Started and stopped

As promised by the weatherman, it did actually snow last night.  My husband excitedly came downstairs at about 11 pm to report white stuff was falling from the sky.  Like a small child, I felt excitement.  

I have a new appreciation of snow since it fell in Tokyo two years ago.  It was the first time that the world didn't stop when the ground was wrapped in a cold blanket.  In Seattle people freak out.  It is no wonder due to all the hills, reliance on cars for transportation, and fear of the unknown.  Frankly, most people just don't know how to deal with snow in Seattle.

But here, life keeps on going.  Except when you're young.  Then you get a chance for the world to stop and let you play.

So when I saw it falling last night, the child inside me got excited.  I wanted to play in it with my son.

Unfortunately, by the time we woke, the rain had taken all the lovely white stuff and sent it down the drain.  I think I might have been even more disappointed than my son.

We took it in stride.  I walked him to school and then I met a friend for tea.  After school, we went home and spent time together doing nothing much.  We snuggled on the couch while he practiced reading.  I cooked dinner while he played dress up and tried to surprise me with his various costumes.  We made cards for daddy to say thank you for being awesome.

At the end of the day, I read a poem to my son by Fred Rogers titled "It's an Ugly Day".  The last line of the poem is "I'd say we'd made the most of an ugly day."

We didn't get our snow day.  But we did have a nice day together.  Maybe the snow will come a different day.

*********************

It's an Ugly Day

by Fred Rogers

It's an ugly day

Made of mugly gray

It's a sit-down-by-the-fire

And be snuggle day.

It's a cloudy day

And a dowdy day

It's a play-some-Chinese-checkers

Read-out-loud day.

It's a day to cuddle up

With a chocolate cookie

Hook a rug or knit - 

'Cause it's an ugly day

Made of mugly gray

It's a better-wear-your-sweater

And by snuggly day.

If we pop us some corn

And have cinnamon toast

I'd say we'd made the most

Of an ugly day.

Flowers bloom and snow in the forecast

As my son and I walked to the store today, I noticed some tiny daffodils cheering up the gray sky.  They always surprise me with their appearance, as I think January is too early to see these happy little faces.

Tonight we are expecting snow.  Well, I'm not.  I lived in Seattle way too long to ever believe a snow forecast.  I believe it when I see it.

Since we don't have any transportation woes in the snow (my husband takes an underground train to work and I walk my son to school), it doesn't matter to us whether or not it snows.

The only matter is that we had so much fun in the snow two years ago.  Although I understand it is completely out of the norm to have snow like that, I've been secretly wishing for it all winter long.

Goodbye garden

A while ago, my husband and I made the decision not to renew the lease on our pea patch (also known as an allotment or community garden).  Although we both love gardening (me more than him, but he loves homegrown vegetables), it just wasn't working for us.

Between the poor soil conditions, needing to hand water everything (no hoses or sprinklers, only watering cans), and any visit taking at least 30 minutes to 1 hour between the commute and work, it just wasn't producing enough to justify the time or expense.

I also really struggled with figuring out the growing seasons here.  They are so different than Seattle.  If the garden was right outside my door, I might have fought to learn more and find my way.  Laziness won in the battle against summer heat for the past two years.  Each time, I couldn't recover in time to grow a fall crop of anything.  Many people grow year round here, and I couldn't even get a good crop out of any season.

If I were to start again, I would start with a class or club, where everyone works together to learn and produce as a team.  That would ensure that I walked away with a much better understanding of the local growing parameters.

As part of not renewing the lease, we needed to leave it weed free and remove all materials by the end of January.  My husband kept reminding me that this needed to be done.  Knowing that I was running out of time, I asked for his help today.  My husband, son, and I headed over the to the garden for the last time today.  We dug some holes to bury weeds that we chopped up before burring.  The new person won't have access to it until March 1, so it has plenty of time to break down before they start planting.  We also removed all the bamboo support poles we had sticking out of the ground.

We found a couple mole crickets while working today.

I will miss having the garden and all of its possibilities.  I typically find so much joy working in the garden, as it is a place to leave my worries and concentrate on the gifts that nature provides.  But now it is time for me to find a different avenue to that joy.  I'm sure it is out there.  I just need to find it.

A most normal day

When I woke up this morning, I didn't have plans.  I had a list of chores and things to do, but nothing too exciting.  

My sweet husband and son brought me breakfast in bed and then we did some chores.  

The laundry is a never ending task, as are the dishes.  The hardwood floors need daily attention.  It doesn't take much time, but everything has to be done regularly.  

Since we didn't have lots to do, I took the time to whip up more yuzu honey and ponzu.  We go through so much of these that I try to make as much as I can!

We needed to go shopping, so after a very slow start, we rode our bikes to Shimachu (a cross between Home Depot and Fred Meyer) to pick up some supplies for a future project and then to the grocery store.

Once home, my husband whipped up a batch of takoyaki.  My son had a lot of fun pretending we owned and operated a restaurant selling takoyaki during dinner.  

It was a very normal day that passed by in a blink.  And it was a very wonderful day.

Would you eat that?

My son and I play a lot of games as we walk around town.  "Guess the animal" involves giving 2 hints describing an animal, getting 2 guesses, and going back and forth until the guesser guesses correctly.  It keeps him entertained and often facilitates discussions between mother and son.

Our newest game is "would you eat that" where we make up recipes and ask the other person if it sounds appetizing.  Depending on the mood, this game can get pretty gross or it can be super interesting.  I personally try to squeeze bugs into many of my offerings, which is hysterical to my 6 year old.

Of course, sometimes this game becomes a bit too real when we see something truly unique in a shop or restaurant.  I often eat things that I'm not 100% sure what there are because I can't read labels and descriptive labels.  But when I read a label and still lift my eyebrows in surprise, that is something that could be game-worthy.

Recently, I stopped at a bakery and spotted "Weiner Tortilla (Teriyaki)".  Eyebrows fully engaged, I offered it to my son.  He quickly passed saying "nope.  I don't want it."

So the question remains, would you eat it?