photo of what I took in. My donations include hangers (about 20 padded), a small set of silverplate flatware, 3 salt and pepper shakers, 3 lamps, 1 picture frame, 2 extension cords, a laundry basket, 3 sheets, a set of towels, a plastic storage bin, 2 mixing bowls, 1 casserole dish, 1 pizza stone, 3 clock radios, a reading lamp, a cooking pot, and a mattress pad. I appear to be half-way to my goal now, and that isn't even counting the hangers or silverware individually. I will get going on my clothes and fabric to complete my special project.

Back at Home

2010-08-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

I said good-bye to my cousins at noon, then headed back to Seattle. I had a great weekend with them and felt refreshed. Highlights of the weekend included going swimming with Joanne and her friend at Shelter Bay, attending my little cousin Josie's 5th birthday party, watching a bicycle rider attempt to go 1,000 K in 24 hours, waffles for breakfast, movies at night, and a few long walks. Sunday we went to Bellingham, parked at Fairhaven, then walked on a trail to the downtown area. We had beautiful views all along the way. Afterward, we had dinner at Busara, a Thai restaurant near Phil's that has never disappointed me. This morning Joanne took me on a walk with Rita and Louise, her two old friends while Gordon went off to the gym. We went to Padilla Bay, then to the Farmhouse for coffee. The weather was beautiful and the company charming.

Now that I'm back at the townhouse, I'm busy trying to get our lives back in order. We still have to leave our bags of clean clothes in the garage until after the second spraying in a couple of weeks. I'm trying to pull out only what we need in the short-term. So far the smell inside is tolerable and I haven't seen any live mites. I'm eager to put this behind me!

More on the Edison Apartments

2010-07-31T21:59:00.000-07:00

I just checked on the story about the killing of the landlady at the Edison Apartments. There was a candle light vigil for the landlady there that was attended by 100 people or so. She must have been a remarkable person to have had so many people care about her. I didn't read about any calls for vengence for the poor demented man who killed her. I hope he is getting the help he needs and that the system he slipped through is being reviewed.

I'm staying with cousins Joanne and Gordon for a few days. We, of course, talked about the events at the Edison. She located an old Everett News newspaper saved by our grandparents dated October 2, 1928. The first page headlines were, Edison Apartments are Sold." Here is what the text says. I'm copying it in case we lose the copy of the paper again.

Colby Avenue Apartment is Purchased by J.A. Mathews (misspelled)
New Brick Building Erected by Rudolph Hartmann in 1926.
Property Changes Hands for Figure Between $55,000 and $60,000

Negotiations for the purchase of the Edison apartment house at Colby and 24th Street by J.A. Matthews, who already owned an apartment at 2606 Rockefeller, have been completed, according to announcement made yesterday. Mr. Mathews will take possession of the property on November 1.

The Edison was sold by Rudolph Hartmann who built it in 1926. It is a three story and basement brick veneer structure and contains 18 apartments. Everything modern was put into the Edison by Mr. Hartmann and it has been tenanted to the limit ever since it was completed.

The purchase price was between $55,000 and $60,000.

Mr. Hartmann also is the owner of the Windsor apartments on Hoyt, adjoining which at 2620 is his home.

In the same block he is now razing a frame structure at 2614 Hoyt, which is one of the old landmarks of Everett.

My grandparents had such high hopes going into the business! Imagine the trouble that followed just one year later with the great crash of October, 1929. Joanne, who is 11 years older, remembers my grandmother talking about the heartache of trying to keep the business afloat. She said the teachers who stayed there really helped them because of their steady income. Apparently my grandfather had lost his pension from the railroad and became a dedicated Republican over that experience. Somehow the family made it through the Great Depression and kept the Edison. My grandparents sold it to my parents, who owned and operated it until they retired. My family members owned the Edison for close to 50 years.

Joanne and I are going to look at wedding dresses next. Barb from the Museum of History said that she is interested in a mother/daughter exhibit of wedding dresses. We want to put together documents and photos to go along with the dresses.

