re-run!

THIS POST IS ONE FROM MY ARCHIVES, I found it and thought it warranted a re-post!
Enjoy!

Driving home...observing...
As I drive, I let my mind wander. Sometimes I talk to myself, asking why or why not A specific incident. Usually it is reliving a situation, and how I SHOULD have reacted, instead of HOW I DID!

Sometimes I sing along to the radio, depending on the mood I am in.

sometimes I just look.

Last night I was just looking...I was heading south out of Oak Harbor, having just come from Albert and noticed just how dark it had gotten while I was in the store. From the parking lot the sky was all dark and cloudy, even though it was only 445! I thought at the time it was unusually dark. AS I topped the hill, I was heading west, and noticed immediately that there was a break in the clouds. Usually when a front moves through, the west clears last, and that is where I was looking. But what I saw was TWO fronts. The first was passing through, and was on it's way out. The 2nd front was just coming in off the Pacific, and was hanging low on the horizon. Right in between, in the light lavender and mauve colored stripe of clear sky was the planet Venus was shining brightly. It was gorgeous, a ray of peaceful hope in a very troubled sky.

The clouds on the receding front had the cottage cheese look, and were back lit ever so slightly by the fading light. Just enough to give them definition, and let you know that it was about to get very windy.

My Father was an outdoors person, with no formal training, just a love for the nature around him. He Read voraciously about it, and LOVED the Weather, the geophysical sciences, and the forests. So naturally as we grew up, and had no Television...(horrors!!), we went out into this vast encyclopedia of living things every weekend, and we observed. Weather was a big interest, as it would adversely affect out lives if we did not watch it carefully. Dad would tell us what the weather was going to do just by looking. We had no weatherman on the 6 o'clock news. He would point out the subtle differences between the clouds, and even though he didn't know the scientific terms for them, he could tell us what they each meant. The Horsetail clouds way up high meant that warmer moist weather was coming in a few days, and it usually did. He could point out where the rain was falling and tell us how much longer we had to walk the beach before we would get wet, SO we always headed back to the car JUST IN TIME!

Last night I saw that one system was moving through and that the end of the system was usually followed by winds, and that the second one was moving in with rain and winds. By the time I had made it to Coupeville, the winds had started, and lasted about an hour, and then it was calm until after midnight.

I know by listening to the sound outside just when it will start to snow, (I have a young lady thoroughly in awe of me!) and I can smell it coming. I really can. I can tell by the way the wind is blowing what might be heading our way. From the south and strong, usually means the storm is going to be warm and wet...A Pineapple express, coming in from Hawaii. From the North usually means that the jet stream has dropped and the lows coming in off the pacific have been diverted to the North, and then whipped down this way, bring cold rain and wind.

I can tell by the moss growing on the North side of everything in my back yard, that we have not had very much exposure to the sun this fall and winter. It will take a lot of scrubbing this spring to get it all clean again.

This is usual weather for the Pacific Northwest. All wet and gray, hardly ever any snow in the lowlands. Dad brought us here in 1954, from sunnier climes, and Both Phyllis and I fell totally in love with the place. It was like living in the middle of a national forest. We learned about nature by observing Dad, and we learned that not all of God's knowledge can be gained by formal schooling. Sometimes the best lessons are ones we observe first hand from someone we trust.

I know I did.

rehearsals continued,

This was the first rehearsal where almost everyone had a costume. They should all be there by tomnorrow night, but most of the women had them tonight. THe timing is a little off tonight, but for the most part it is just tweaking the lights and adding a few paint drops to a flat. Tomorrow we get to start cleaning the place up and getting it ready for an audience. Everyone was there tonight, and it works so well when they are all on. A little frivolity but that is good. It means the cast is relaxed and ready. Tomorrow I buckle down and will not interupt them at all to see how long the show will run.

This has been such a wonderful ride. This cast is AMAZING! Dick, you and Pat are gonna have to forgo a Sunday afternoon and drive over and see it. It will be worth your time. But get your tickets early as we are expecting these to go fast!

