As Thanksgiving approaches, that unique American holiday that is common ground for all Americans. This holiday is all encompassing and all accepting. Since we are so diverse both ethnically and politically and just about every other way you can think of, it's refreshing to realize that we all hold this holiday in common. It's simple - a day for thanks.
While I've always said you can line up 10 Americans and ask a question and you will get 10 different answers. I suspect that if you ask this question, "What do you think of when you think of Thanksgiving?" - at least 9 people would say 'food'. (There's always one perverse person, that's why I didn't said 10 people would say 'food'.) I digress. My point is this. While you begin to contemplate what you are going to eat, and what you are going to make, and what you are going to buy to take to Aunt Fanny's house, please take a few minutes and contemplate how Thanksgiving must seem to that one group of Americans who can't/don't celebrate the holiday of food and thanks. You know who I mean - the hungry ones among us.
I've found two websites that will allow you to stand up and do something about what I consider to be a national disgrace. How in God's name does the wealthiest county on earth tolerate a single member of their citizenry being hungry? I can't imagine anyone who thinks it's some child's 'choice' to be hungry. I'm not going to cite statistics - you all should know them by now - Lord knows I've talked about them enough. I'm just going to list these two websites and you can do as you please. My friends will be clicking.
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/huddleforhunger/home.aspx
http://www.hungeractioncenter.org/newsletters/1010.aspx
Happy Thanksgiving.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Rare Sunny November Day in the Northern Cascades
Today we had the last day of three days of sunshine. This many consecutive days of sun is very unusual up here at this of the year. It was interesting to hear people commenting on the joy of "November sunshine". Everyone was talking about the wonderful weather, and everyone was finagling ways to get outside and stay outside. It was actually 66 degrees yesterday afternoon. When we saw the forecast, we immediately began planning outdoor activities. One of them was to return to the lower elevations of the Northern Cascades and do some easy short hiking before the area snows moved down into lower elevations and closed the main road through these mountains.
Snow has begun at elevations over 4000 feet, and one day a couple of weeks ago we looked up at the mountains that ring the farmland valleys and found new visible snow. It was as if the mountains had gone into their closets, found their pure white winter coats and put them on. The change was that obvious, that startling, and that sudden. We realized that if we didn't take advantage of these sunny days with relatively high temperatures that the opportunity to revisit this area before we left Washington was going to be gone.
I think the most interesting scenery I saw today was a trail of cedars. Now, Washington cedar trees are not Texas hill country cedar trees. Some of the oldest ones I saw today were a couple of hundred feet high, and several feet in diameter. It was almost a disconnect for m
e to look down at the ground and see the cedar needles on the ground that look exactly like the needles off the cedar BUSHES in Texas. In Washington, you can't even put your arms around the trunks of the cedars, and the cedar branches start so high up that you have to look straight up directly up into the sky. I loved this trail because it had SIGNS. I love trails that have informational signs. Today I got a bunch of trees identified, and learned what happens after an area of forest experiences a fire. I won't bore you with all I learned, but it was the best kind of trail. All the maples and other deciduous trees have shed their leaves, so while walking this trail, our feet made that shush, shush sound as our feet shuffled through the fallen leaves. And it smelled like autumn today - crisp and clean with wiffs of decomposing leaves.
e to look down at the ground and see the cedar needles on the ground that look exactly like the needles off the cedar BUSHES in Texas. In Washington, you can't even put your arms around the trunks of the cedars, and the cedar branches start so high up that you have to look straight up directly up into the sky. I loved this trail because it had SIGNS. I love trails that have informational signs. Today I got a bunch of trees identified, and learned what happens after an area of forest experiences a fire. I won't bore you with all I learned, but it was the best kind of trail. All the maples and other deciduous trees have shed their leaves, so while walking this trail, our feet made that shush, shush sound as our feet shuffled through the fallen leaves. And it smelled like autumn today - crisp and clean with wiffs of decomposing leaves. Another interesting facet of today was we got to see Newhalem which is a town founded in 1922 in the middle of the Cascade Mountains. It was built to house the work force that was imported to 
build a series of three dams on the Skagit River. (Yes, this is 'our' Skagit River that runs through Burlington.) I found out that this river starts at the Canadian border and empties into the Puget Sound. Today Newhalem is one street of 'company houses', a 
general store, a community center, and a resident artist who has designed a 'power temple' inside the town park. There's a restored locomotive as a tourist magnet. The preferred landscape method in front of the houses is to use different kinds of trees in interesting patterns. This place is a bizarre combination of tourist attraction and people who actually work and live in the middle of this wilderness to run the power plants and maintain the dams built in the 1920's. North Cascade National Park envelopes these dams and this town. This 'town' is less than a mile long and sandwiched between Highway 20 (one of the few roads up there) and the Skagit River. They've built a great suspension bridge over the river and it was super fun to walk across.
