A Transforming Book

I have just finished reading Quincy Jones's Autobiograph. I was stunned. When I read about his relationship with his mother, Sarah, I had to just put the book down for a long time and think about how important family is.
When he talked about becoming a man and learning how to really love the women in his life and take care of his children I found myself again and again shaking my head and thinking, "he has got a lot to tell you, Joseph."

When he talked about his love of music and openness to all kinds of music, I found myself back in Houston in my grandmother's restaurant, Mary Lou's Cafe, in Houston, Texas in the forties... with rhythm and blues coming hot and heavy off the juke box, swing music mellowing out the neighborhood from the Everygreen Ballroom, and the Baptist Church two blocks away singing the Lord's praises every Sunday morning.

He talked about artists I love and his relationship to them: Dinah Washington, Count Basie, Theolonius Monk, Stevie Wonder, Billie Holliday, Dianna Ross, Tina Turner. I went to the index of the book and made sure I got the names of artists who, over the years, helped me to keep smiling, snapping my fingers, going deep into my own fears and tears, and choosing to live life courageously and deeply.

And I especially thank Q for getting me moving in my writing. Day and night he was working the melodies and the lyrics of so many wonderful songs. Right now I am thinking of the theme from the television show, Ironsides.

His autobiography is a great read....

This video sends chills of delight up and down my spine... get ready!!!!

The Erev Ravs...Not Yo' Daddy's Klezmer!

Painting of the Erev Ravs by Tweed Meyer, Beyond The Borders Festival 2009

As a musician, I have to say that one of the most incredible experiences is to watch the journey of a younger, beloved musician. I met Daniel Landin when he was in high school with my son, back in New York (some mumble-mumble years ago) and his talent perked-up my senses back then. There was something about this gentle young man and the spirit he brought to the musical table. His right hand was a powerhouse of rhythm and energy. His head pumped the machine, 'fro flying.

Flash forward (as they say) and imagine my delight at finding him out here, just down in Olympia. We've had wonderful visits and, last year, I had the chance to see him perform at our Longbranch "Beyond The Borders" Music Festival with his Klezmer band, the Erev Ravs. They certainly had the crowd revved-up on a beautiful Summer afternoon at the Longbranch Improvement Club, and our borders were expanded!

Klezmer is the music developed through the souls of musicians in the Eastern European Jewish ghettos, or "shtetls," with Romanian, Turkish and Greek influences. I have heard it described as Eastern European Bluegrass, with melodies and harmonies singing as voices through lead instruments like clarinet and violin. Whether it be joyous or sad, Klezmer reaches you with the rhythms that pull on your heartbeat, and melodies that play to your deepest emotions.

I'm lucky enough to have an advance copy of the Erev Ravs' new, Live EP called, "Oly Shtetl Klezmer," and let me tell you...this ain't yo' daddy's Klezmer! A world of experience and diverse backgrounds knit and braid past into future within the six tracks on this CD. The rhythm section holds it all together with such a rock-solid loom for the lead and support instruments' weaving. The freedom with which they cascade through "Naphtaly's Freylach" is as breath-taking as hope and laughter in the shtetls. You'll want to whirl and declare yourself a happy fool.

Then the rhythm changes for "Broydessa," and you're pulled forward by the hips, the chromatic harp handing off to mandolin in a tropical slow reggae-funk...that 1 and 3 accent rhythm. Then violin and flute bring you through sensually-curved dunes with mid-eastern belly-moves on your mind. The support and space each lead player gives to another, handing-off like a camel train, carries the listener forward on the song's swaying caravan.

I'm particularly fond of a tune called "Der Gasn Nigun," or "The Street Tune." This begins with Daniel's muted heartbeat strum...then, a lone violin, setting the mood before the rest of the band joins in. I see a young couple meet on a cobblestone street corner in the blue of shadowed, window-lit night...waltzing with hope and tragedy on that carousel's turn, almost lost...cherished, like Klezmer itself.

