A Wonderful Day

Alleluia, He is Risen!   Margaret wishes a joyous Easter to all her friends and fans!

 

And so do Rebecca and  Baby Rachael.

Vacation Day

I’m on vacation for Holy Week, and I’ve been working really hard!  I guess this “working really hard” is pretty relative, however.  The other day, I told Rebecca that the next day I was just going to pamper myself.  There was a silence from her.  “I know what you’re thinking,” I said.  “You think I pamper myself every day of my life.”  She admitted that that was exactly what she thought.  “I didn’t say it though.  You did yourself,” she responded, defending her calumny.  I guess it is a little true.  I don’t really exert myself too awfully much. 

So, for this vacation, I have prepared a long list of little tasks that I want to get done, and every day I am working through the list and then doing one fun thing.  Sunday was Palm Sunday all day long, with two choir practices and a Mass in the morning, a tiny nap in between, and then another Mass. That doesn’t sound particularly fun, but actually it was.  Choir practice and Mass are generally fun.  Or at any rate, enjoyable. When I got home, I went straight to beddie-bye and ignored the list altogether.  

Monday I made a big dent in the list.  One of the more onerous tasks was organizing the music for the eight upcoming services that one or the other, or both of my two choirs is singing in.  I needed to combine the two books and be sure that every piece of music comes up when needed – without having to page through to find it.  Tobias felt that he could help with this (see above photo), but he was sadly mistaken.  He was no help at all. Nonetheless, I managed to work around him and finally get it done. 

In the evening, I went with my friend Michelle to see Greta Garbo in The Kiss, her last silent film. (Garbo’s, not Michelle’s. Michelle is not a movie star.)  Just going to the wonderful Paramount Theater, one of the ever dwindling number of Movie Palaces, marveling at the posh beauty of the theater itself and listening to the mighty Wurlitzer, is an adventure.  Going with friends and seeing a marvelous silent movie  - priceless!!   Actually, not priceless – it cost’s $10, but that’s a bargain in the grand scheme of things.

Today, lunch with Rachael, and more tasks crossed off the list. 

So far, a good vacation!

A Spring Day

Happy First Day of Spring! It doesn’t seem that spring-like today, and Tobias says to tell you that he hates it.  Spring-like or not. He really is having a rough time.  First off, while he is a totally indoor kitty, he does like to sit on my enclosed back porch.  Happily for some, but not Tobias, the little wren family has returned to their gourd nest for another year.  Hence my poor kitten is not allowed to go onto the porch except at night when the birdies are asleep.  So he sits on my kitchen table and stares out at them, drooling a little at those tasty treats flitting by.  Last year, (I hate to confess this,) he actually managed somehow to eat one.  So no outsidies for Mr. Tobias.

 Not only is he teased by his little avian tormentors, but he had another spring related unpleasant episode.  I am, as you know, an arch procrastinator, but when I finally decided to take the Christmas pillow and throw off my couch to honor spring’s awakening, it wasn’t just due to my usual laziness.  I like the Christmas one so much better than the others, and the “Merry Christmas” pillow was, in her dotage, one of my mother’s favorite things.  Generally, her house was exquisitely decorated, and I was surprised when she got this somewhat kitschy bit of holiday decor. But she loved it. So as I sit reading or knitting in my chair, across from the couch, I see it and the also kitschy “cardinal in the snow” blanket, and am happy. Well, it’s almost Easter, so they had better go.  The couch, as you can see is fairly venerable. Theoretically, it opens up into a bed, but the last time I opened it, it was a major struggle to get it closed again, so and I’m nervous every time I have to open it even part way – as I do to change the blanket.  On my most recent cleaning day, I finally put away the Christmas one and brought out the “rest-of-the-year” one.

 An hour at least later, I heard a pathetic “Mew” from somewhere.  Occasionally when I open a cupboard or closet darling Tobias slips in unnoticed.  I called him and he didn’t answer.  I looked in the linen and coat closets.  I looked in the cupboards.  I called some more.  Finally, I went upstairs and to sew for a while.  Then I stomped down the stairs so that he would hear me from his secret lair and Meow again, which he did.  But where was he?  Nowhere that I could find. Finally, when he meowed more poignantly and loudly,  I realized that it was coming from within the couch.  What a silly!  I was so glad he wasn’t suffocated.  As he stalked out, he glared at me as though it was all my fault.  But he quickly forgave and settled down on my lap for a snooze.  He is there now, in fact. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Top o' the mornin' to yourself! 