build a series of three dams on the Skagit River. (Yes, this is 'our' Skagit River that runs through Burlington.) I found out that this river starts at the Canadian border and empties into the Puget Sound. Today Newhalem is one street of 'company houses', a 
general store, a community center, and a resident artist who has designed a 'power temple' inside the town park. There's a restored locomotive as a tourist magnet. The preferred landscape method in front of the houses is to use different kinds of trees in interesting patterns. This place is a bizarre combination of tourist attraction and people who actually work and live in the middle of this wilderness to run the power plants and maintain the dams built in the 1920's. North Cascade National Park envelopes these dams and this town. This 'town' is less than a mile long and sandwiched between Highway 20 (one of the few roads up there) and the Skagit River. They've built a great suspension bridge over the river and it was super fun to walk across. It is so quiet in these mountains once you get off that one main highway, it's instantly relaxing. There is so much vegetation that the oxygen levels are elevated and the air up here makes hiking such
a pleasure. We did one trail through an old growth forest down to the river. As an afterthought, we took a 300 foot boardwalk trail right beside the Visitor's Center (which is already closed for the winter) and stumbled into a view of the Pickett mountain range. This is the most wild area of the Northern Cascades and is utterly without any trails. This range is a string of mountains that are about 7000 feet tall. These mountains weren't even traversed by alpine climbers until 1963! Even today, only the most experienced climbers go into this part of the park. If you want to see all the pictures from this day trip, click on the following link and scroll through the pictures until you see River Loop Trail - that's where today's pictures start.
a pleasure. We did one trail through an old growth forest down to the river. As an afterthought, we took a 300 foot boardwalk trail right beside the Visitor's Center (which is already closed for the winter) and stumbled into a view of the Pickett mountain range. This is the most wild area of the Northern Cascades and is utterly without any trails. This range is a string of mountains that are about 7000 feet tall. These mountains weren't even traversed by alpine climbers until 1963! Even today, only the most experienced climbers go into this part of the park. If you want to see all the pictures from this day trip, click on the following link and scroll through the pictures until you see River Loop Trail - that's where today's pictures start. This was a great day. We've almost into countdown of the days we have left up here now. We are leaving at the end of the month with extremely mixed feelings. I'm so glad we got to enjoy the Northern Cascades one more time. I think we are getting ready to experience the typical autumn northwestern rainy weather - the next 10 days' weather forecast - no hint of any sunshine whatsoever, and forecast of 'showers' each day with precipitation chances ranging from 30% to 60%. It will be a quiet, soft intermittent rain not raging thunderstorms with accompanying lightening that we get in Texas. This is a part of living up here, and I'm eager to see what it's like for every day to be overcast, cloudy and with rain a real possibility. I'm wondering what adjustments that the residents make to accomodate the weather. It will be fascinating to watch for those accomodations. I'm hoping the rainy climate is going to make me appreciative of the Arizona climate we'll be rolling into in December.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Did You Ever Have Just that Perfect Day?
Have you noticed that some days are just better than others? We had the perfect day this week which was a microcosm of everything we love about being up here in the Northwest. First and foremost, the weather was absolutely perfect: cool and sunny with a blue sky dotted with snow white puffy clouds. You know, the kind of sky you see in picture postcards. We've quickly learned that when nature gives you a sunny day up here in October, it's your duty to spend it outside. Drake loaded the bikes on top of the car, and off we went.
The final perfection up here for me is the flowers. I send out my 'weekly flower picture' to a few friends who I know love flowers. I buy fresh flowers (dahlias) for the house every week. They are so common up here that the price is $.20 a stem. Here's a picture of this week's flower arrangement. Cheers!
First stop was another bike trail that is just north of us that skirts Samish Bay. While th
e trail was not a good as we had hoped - we only did about 2 miles - the scenery was wonderful. On of the surprising aspects about the fall season is that there really isn't any 'color'. There are a few yellow trees among the evergreens, but it isn't the multi-color extravaganza that I sort of expected. I guess that treat is for next fall in New England.
e trail was not a good as we had hoped - we only did about 2 miles - the scenery was wonderful. On of the surprising aspects about the fall season is that there really isn't any 'color'. There are a few yellow trees among the evergreens, but it isn't the multi-color extravaganza that I sort of expected. I guess that treat is for next fall in New England.We decided to go into Fairhaven which is the old part of Bellingham and is filled with Victorian houses and buildings that are the remains of the salmon canning industry that shriveled up and died around the turn of the century. This part of B
ellingham is now where the art crowd lives. The shops are cute and there are a lot of galleries - including he Good Earth Pottery Gallery which handles around 50 potters from the Northwest. Well, I was in heaven. We spent about an hour in that place picking out some gems that I couldn't live without. Fairhaven also
sits right on Bellingham Bay and they have a wonderful walk along the harbor which includes a boardwalk right out over the water. A leftover remnant of the salmon canning factories is this brown lump in the bay - which we originally thought was a big rock. Instead of being a rock - it's actually sheets of tin leftover from making cans. The companies just pushed the tin sheet remnants out their dock doors and gradually, they fused together to make a big lump of tin in the harbor.