To introduce the rest of the band...Tom Russell is one of Olympia's finest jazz musicians, who celebrates over forty years in this soul-carrying art. I have personally enjoyed jamming with Tom and know him to be a sincere and giving player. He is hot hot hot in this live performance, whether it be on the clarinet or flute. In "Wedding Trance" his clarinet sings of desire and laces the veil with the incredible work of the band's newest member and shining asset, Ardas Hassler, on violin. Jamie Stillman on drums is a spring of many rhythms. Phil Post has such a subtle brilliance on upright bass. Jeff Rygwelski on chromatic harp and Miles Nowlin on mandolin can dance separately or joined at the hip, play support fills or take their leads.

Live, this band does the magic...and the magic has been caught on this EP. What a pleasure it is for me, to catch up with Daniel at another milepost of his musical journey. Interested enough to take a listen? Go to www.myspace.com/theerevravs and turn yourself on to something old and new, groovin' in the South Sound!

Self-Love... Don't Let Anyone Steal Your Joy!!!

This is my second reflection on the Singles' Conference. I laughed a lot, listened very deeply, and was frequently moved down to my very toes. I think I learned a lot about happiness being a state of being... one I can choose to live day by day...
rather than thinking that either the nice weather, a good meal, lively entertainment, or a good friend would help me to get into whenever it or he/she was avaiaable...
Could it be that I was not talking about mind dominating matter...could it be that what I am trying to describe is an outgoing orientation of my whole person to connecting with life as it is... sorrows and joys and failures and successes... all warmly protected by the ongoing experience of being constant united to the Loving Presence of God...


Debbie Wooten, a wonderful commedienne enlivened Saturday evening with some very wise stories...











Check out four minutes from her laugh filled presentation

Accepting the gift of life...Sharing the gift of ourselves

That was the message I took away from the Singles' Conference, which took place in Tacoma, a week ago Saturday.

Eric Boles, the keynote speaker, touched me very deeply. His quiet confidence in the love God had for all human beings and his deeply thought through and eloquently presented of the ways we can grow in our acceptance and love of our giftedness was brilliant.
His challenge to each one of us who attended the conference was that we should daily choose to share our giftedness if we want to be happy.












I felt welcomed at the conference, I enjoyed sharing time with the other participants in the conference, and I am really looking forward to spending more time with them.
Enjoy this small piece of Mr. Boles's evening presentation.

New Book: Thoughtful Analysis On What Makes A Great Teacher Spans More Than The Ballet

"Dancing in all its forms cannot be excluded from the curriculum of all noble education; dancing with the feet, with ideas, with words, and need I add that one must also be able to dance with the pen? - Friedrich Nietzsche.

For years I have holding a wisp of a memory dating back to when I was a girl in junior high school and glimpsed a 9th grade male classmate and two females, all fellow members of our school annual staff, frolic on an outdoor lawn during an afternoon end-of-the-year party. Mind you it was only the briefest of sightings, but the scene most likely planted itself firmly in my mind because it was clearly evident that all three dancers were equally graceful.

Mind you this all took place in the early progressive seventies. We were being liberated. Girls just won the highly desired privilege to wear - gasp! slacks to school once a week. We made and wore fashionably lacey yarn crotchet vests and listened to top tunes on cassette and 8-track tapes. Some of the boys daringly wore their hair just above their shirt collars. A handful still sported crew cuts. And very very few professed an interest in ballet.

Enter the talented Dean Speer, my former annual staff classmate, dancer, regular contributor to Ballet-Dance Magazine and now newly published author! Speer who was also artistic director of the Chattanooga Ballet and founding director of the Chehalis Ballet Center, recently celebrated the birth of his new book On Technique, University of Florida Press.

Although Speer wrote that he did not "take up the ballet mantle" until his Russian and folk dance teacher arranged for him at 17 to take a semi-private class with Mark Morris, then 16, the news of his debut as an author years after we all spent time putting to bed memories of our 9th grade year at Rose Hill Junior High in Kirkland, WA had been eagerly spread on the appropriate alumni sites at Facebook.com.

