How I Spent My Vacation

Four vacation days together (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday).
Three cinema movies (Night at the Museum, Apocalypto, The Good Shepherd).
Two doggies walking.
One Christmas Day.

Happy Solstice

Welcome to the Natural New Year, ushered in at the dawn of days that will be getting longer from here on out. I gave a ride to a crazy lady the other day. A woman was standing in the middle of the road, in front of a bus with its hazards on. At first, I thought she was ranting at the passing traffic, in a general crazy sense, shaking her fist and shouting. As I watched a moment, it became clear she was trying to flag someone down to pick her up. About that time, she saw me, trying to exit the gas station, but unable to, because she was standing in the middle of the road. She came to my rolled up window and shouted, "Are you going down the hill?" I shook my head no. She came around to the passenger side, opened the door, and got in the car anyway. Now, I had just come from a really intense massage, and my reaction times at this point were very slow. Even so, my threat assessment level wasn't triggering huge warning bells, so I thought, "What the Hell, I'll give the gal a ride." As we drove down the hill, away from where I needed to go, she kept up a running rant.
"I won't steal anything," she asserted.
"I don't don't have anything to steal," I laughed.
"I'm usually not this bold, but I'm desperate."
"People don't pick people up any more," I inserted.
"I've been on two broken down buses, I've waited more than an hour and a half, and I've got eighteen people coming over for a dinner party tonight. Bless you for this. I should give you a present. I hope somebody does something nice for you. It's only two minutes out of your way, but it means the world to me."
And so on. I drove all the way down to the water. She asked to be let out at a street corner, jumped out, and vaguely waved goodbye as she ran down the street. I never got her name. She never asked me mine. After she got out, I started laughing, and couldn't stop, about four miles home. End of story.

And, in the I-Shit-You-Not category, I snapped this shot outside the alley of a local restaurant. I've passed by this barrel dozens of times and never noticed what it said. Gives mystery meat a whole new meaning.

A Note to Family, Friends, and Colleagues

We're sitting in Cafe Verite, and to tell you the truth, it's been a little over the top lately, living here in the wild and woolly Pacific Northwest. November broke the records for wettest month on record since 1898; then Seattle broke the record for the deepest freeze early in the season, and as you may have heard, after hurricane-force winds, we are now going on 48 hours without power in our home.

Not to worry! We are safe. We are finding ways to stay warm, dry, and fed. We broke into the 100-pack of tea lights for $4.95 from IKEA, and Home Depot was giving away free firewood. The wee beasties have doubled-up on sweaters, and we've showered at Steve's office and my yoga studio.

Even now, we are eating a gingerbread cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, reflecting on what an amazing year 2006 has been. What we're trying to say here is that we are truly blessed. We wish the same for you, for the holidays and always. We want to take this quiet time to thank all of you for making this year such a good one, at work and play. We lift our free trade, organic soy chai teas to you and toast:
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

My Husby said..

...my breasts are "milky-white perfection carved out of solid organic marshmellow." Just thought you ought to know.

Sloggin the Nog

Hey, don't blame me. I was simply making sure nothing went to waste. Yes, friends, the official SFHC Party Season has begun with the making of what the Husby now calls ValNog, my family's from scratch, raw egg, highly flammable seasonal beverage. This particular batch, one of several we will either make or outsource this month, was for his company holiday party. He elected himself official party embassador, and spread the good cheer from desk to desk. By all accounts, it was well received. I, however, am having a very rough night, my digestive system uttering all sorts of protests over the consumption of dairy, alcohol, chocolates, and heavy meats of the last two days. At last party's potluck, there were exactly three things I could have eaten that wouldn't have given me trouble: an eggplant dish (scary), honey baked and brown sugar crusted turkey (gack), and tossed salad (hold me back). Every other dish was cheese crusted this, and pudding cream infested that, and butter slathered the other thing. I feel like the character from the classic, all time spoof movie of spoof movies, Airplane!, who kept popping into frame saying "I picked the wrong time to give up smoking/drinking/sniffing glue/eating dairy."

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

I believe in organic, non-GMO food, and in using canvas bags every time you go to the grocery store. We endeavor to use all-natural, non-toxic products in our home, from laundry detergent to hair care and makeup. We own one car for our family, a Toyota Prius, and if it existed, my idea of a perfect car would be a BioDiesel-Hybrid Subaru Forester. Better yet, I plan on purchasing an electric bicycle for all commuting under 5 miles within the next year and I would urge anyone with any decision-making ability to make public transportation our region's #1 priority for the foreseable future. When I build my own home, it will meet extremely strict green building criteria, both during the process, and in the materials used. It will have advanced water reclamation capabilities, because I know I use too much water; and I hope it will be a net producer of energy, putting power back into the grid. We recycle 3-4 times as much as we throw away; and this year, I will add food waste to our recycling program.

For those of you seeking to increase your environmental responsibility with each passing year, I can recommend two web sites at the moment: Gaiam and EcoDeals. I'd love it if any kindred souls out there reading this would enlighten me as to other good resources for green living.

Did I Win Anything?

Huh? Did I? Did I? I wanna' know if I won anything from the list of random prizes for blogging everyday. That's merely one of the many thoughts running through my head at this moment. Another is reflecting on what looked like some Jehovah's Witnesses boys wandering the neighborhood this morning. I was sitting on the couch in a flimsy black cotton robe that barely clears my thighs. I wanted to answer the door with my robe open, facing them naked. I imaged the conversation would go something like this:
"Mam! Would you cover yourself please."
"Nope. My religion worships the naked body. If you want to expose me to your religion in my home, you have to be prepared to be exposed to me."
My girlfriends are all going away. One moved to Oregon last year. Another moved to Boston this year. Another is moving to Port Townsend right now. Another disappears to Montana as often as she can. Yet another moved to what she calls "North-by-God Snohomish" and is in the process of having two babies. We moved away from another girlfriend only as far away as Shoreline, but it might as well be the moon. Most recently, another fabulous girlfriend got this fantastic gig working all over the country with the Broadway tour of Light in the Piazza. I'm so happy for her, and sad for me for about seven months. Our connections are so tenuous in this culture, in this life we lead. It is much on my mind of late.