ellingham is now where the art crowd lives. The shops are cute and there are a lot of galleries - including he Good Earth Pottery Gallery which handles around 50 potters from the Northwest. Well, I was in heaven. We spent about an hour in that place picking out some gems that I couldn't live without. Fairhaven also
sits right on Bellingham Bay and they have a wonderful walk along the harbor which includes a boardwalk right out over the water. A leftover remnant of the salmon canning factories is this brown lump in the bay - which we originally thought was a big rock. Instead of being a rock - it's actually sheets of tin leftover from making cans. The companies just pushed the tin sheet remnants out their dock doors and gradually, they fused together to make a big lump of tin in the harbor.This entire area is scattered with Native Indian Reservations - the Swinomish, the Snohomish, the Lummi to name a few. They all have their own casinos, so Drake has been able to indulge his love of playing blackjack. We dropped into the Lummi Casino for an hour - casinos are great places to find clean bathrooms when you're traveling. We wound up winning $38 - not a fortune, but it paid for lunch at the Colophon Cafe in Fairhaven - one of the many restaurants up here that base their menu on locally grown food. Drake has become something of a connoisseur of salmon sandwiches. My speciality is fish and chips and micro brews.
As the day wound 
down, we realized that there was going to be a terrific sunset. That's another surprising thing - they don't have that many great sunsets up here. There's a local highway called "Chuckanut Drive" - isn't that a fun name - I love to say it out loud. Anyway, it winds south along the shore between Bellingham and the Skagit Valley, and there is a restaurant we had marked down as someplace we wanted to try. The Oyster Bar sits right on Samish Bay, high up on a bluff, and we arrived just in time for the sunset and a lovely dinner. Part of the 'farming community' that we live in not only farms on land, but they farm the water too. The Taylor family raises shellfish - including oysters (huge ones - each about the size of a chicken tender). Again, this restaurant uses as many local foods as possible, so not only were the oysters homegrown, but so were the potatoes, and all the vegetables on the plates.
down, we realized that there was going to be a terrific sunset. That's another surprising thing - they don't have that many great sunsets up here. There's a local highway called "Chuckanut Drive" - isn't that a fun name - I love to say it out loud. Anyway, it winds south along the shore between Bellingham and the Skagit Valley, and there is a restaurant we had marked down as someplace we wanted to try. The Oyster Bar sits right on Samish Bay, high up on a bluff, and we arrived just in time for the sunset and a lovely dinner. Part of the 'farming community' that we live in not only farms on land, but they farm the water too. The Taylor family raises shellfish - including oysters (huge ones - each about the size of a chicken tender). Again, this restaurant uses as many local foods as possible, so not only were the oysters homegrown, but so were the potatoes, and all the vegetables on the plates.Speaking of 
the farming community, I have loved living in a farming valley that claims to be some of the richest farmland in the USA. This is a partial view of the Skagit Valley. There are mainly family farms here, some of which go back five generations. They raise 90% of the red potatoes consumed in the country - at least that's what the InFARMation radio station claims (AM1630). They also raise berries, vegetables, flowers, specialty meats (like bison), and some wheat and hay to feed their dairy cattle and there's a thriving cheese industry. There's a real movement here to preserve farmland.
the farming community, I have loved living in a farming valley that claims to be some of the richest farmland in the USA. This is a partial view of the Skagit Valley. There are mainly family farms here, some of which go back five generations. They raise 90% of the red potatoes consumed in the country - at least that's what the InFARMation radio station claims (AM1630). They also raise berries, vegetables, flowers, specialty meats (like bison), and some wheat and hay to feed their dairy cattle and there's a thriving cheese industry. There's a real movement here to preserve farmland. I think the recession hit just in time. Drake jokes that every house is for sale here, but the truth is that you can see lots of 'second homes' and rural farmettes up for sale now. Most of them have been built in the 
past 5 years on farmland. We wanted to buy some cider (both hard and soft) and we only had to drive 2 miles from our apartment to find both. Here's a great picture of the produce shop of the Gordon Skagit Farm - it's 3rd generation and has been in the family for 3 generations. I had no idea there were so many varieties of squash and pumpkin (about 40 types were for sale here - including heirloom varieties that have been raised since the 19th century). We got our soft cider here as well as a small pumpkin to decorate our doorway for Halloween. Then, we motored another mile down the road to the Tulip Winery which makes hard cider in addition to wine. Boy, is that stuff tasty - about 7% alcohol volume. We are currently trying two types of hard cider. It's funny to drink something that tastes like apples with a kick.
past 5 years on farmland. We wanted to buy some cider (both hard and soft) and we only had to drive 2 miles from our apartment to find both. Here's a great picture of the produce shop of the Gordon Skagit Farm - it's 3rd generation and has been in the family for 3 generations. I had no idea there were so many varieties of squash and pumpkin (about 40 types were for sale here - including heirloom varieties that have been raised since the 19th century). We got our soft cider here as well as a small pumpkin to decorate our doorway for Halloween. Then, we motored another mile down the road to the Tulip Winery which makes hard cider in addition to wine. Boy, is that stuff tasty - about 7% alcohol volume. We are currently trying two types of hard cider. It's funny to drink something that tastes like apples with a kick.