I ordered a copy for my own at Amazon.com. For more information click here. And while I am by no means a student of dance much less the ballet, a cousin on the paternal side of my family has enjoyed a long career back East and because of her, I've been prompted by a handful of reminders to pay a little attention to those news stories having to do with her experiences on ballet slippers.

Fortunately Speer has written a book which is as much about the wonderful interaction between good if not great teachers and their lucky students, a kind of thoughtful analysis that's applicable over a far wider educational continuum than that of performance alone. Furthermore, he attempts to unravel the differences if they should exist, between skill and technique.

In contrast with his personal experiences studying ballet in the seventies "for boys and men in ballet today, the helicopter has landed" Speer says in his book. "Growing up I thought I was about half of the entire male ballet population of Washington State, although I didn't really mind being the only male in class."

Sunday... quiet, delightful moments

I had a great time last evening at the Life Center's Day of Reflection on Happiness. Left my digs at 11 am, got home at 11:30 pm, and took time to set my clocks one hour ahead.
Drifted into very painful needed five more hours of sleep Sunday, but started putting things together, one experience at a time... cleaned up, prayed, had breakfast, read for a while and then headed out to Tacoma Central Mall... Got this great picture and a mighty, mighty video clip of the late morning freeway travel there...
So please join me in my quiet, delightful late Sunday morning moments:
Mount Rainier quietly and grandly towered over the freeway traffic.


I stopped by the Wok Terriyaki restaurant to pick up a sumptious meal of chicken, rice, and broccoli for my evening meal. This has been my restaurant for three years now and I have come to feel like a member of the family. I am always warmly welcomed and gracious served there.








I meandered over to the Chrevon Station off Twelfth and Sprague. And I smiled when I saw two folks who were just leaving after getting their gas tank filled, give each other one of those GOOD kisses. I am sure they had a Happy Day this Sunday.








Then I headed for my favorite dvd place near Union and Sixth because I needed two dvds to get my block busted this Sunday... two thrilling shoot'em ups always makes my day a good day... check out that pleased smiled on my face... ain't I something else!!












Give it up for Mount Rainier and our brothers and sisters on the move

Anne's Birthday Double Rainbow.

Just managed to catch these shots this afternoon!

Words & Music

My Key Peninsula neighbourhood continues to astound me with the caliber of cultural events just down (or up) the road from our front door. Friday night began a series of monthly house concerts, hosted by Jerry and Pamela Libstaff at their beautiful waterside home in Vaughn. Called "Words & Music," this series is a wonderful idea...putting poetry and a musical performance on the same bill, making for a stimulating, intimate evening among friends. The $15 admission donation helps to support Watermark Writers' Young Writers' Workshops...so important for building young minds and expressive futures!

The kick-off for this series featured stand-up poet, Jack McCarthy and singer-songwriter, Greg Greenway. As with so many local events, Tweed Meyers was set up to document her community in a well-lit corner with easel and her sketching/painting supplies. Chairs were set up in curving rows, with some lovely extra-comfy chairs set to the sides for those of us sitting-challenged. We were so warmly greeted by Pamela at the door, then pointed towards a wonderful spread of nibbles and noshes before staking-out where we would settle for the show. Huge windows which would normally frame the fantastic water view by day, were dark mirrors of the room by night.

