Whitest Christmas in Memory

Snow storms and snow flurries, snow mixed with rain, heaps and piles and long rows of slush in the street. Christmas 2008 in Seattle. A mellow couple of days at home, family gathering postponed after another heavy snowfall. Soon it will start warming and flooding and raining. Oh, rain. Yes! Really looking forward to that. Here's the view from the living room window:

A Visit to my Ancestors

I was feeling out of sorts today but my neighbor pal came by and off we tromped over ice and snow up to the cemetery at the top of the hill. The beauty and stillness were awesome. We found my grandparents' grave and brushed off the snow so the inscription on the stone was visible. Then we went to Macrina for coffee. No more blues!



Tonight I made a batch of bourbon balls to give out tomorrow at the Christmas eve gathering (if it doesn't snow too much tonight). This amount of snow and the way it is sticking around so long is mind-boggling for this Seattle native. Oh, btw, we came back to Seattle just as the first flakes of the big snow were falling, so David could go to the Messiah at Town Hall on Saturday night. I'm actually glad to be back in the bigger house for a while and it's fun to be around family and friends again. We had an impromptu gathering the other night because our niece and one of our nephews were crashing here on their way back home for Christmas, so we ended up with eight around the table for lamb and white bean soup and lots of wine and laughter. "Ratsie" even joined us for fruit and cheese after soup and salad. (Our niece arrived with three chickens and a pet rat.) I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of the rat. It was really cute, like the star of Ratatouille.

Name Change

I just changed from my "real name" to "Julz of the World" because something triggered a happy memory of when as a kid I had a great job at the Seattle World's Fair giving coffee breaks to all the salespeople at Jewels of the World. There were dozens of them and each person sold costume jewelry from a different country. They were always happy to see me since it was their only chance to have a smoke or take a pee. The boss was a rough-mannered Puerto Rican Jew who told me he learned English watching movies over and over. Off at one end of the store paying customers could fish for a pearl in an oyster from a shallow pool tended by Japanese girls in traditional kimonos and one dude dressed in Japanese garb, but he was Korean. When we became friends, he told me about the historical animosity between the Koreans and the Japanese and that he didn't like having to associate with these girls, but, a job was a job. He was a very cool guy and if anyone knows Dong Yul Lee, the very good looking one who had been in the Korean air force before leaving for the US, tell him hi for me.

The name change (the "World" part) forces me to look at why I never want to go anyplace anymore, not even to Canada for New Year's, after a life-time of travel plans, adventures and yearnings for more. Is this the first stage of that phobia that keeps people virtual prisoners in their own homes?

Winter is Upon Us Now

Today I have been working on a small painting and watching birds flock to the snow covered deck for the bran flake crumbs and quinoa I put out for them to supplement the suet that hangs from the eaves. They seem very hungry. Right now one of the flickers is on the suet, a hummingbird just buzzed its feeder, and the chickadees, towhees, juncos and sparrows are flitting back and forth. They get aggressive with each other each time I put out a new little stash of something tasty for them. Eventually, they begin to share.
White-capped waves are rolling toward us today, but nothing like two days ago when the wind was howling out of the south, making the biggest waves we've seen so far. That day the lights flickered a couple of times and David went outside and made preparations for hooking up to the neighbors' generator, if we should lose power. Fortunately, we didn't. It's so cold we're actually running the electric heat plus the wood stove, as the fire isn't quite enough to cut through the chill that settled in over night. Besides that, we're running very low on seasoned wood and trying to burn the fresh cut as much as possible.
Looks like we got almost an inch of snow last night but it came late enough not to interfere with our opening and anniversary celebration at the gallery. David opted to stay home. Even the enticement of a string trio couldn't pry him out of his chair. He was tired from a long bicycle ride he'd gone on with the local club, those few members who weren't put off by the frigid weather. The gathering at the gallery was festive and fun. People are in good spirits in spite of the news that several members are dropping out. I'm excited about getting the notice posted in Artist Trust and hoping to get a good response.

Autumn #4

Autumn #4
Originally uploaded by JuliMil

I'll be having a show in April and I'm thinking the paintings will be grouped into the four seasons, either by subject or by colors. Now the autumn landscapes are done, time to get started on winter. That will be challenging as it's so bleak around here this time of year.

Orca Sighting

Today around mid-morning something out on the water caught my eye -- a small skiff, stationary, with a single occupant. Then, ah ha! three Orcas surfaced! The skiff had "Research" written prominently along its hull and was observing the whales as they made their way quickly north. Just a few days ago I'd been thinking of the possibility of seeing Orcas this winter here in Puget Sound, so this sighting was pretty exciting.

I'm happy to be back after a couple of days in Seattle. Had dinner with dear friends, struggled through Pilates, went shopping, cooked up a brown rice and vegetable dish for the monthly "Cena", dashed downtown to SAM to see the Hopper show and do lunch with Connie, more errands and finally, we got the ferry to Kingston. A funny thing happened. For the first time, by becoming so engrossed in my book, I missed getting back to the car and had to walk off the ferry and meet up with David further up the road. It was cold and dark but the holiday lights at the Port and all along the road were cheery.

It's so peaceful here. The sight of water so soothing. It's great to be back.