Raincharm’s Weblog

Flat – as in directionless. That is how I feel, and I need to feel oriented.
It has been hard for me to figure out why I feel this way. I have

Numerous work projects that need action.
4 days for the Seattle 3-Day walk coming up – in one day
More house projects than I can name that need action.
A good book only partially read.
The need to get into soccer shape that starts this weekend.
Get stuff out for a neighborhood garage sale that I will not be around for.

And yet I am able to waste time like nobody else.
Which gets me upset at myself even more.

And yet – I find myself not overly concerned.
Perhaps this is the talking to that I need, and now I will get oriented.
We will start with work (since I am at work). (On a break.)

It was a travel day for us today. Back to school, back to work, drive, drive, drive.
I have not been able to speak with Rey yet, so don’t know how his traffic was.
The drive to Canada was not too heavy and not too light. The border wait going north was just 5 minutes. Coming south was 25 minutes, but even that is not too bad.
As drives go I would  not complain. I saw worse traffic going the other direction both ways, and am not sure why traffic was so light in Seattle at 5 PM after a 3-day weekend. Maybe the layoffs over the last year have taken their toll and people are either not travelling or just don’t have to be back at the same time.

Carl was busy getting the house in some sort of shape. His kids are all back on schedule as well.

Today is Betty’s memorial at the cabin.
I am there spirit, but not in body. Our son is standing in for our family, but even more representing himself.

A few people offered to say words for us if we provided them, but I could not conjure the words that would sound right. I write, but I am not a writer, other than technical/business writing.  So here are a few thoughts.

Betty is a Finlayson, but also a Nassoiy. I love my extended family. I was always amazed at how the extended family got along. That does not mean they always agreed, but they got along. Of the four Finlayson siblings, Betty was always the most mysterious to me growing up. This was mostly because she was also the one I saw the least, and they lived a life I was not familiar with. Air force, moving alot. Being in the 1964 Alaska Earthquake was huge. It made it feel closer. The stories the family told were always full of adventure and fun. One I partially remember was them throwing pebbles against windows to wake people up when they had arrived in the middle of the night (before cell phones). I know the arrival in A2 of my Mother’s “crazy sister” was always eagerly awaited, peering out of my upstairs bedroom watching for their car, probably a VW Squareback. And the alter ego stuffed friends. Doormouse, Bears, Frog and the rest. Speaking in other’s tongues is a time honored tradition, especially with all of the young ones. She liked to make fun of almost anything, while making the participants feel like they were in on the joke, never the butt of the joke, and being in on it was great. The kids, Mike/Grinch/Ed and Aimee, were a bit older and out of my league. But Betty and Duke were almost always fun. Going out with them meant something cool was going to happen. As I got older I was always impressed by the ability to go, go, go. I remember vividly being in college and going up north for a winter weekend. We went out cross-country skiing along the old road and some other local trails. Betty was breaking trail, and I was struggling to keep up. And she had to be over 50! (Gasp – reality check – could I out ski or out anything my kids today??? Endurance walking possibly.)  Jumping forward many years, things have gotten into a pattern for our family. We managed to get back to the cabin and family about every other year. I always hoped my kids would get to know the extended family that I loved, but it was not really possible to do it right from 2 weeks out of every 104. Thankfully my son decided to spend a whole summer at the beach 2 years ago. And he got to know Betty. I still remember when my mother, father and I were getting ready to head south in mid-May, leaving Rey in the old cabin to fend for himself. Betty said, “You’re leaving him here alone?” It felt like she adopted him at that moment, at least for the summer. My impression was that he learned  a lot about the birds and the bees and the plants from Betty and her friends – the Sault Naturalists, spent much time with the octo-women and others in their routines of Penny’s Kitchen, the Cozy Inn and other get-togethers, introduced Betty to Coen brother’s movies and professional baseball. I am forever grateful for this time she took to spend with Rey – it made me feel like he got a bit more what family can be – sharing themselves.

So here are my words.
Crazy Sister, rocks (pebbles to big flats), square backs, story teller, defender of her children, tireless, open-minded, wild land enthusiast, passionate, larger than life, loving person. 

You would think that packing for a move would not require shopping for new things. Especially when it is year 3. But that would be me – I don’t shop.
And it is not me, and others like to shop, and have ideas about how things should look and what is needed to achieve said look. And besides Crate & Barrell we were at generally lower priced stores (Goodwill anyone?).

Well, we will see if the ship sails tomorrow with all of these newish things. It won’t be an early sailing, that is for sure.