Jack McCarthy admitted himself to be a "creature of the open-mikes..." and didn't find his voice until he found his audience. He reminded me a little of Grey Wolf...and Red Skelton, mixed. He moved within his poems, hands pulling him forwards and pushing him back like the tide, and had a gentle, self-deprecating humour. Many of his poems were carved around alcoholism and his own personal struggle...and there wasn't a person in the room who couldn't relate from one aspect or another. One walked into hard places with these poems...an audience member was heard to say, "You sure hit some spots!" He had an electric hold on me and I would've gladly listened to the entire thick binder's worth of works he chose from. You can check Jack out at his website http://www.standupoet.net/

Next came singer-songwriter, Greg Greenway. His voice was wonderful and warm, with a very respectable range. His vibrato made me sometimes think of Lyle Lovett...brought back from the edge and minus the forever sarcastic Texas drawl. Greg's songs were socially-conscious Folk and his guitar-playing was quite delicious. Each song came with a story attached and an easy back and forth with his audience.

All too soon the first "Words & Music" was over. Orion was standing proudly in the western sky as my friends and I walked to the car, talking about the night's content and our community. About ten minutes later I was home and in PJ's...no causeway, bridge or traffic to worry about...woo-hoooo! Thank you to Jerry and Pam for opening their home to the Arts and to our community so graciously. We look forward to more.

When the wind sings...listen...

The wind kept calling to me yesterday morning; clouds flowing in layered motion up the Sound. Trees were dancing and singing with it, as if trying to catch my attention. Two bald eagles held onto the waving branches of Old Crooked-Top, across the water, like sentries, like the watchers deep in the mouth of the bay. A presence, close and welcome, pulled upon me like the moon upon tides...come outside...come outside...and the rain stopped, as if on cue. Lots of work to be done, but the work will always be there, waiting. This was about connecting, a chance to listen deeper to the Love that was calling. I took an oath and gave myself to this Love in ceremony on Bear Butte, coming out here in 1996. I have learned to listen for it, so I put on my comfy walking shoes and grabbed Rani's leash. She jumped to her sitting position by the door, smiling.

Usually my wee grandogger is timid when the woodwinds are playing and letting their pasties fly in the dance...but not today. She felt the energy too, and walked by my side at a good pace, both of us breathing the wind...the breath of trees and plants as they dance. Trees are blossoming, bulbs have sent new life towards the sun and our breathing. With each breath came a joy to be on this wee spinning garden in space and a sense of blessing.

"Look up," whispered the shiny huckleberry bush, and we both reacted at the same time. Dog and human stopped and looked into the sky. There soaring right above our heads were two spotted eagles, checking a neighbour's orchard for lunch. How could we not feel blessed by their beauty! Clearly we could see (yes, Rani followed them too) the brown and white speckling on the underside of wings and body, each as individual as a fingerprint. Their wings stretched out, still and wide.

It was then time to turn for home, tingling with the experience. Rani has had some strained muscles in one back leg, so she is on restricted walks as she heals. The mental exercise of keeping slowly at my side is good training for being a companion dog for Anna...working her way to service dog status. As we came down B. Street towards the house I saw the mail-carrier leaving, so we stopped by our mailbox before coming in. I don't look as much for letters anymore. It was Anne and I who kept our letters regular and deep. Today would have been her 55th. birthday...and she'd be my "much older" friend till November, the quintessential best friend who lost her battle with breast cancer in 1991. I never reach in my mailbox without thinking of her.

I grabbed the usual pile of bills and credit card offers and we headed into the house. Imagine my surprise when a little envelope showed up in the stack, a letter from another long-time friend. How delightful! I opened the envelope...to an unimaginably sweet, sweet gift. An old paper remnant, folded in threes, and a photo. I opened the old letter and recognized the handwriting instantly. It was just a wee note of "how are you" and such. There, on what Grey Wolf always called a "talking leaf," sat a moment with a woman I have loved since I was sixteen. The photo was her son as a toddler...he who is now, with his wife, expecting baby number two, Anne's grandchildren.

My friend Jane had been doing a dust and clean-out, finding the letter and picture. She most thoughtfully sent them to me, rather than throw them out. I spread my fingers across the top of the page, silky with age...as if I could touch the essence of my beloved friend. And I could. I could because the wind beckoned and told me to listen with my senses. Thus were great gifts given. Happy Birthday Anne...thank you for coming. My gratitude to all the messengers of Love and Spirit. Thank you, with every breath.

