Home and back again...

Just back from a visit to 1 Trinity last week - had a great time seeing family & friends and traipsing around upstate NY in autumn. It's always been my favorite time of year - despite the fading light and somber anniversaries that accompany the Octobers of our adulthood...

And though I'm always glad to return home after my travels, it's with regret that I'm so far from those I so dearly love...

Here's to the next visit, and the next...

cw

3 years later...

Has it been that long? Has it only been 3 years....

Scott posted his recollections last night, reminding me once again how revealing it is to have a second set of eyes that catch/reflect events I've experienced, but only partially.

For me, that night is a blur, I'd had a long sleepless day in transit and after landing in Albany, spent the afternoon/evening at the hospital giving Scott a break and waiting for Shari to arrive (I think?)...we were at ICU late into the night, waiting for mom to stabilize. She finally did so I left to get some sleep, only to have the phone ring upon my arrival in the room at Becky's House: "You'd better come over..."

Mom had slipped away in the few minutes it took me to walk across the street. I returned, we spent the next couple of hours with her in the ICU room - an incredible experience, distressing and comforting and profound... Leaving her behind in that room was astonishingly difficult, even knowing as I did that she was no longer with us - I wasn't anywhere close to ready. And more than anything I wished that Wendy could have been there with us.

Before attempting sleep, I insisted we find a place to have a drink (at 2am). We found a little Irish pub around the corner, on the verge of closing but still open. What ensued was nothing less than a true upstate Irish wake - the sweet young bartenders took us under wing, Jameson's whiskey flowed freely, glasses were raised and toasts were made (to Eleanor, to mothers and grandmothers long departed), tears were shed along with our own, and eventually we were sent on our way, to face the dawning realization of what had just happened.

The days and weeks that followed were difficult and heartbreaking, stressful and comforting, and the power of love and encouragement that surrounded us and carried us along is hard to describe. I can say that - having been on the other side, as one who feels impotent and with little to offer - the mere presence of those who stood by us, and the quiet words of encouragement, comfort, condolence were incredible gifts whose impact can't be measured.

So, to all those innumerable friends and family members, acquaintances and near strangers who gathered around us in those most difficult days: thank you.

Summer! (?)

It's not that I intended to wait on my next post until something resembling the actual season showed up - just seems to have happened that way. Perhaps this will become a quarterly blog...

I know that I spend too much time complaining about the weather, especially given that Seattle is about the only place fit for humanity these days - but here's confirmation of my endless lament.*

I've developed a new mantra, however: It sure is good sleeping weather! (and I mean that sincerely). 'Nuff said on that topic.

What else has been going on since May, you might wonder? Well, the garden has blissfully ignored the external signals and carried on its merry way, and we've been delighting in our early summer harvest - rhubarb, strawberries, eggs, romaine, kale, raspberries, blueberries, and flowers galore.

We've had some time at Hood Canal feasting on sea protein of every sort, and in Eastern Washington soaking up the sun and sage.

We've been catching up (when I say we, I mostly mean Bob) on a significant backlog of deferred maintenance around the house.

We've been integrating our chickens (the 'babies' are 18 weeks old, and living out in the coop mostly amicably with the old lady hens) and amusing ourselves endlessly watching them express their inimitable chicken-ness.

I've been studying meditation, and spent my weekend at a retreat led by Sharon Salzburg - a little birthday present to myself, and time well spent.

We've been planning a little trip to the SW at the end of August, and getting excited about that.

We've been trying (slowly) to catch up with family and friends who may have been lost in the shuffle of what was actually a very busy 2010-11 school year!

We've been rejoicing with friends bearing good news (pending babies, good health restored, major accomplishments) and sending love to those with not so good news (passings, illness) - and carrying on with all that life brings us.

With that, I'll post (for goodness sake) - and promise to return soon.

* As it turns out, my birthday weekend was like a beautifully wrapped gift - two entire days of sunny, 80F weather. And I was happy to share it with the entire city, before it came to an apocalyptic end around 8am this morning.

Spring?

April 2011 - a month best ignored. Seattle's worst ever, in terms of cold and rain...That said, we've had plenty to keep us amused - if not completely distracted from the damp chillthatpermeated our bones!

Our baby chicks are morphing into awkward pre-adolescents, all feathering out and testing their wings:

First week chicks Fifth week chicks

The two 'replacement' blondes have acquired names at last (Maggie and Lucie), and have commenced to laying steadily - we're delighted to be in eggs once again:

We got 10+ yards of cow manure delivered a couple of weeks ago, and have been shoveling shit ever since - finally cleared the driveway at last, and spent today in the garden digging it into our vegetable beds, even planted a few starts (kale, broccoli, romaine) just to prove to myself that warmer weather is coming soon. Today was lovely, pure sunshine and mid-60's. Changes one's outlook, I have to say! Here are a couple of shots of our backyard in the sun:

More on chicks...

Since I'm not getting around to posting any pix/updates of my own - check out our dear friend Jason's entry on his blog, The Real Garden, about our newest members of the household.

Damn, they are cute.

Oh - we got our first egg of the season yesterday from the new adult chickens (we're still settling on names - they are eerily identical looking to Mabel and Leota) - a sure sign of spring!

A trip to the feed store...

Can you take a trip to the feed store to look at baby chicks and come home empty-handed?

Apparently not:

We brought these little darlings home from the Bothell Feed Store on Saturday afternoon, they're 6 days old today. They're cheeping and peeping away in the garage under their brooder lamp as I write, having managed to tear myself away for the evening not long ago.

A flock of 6 chickens in the city - are we crazy? Time will tell.

More on this topic in the coming weeks, no doubt...

March update

Spring is slowly emerging in the NW, soggy and grey for the most part with occasional patches of color...We're looking forward to the equinox this weekend - can it be that we're already halfway to summer?

It's been a wild month - earthquakes, nuclear catastrophes, and widespread misery for our neighbors in Japan, and the impacts ripple out from there touching all in its path to our western shores. This global web of ours is tightly woven, and it's hard to fathom the enormity of what's happened. The world anxiously watches, prays, grieves, mobilizes...And life carries on, albeit somewhat more gingerly.

We decided to acquire some companions for Amelia, after a month or so of pondering what the next move would be. Despite her age (8), we decided that it's no good to have only one chicken - such social creatures can't be happy alone for long, and she was showing signs of solitude. But since she's also the dominant hen, very young chickens wouldn't be able to hold their own against her. So after perusing craigslist for a couple of weeks, we happened upon a pair of 2-yr old Buff Orpingtons that needed a new home, and brought them home the other night.

They were introduced today, and so far it seems to be going ok. Started by putting them in the coop this morning, separated but able to see/hear each other. After a couple hours of that, we let them out in the yard all together under supervision. Minor bullying/pecking by Amelia - but nothing awful. After several more hours, we put them all in the coop together - and the establishment of the pecking order continues.

We're considering getting some baby chicks at the end of the month, and establishing a more age-diverse flock that will provide us with eggs every year while staggering the old-age end of life scenario we've had the past year with our original 3. Seattle allows up to 8 chickens per household now, I think we'd aim for 6 this year, and maybe add a couple each year or two?

Here are the new girls - they look just like Mabel and Leota, I know. No names yet.