Transformation-Surprise

2010-07-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

This has been a week for me to think about how to handle stress. Larry and I have had to get ready for the pest control folks to come spray our townhouse for the mite invasion. We were instructed to wash all of our clothes and textiles and seal them up in bags in the garage. They also suggested that we keep them there until after the second pesticide application in 10-14 days. It helped a little that I already had thinned down my clothes before we moved. Larry did the same. I also donated old towels and bedding. However, I sew and have a fabric stash that has been stored one wall over from "ground zero"--the site of the most obvious infestation of mites. That meant that I needed to wash all of it along with our clothes. I needed a good laundromat to make a success of it. To my surprise, I found the perfect place! Just a couple of miles away from us is a very special laundromat called Transformation-Surprise,. It is run by followers of Sri Chinmoy, who blessed it himself during a visit a few years ago. It is full of positive energy. The woman who works there helped me unload my car, figure out which washers to use for what, how much laundry powder was needed, and which dryers were best. The place is very clean, which I appreciated when I dropped clean clothes on the floor. It has free vegan cookies and filtered water and pleasant, soft music playing in the background. I couldn't have imagined a nicer laundry. I left there with a feeling of gratitude.

This experience of 2 solid days of doing laundry led me to think through successful ways to handle stress. I found that it helped to break the job down into smaller parts, instead of focusing on the whole job. In other words, I tried to focus on the "now" instead of what I had to do for the rest of the day. At the laundromat, I got to know some of the fellow customers in addition to the lovely attendant. We helped each other pass the time and make light of the work. I had an enjoyable conversation with a women doing a month's worth of clothing for her family. She had just moved to town and finally got around to finding a laundromat. She told me about her challenges and dreams. In most situations, you can find something positive if you look for it.

In addition to "living in the now" as a good way to cope, I also asked family for help. We couldn't stay in our house after spraying for at least one night, maybe two. Both sister Penny and cousin Joanne were happy to issue invitations to us. Larry decided to stay in Seattle with Penny, while I left town for a stay with cousins Joanne, Gordon, and their grandson Charlie. On the drive up to LaConner, I had time to decompress and think about all the textiles I handled. I decided that I should give myself a special birthday gift--I will give away 60 more things to celebrate turning 60. It should be easy. I don't need all my fabric stash and clothing. Instead of moving it upstairs again from the garage, I will donate 60 pieces from it. It is nice and clean now. I want to keep living with less.

Still Itchin'

2010-07-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

Suzy said she wanted pictures, so here you go! It's my upper back after 3 days of treatment with anti-inflamatory medication. Actually, today (day 4 of medication) my back looks better. Today another pest control specialist came to look at our situation. He agreed with me right away that we have mites. They are tiny spiders about the size of the dot of this "i". They bite people and crawl all over the place. These critters probably came in along with the birds that were nesting in a vent before we moved in. I didn't think about it until I started getting bit. At any rate, now we know for sure what the problem is. Our property manager seems willing and ready to help. The owner is obligated to pay for the treatment and related expenses and hasn't given us any grief over it. Tomorrow another company is coming to size up the situation and make recommendations. They can possibly start treatment on Wednesday. I will probably go stay with sister Penny for a few days until the fogger or whatever they use settles. I'll be glad when the situation is resolved. It's become the major thing in my life right now and there are so many other fun things I could be thinking about, such as cleaning out our self-storage unit or sewing a new outfit for Larry's Special Invention Award Banquet in Sept. In spite of the infestation, I still like our townhouse and love the neighborhood. I woke up early this morning and went for a brisk walk to the vegan doughnut store. What a way to start the day!

Itchy Worries

2010-07-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

Now that we are all moved into our beautiful townhouse in an exciting neighborhood, wouldn't you know it that an unexpected problem would come up. I either have a skin rash or have been feeding insects. Perhaps both! I have had red bumps like insect bites over much of my body since about the time we moved in. I had an exterminator come to look at a couple of insect samples I caught and to check for bed bugs, but he didn't find anything. He said to consult with my doctor as a next step. I really do have at least 100 of the red bumps and they itch like crazy. I saw my doctor, as the exterminator recommended. She prescribed prednasone to reduce the inflamation. I also switched detergents to a mild perfume free one and double rinse my clothes. That seems to be helping a little. I was all set to let my mind rest about insects being the cause of my trouble. Then this morning, while wearing my glasses, I noticed a few tiny dot-like creatures crawling on my skin. One was engorged with blood. When I was troubled by fleas many years ago, the fleas were larger and seemed to jump. I have saved a couple of samples by sticking them with tape. I think I'll call another exterminator on Monday. I know that my problem might have multiple causes, but I hope we figure out what is going on pretty soon. I miss having a good night's sleep!

