What a Gorgeous Day

My boys and I explored the Tacoma Farmer's Market this afternoon. They head in one direction, looking for friends and standing around 'looking cool', and I videotape the experience, walking through stalls, talking to vegetable vendors, and checking the flowers and fruit. Lots of cherries are available, and flats of raspberries. Home-made soap and jam, hand-made furniture, crafts galore. Music groups play, also amatures, with a guitar case open for a donation. I enjoyed milling around, and brought home a bouquet of flowers.

Just a really nice day, 74 degrees, slight wind, the fragrance of flowers....and loads of sunshine.

The Good Women of China

I'll receive my last phone call from Ruhiyyih today, before she lands in China. Oh, she might call me from there, but the conversations are monitored, and everything we say has to be laced with constraint and vigilance. She will read my journal here, but not comment, and we will have frequent e-mails. They will be carefully done.

THE GOOD WOMEN OF CHINA is written by Xinran, and is one of my favorites:

"When you walk into your memories, you are opening a door into the past; the road within has many branches, and the route is different every time."

Ruyiyyih, dear, make wonderful memories. . . I love you.

Good Literature

Putting the book down, George said, " Thank you for bringing such good literature into our home."

I said, "It has nothing to do with me...the book was just displayed at eye level on the shelf where I could see it!"

Haven Lake - Washington

Early morning misting aside, it was a great day for a paddle! The sun peeked out just as we got to Belfair. It is a sleepy little mountain town, and Haven Lake my favorite type - lots of old, tiny cabins dot the lake. One thing about vacation property, it seems there is always the sound of a power tool - saws, drills, weed-wackers, - always someone adding on to their house, or improving it. I'd like a more remote place, with just the sound of wind rustling the pines and a gentle breeze off the water. You'd get lost in the quiet, put to sleep by the sun.

I filmed the glide, when I wasn't needed for paddling. Managed to get lots of quaint cabins, with smoke coming out of chimneys. A few dogs ran down to the dock, getting territorial, and their owner waved and scolded them. We just glided by, knowing they sure wouldn't jump into the water. A little wind came up, gave us just a gentle nudge home.

Just a sweet little glide - my favorite!

Love Note From Ruhiyyih

Ruhiyyih left yesterday for China. She sent me an e-mail, one sentence stands out: When you are on the computer, remember to BLINK! Ohhhh, I miss my precious girl! She will be able to keep in touch here, but not post comments - it's a China thing...

Sudden Storm

Oh it was a hard workin' day! I'm going to sit out on my front porch, wrap up in a blanket and listen to the thunder and rain. It's very dramatic out there! Coffee is brewin'...

In The Everyday

"In the rush and whirl of daytime chores of
putting away, folding, straightening
ordering, cleaning, preparing,
A moment catches you, says
Here is today's treasure ~
stop for awhile."

We're going to go have breakfast with our daughter, then I will spend the day with her. She is my treasure, every moment of her.

A Grandfather's Legacy

Tomorrow we plan to have friends and family gather for a going-away party for our daughter, Ruhiyyih. She was a teacher in China for a year, teaching English, and now she will train the teachers. George's Dad studied China most of his life, and had a pen-pal for many years there before it opened to the West. Most of the walls of his study were covered with books, and when he was in his 70's, he went to China for the first time. When he passed away, his collection was sold, and his love for China was passed on to all his grandchildren. Both of my daughters have traveled there, and, the key to my front door has been placed under a rock in a beautiful forest there...off the trail, high up in the mountains. Ruhiyyih says she will take me there one day...

Getaway in the Ole Dodge

We packed our gear in the back of George's 91' Caravan and headed out about 7:00 a.m. - in rush hour traffic up to Seattle. Most of the traffic headed north seemed to be trucks - Costco, Pella Windows, Aramark Uniform Services, Comcast, Alaska Marine Lines, Airport Shuttles, Ambulance and taxi's, and various electrical and plumbing companies.

When traffic bogged down, George got out his cell phone and rearranged some appointments with clients, cause, well, we were up to some mischief - we were gunna play some hookey...God, who wants to listen to other people's problems all day, when it looks so gorgeous out! The air was so fresh, the sun promising, temp in the 70's.

Well, the fun thing about George's car, his only car, is that over the years he has personalized it with about every kind of fishing decal they make - trout, bass - and George doesn't fish. The whole backend is herons and pelicans, the sides are cattails, hummingbirds, mallards, and more fish. The sliding door has a big canoe on it. The hood has foot prints, of grizzlies and ducks, crossing, so it's all confusing. The gas-cap has a cormorant on it....So, when traffic stalls on the freeway, people looking at the ole Dodge Caravan know we're heading out for some fun, and, they'll wave.