The final perfection up here for me is the flowers. I send out my 'weekly flower picture' to a few friends who I know love flowers. I buy fresh flowers (dahlias) for the house every week. They are so common up here that the price is $.20 a stem. Here's a picture of this week's flower arrangement. Cheers! We've still having a great time, and next week it's a trip into Seattle to see the 150 original Picasso paintings and drawings from Paris on exhibit at the Seattle Museum of Art. We'll probably make it a big day trip with other stops. Until then.........oh, and GO RANGERS!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Deception Pass
Deception Pass is a really ominous title, isn't it? Not to worry - it's a real place not a state of mind. A little geography/history lesson to start. In 1792 George Vancouver, a British sea captain/explorer sailed into this area and promptly started exploring and naming mountains, bays, islands and pretty much anything he could chart. He gave names to 75 geographical places overriding Spanish names which were already in common usage. Of course, this was the third time around for the naming. Those pesky Indians already had names for everything. Then the Spanish sailed up from California and they re-named everything. However, it's Vancouver's names which have mostly survived and appear on the maps although the Indians got to keep minor rivers - like the Snohomish, for instance. Most of Vancouver's names came from his crew. Puget Sound - after his young lieutenant Peter Puget. If you had any rank at all in the crew of Discovery (the name of Vancouver's ship), you got something named for you - including the beloved Mount Baker, named for Vancouver's third lieutenant. (Mount Baker is the snow covered mountain that the Skagit County crowd is so proud of - and with reason, it's a beautiful mountain.) Plus, Vancouver did a little brown nosing - Mount Hood is named for one of his superiors.
One of the missions that Vancouver wanted to fulfill, and thus cement his place in history, was to find a waterway passage big enough for ships which could be sailed eastward into the land mass. Since trade (and thus wealth) traveled via water during this time period, this was a major objective of any exploratory voyage. Now we're back to Deception Pass. Think of an hourglass with bulbous portions of the glass being bays and the restricted neck being a passage between the two bays. Initially, Vancouver was certain he had found that inward passage, but he was DECEIVED, and what initially looked so promising turned out to be a narrow neck between two large bays - thus the name of the pass: Deception Pass. The pass is really quite impressive, and it was easy to see why Vancouver felt tricked.
Until the 1930's you had to use a ferry to travel between Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Island - the two islands the pass dissects. These are two islands that are part of a scattered island barrier chain along the Washington coast. Then the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) arrived and built a bridge as well as a park. Parts of their work is still visible. You can walk across this bridge - along with the 16,000 cars that traverse it daily. There's a pedestrian walkway on both sides, and you access the 'other' side by traipsing down 3 flights of stairs , crossing underneath this massive bridge, and walking up 3 flights of stairs on the other side - it's quite a sight.
We hiked the coastline across from the bridge up and down the little hills and along the coastline. We saw the bridge from across the bay, and when we went onto the bridge, we saw the hiking trails we had just came from as we stood on the bridge. This was a terrific hike for me - not too much elevation change, but heavily forested with breakout views of the shoreline and bays. The 50's temperatures are perfect for hiking. We've had a surprising number of non-rainy days. There's been lots and lots of sunshine which I didn't expect at this time of the year. We completed our day with a meal at the Fidalgo Drive-In which specializes in seafood sandwiches and root beer floats. Yum.
We also had another experience here at the Skagit Wildlife Refuge - think bird sanctuary - specifically for migrating birds. We discovered a flock of about 10,000 snow geese resting in the sanctuary. Now, they do allow hunting in parts of the sanctuary, and there is a constructed series of dikes that hunters with dogs can stand on and shoot birds - like ducks and geese. The hunters aren't allowed off the dikes, but they send their dogs out into the marsh to retrieve the birds they have shot. You can also hike the dikes -- but it's recommended that you wear extremely bright clothing, so you don't get SHOT. I find it interesting that the snow geese were only located in the parts of the Refuge where there was no hunting. Who says birds can't learn? It was an amazing sight - the fields were bright green and the birds mostly snow white. It was also pretty funny that directly across the road from the Refuge was a farm that was raising free range turkeys and chickens. This is one of those deals where the picture is worth a thousand words.
We've also been biking. I love the rails to trails bike paths. I don't have to ride along a street, believe me, I'm risking my life to do that. These r/t bike paths follow old rail lines and usually cut through fields or woods or follow ridge lines. That means the scenery is great. Plus, since the paths are usually paved, the ride is smooth, and we are going to conceivably be able to ride in the rain. We'll see. We've found one within about a 30 minute drive of the house that is 23 miles long.