Wells Fargo vs BECU and Fainting Goat vs Molly Moon

2010-07-23T19:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my cousins Joanne and Gordon came to visit. We showed them how much progress we have made in unpacking and setting up our house. They acted impressed. We sat down for a visit. Joanne and I, of course, had to talk about the murder at the Edison Apartments. The Edison was part of her life, too, since our grandmother and great aunt lived there. I have some compassion for the murderer. He obviously was mentally ill--a paranoid schizophrenic. I'm guessing he really did not have control over his actions and needs to be institutionalized again. He did attack another landlady many years ago and attacked a man after that. He was on medications and appeared stable according to recent evaluations. It's hard to say if anybody is to blame in this tragedy. Sometimes the system just doesn't work. With the loss of such a good person, the urge is to blame someone. I don't know if there will be any actions taken against social services in this case. I'll be looking for follow-up, though. The landlady herself sounded like a person I would like to know. She was devoted to her family and friends and was kind and helpful to many people. She will be missed for a long time.

As a side note, this poor, troubled soul who murdered his landlady was not the only paranoid schizophrenic who lived at the Edison. My aunt Eva also lived there, where my mother patiently looked after her as best as she could. Eva wasn't diagnosed until I was in high school. We all knew that she wasn't playing with a full deck for most of her life. She married a man who ended up sexually abusing her daughter and she was not able to care for her two sons when they reached adolescence. They both ended up living in foster care on farms in the area. At any rate, she started thinking that the Russians were after her and would be afraid to stay in her apartment at times. She was mugged when she went to Clark Park to get away. She then went to a nursing home, where she died not too long afterward.

My parents also helped care for another schizophrenic--a next door neighbor who became ill after childbirth. She lived with her mother and would become violent at times. My father would restrain her to prevent her from harming her mother until the police came. He did that several times, as I recall. Maybe seeing my parents care for the mentally ill with kindness, but also with confusion, led me to study psychology.

This is turning in to a long post. Joanne told me that she read my blog recently, so I wanted to be sure to write about something. Today I had some thoughts on what is in the neighborhood. I have started really appreciating my new neighborhood bank, Wells Fargo. In Bellevue, Larry and I needed to deposit a large amount of cash and first tried doing that a BECU. The staff, who are very nice, said that they couldn't take the cash deposits themselves, but could help us use the cash machine on the premises. Larry had just had a bad experience with a cash machine eating a check he deposited and didn't relish feeding money to a machine. We rememebered that he had a joint account with his deceased aunt at Wells Fargo, which was close by. We went there, where a friendly manager was delighted to update accounts for us and took our cash, no funny business. It turns out that our nearest Wells Fargo branch in Wallingford is a block away. I don't bother using the cash machines there. I just walk in and have a friendly teller take my deposits. It's great. I have nothing against the people who work at BECU. I just don't like always having to use a machine. I'm becoming a Wells Fargo fan and am getting to know several of the tellers by sight.

Another comment on Wallingford institutions. There are two hot places to get cool ice cream/sorbet: Molly Moon's and Fainting Goat. Molly Moon's is more famous and almost always has a line of 20-30 people at the door on a summer evening. Fainting Goat also typically has lines, but not as long. Larry and I tried Fainting Goat the other night. I had sorbet and thought it was good. Larry had gelato and liked it also. Tonight we went to Molly Moon's at 5:45, thinking it would be too early for a lineup. I was right. At my age I can eat dessert first, or only, if I feel like it. Larry agreed to my plan. There was no line. He had chocolate ice cream and I had strawberry coconut milk ice cream, or is it sorbet? We thought it was pretty good, but may actually prefer Fainting Goat. Actually, I like the vice cream (vegan, made with cashews) that I make at home. It's easy and fast and no line. I'm sure we'll try both places again. Maybe my opinions will change. I should have mentioned that we had a very nice vegan coconut milk frozen dessert at Sutra, just across the street from MM. They don't do just desserts only. You have to get it with the whole meal. Still, Sutra does well!

