Thankful

It's snowing at sea level in the PNW, a rare occasion that never fails to delight...Nothing is sticking, but our Sunday morning walk was especially lovely today as a result. We've had a frigid system blowing through, and it's going to get much colder these next few days - it will be good training for our December travels to NY and WY!

The past month has been busy in the best sort of way - I can't begin to recount everything this late on a Sunday evening, but wanted to at least say hello and share some highlights of the things I'm grateful for lately...

Our harvest this year was bountiful, despite the cool rainy August/Sept we had. We raked in beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic and apples - and fall foraging filled our freezer with chanterelle and matsutaki mushrooms. We're eating well this autumn, often from the soil under our feet, which makes everything taste even better.

And though my sunflowers were late, their brilliant blooms were all the more cheerful upon arrival:

In October, I got to visit the North Carolina siblings - just a long weekend, but a welcome change of scenery and opportunity to see family I've been missing. Mere hours after my arrival in Durham, we headed DC to attend Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear - a once in a lifetime event that I won't soon forget! Scott, Alicia and Morgan handled all the logistics, and I gladly rode shotgun; we joined ~ 250,000 other reasonable souls for an incredible gathering on the National Mall.

While in NC, I also went to see Wendy, Mike and Dani in Wilmington for a quick overnight - it was good to see them and get another tour of their lovely coastal city. Wish it could have been longer, but we made the most of the time we had!

Back in Seattle, I've been taking a class on mindfulness and meditation based on a course that was developed at University of Massachusetts by Jon Kabat-Zinn - it's been really interesting and challenging. It's surprisingly difficult to be present with each of the moments that make up our lives, and I've been grateful for the opportunity to work on this with the patient guidance of our amazing teacher and some terrific classmates. More on that to come, no doubt...

Before I wrap up, I'll toss out a few films we've seen lately and liked - Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (the latest Michael Cera vehicle - fun!); Sweetgrass (a documentary about sheepherding in Montana); and CityIsland (set in the Bronx, with Andy Garcia). The last two are a great juxtaposition of the respective cultures that Bob and I come from - we found it amusing that we watched these next to each other, as we prepare to visit our families for Christmas. We've come a long way since we first met each other, scratching our heads in confusion much of the time...hee hee!

I'll try not to be so long in posting the next time, until then - Happy Thanksgiving!