Halloween, 2012

A number of friends have said that Halloween is their favorite holiday. It isn't my favorite - Christmas is my favorite - and I do like Halloween. I like the fun and the delightful scariness, costumes, funny faces, the wonder of children asking "Trick or treat"and coming home with bags of candy. I like the grinning faces of both the kids who carved them and the pumpkins lining the sidewalks. I like children's parties and adult parties and decorated lawns. Have a Happy Halloween! Enjoy the day and the excitement of the evening. Let it be fun both for you and the children you know. ~ Boo!

Elephant in the Room

In my last blog, I expressed my opinion on all the adjectives that have been used to describe “rape” throughout this presidential campaign. As you can read there, I do not believe it has an adjective. It stands alone as a crime, committed by a criminal, period. I link my blog to Facebook. There several women “liked” what I had to say and a couple commented in support. On the blog site one man commented in support. When he did, with an emphatic “Yes”, I replied with my thanks as he was the first man to say anything. 

If even one other man had checked “like” or commented, then I wouldn’t be writing this blog. But when he stayed the Only man, his comment became the elephant in the room. Where were the other male voices clicking “like” or speaking out on this issue. Oh, I know, the political comments are so crazy that we are tempted to ignore them and pass them over and just shake our heads. But you see, just because the election is over, just because a person who also believes rape is a crime wins, these ideas about women and rape are Still in the Minds of the men who said it in the first place, Their ideas don’t go away. They are out there, raising daughters, living with wives, interacting with women in Congress or the Senate or in the law office or school room. 

So ~ male friends o’ mine, readers of the blog, check “like” or comment or in some way make it known that you too believe that rape is a crime and only the criminal, not the victim, should be punished. Thank you, dear ones. I know you are out there. 

I Have to Say It ~

I know I said I had spoken my political rant for the duration but . . .

== *sigh* Ok, here it is. I am tired of all the headlines, sound bites and discussion about the various “types” of rape. Rape is a crime. It is the violation of a person’s body by another person who is a criminal. No question. No discussion. No variations on a theme. Crime. Criminal. Period. 

New Look for Winter

We spend summer on the deck. In the winter, we bring some of the deck furniture into the house, the rests gets stored. For a number of years now, the wicker chairs and love seat have been brought into the den. This year Dean found Adirondack chairs at a yard sale. He sanded, I oiled, he bought cushions for them. They are So Comfortable. I decided I wanted them in the house over the winter. I also decided I wanted the old green ergonomically correct chair inside somewhere. Meanwhile, Dean had bought two tables for the den - small and Large. The design took a bit of doing and when I finally realized we could switch the tables around, putting the large on between our tv chairs and the small one across the room, everything else fell into place. It also helped that I am not a linear person so space was created by angling the little table. Brook helped move it all around. I am very pleased and will enjoy my den this winter with new windows, letting in lots of sun and warmth, and very cozy chairs for reading and resting and visiting with friends. 

The Essential Scarf

When Meredith lived in Boston and I would visit, she would tell me scarf stories and wore one all the time and I noticed people wearing them regardless of the time of year. Last year in San Francisco, I noticed the same thing: people wear scarves all the time. Witness, the person in flip flops, shorts, a tank top and a scarf around the neck. I was really chilly one day and stopped on my several blocks walk and bought a scarf. Had the salesclerk cut off the tag, wrapped it around my neck and was happy and warm again. When my friend from Wales was shopping here this summer, I bought another scarf with lots of my colors in it. 

I had not worn it, but for some reason tossed it in the suitcase as we headed north to Seattle, Friday Harbor and Victoria ~ and to the sea which is what these places have in common with Boston and San Francisco. It served me well. It kept my neck warm. It dressed me up as I had brought no jewelry. It was perfect with casual and a bit more dressy. And it went with every color I had with me. This morning, back in Tahoe, I threw the other one around my neck to head for the farmers’ market. I think I am sold. A scarf has become an essential wardrobe item for me. My collection increases. 

High Tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria

When he knew we were going to Victoria, BC, Canada, Canadian son-in-law, David, said that High Tea at the Empress was the high tea by which he judges all others. So - given that recommendation, I had to go, right? Plus several other people recommended it as well. Knowing the meal that high tea can be, I chose to use it as lunch and so made my reservation for 12 noon just as the tea room opened. The following is as close to sharing the experience as I can be. 

The Empress Hotel

Place setting with Empress Royal Doulton

The menu was set. It started with a fruit of the season with creme fraise

The three-tiered tea tray. 

Bottom layer: sandwiches ~ sun-dried tomato on tiny rounds of crusty bread; chicken curry on brown bread; smoked salmon and cream cheese on wheat bread; egg salad on a tiny croissant; and of course, cucumber and ham on an herb bread. 

Friend Carolyn and the other side of the tray. The center layer held 2 scones, creme fraise and strawberry jam. 

The top layer held the pastries. Lemon curd with meringue; 

a light, whipped cheese cake on top of a light dough with fruit;

pistachio and chocolate cake with a strawberry icing;

mocha filled cookies dipped in dark chocolate. 

Carolyn and I had a delightful two hours, talking, tasting and drinking tea. She chose a specialty decaf tea and I had the Empress blend with cream. Thank you, David and all who have been there before me. It was a memorable experience! 

A Trip to the Northwest

Images so far

~ the ferry: big lounges for people and two decks for cars, lots of beautiful scenery to enjoy although if I commuted on one daily, I would probably be able to get some work done

~ I finally got it: the boats in Seattle and Friday Harbor were So Much Bigger than the boats on Lake Tahoe because they are ocean going boats whereas our boats are lake boats.

~ It would have been fun to come to Friday Harbor on a seaplane but two ladies we met had done so and had to leave most of their luggage behind. I don’t know what we would have done - had Nikki mail it back home I guess. One of them had a son who was meeting them in Victoria with the clothes. 

~ island hopping planes are small whether sea or wheeled

~ Friday Harbor was Filled with blackberry bushes

~ Huckleberries were in season in Seattle

~ Iced tea is sweetened and so we are back to making cups of hot tea and asking for glasses filled with ice

~ wide sky and the smell of the sea almost everywhere

~ and it is really nice to be in Victoria