I just found my camera and battery charger, so I will be able to take photos again.

Murder at the Edison Apartments

2010-07-18T23:32:00.001-07:00

I have been remiss about blogging recently, ever since our house was sold for real this time. At first I didn't want write about the sale because I thought I might jinx the deal. Then when it was obvious that the deal would close, we were so busy organizing the move that I didn't sit down to write. I kept thinking up good titles for my blogs, though. They include Sunny and Hot, Mazes and Skeletons, Good-bye to Spiderman, He Was Playing Real Good for Free. Sunny and Hot was the week of the move. The weather was quite warm, and we felt sunny meeting the buyer who seem to care so much about our house. He walked through the landscape with us taking notes and even said he hoped that we'd leave the basketball hoop (which has been looking a little ratty). Mazes and Skeletons would have been the day that I packed up things I saved from Cliff and Phil. They both did a series of plastic plates and cups when they attended The Little School. Cliff liked to draw mazes. Phil loved skeletons. Those plates really brought back the memories. Good-bye to Spiderman would have been the blog for the day Larry sold his comic book collection to a buyer (Terry)from CA. Terry spent a couple of days with Larry in the self-storage room going over his collection and explaning his valuations. Larry ended up feeling fine about selling. He Was Playing Real Good for Free would have been my blog for the first Sunday we were at our new townhouse in Wallingford. I was unpacking and organizing the kitchen (a huge job). I had the windows open and started to hear a neighbor playing jazz on his trumpet. What a fine experience--I knew that I wasn't in Bellevue anymore. I really like my new neighborhood. Just walking around is a treat.

Now to the experience that made me sit down to write. Murder at the Edison Apartments!! That is the apartment building in Everett that my grandparents, then parents owned and operated. I grew up there. It was always full of tenants who seemed to get along and were like family. It came as a shock to hear that a tenant (my age) got in a fight with the landlady and stabbed her. I will follow up after I learn more.

Sunny Skies

2010-06-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

It still appears that our house sale will happen. We are past the inspection process and the appraisal went fine. We also have the lease for the Wallingford townhouse, which is exciting. Now we are getting down to the more physical tasks of thinning down and packing up. We're renting a self-storage room nearby. That will make it easier to vacate by closing. We are selling a number of pieces of furniture at a consignment shop. The movers are coming tomorrow to take those pieces away. I'll make arrangments with a piano mover tomorrow. I figure that we are letting go of at least half of our possessions. It still feels like I'm packing up a lot!

Partly Sunny

2010-06-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

Today my spirits are partly sunny. Things are rolling along with the house sale, so I am feeling more and more optimistic that it's really going to happen. We have taken care of most of the 5 conditions for sale the buyers are requesting after the inspection. They are easy fixes. We also submitted an application to rent the townhouse in Wallingford that I like so much. We apparently are first in line for it. Our realtor removed the display of brochures from our house, another good sign, although she hasn't yet put up the sold sign. Next week, after the results of the appraisal come in, we're going to spread the word among our friends and relatives--those people who don't read my blog.

Phil has started to help us pack. We've talked about strategies. We will designate a parking stall or two in our garage for staging areas. We'll do the thing with three piles--one for the dump, one for Goodwill, and one to keep. We'll work on the garage, then go room by room packing and labeling so we can find things again. I'm having a woman from a furniture consignment shop come to give an estimate on what our excess furniture can bring. I'm checking with relatives to see what they want. It feels good to get going with the packing and not just going over plans in my mind.