Two Crazy Cousins

The sign grabs you in from the Key Pen. Hwy at 134th. Hand-painted, joyous and jam-packed...there couldn't be a better way to introduce Becky and Darcie...and the coolest store you've ever seen! Two Crazy Cousins is an antique, eclectic-groove emporium with deep roots in our community. You could walk into this shop with $5 or $500 and spend the same amount of time looking, the same amount of time changing your mind for something else! Not only does one shop at 2CC...one visits in the old-fashioned General Store way. Becky Olsen and Darcie Long are really cousins, fourth-generation descendants of the Rickert Family who settled in Longbranch. I meant it when I said the roots run deep here.

When I first talked to Becky, she told me how her parents had loved to dance when my band was playing and I remembered them as the only couple on the dance floor at the Fair, one year. I felt the loss as she told me that her dad, Dick Radonich, had passed away just recently. She apologised for not having the store in 'tip-top shape' and her eyes teared. I tell you, I cannot believe how beautifully the store was laid out, especially considering the family sadness. There again, the strength of character I have found to be the norm in our neighbourhood.

The shop is a gathering place for all...a few lines of conversation and then one bends to look through drawers and cabinets before finishing the thought. There's furniture to sit on, enjoy and buy. Shelves hold beautiful old linens, dolls, crystal, porcelain and all manner of collectibles. There's jewelry, both old and new. Not to forget the menfolk, there are those delicious drawers of tools and whatnots in the deep dark back! Let me say once again, there is something here for every budget. Our local artists have original works on the wall alongside prints collected elsewhere. I couldn't help but think of fellow blogger Kim, when I took the picture of this full dining set, complete with dishes carrying a bright red parrot motif!

The first time I went into the store was with my friend Tweed, who has some of her paintings here, as you can see. I met a sweet woman who confessed that she had been one of the bikini-clad extras, dancing in those sixties beach movies...yes, Beach Blanket Bingo! We gathered around like little chooks, listening to her stories of changing wigs and leopard-skin bikinis. The second time, my husband and I stopped by and noticed a bright red car in the parking lot with NYPD on the license-plate. Inside we had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful couple. He had indeed been a New York cop...worked Brooklyn Homicide for some years, he told us. He and my husband compared old neighbourhoods.

Everything, just about, is for sale at Two Crazy Cousins. The smiles and stories though, are given away freely at this small family business, and you never know who you might meet there on any given day. Having been a thrifty shopper all my life, I find my basket filled with treasures I can afford, my eyes filled with art and cool bits on every level, and my heart filled with a strong family pull that gathers the community. Do yourself a favour, drop by Becky and Darcie's store to search for bargains worth the trip from anywhere...and feel free to stop and talk a spell. Tell those two crazy (in the most delightful way) cousins that Lorraine sent you for the experience...the treasures will be yours to find.

Forty-Year View From The Stage

Saturday night was a gas out here on the Key Peninsula! Nothing announces the season's change like the Two Waters Arts Alliance Spring Fling, held at the Key Civic Centre in Vaughn. I could not believe it when Phil told me that this was our eighth year of playing the event! I look from the stage and see my friends, my community, even parts of my free-wheelin' congregation out there...and the love I feel for them all is what makes me tick in a performance. Ahhh, we make Love between us, performer and audience; the 'after-smoke' being dust in the stage lights.

Spring Fling was our first gig of this year...very special because...(drum roll please!) this year I celebrate being a professional singer for forty years! Yes, I began skipping high school to go play coffee-house gigs at fourteen!! By the time I graduated high school at 16, I was ready to get on the road with music and the revolution of Love, and there's still no regrets this many years later. Saturday night I felt pretty good in my outfit, now sixty pounds lighter than last year. Folks who hadn't seen me were very kind with their compliments. Of course our audience looked spectacular, everyone so beautifully dressed in colours for the Spring.