Our time here is winding down. I'm surprised how much I'm going to hate leaving here. I still think we haven't scratched the surface here of everything there is to do. One thing I'm definitely doing before we leave is to head into Seattle to see the 150 original artworks by Picasso. We will leave here on November 30th and have a leisurely drive down the northwestern coast sightseeing, biking and hiking as we go. We are starting to plan our itinerary. We will be in Arizona around the 15th of December. I will send out an address that you can use for all those wonderful xmas cards you will be sending me. Getting mine done may be a little problematic, but I'm sure I'll rise to the occasion.
One of the missions that Vancouver wanted to fulfill, and thus cement his place in history, was to find a waterway passage big enough for ships which could be sailed eastward into the land mass. Since trade (and thus wealth) traveled via water during this time period, this was a major objective of any exploratory voyage. Now we're back to Deception Pass. Think of an hourglass with bulbous portions of the glass being bays and the restricted neck being a passage between the two bays. Initially, Vancouver was certain he had found that inward passage, but he was DECEIVED, and what initially looked so promising turned out to be a narrow neck between two large bays - thus the name of the pass: Deception Pass. The pass is really quite impressive, and it was easy to see why Vancouver felt tricked.
Until the 1930's you had to use a ferry to travel between Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Island - the two islands the pass dissects. These are two islands that are part of a scattered island barrier chain along the Washington coast. Then the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) arrived and built a bridge as well as a park. Parts of their work is still visible. You can walk across this bridge - along with the 16,000 cars that traverse it daily. There's a pedestrian walkway on both sides, and you access the 'other' side by traipsing down 3 flights of stairs , crossing underneath this massive bridge, and walking up 3 flights of stairs on the other side - it's quite a sight.
We hiked the coastline across from the bridge up and down the little hills and along the coastline. We saw the bridge from across the bay, and when we went onto the bridge, we saw the hiking trails we had just came from as we stood on the bridge. This was a terrific hike for me - not too much elevation change, but heavily forested with breakout views of the shoreline and bays. The 50's temperatures are perfect for hiking. We've had a surprising number of non-rainy days. There's been lots and lots of sunshine which I didn't expect at this time of the year. We completed our day with a meal at the Fidalgo Drive-In which specializes in seafood sandwiches and root beer floats. Yum.
We also had another experience here at the Skagit Wildlife Refuge - think bird sanctuary - specifically for migrating birds. We discovered a flock of about 10,000 snow geese resting in the sanctuary. Now, they do allow hunting in parts of the sanctuary, and there is a constructed series of dikes that hunters with dogs can stand on and shoot birds - like ducks and geese. The hunters aren't allowed off the dikes, but they send their dogs out into the marsh to retrieve the birds they have shot. You can also hike the dikes -- but it's recommended that you wear extremely bright clothing, so you don't get SHOT. I find it interesting that the snow geese were only located in the parts of the Refuge where there was no hunting. Who says birds can't learn? It was an amazing sight - the fields were bright green and the birds mostly snow white. It was also pretty funny that directly across the road from the Refuge was a farm that was raising free range turkeys and chickens. This is one of those deals where the picture is worth a thousand words.
We've also been biking. I love the rails to trails bike paths. I don't have to ride along a street, believe me, I'm risking my life to do that. These r/t bike paths follow old rail lines and usually cut through fields or woods or follow ridge lines. That means the scenery is great. Plus, since the paths are usually paved, the ride is smooth, and we are going to conceivably be able to ride in the rain. We'll see. We've found one within about a 30 minute drive of the house that is 23 miles long.
Our time here is winding down. I'm surprised how much I'm going to hate leaving here. I still think we haven't scratched the surface here of everything there is to do. One thing I'm definitely doing before we leave is to head into Seattle to see the 150 original artworks by Picasso. We will leave here on November 30th and have a leisurely drive down the northwestern coast sightseeing, biking and hiking as we go. We are starting to plan our itinerary. We will be in Arizona around the 15th of December. I will send out an address that you can use for all those wonderful xmas cards you will be sending me. Getting mine done may be a little problematic, but I'm sure I'll rise to the occasion.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Rangers, Rangers, We are the Rangers
Drake would officially like to welcome all the 'johnny come latelys' to the Texas Ranger Bandwagon. We have been on this particular vehicle for 20 years (literally). Those of you who have known us for MORE than 20 years know his/our love affair with baseball has been a part of our relationship for 40 years. It actually started when we used to attend OU baseball games. Drake even took the Theory of Baseball at Oklahoma University, and you can imagine how much the 20 year old math/physics geek fit into THAT class. He even kept the textbook from the baseball course (yes, the class had a textbook) until last year when he passed it on to Terry McGovern in order to help him coach high school baseball. I guarantee you that it's one textbook that wasn't outdated because the fundamentals, as baseball people like to call them, haven't really changed too noticeably in 100 years. That statement divides the baseball worshippers from the baseball heretics. I'll leave Drake to write the blog that explains why baseball is the one true religion.