Persistent Cloudiness

2010-06-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

I'm still in overcast mode. We've had a pending offer on our house and are waiting to hear the results of the inspection. We can't imagine that the inspector would have found anything major, but you never know. Inspectors have to find some things or they wouldn't be doing their jobs. Once we resolve inspection results, then we will really start to feel like the deal will go through. Our buyer is certainly acting like he expects it to. He set an appointment with me to walk through the property the day before closing and has asked me to see if he could park his cars on the driveway a couple of days before closing. Those are positive signs. The next big step would be the financing coming through on his part. They have sold their house already, so that shouldn't be a problem. In the mean time, I have been running through my mind on what we'll need to do to get ready for our move. We want to rent a storage room for a couple of months while we thin things down. There is a large complex of self-storage just a mile away. We want to dispose of some furniture we no longer want. I found a consignment shop that will take it. They told us we'd make more on Craigslist, but going through consignment would be easier. Finally, of course, we need to find a place to move to. I have found a townhouse for rent in Wallingford that Phil and I are excited about. Larry isn't totally on board yet. That place would be fun and should be OK for a year until we figure out the next step.

What I'm doing now is priming myself for action in my mind. I don't want to do anymore such as actually getting rid of furniture, arranging storage, committing to a lease until we find out about our deal. Fortunately, I have a few sewing activities with friends in the next few days to distract myself from my worries. That reminds me--I need to thin down my sewing stash a little more also!

Grey Times

2010-06-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I said I was going to keep blogging along because it was therapeutic. After I said that, I found myself avoiding writing. I suppose it has been that so many things seem grey to me now. My fuzzy feelings make it harder to focus. The weather has been grey. It's hard to plan to do anything outside because of the rain. Phil is full of greyness as he tries to figure out what to do with his life now. He has been staying with us off and on until the summer quarter begins. We decided to lower our asking price for our house. There is greyness there, too, since we wonder if we are doing the right thing. We did get an offer just a few days after we lowered the price. I suppose that means we are in the right price range. We just found out that our counter offer has been accepted, so our house is sold pending inspection and money coming through. Since this is the third time around for us with a pending offer, it's hard to get our hopes up. Things should be moving along briskly, though. The buyers want to move in as quickly as possible--July 9. I will start thinking about packing up and thinning things down even more now. I'm also looking at ads for townhouses in Seattle. There are some nice ones available that make it exciting to think of moving. The weather is supposed to change this weekend. Maybe then the greyness will lift off my mind.

Wet Sewing

2010-05-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

Today was fairly routine. I had Sew Lab and worked on a top in slinky that friend Sally helped me design with Pattern Master. It turned out well. I'm going to make a coordinating skirt. The group I sew with has been together so long that we remember what colors each person favors, what styles look good, preferred hemlines, and even what patterns each other has made. This group knowledge is helpful. If I want advice on something, I know who to turn to. That is true for more that sewing knowledge, too.

I have been watching the biomass explode here at the house. With our long, wet days the weeds have really taken off. I haven't been out weeding in the cold and rain. It will take lots of work to get on top of things again when the sun comes out. I'll enjoy my sewing in the mean time.

May Storm

2010-05-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

I have not had the chance to blog much recently. I was busy with the cooking school for two weeks, then had to get caught up with things around the house. I miss writing daily. It is a good way to make sense out of life. In school I learned the value of always summarizing at the end the points I tried to make in lessons and talks. That is what people are likely to think about when they leave. Blogging is like that for me, so I'm going to try to write more regularly.

I suppose the most significant thing that has happened since my last entry is that a friend of ours, Ken, died. He was just six years older than me and died of prostate cancer. He lived a good life, had a loving family, lots of children and grandkids, and many friends. He had a great sense of humor and always seemed to be available when friends needed a helping hand. He went out with style, accepting his fate, surrounded by people who cared for him. His memorial service was special, like his life. It was at the Ballard Elks lodge, right on Shilshole Bay--a gorgeous setting. Over 200 people attended. First, his family presented a slide show of Ken and family and friends. Then people told stories about him. Finally, we ate, drank, and were merry as he had requested. It reminded me of a wedding, but nobody danced. It was a special send-off for a special person!

I guess Ken's service made me imagine what my friends and family might say about me when I'm gone. I'm thinking that keeping this blog is a way for me to pass on some thoughts and a record of who I am. My sons and husband don't read my blog now, they say, but some day they might want to look back and think about what I have to say about these days.

