Advent Luna Bella

The moon rose over the lake in a very fetching way!

Cascades, Lake, Bird

The  day was as clear as it was cold, and after her time at St. James where the incense was lovely, by the way,she decided to go walking down to the lake.  She was so wrapped up, I barely recognized her. She returned a little rosier but said she saw the sun beginning to set as the moon continued to rise,  glistening mountains, woodsmoke and a blue blue lake. 

Advent Vespers

We spent part of the chilly afternoon assembling this year's Advent wreath. River stones, very tall candles, and paper white bulbs.  We lit our first candle with vespers tonight. It was already getting dark.

"May God dawn upon us with wonderful light!"

Power Outage at Santa's LFP shop

The keeper had noticed a long line of families waiting for the Santa visit as she headed up to Third Place Books.  Imagine the disappointment when the power went off, the sirens began to blare, and people were asked to evacuate the building.  The children  were not happy. Nor were the parents all ready for the photo shoot. The gym shut down for the rest of the day.  That's what the keeper was sad about!

Visiting with Sherman

Before she headed to the gym, she visited Third Place Books, who had a very impressive tree, and an even more impressive author promoting Small Business Saturday and his own books and other authors, as well. The keeper has known Sherman for twenty years or so, and they got to chat when the line had a lull, so it wasn't a long chat. He had a winning way with the teenagers and Young adults who hovered. Then...the power went out!

Yes, snow!

   Yes, it snowed.  The snow was pretty.  But the air is very very cold! And the power went off as soon as we got up this morning, but right after I was fed, and the keeper had made her coffee. It came on just as the keeper was leaving for the gym which had power. But their power went out as soon as she was ready to check in!

Olympic

After trying out pens and feeling the papers at Silberman's they headed into the Olympic for a more civilized approach to Black Friday. They decided neither to give their lists to Santa nor to pose for pictures with him. But they did enjoy others doing that.

Soup

Finally it was time for soup at Piatti before going back out. Out the windows were  more police than pedestrians. 

Free Speech

It seemed everyone was expressing themselves and exercising their free speech rights. First, they cheered on the animal rights activists, but keeper made exception those saying that wool was bad. 

Then there were the anti Black Friday shopping, anti materialists in front of Pacific Place. The keeper said she cheered them on sheepishly as she carried a few bags of purchases. Finally they walked with the mostly peaceful protestors addressing racial injustice, and were shocked  when Pacific Place merchants, including Nordstrom, started locking all of their doors when they marched up the escalators to the top floor of Pacific Place with signs and chanting. 

COH

They checked out the Emmaus triptych at COH and the keeper found it very good. 

She liked Mr. And Mrs. Cleopas a lot.  I asked her where her picture of the third panel was and she said it came out blurry and crooked, as did the shot of the whole piece. I was grateful for her honesty. 

The Day Downtown

The Keeper and her friend Peter did the annual Black Friday  downtown day. And, as in almost every year it poured rain. They walked down from SU and saw very few people until they got to Pike Place which was wall to wall carpeted with people trying to stay warm and dry.

Giving Thanks 2014

It was a good thanksgiving. We only had two guests this year, but I helped welcome them, shared a bit of the turkey. Good conversations, great food, once the water for the potatoes came to a boil. We had  a 9 pound organic turkey that actually had meat on it. All very tasty. 

Yes, she remembered my stupid bow. I did my best to get rid of it---dipped it in my water dish, my wet food and my water fountain. I think she will throw it out at last.

Late Afternoon Sheridan Heights

Firepit Update

Update:  The firepit is almost done. A piece of furniture.

The View from St. Joseph Residence

From the dining room, they could see the Olympics.

From the parking lot, the skyline seemed water-colorish.

A Visit with Katherine

Today after ass this morning the keeper and Judy headed to West Seattle 

to visit with her Grace. They had lunch, some conversation, and a fire drill.  By the 

end of the lunch, and a very large chunk of blueberry pie, Grace was ready for a nap.

Sky In Autumn

This late afternoon the keeper headed to St. James, and was very grateful to be travelling slowly.  The sky was an entertainment at every bend in the road. And the traffic was so slow she could actually take pictures as she gasped in delight.  It was beautiful, I hear.

The Annual Sale

The keeper almost forgot the big sale.  She did last year.  But her favorite soap importer has an annual sale. So she got up early and waited in line with the other early birds, coffee in hand, and when the doors opened, they lost themselves in a wild whirl of fragrance and color. Out home smells a lot like verbena and lavender right now.

Hi, Jack!

Today is the first anniversary of the death of a very good friend, Jack.

So, the keeper, her friends and two of Jack's sons had a very soggy celebration at his place of rest tonight. The dark came quickly and the rain quicker.

There was music. There were spirits. There was rain.

There was poetry. There were flowers. There was more rain. 

There were stories, many stories. There was rain. There was talk about placing a permanent tent over the grave so friends and family could visit and celebrate all year round.

And dear Jack lives on in his family, his work, and in our hearts. 

The keeper came home dripping wet, her shoes, her hair, her clothes were wringing wet.

She said that this was Montmartre in August or that night in Puebla all over again without the heat.

A Night to Remember and Laugh a Lot

This afternoon the keeper worked out in the yard hauling branches to the recycle dumpster. I watched from my cozy perch indoors. She filled a whole yard waste dumpster. And Jesus will come to rake the 3 dozen bags worth of leaves on the ground this week.

Later she prepared a pear, arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette and headed over to Steve and Carol's with some good friends...partly to remember their good friend Jack's first year death anniversary this week, and also to just tell stories and laugh very hard.They prepared  the same lasagne  recipe which Jack had prepared for them from scratch  right before his death.

Last supper with Jack 2013

And ended their evening together by writing messages on the tablecloth under the top tablecloth and promising to meet at Jack's resting place on late Friday afternoon.

The Dinner Guests

Last night I held a dinner party which the keeper was kind enough to staff.

I had two wonderful visitors who seemed to be quite delighted with me. In fact, I was so saturated by affection, I didn't even need to beg for attention while they dined.

They seemed to have a fine fun time with the keeper as well, and even though I didn't taste the food, I hear it was very good.  

Remembering The Dead We Didn't Notice When They Were Alive

I told the keeper I thought she had chosen a bad title for this post. But she explained, and so will I. Tonight the cathedral celebrated its annual Mass of   Remembrance for those who died on the streets of Seattle this past year. This year they remembered 75, including a baby named Kimball. The Archbishop presided. This was a good sign that the leader of the church would preside for people who were considered nobodies, who didn't give large endowments or buildings or monuments, but instead whose very lives cut short called the People of God to  accountability and to action.

 At the end the community processed with bagpiper to the courtyard where they stood in the chilly night to hear each name spoken with a tenderness and a reverence which many of the deceased had not received in this life.  As a bell tolled for each name, they who had homes were summoned to not only weep for their dead brothers and sisters, but to be a force for change which says, "Enough, we can and will do much better."

A Visit With Jane at Glassy Baby

Today the keeper caught up with Jane and they visited Madrona and Glassy Baby factory and store. Each candle holder is hand blown and is unique. And they learned that they are surpassing Murano in production. All right around the corner from the keeper's old parish church! Jane is  unbelievably upbeat, sane,  and funny and  the keeper enjoys her immensely.