Then we followed baseball in Houston for 15 years being devoted Astro fans. We even had season tickets for the last few years we lived there. We continued to follow the Astros when we lived in New Orleans, but this was our biggest baseball desert. There was no local team, and baseball just wasn't on the radar in that town. However, we did attend exhibition games the Astros played in the Superdome. I even got on local TV during one game because the sports interviewer had never seen anyone in the stands keep score during a game. (I always keep score at every baseball game I attend in person - and I have the scorebooks to prove it going back 30 years.)
Let's go back to the Ranger Bandwagon. Drake (and by extension, me) have been loyal fans through many, many seasons where, shall we say, expectations were not met. Some seasons were effectively over when people were lighting firecrackers, while others died in the heat of a Texas August when the field at the ballpark can reach 120 degrees. (One reason baseball players never have to diet is they actually lose weight under those conditions.) Some past Ranger teams managed to hang on until Labor Day. (Personally, I feel that if your team is still in contention in the first week of September that you've gotten your money's worth for the season.) That's why this season has been particularly thrilling - not only winning the division but doing it in a runaway fashion after having been overtaken, and stomped by the hated Angels and by the crappy Athletics in way too many past years. For those of you who watched the fifth game of the American League Division Series with Tampa Bay, the young phenom shortstop, Elvis Andrus, scoring in the first few minutes of the game epitomizes this team. They are mostly young (Elvis is only 22, as is our rookie closer, Neftali), risk taking, and everyone on the team plays full out all the time. I should mention there is a test before you can climb onto the bandwagon: You have to be able to define THE CLAW and ANTLERS.
Finally, I predicted this team would go to the World Series after the first Spring Training game. I actually, turned to Drake and said, "Mark this - you heard it here first, this team is going to the World Series." Of course, he thought I was just being wildly optimistic as any true fan is during the bucolic days of Spring Training. However, here we are, only 4 wins away from that goal. At this point, if you are a true fan, it doesn't matter at this point - every game is gravy. And, oh boy, are we ever riding on the gravy train with biscuit wheels.
Then we followed baseball in Houston for 15 years being devoted Astro fans. We even had season tickets for the last few years we lived there. We continued to follow the Astros when we lived in New Orleans, but this was our biggest baseball desert. There was no local team, and baseball just wasn't on the radar in that town. However, we did attend exhibition games the Astros played in the Superdome. I even got on local TV during one game because the sports interviewer had never seen anyone in the stands keep score during a game. (I always keep score at every baseball game I attend in person - and I have the scorebooks to prove it going back 30 years.)
Let's go back to the Ranger Bandwagon. Drake (and by extension, me) have been loyal fans through many, many seasons where, shall we say, expectations were not met. Some seasons were effectively over when people were lighting firecrackers, while others died in the heat of a Texas August when the field at the ballpark can reach 120 degrees. (One reason baseball players never have to diet is they actually lose weight under those conditions.) Some past Ranger teams managed to hang on until Labor Day. (Personally, I feel that if your team is still in contention in the first week of September that you've gotten your money's worth for the season.) That's why this season has been particularly thrilling - not only winning the division but doing it in a runaway fashion after having been overtaken, and stomped by the hated Angels and by the crappy Athletics in way too many past years. For those of you who watched the fifth game of the American League Division Series with Tampa Bay, the young phenom shortstop, Elvis Andrus, scoring in the first few minutes of the game epitomizes this team. They are mostly young (Elvis is only 22, as is our rookie closer, Neftali), risk taking, and everyone on the team plays full out all the time. I should mention there is a test before you can climb onto the bandwagon: You have to be able to define THE CLAW and ANTLERS.
Finally, I predicted this team would go to the World Series after the first Spring Training game. I actually, turned to Drake and said, "Mark this - you heard it here first, this team is going to the World Series." Of course, he thought I was just being wildly optimistic as any true fan is during the bucolic days of Spring Training. However, here we are, only 4 wins away from that goal. At this point, if you are a true fan, it doesn't matter at this point - every game is gravy. And, oh boy, are we ever riding on the gravy train with biscuit wheels.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
OK - So Now I've Seen the San Juan Islands
On Thursday we took the ferry over to Lopez Island in the San Juan chain of barrier islands off the the coast of northern Washington. One of the reasons we bought the bikes was to 'bike' the San Juan Islands. Lopez is the favorite biking island because it's very rural and thus less car traffic. What they didn't mention were the HILLS. Shall we say this activity has mixed reviews. A real positive was the weather. We picked the most beautiful day we've had since we came up here, and that's saying something. The day was about 70 degrees and perfectly clear. We could see for miles, so the long range scenery was great.
We were disappointed with the on island scenery. The valley we live in (Skagit Valley) is rural Washington, and it's gorgeous. They grow everything here from tulips to potatoes. I know that because it's potato harvest season right now. It's also apple season - but everyone knows Washington grows apples. Lopez Island was a miniature of our valley - lots of farms - but it isn't flat; it's hilly. I confess that I had a lot of trouble with the hills. I walked up most of them - and that was really hard on my foot. The downhills and flat (what little of it there was) were good. I really like the new handlebars because I can control the bike with one hand. Thus, I can scratch my nose or relax a bit more while riding that I could with the mountain bike handlebars.