Vegan Cooking School

2010-05-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

I have started attending a two-week vegan cooking school sponsored by "Vegan Fusion". I found out about it after I signed up to be on the mailing list for Blossoming Lotus Restaurant in Kauai. This was my favorite restaurant and we went there four times the last time we were there. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed 1-1/2 years ago. The chef, Mark, has spent his time writing cookbooks and teaching. He has started traveling and teaching. This is his second 10-day comprehensive workshop. We are meeting in the kitchen at Fremont Abbey. It is a quaint facility compared to PCC Cooks--the cooking school where I volunteer. However, it works most of the time. There are 8 participants. Four of us are local, four have come from far away to attend class: Colorado, Eastern Canada, the Caribbean, and France via Vancouver, B.C. The three who have traveled the farthest are professional chefs. Two work on yachts. It's fun hearing their stories about life as a cook on a yacht. The other professional does catering in Colorado. My cooking partner, Marie, is originally from France and often speaks French with the other professionals. I could pretend I'm Julia Child at the Cordon Bleu.

Mark begins each session by having us prep the vegetables for the day, to clean and chop them according to the recipes. Then each of the 4 teams of 2 cooks a recipe from the class manual with Mark's help. He explains variations that can work. We have made some wonderful, creamy things. So far we have made soups, salads and dressings, and beans and grain dishes. My favorite things include Shitake Sea Vegetable Chowder, Coconut Vegetable Soup, Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing, Carob Mole Dressing, and Asparagus Risotto. Many of these recipes have used coconut milk and ground up nuts for thickening. Soy sauce, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast are also used liberally. Many more treats are to come!

Dueling Nice People

2010-05-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

I have met many friendly, helpful people in Tucson. Most of the behavior that annoys me has been in traffic. Even that hasn't been as bad this last trip in May. There seems to be less congestion with fewer snowbirds. Last week in Tucson I went to Pier 1 Imports. I got in the check-out line with a couple of people in front of me and a couple behind. The lady being helped had a complicated return, so the checker asked for an additional checker to come open up another lane. When she arrived, I stepped aside so the person in front of me could go to the new lane. She said, "No, that's OK. I'm not in a hurry." I told her I didn't mind and that she was first. We went back and forth a few times, then finally I went first, saying that I appreciated her thoughtfulness. I remembered an old saying, "Never deny another person the opportunity to do a good deed."

I was in a grocery store in Kirkland the other day. Two new check-out lanes opened while I was standing in a long line. The people behind me rushed to be helped in the new lanes, ignoring me. I missed Tucson then and the slower pace that I have usually found!

What You Wish For

2010-04-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

It all started with my great new low tech watch. I told everybody how wonderful it is and how much I liked the retro analog numbers and just one button to set the time. You get the idea--beauty in simplicity. I must have offended the technology gods, though. We are on vacation in Tucson now. I brought along my great new watch, of course, along with my Ipod I Touch and notebook computer. We got off the plane then picked up our rental car with Enterprise. They gave us an upgrade over the compact I had reserved--we were given a cute Mazda 3. I was happy. As we drove away, I tried to roll down the windows. I discovered the car had hand cranks. When we stopped at the store, I looked for the button to push to lock up. I discovered we had to lock each door separately. The car took me back 20 years! I began to worry that the technology gods were laughing at me.

When we got to our house in Tucson I discovered that my notebook computer screen would not light up. Apparently the inverter which provides power to the screen isn't working right. We had been planning on using it to stream Netflix with our fast internet connection. Instead of relying on a DVR, I was also planning on keeping up with my TV shows via Hulu. Fortunately, I have a service contract for my computer. Unfortunately, to get it serviced, I have to take it to the shop in Renton when we get back. When we discovered that my computer was sick, I thought I could easily make do with my I touch for internet browsing and e-mail. We discovered that my I touch was not working properly and would not stay logged on to our secure wifi. After numerous phone calls, I ended up taking it to the Apple store in Tucson. They very nicely helped me and reset my i touch. We couldn't test our Wifi until I got home, of course. We discovered that it still didn't work. I ended up going back to the Apple store. They very nicely traded my old I touch for a new one. This time the Wifi worked back at our house. The upside to this experience is that I got familiar with a fancy shopping mall I hadn't been to before, La Encantada. I also got to play with the I Pad in the Apple store, which was fun. I especially liked the astronomy app--being able to hold the screen up to the sky and see what constellations are visible. The people in the Apple store were very nice and made the frustrating technology experience as pleasant as possible. The down side was relatively minor. I just couldn't download any audio books to my I pod.