The art-piece I fell in love with this year was a metal sculpture, framed and behind glass, of two large feathers tied and hanging down, a bear paw-print at the tie. It was a little out of my price-range but, at this event, there's something for everyone's budget. I came home with a set of cards from Dale Goodvin. His photography is just exquisite...and you can check him out at http://www.pbase.com/dgoodvin if you'd like to see some beautiful Pacific Northwestern pictures. Twenty dollars for a set of five cards was the right price for me. You may have noticed that I don't have pictures for this blog...didn't take my camera. My post is not so much about the art, as I have done in past years, but more about the kinetic sculpture of setting, performance and audience.

Well, I wish I could say I have toned down because of all these problems with my hips and back...but...that's the way with addiction...numbs the body and takes the mind to another place. We began softly (yes, Anna was able to join us and add her special, ethereal harmonies) so that folks could greet each other, talk about and sell, art. Our first set was pretty laid-back with a very nice groove. Mark had brought us Rosanne Cash's version of Hank Snow's "Keep Movin' On" and did a great job on guitar, rather than his regular piano. It felt like such a good, eclectic set for keeping our audience moving and getting warmed-up. We try to have new songs for every year, both covers and originals.

After a wee break we came back on for the second set. By now spirits had been consumed, money had been spent and made...now folks were ready for the dance floor, especially our bass-player Bebop's groupies! Every year, they rush the stage like teenagers (we will not reveal ages here!) leaning their elbows on the stage, lacing fingers to rest their chins on, to gaze adoringly at Bebop and flutter their eyelashes. This too is a yearly ritual. By the time he reached his vocal part in "Save The Last Dance For Me" they were squealing...and Bebop was shyly smiling, the colour of a good Washington apple!

What a swirl of colour and beauty in our audience! Bev was in electric green and blue, dancing on her $17,000 titanium leg, Tweed was in a lighter green and wearing a gobsmacking Squash Blossom turquoise necklace, a young woman floated by in orange harem pants...oh yes, the night was an impressionistic painting, quick dabs of colour, a spinning bouquet, inside the still framing of Two Waters' Art!

There was a sweet young couple who stayed on the dance floor for almost the entire second set. He reminded me a little of sweet Miles Silverman, from "Murphy Brown" without his glasses on, and she was so cute in a pink sweater and dark skirt. She had a shy, soft smile and just past shoulder-length, brown hair. They had obviously taken some dance lessons and were thrilled to take their skills out of the classroom. The sweet blush around them both made me feel warm and fuzzy. How special to be allowed to watch this moment in a young couple's life. These are the kind of special pictures, taken mentally from my vantage point on the stage.

We threw in a few originals, like "Ocho Tango" (one delicious woman doing the tango on her own, an imaginary rose in her mouth) and "With Love," for a little old-fashioned swing. "Sitting In Limbo" lasted a long time, reggae being a mellower but oh-yeah-danceable mood. I left the stage and joined our solid gold dancers on the floor for the instrumental break, amping the show a little. Alright, I paid dearly for letting myself go like that...but Sweet Mama, it felt so good to dance!

Anna gave it her all in this second set, and then had to leave early with her brother for home. The price she pays to perform, with chronic Lyme disease, is thrice mine. There were a few times when looking into her beautiful dark eyes, she pulled me through some of the rustiness of my musette! I thought at one point, I might have to leave with her. I was hurting, tired and totally soaked through...but mad crazy in the zone. I promised my back and hips that I would spend all of Sunday resting...and jumped back on stage to finish the last half-hour, after Anna left. By the time we were done, I had been there for five hours and had worked pretty damn hard. During breaks I believe in going out and thanking as many people as possible for coming out. These are my friends, my community, some are even a part of my free-spirit congregation!