The Philadelphia Story

These Pictures are of Tara Hizon as Tracy Lord, Jim Reynolds as Mike Connors, Dustin Amunson as C.K.Dexter Haven and Bob Foster as Sandy Lord, During the rehearsal of The Philadelphis Story.

This is a Movie with Kathryn Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, and Cary Grant, that I was in love with as a child, and may have watched it 50 times. I also like the Musical version of it made in the late 50's with Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby. When we had the play selected as a possible addition to our season, I jumped on the chance to direct it. I have LOVED working with this cast, and they are GREAT!

This is the cast that makes a directors job EASY! I just point at where I want them and they do the rest. THe set is GORGEOUS and the costumes are period. What a show. If you are in the neighborhood please come see it. You will not be disappointed.

Tickets are 16.00 and they are reserved seating. THe Play opens January 28, and runs until Feb 13. Hope to see you there.

I will post more as I get them.

Hey Matt! You Dat!

Rarely do I watch a football game, but I did on Saturday. And what a game it was,Our team went into it with a losing reci=ored, and tghe worst record in the NFC.And they POUNDED the Super Bowl Winners New Orleans Saints! Whoot, All thanks to Matt Hasselback, Lucas and about 9 others but the one that really one for us wasw our "twelfth Man. Our FANS are the noisiest fans in the NFL AND IT EVEN REGISTERED AS AN earthquake under Quest field when Lucas ran his 60 yd TD. THe seismometers under seqattle showed a minor earthquake, Nah just the fans making a lot of noise and jumping up and down. It was an awesome game. Now on to Chi-town and the Bears. I do bot have much hope that they can pull it off again, but if they do!! WHOOOOOOO That 12th man will earn his colors!!!

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Seahawks!!!!!!!!!

Meet Gracie!

As you can see, she RULES the house! Notice there are no ornaments on the bottom of the tree? Wills and Gracie knocked them all off and broke them. They chase each other around like mad cats. I was afraid Gracie would get hurt, but she holds her own!

A New year!

As a New Year Dawns over Mt Rainier and the Seattle skyline, we are still in the throes if a bitter cold weather system. It has not gotten above the freezing mark,and to make matters worse, we have a stagnant air advisory which means that all that wood Bob chooped, split and stcked for me can not be burned! I have to use my electric heat! GRRRRRRR!



Every New Year's Eve we sit in the living room and watch the events on TV. And every year we wonder if this is the year that the Space needle will finally lift off and head for orbit! Alas, it stayed on the ground, and it was an incredible sight to see it all lit up again.

THis year I will have two new additions to my fur babies. and a few losses too. I lost Lint, and Loki to Either old age or anaphalactic Shock. Sadie is still here and getting older and more crippled. She is going on 8 years old, and her hips are starting to really get to her. She can no longer jump on my bed, and can barely make it on the couch. Schroeder is 3 and still the biggest one, and the biggest WUSS!! He still hides under the bed when anyone besides me is in the house. Will's is 9 months old now and a real love of a ginger tabby. He runs the house. Or he DID until last week when I brought GRACIE home. Gracie is my final cat. unless I live a lot longer than she does! She is 8 weeks old, a long haired Black Calico kitten with a really pretty face. I have wanted one like her for several years, and finally she came into my life! She was an orphan at 7 days old, and one of my cast members was fostering her and her siblings. Bottle feeding them every two hours. So she brought her into rehearsal, and I fell in LOVE! Gracie now runs the house! Schroeder stays under the bed and growls at her, Sadie is not too sure about her and Will's just wants to play like a teenaged cat would, but I wont let him. She is waaay too little still. She sleeps right beside me every night, and purrs me to sleep. Such a love!

I hope all of you and yours have a very happy and healthy New Year too! Herman, Welcome back! (((Hugs)) and et nz enjoy your nice summer weather...