George has trouble getting rid of this ole car! He has had to refit the doors, patch the seat-covers, and had the engine rebuilt last fall. He's put $7,000.00 into overhaul and repairs, just to keep this piece of junk. I'd like to see him replace the windshield - heck, clean the windows - but George likes his van just the way it is, dents and all.

Everyone at the office - a mental health agency - knows George's car, and they get a charge when he parks it right next to the Psychiatrists Jaguar!

We had a great trip, did some fantastic canoeing and, unfortunately, had to portage a mile when a sudden storm came up. Boy were we tuckered out when we got home! All the camping gear is still trashed in front of the fireplace, and the canoe is still strapped on top of the ole Dodge Caravan!

Beaver Dam on the Coffee Table

My son, Taraz, is in his early 20's, and hasn't a clue about what to do with the rest of his life. He's held some good jobs, starting at age 12, with a paper route, then doing parcels at Fred Meyer. He spent a year in Illinois, after getting training in digital media. He went to South Carolina after that, and worked in a radio station in a little town called Hemingway. While he was there, he went canoeing in a little lake, with an island in the center of it. He loved the solitude, after talking all day.

There were beaver in this lake, friendly beaver, who found all the sticks Taraz broke along the water. The beaver stripped all the bark off them, then left them at the water's edge. Taraz would find the sticks on a subsequent paddle, all polished, and it was as if they were GIFTS. And, he took them home, and carved notches in them. Added small carvings.

When it was time to return to Washington, he packed all 75 power sticks in his luggage, and not much of anything else! And, guess where they are now displayed!

Black Eyed Peas and Cheryl Crow

We made a day-trip over Snoqualmie Pass to the Columbia Wildlife Refuge. We did some canoeing in the Columbia Wildlife Refuge, a beautiful place with water-filled potholes carved out by glaciers thousands of years ago. The water is pristine, the air sweetened with sage, and the canoeing is great - if, you don't have wind. And, we did.

George always convinces me that things will calm down, so lets load up, and, like a typical optimist when it comes to things 'canoeing', I went along for the ride. Well, the first mile or so it was smooth sailing, so to speak. I had my video camera going, and I got great images of all the mud-swallow nests up in the farther reaches of the cliffs. I video tape all our glides, rather than paddle, because my rotator cuffs are pretty shot due to so much paddling over the years. So, George 'power paddles' for the both of us. It works great until you hit wild waves and gusty wind. Thats what happened, and we were almost blown across the lake. Not fun.

We got back to the car, and decided just to explore. Eastern Washington is dramatic, with the Columbia River Gorge, the open vistas. We put on some music, or I should say, George does, and it is always a battle to get our tastes to 'match' comfort zones. Now, George is a disc jockey in his spare time, when he's not playing Therapist, and he goes by the name DJ George. But, his music can send me up the wall when he starts out with Doris Day or the Four Lads singing about 'Standing on the Corner'. He'll update to Earth Wind and Fire, Patti SaBelle, and Van Morrison (Hymn to the Silence, love it). Then over to Billy Swans, 'I Can Help', the O Jay's 'Love Train, and the Isley Brothers 'That Lady'.

We'll play an entire album of Fleetwood Mac while I'm filming combining operations along the road, dust swirling behind those big machines. Looks like the second cut for farming alfalfa. An album by Cheryl Crow is next, although I tell George 'All I Wanna Do' is switch over to 'Where is the Love' by Black Eyed Peas - they really describe the plight of the world today.

Exploring back roads always gets you to a secluded spot you can call your own, lay out a blanket, soak up a little sun. We did, then we opened up the door to the van and danced in the sagebrush! Percy Faith's 'Theme for a Summer Place, Andy Williams 'Moon River, and a song called 'Blue Velvet , can't beat those for making you appreciate dancin' on a summer day. Reminds me of Fleetwood Mac's 'BIG LOVE', and, it is!

Quote for the Day

"Beauty triumphs over the suffering inherent in life."
~Nietzsche

Stormy weather

We had planned a canoeing trip for today, but the weather report, in the paper, says we will have rain, wind, and lightening. Don't want to be out on the water if that happens. So we are waiting it out. Funny, right now the morning sun is glistening on roof-tops, leaves are brilliant, but the sky in the west is purple. Just like morning, to give the day a chance.

Top O' the Mornin' to you...

Aching for Quiet

Never mind me, I'm sitting in the shadows, acknowledging that, possibly, I have a quiet moment here. The cat is asleep on the sofa and my daughter, Ruhiyyih, is packing for China. All these 40 years, I've ached for QUIET, and now, it is around the corner. Funny, when it finally arrives, the feelings are not what I had imagined. Wish the world were a little smaller. Wish China were just kitty-corner, or better yet, barely across the street.

Ever ache for quiet, get it, and sit there in the shadows wishing it hadn't happened?