I still hate the handbrakes. Sigh.......... Until I get that $700 bike that has coaster handlebars, a seat with a back, gears and coaster brakes, I'll just have to live with them. We totalled up what the bikes have cost us - including the rack for the top of the car - and we have $350 invested - total. I've discovered that's the cost of one cheap bike. Our total investment includes the new handlebars, the helmets, the gloves, the cleaning stuff, and new grips as well as the bikes and the rack. Oh, and the 'step' we had to buy, so Drake can be high enough to lift the bikes to the top of the car. Not only have the bikes been a good buy, we've discovered we really like riding them - especially on the rails to trails paths. That's why the Lopez Island adventure was so disappointing - we expected to be more able to do the hills than we were - especially me.
Off topic again - back to Lopez Island. One of the good things about Lopez Island is we really liked the food. We had lunch at the Lopez Island Marina at the Galley Restaurant which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner mostly to local people. This restaurant (and most of the others I read about) pride themselves on serving local food. We had burgers made with chemical, antibiotic free grass fed local beef. The burgers were really good. We also had some Lopez Valley Creamery Ice Cream - which is the closest thing to Blue Bell I've had since I've been here. This Creamery just moved to Anacortes (an island connected to the mainland with a bridge instead of a ferry) to expand their business. I met a Mesquite, Texas woman who now owns the Lopez Island Fudge Store (where they also serve ice cream), and we talked for about 20 minutes. She loves the slow pace island living, but I think I would be bored and claustrophobic in about 2 weeks. We did learn the entire island holds a party at the end of tourist season; a celebration that they have survived the tourists for one more year. Apparently, according to the three women I visited with, August is the worst month for rude, demanding visitors. It's really amazing what people will tell you.
I loved the ferry ride. It's ironic - I hate boats. I hurt Eddie Revell's feelings when he 'boated' us to a restaurant on Grapevine Lake, and he realized I hated every second we were on the water. Somehow, ferry boats are different. I think of them more like trains - except there's more room to move around. They have really comfy seats - lots of seat configurations to choose from, and you can go outside or stay inside and walk around whenever you want. There's also food and snacks and real bathrooms. Since there are lots of islands up here, the scenery is interesting when you're on the ferry. Of course, the water was like glass when we took the ferry. I doubt I would find it so great if the sea was rough.
Overall, the bottom line is we thought the day was a bust, but we really enjoyed parts of it. I'd like to see another of the San Juan Islands (maybe Orcas), but I don't ever plan to bike around on one. It was just not fun because neither of us was in good enough shape to enjoy it.
Friday, we went back to LaConner to pick up my quilt art piece and to go to their annual International Quilt Festival. We saw 175 quilts, all of which were applique. Ne
xt year they are going to accept more types of quilts, and I think that's a good move. While each quilt we viewed was exquisite, I only saw about a dozen hand quilted while the rest were machine quilted. I just like the hand quilted look to a piece rather than machine. Both take more skill that I have. We both agreed that it's artistic vision that sets a quilt apart once you get to a certain needle skill level. Since there was absolutely no photography allowed, you'll have to make do with a picture of the art quilt piece Drake bought me for my birthday.
xt year they are going to accept more types of quilts, and I think that's a good move. While each quilt we viewed was exquisite, I only saw about a dozen hand quilted while the rest were machine quilted. I just like the hand quilted look to a piece rather than machine. Both take more skill that I have. We both agreed that it's artistic vision that sets a quilt apart once you get to a certain needle skill level. Since there was absolutely no photography allowed, you'll have to make do with a picture of the art quilt piece Drake bought me for my birthday. Oh, and on Friday we went back to the Rexville Grocery for lunch. This is a small family owned grocery that has reinvented itself. It's now a gourmet grocery store that caters to tourists, but they have a sandwich counter that uses the local farm produce and meats. Not only do tourists like us eat there, but all the farmers have lunch there - 'to go'. It was local color at its best. Sitting next to us at the counter was the Grandmother of the family that owns the store. There were two generations of women working the store the day we were there. This is the store that carries Shiner 101. We discovered that it sells fast. Go Shiner!
We're just enjoying the end of the good weather up here. Everyone is telling us that it's going to get colder and rainier as October continues. I've been piling up indoor things to do when the weather turns. However, while the weather holds, we are going to be out and about. Next week it's Octoberfest!