All my blog friends are posting lovely photos of the flowers in their garden, and I feel like I should join them.  But I am to lazy to go out and take a picture.  Maybe mañana!  But … not only is it finally getting to be springtime, but it really is St. Patrick’s Day.

Rebecca and I walked to the University District for lunch and on the way saw many lovely signs of spring, including one of her favorites – skunk cabbage.  Ever since she was wee, she has loved it. Perhaps for its vibrant yellowness, but more likely for its delightful skunkiness.  

A Touristy Day

One of my happy kiddy memories was going to the Museum of History and Industry with my father.  He loved it, particularly the parts having to do with airplanes, and we went frequently.  

My brother seemed to not have as much interest in the airplanes, but was enthusiastic about the trucks and trains.  

I liked it all, and once Bobo, the beloved Seattle gorilla, having gone to his eternal reward, was no longer at the zoo, he became my main MOHAI interest.  His gigantic stuffed self greeted visitors from a glass cage near the entrance.  I continued to go frequently until MOHAI started charging for admittance, and then went only when a singing group I was in had the occasional performance there.

When the MOHAI moved to its posh new digs, I was eager to go.  But so expensive!  I have to confess that I am a real cheapskate. So, given that the first Thursday of the month is free, my friends Laura, Sun, fellow nurses on my unit, and I arranged an expedition.  When we got there, it was not only free day, but it seemed to be old lady day. I, of course, fit right in.  The most prominent group, the Shoreline Red Hat Society  looked fabulous in their red hats and purple outfits. 

Naturally, I was on the lookout for Bobo, but he was in some cellar being refurbished.  One of the docents told us that when Bobo died, the MOHAI got his skin, and the Burke got his skeleton.  He had a wife, Fifi, (whom he rejected) but one does not ever hear much about her.  Bobo was loved by a generation of zoo goers, and his memory, as well as his remains, lives on in Seattle.

We had a terrific day!  The new museum exhibits are amazing.  One can follow a timeline, starting with Native American artifacts, 

the landing of the first white settlers on Alki beach,  early ship building, an amusing movie about the Seattle fire, and on through the years, culminating with the current exhibit about movie making in Seattle.  You can even star in a movie! 

Sun has always wanted to be a movie star!

Other important Seattle landmarks are memorialized.

Afterward, we visited the Center for Wooden Boats.

It was a super fun day.  You can see more pictures of our day by clicking here.  This is a blog with updates on some of the doings of my work colleagues. 

A White Knuckle Day

"There's something really horrible going on here, Mom!"

My car was a disgusting mess, covered with bird poop and other odious congealed effluvia, and I can’t really wash it at my house.  Well, I could, but hose and parking logistics make it difficult, so I usually go to my aunt’s house for this irksome task.  The prospect is made even more uninviting by the current inclement weather.  Where are all those high school chess club fund raisers when you want them?  

I would long ago gone to the giant automatic car wash place, but there is something so dreadful about whole experience that I couldn’t face it.  When Rachael was wee, she was terrified the first (and only) time we took her through one.  Rebecca thought it was because Rachael was only three, but I knew that it was because the car wash is, in fact, actually terrifying. Even just going in to pay in advance is a horrible ordeal.  I had been hinting to Rebecca on our outings that we should go through the car wash, which I could endure with her there to give moral support, and she always said okay, she would, but “mañana.”  Since I was so repulsed every time I got in my über-dirty car, I finally decided to go to Aunt Pauline’s and do it the old fashioned way.  I called Rebecca to see if she wanted to visit with Pauline for a bit and help wash the car, but she thought it was way too cold.  “Let’s go to the car wash!” she said.  So we did. 

It was as horrible as I expected.  Margaret agreed about this.  First there is ordeal at the cash register where you get your secret number.  Then the fear of putting in the number wrong. Next you have to drive to the exact right spot in the horrid mechanism.  Far enough but not too far.  Then the roaring starts, and the car seems to be moving of its own volition. (This is the most hideous aspect of the whole ordeal.) The car moves backwards, forwards, and up and down, as one sits there, petrified, with clenched fists, white knuckles, and the foot firmly on the brake, checking frequently to see that the hand brake is on.   Rebecca thought this was incredibly amusing and was delightedly snapping pictures and giving a running commentary on what the machines were doing, and how Margaret (who didn’t like it either) and I should get a grip.

Praying for deliverance!

What a relief when it finally was over, and we drove off in our clean (until the next bird passes by) car.