Pacific Northwest

I grew up in the Pacific North West part of the United States.  Normal for me was rain all winter with a bit of snow thrown in.  Forests of fir trees. Mountains topped with snow year round.  Flowing rivers.  I thought everybody was familiar with tall green trees and white towering mountains until I moved away.  Every year I try to revisit my roots mostly because my brother still lives there, but partly because the forests and mountains call to me.

The sound of water tumbling over rocks and logs in a rushing river is seldom heard where I live now among the arroyos and dry creek beds.  Sitting by a stream in the summer sun is music for my soul.

Sometimes

Hello Friends!  It's Friday Fave Fives time!  Welcome to Willow's Week.  Follow that link to participate in sharing your blessings from this past week.

1.  Sometimes, I collect sayings.  Here are two I've heard this week in response to "[using whiny voice] It's not fair!"  Both are true.  Both are wise.

Life's not fair, and then you die.

Life's not fair, but you can be.

2.  Sometimes, I notice colors and textures.  Probably it's my experience in working with textiles.  If the light is just right in the kitchen, the sun changes the colors of my green shamrock plant.  My heart leaps when I notice the beauty.

3.  Sometimes, the texture of something will pull up a memory.  I grew up among the majestic evergreen trees of the Pacific Northwest.  This week as I was parking in a public lot in Ventura which is a LONG way from the PNW, I noticed the texture of this tree.  The memory it invoked of my childhood made me smile.  I might have reached out and stroked the bark.  Sometimes I miss the green forests of home.

4.  Sometimes, one thing will lead to another.  I offered to help a friend from the weavers and spinners guild who is also a artist group friend to bring together, organize and document all the equipment (for example, spinning wheels, weaving looms and drum carders) that the guild has to offer the members for rental use.  When I told my daughter my plans for the day, she responded, "That's great, Mom.  Organizing and helping others organize is one of your spiritual gifts."  I guess she's right.  I like organizing stuff.  So, I spent part of a day this week enjoying my friend's company and helping out the guild.

5.  Sometimes, the rewards are great.  The guild is given a lot of unspun fiber, yarn, and equipment.  I brought several bags and boxes of yarn home to cull and organize and take back to the guild.  Also, I was given the opportunity to choose to keep some if I wanted.  I should have warned The Professor that it wasn't all mine to keep.

What little blessings make you smile sometimes?

Two Thousand Two Hundred Excuses

I have an excuse for being AWOL.  2,200 excuses.  That's how many miles we drove on our trip to the Pacific Northwest.  Here is Willow's (Two) Week catch up with Susanne's Friday Fave Fives.

1.  Time with my brother is especially precious. It is just the two of us. For many of our adult years we have lived thousands and thousands of miles apart, but now it's easier (less than a thousand miles!).  I have been pondering how to describe relationships among siblings.  Maybe this is how.  My husband has my heart.  My brother has my history.  Because he was older than I, my brother bossed me, protected me, helped me.  (I wonder how many potential dates or boyfriends my brother scared off...)  This photo captures our love for each other and our joy at being together.

2.  The World's Best Neighbors gave me a 'celebrate retirement' present!  The Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham Knitting T-shirt!  Here I am wearing it while I 'knit with a goat'.  (Goat provided by older brother)

3.  Visiting the communities where we lived for many years provided lots of opportunities to visit people.  Church friends and former college buddies.  So many lunches and dinners.  One evening, we spent three hours at one (sort of semi-fast food) restaurant talking, eating, laughing with people who included the college professor who was my department advisor.  Three hours!  And we could have talked for another three hours if the shop hadn't closed at 9pm.  (For the record, the staff seemed to enjoy our rowdy, joyous laughter, our switching seats at the table, our passing of the old college yearbooks around to share pictures and stories.)

4.  One day, we decided we wanted a quiet hike.  We needed the tranquility of a forest.  There is no place like the Pacific Northwest for hiking under fir trees and beside streams.  (LOOK!  WATER! and GREEN ferns!)

5.  People have asked if we are bored driving an sitting in the car all those hours.  The answer is no.  Fortunately, we travel well together.  I had lots of time to knit and read.  Here are a couple of samples.  Hats for my niece's family.

Those 2,200 miles passed like a blur.  But now I'm home and my garden is calling to me.