I never forget that it is MY honour to perform for a live audience, be it thousands...or two. My ritual is to ask to be connected, so that I may connect my audience...for it is bigger than all of us when the magic happens. Yes, I turn on a powerful personality on the stage...but she gets quickly tucked away down off it. I believe Divas get lost, thinking the power is theirs. The talent is theirs, yes, but that is a gift to be forever thankful for, not to mention humble about...and has to be crafted continuously. I have worked hard, for forty years, ever thankful for this gift and the Muse who leads me.

How incredibly fortunate, to have been doing this professionally for forty years now; the swirl of memories fly by like a massive gallery showing. I can remember making up songs in the bathtub as a wee girl. I moved on to Big Band, to musicals, to folk, to country, rock and blues...to New York session A-list, and then to jazz again when I moved back west, wow, nearly thirteen years ago now! Inside of me are all the twists and styles I've been absorbing since childhood, including the influences of movement in music and rhythm played in Southeast Asia. Music has been, since long before we came along, part of the movement of Creation. This many years after my start in a little Folk trio, I have a style, uniquely my own...with the schooling to make it last.

My voice (a little out of practice with this last year's health problems) has aged in a good way, like cognac. I'm ready to sing and keep my view from the stage for quite a while yet, ready to celebrate all this year! To anyone who has been in our audience, I thank you for your part in the whole collage. You are who I look to. You are the multi-coloured waters I come to cleanse my eyes and soul in. Two Waters Arts Alliance's Spring Fling, as always, was the perfect first-of-the-year venue to pour myself into...this view from the stage, as it has been for forty years now, was a vista of flowing colour and love.

What I Saw On My Walk Today in My Neighborhood

I had the luxury of getting out this morning and walk the Chambers Bay trail just minutes from my home in University Place. Here's what I saw:

1. A group of bold crows chasing a hawk in flight. The hawk let out a cringe-worthy screech!

2. A completely and utterly flattened dead frog which I quickly named the "Gutless Wonder."

3. Lots of mushy dog poop(c'mon dog owners get with the program).

4. Two women talking in very loud voices in Korean. I suspected they were talking about something pretty outrageous.

5. A man in his sixties dressed as an alpine hiker with the most muscular legs ever carrying a very large, heavy looking backpack with a walking pace so brisk, he outdid all of us young'uns on the trail for sure!

6. A young couple have a serious conversation in Russian.

7. A couple in fancy exercise outfits. The man was lifting small weights as he walked and the woman was applying lip gloss.

8. Dogs! Specifically, a Pug, a Cocker Spaniel, a Lab, a Standard Poodle, a Sheltie, and a Golden Retriever. Happy dogs, happy owners.

9. Anderson Island completely obscured from the fog.

10. Tons of debris in the bay, mostly logs.

11. Landscapers working hard shoveling, hoeing, raking, and sweeping.

12. Fresh lime-green moss caking the ground in the wooded areas off the switchbacks.

13. Two energetic women (with New Yorker accents) discussing how they should do more yoga and try cooking new recipes because that describes who they are and what they want out of life!

A lucky list of 13 things!

What did you see today?

Ain't This Brother SOMETHING!!!!

He is looking really good.

Sweet, charming... so fine he's alarming














He acts cool, he talks cool, doesn't he make you drool????!!!!

A Really Good Place

(picture of couple leaving the library)
That's the Martin Luther King Library in Tacoma... the staff and volunteers are welcoming. I enjoy sharing stories with the staff members and laughing with them. I am so happy that children and adults have this one safe place where they can go... do some internet work, pick up a dvd or a cd they would like to watch/listen to, do some reading and research.
I am definitely into people watching, laughing a lot, and mystery novels. Robert Parker is the writer who has gotten me to many a wet, dreary evening. And there are alot of his book shelved there and in the Tacoma Library System. (I am even starting to think and talk like his heroes, Spencer and Hawk).

So, last week, on a dreary Tuesday afternoon I went to the Martin King Library and picked up some 100 percent take my mind off the grey weather materials...This video was taken right outside of the library.