This whole experience made me feel like I'm hooked on modern technology more than I may want to admit to myself. I started chanting frequently, "technology is great, " with the hope that my luck with technology would change. It apparently did. Enterprise contacted me and asked to exchange our first rental with a newer model, a Kia compact that was loaded. I now have new appreciation for the automatic windows and the keyless entry. My I pod has been working well and helps me keep in touch, plus look up the movie times and other attractions here. I miss the ability to access media over a computer and to surf the web on a bigger screen. It's also hard to type--I have to hunt and peck with the I pod. At any rate, I am now careful what I wish for especially when it comes to technology!

Bellevue vs. Tucson, Part 2

2010-04-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

A friend asked me the other day which place we liked better, Bellevue or Tucson. When I was in Tucson, the pluses there seemed to outweigh the minuses. The climate was lovely, the pace of life was easier, the neighbors very friendly, the opportunities for new adventure were numerous. Now that we're back in Bellevue, I'm remembering many pluses for being here. The big one is the history with and level of intimacy with friends and family here. Almost every day I go out and do things with friends that I've known at least for a few years. That makes a difference. I always have someone to talk to about anything. I work on volunteer projects and have status in those organizations (ASG and PCC Cooks). That feels good. I think that Larry and I are wise to seek out the best of both worlds--to spend part of the year in AZ and the rest in the Seattle area at least for the near future. We should be able to tell when we want to give up one home. I don't see a need right now to rush into that.

I don't mean to say that I don't want to sell our house in Bellevue. We still want to try to do that and rent nearby if we sell. Larry will be retiring before the year is up. That means we don't need to look for a rental just in downtown Bellevue. I've been looking in downtown Kirkland, which seems to have larger, less expensive units for rent. At any rate, the less-gray season is approaching, which is a wonderful time of year. I love the long days here.

Back in Class

2010-04-07T21:17:00.001-07:00

I started Sew Lab again at Lake WA Tech. It's a great class led by master sewer, Jacque Goldsmith. About 12-18 students work on various sewing projects and have Jacque available to help and give advice. You might wonder why someone with 40 years of sewing experience needs help with sewing projects. In fact, most of us in class have at least that much sewing experience. That means there is at least 400 years of sewing experience in the room. We also are friends and freely give advice to one another. Jacque always seems to help us take our sewing up a notch. She gives us advice on fitting, style, and techniques that we wouldn't figure out without her.

Today I asked for her help in figuring out how to repurpose my cotton jacket from Thailand. It has some nice printed fabric and cross stitch trim on it, but is too big for me so I never wear it. I proposed making a Sandra Betzina shoulder bag from it, then using the lining for something else. She showed me the best way to take it apart, then use the pieces for the purse pattern I had. It would have taken me hours to figure out what she did in just a few minutes. When I'm done with the bag, I'll post a photo.

A Good Watch

2010-04-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

I just got a new watch. For years I suffered with a digital watch that had a handy stopwatch built in, which I needed for giving psychological tests. The trouble with it was that I struggled resetting the time of day. There were buttons to push in a certain order whenever I changed time zones or to Daylight/Standard time. Even Larry had trouble setting it. The battery for that watch just ran out. I got to thinking that I no longer had the same needs. I longed for simplicity--for the days when there was only one button on a watch. I wanted a watch that I could read without my glasses but not one that was too big and wanted one that could light up in the movies. I also wanted a vegan one with a comfortable band (no leather). I searched and searched for a simple watch and almost gave up. Then I stumbled upon a pretty good solution--a child's watch. Here is a picture. It's even purple and pink. How cool is that!