Finally, here's a funny story. I have discovered that even if you only have 5 x 10 feet of space for stuff, it's possible to misplace and lose things. How? Well, here's the story. We unpacked everything - it only takes a half a day. A few weeks later, I got my sewing machine out to make a jacket. Now, when we left Texas, I had very carefully packed a vintage Samsonite train case with all my sewing notions - scissors, pins, sewing machine needles, feet, my sewing machine book, snaps, and the zillion other items that you acquire over the years when you sew. I combed this apartment, and the train case simply wasn't here. I mean, how many places are there to look? We called Sarah and asked if we had inadvertently left it at her house. Nope. I was beside myself. I really couldn't start my jacket because I didn't have pins, sewing machine needles, even scissors to cut out the pieces. More importantly, I didn't have the feet that attach to the machine - especially the zigzag foot and the button hole foot. I strongly hinted that Drake MUST have either left it in the storage unit (best case scenario), or he forgot to put it in the trailer and left it on the side of the road in the last pack up. I was not a happy camper. Earlier this week, I got up one morning to a shit eating grin on Drake's face. He had 'found' my train case. When he packed it, he sort of jammed it up underneath one of the recliners - efficiently using all available packing space. When we got here, we carried this chair INSIDE THE APARTMENT without realizing that the train case was in the undercarriage of the chair. The other day while Drake was stretching, he put his hand under the chair - we have some limited space issues here - and felt 'something'. When he turned the chair over, there was my train case. At least we'll know where to look next time. This is my public and formal apology for the dark hints about inferior packing/loading that have been bandied about these past weeks.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
2010 Birthday Celebrations
As all the faithful readers know, the Smith family mops up those birthdays in one week's time - the last week of September. As we are drawing to a close on the third and final birthday of the past five days, I've decided to create a list of activities enjoyed by the members of the Smith family (Jan, Drake and Sarah Lynn) this week. Here they are. You can use your imagination as to which activity was enjoyed by which birthday person. In no particular order:
1) The ballet
2) Played blackjack
3) Went to the Quilt Museum
4) Got Flowers
5) Played Bridge
6) Dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel
7) Manicure
8) Northwestern art purchases (2)
9) Joyful Entertainment........
10) Necklace purchases (2)
11) New Shirts
12) 10 Mile Bike Ride
13) Mad Men Birthday Party
14) New Dress
15) Window Shopping
16) Gourmet lunch
17) Watched baseball game(s)
18) Ate Cascade Glacier ice cream
19) Won 'best card'
20) Unexpectedly found 101 Shiner Beer
21) Rooted the Sooners on to VICTORY
22) Texas Rangers clinched the American League Western Division
23) Gourmet breakfast
24) Basked in perfect weather
25) Drank mocha frappes
In the last blog I asked each of you to tell me how old you felt internally. Here are the answers from the Smith's: Jan feels like 42. (Yes, it's a strange number, but the reason I chose that age is because that's the first year I became a teacher.) Drake feels like he's 30. (Please note that Drake chose an age prior to to becoming a parent......) Sarah feels like 22 or 23. (She qualified this to mean that she doesn't feel like a college kid anymore and identifies herself psychologically as a career person)
FYI - only one person who responded picked her psychological age as OLDER than her chronological age. A few people said they feel exactly how old they are chronologically, but everyone else pegged their psychological age as roughly 20 years or more younger than their physical age. I think it's a reminder that you're only as old as you feel.
I'm looking forward to my 60's. My 50's were no picnic, and I survived those. Since there's a time for everything and a season for everything, the 60's should be great. All I can say is so far so good. That's it for birthdays 2010 - milestones for each of us (two 60's and one 25). Thanks to everyone who 'remembered'. We loved getting all the nice messages and lovely cards.
1) The ballet
2) Played blackjack
3) Went to the Quilt Museum
4) Got Flowers
5) Played Bridge
6) Dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel
7) Manicure
8) Northwestern art purchases (2)
9) Joyful Entertainment........
10) Necklace purchases (2)
11) New Shirts
12) 10 Mile Bike Ride
13) Mad Men Birthday Party
14) New Dress
15) Window Shopping
16) Gourmet lunch
17) Watched baseball game(s)
18) Ate Cascade Glacier ice cream
19) Won 'best card'
20) Unexpectedly found 101 Shiner Beer
21) Rooted the Sooners on to VICTORY
22) Texas Rangers clinched the American League Western Division
23) Gourmet breakfast
24) Basked in perfect weather
25) Drank mocha frappes
In the last blog I asked each of you to tell me how old you felt internally. Here are the answers from the Smith's: Jan feels like 42. (Yes, it's a strange number, but the reason I chose that age is because that's the first year I became a teacher.) Drake feels like he's 30. (Please note that Drake chose an age prior to to becoming a parent......) Sarah feels like 22 or 23. (She qualified this to mean that she doesn't feel like a college kid anymore and identifies herself psychologically as a career person)
FYI - only one person who responded picked her psychological age as OLDER than her chronological age. A few people said they feel exactly how old they are chronologically, but everyone else pegged their psychological age as roughly 20 years or more younger than their physical age. I think it's a reminder that you're only as old as you feel.
I'm looking forward to my 60's. My 50's were no picnic, and I survived those. Since there's a time for everything and a season for everything, the 60's should be great. All I can say is so far so good. That's it for birthdays 2010 - milestones for each of us (two 60's and one 25). Thanks to everyone who 'remembered'. We loved getting all the nice messages and lovely cards.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)