On the other hand, perhaps getting back from a 3 week vacation, having 5 wisdom teeth pulled, shopping and packing all within 4 days is too much to expect.

And on the backyard front, a friend has made significant progress on clearing out the roots and less than grass that needs to be removed before we are able to rebuild from the roots up. Carl and Ashlan have participated in the transformation, but our neighbor and friend have done more. We appreciate their efforts.

I feel a bit disconnected, so I’ll just fill in with a few odds and ends.

Ashlan survived getting all of her wisdom teeth pulled, all 5 of them.
[Don’t know if we get the 5th one free.]

Rey made it to A2, got Thai food, a bathing suit (sort of) and apparently got his library books returned.

Light bulbs seem to burn out all around me. I wonder if I have an aura.

Carl got poked and prodded by doctors today – fun, fun, fun.

Life just keeps on keeping on.

You know the ones.
You have a bad feeling, but you hope you just forgot something.
My mother called earlier this evening and left a message – OK to call to a reasonable time.
But of course I was working late at a sustainability function selling water conservation (really giving away all manner of items to help folks use less water).
So I didn’t hear of the call until after the reasonable time had passed.

I need to call my mother in the morning, and then call my son – with one of those calls.
But mostly right now I just miss my Aunt Betty, who passed away this morning.

Betty on her deck

Bubs & Betty - Sisters

I only know that she has always been a kind of a beacon of what you can achieve if you just do and be yourself.
Breaking trail on cross country skis at twice my age, and I am struggling to keep up (some 25 – 30 years ago now).

And I am happy that my son got to spend a summer with this wonderful woman 2 years ago – sharing and learning. Taking her to her first (maybe?) professional baseball game, but not thinking about the dynamics of an older person sitting on a hard bleacher for 9 innings, which was the enduring memory of the game. And birding hikes and Cohen brother movies.

And I am happy that we got to visit with Betty this summer, the last time just a week ago in fact.
And her eyes still lit up with spirit and energy. 

There is so much more to say, but I didn’t want to say good-bye.

I don’t remember exactly how A.A. Milne spelled it in the book, but that is my recollection of how it is said.

Carl & I were out tonight, watching some friends play baseball. (And I don’t mean the Mariners.)
As we were leaving for our respective cars I followed the outfield fence around to the parking lot.
I glanced up at a shape at the top of the 8 foot fence immediately to my left.
There was a bird. A rather largish bird. An owl to be specific, a big barn owl I think. I was only about 5 feet away. (The face looked like a barn owl, but this was bigger than any barn owl I had seen before, so maybe not.)
My enormous brain first processed the danger quotient, “No, I don’t think it will attack me.” [I hardly look like a mouse or rabbit.]
I then jumped a bit, and called quietly to Carl & motioned for him to come back toward me.
As I moved away and Carl got closer the owl flew from the fence to an adjacent tree, but was still visible and showed us his face again.

Sorry I didn’t have an IPhone to document the event with. I don’t think my cell phone would have done it any justice.

We are home.
Well I am home, the other two touched down for a few hours and then, like the youngsters they are, took off for a ballgame.

My body is trying to figure out what time it is, and how to accomplish a few minor tasks, such as unpacking. The mail has been opened, but the bills have not yet been paid. And I am, unfortunately, being reintroduced to the state of the world, such as it is.

It was great to see everyone, especially the boy (my personal favorite, and I hope nobodies feelings are hurt). We got to talk to some of his co-workers almost more than Rey himself. But we kept hearing what a nice co-worker he was (and a good boss from one as well). Of course, they all knew we were his family, so … But I prefer to believe they were telling us what they really thought. His internship ends this next month. NEXT?

There is no other reason for us to have listened to nothing but on this vacation.
I think it started out as a necessity due to lack of a working CD player. But for whatever reason, this was the Country vacation. I am not tech savy enough to link to songs so you could listen for yourself, and probably many of you would not want to take the time anyway. So we have tried to gather our favorite lyrics to share with you. They are not cited because, well, because I don’t who wrote them in most cases or the name of the song.

“God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.”

“Rockin’ the beer gut.”

“She thinks my tractor’s sexy.”

“Granny beaded neck” [The definition I have found is when little kids get hot a sweaty and they get dirt under their neck and it goes all the way around like a necklace.]

“I come from a long line of losers.”

“I was born with a shotglassgun in my hand.” (same song as the previous quote)

“Had my first beer, found Jesus, wrecked my car all in the same spot.“[This is definitely not the lyric, but it is the statement being made. I think it takes several lines to accomplish the actual telling.]

“I gave up women, smokin and beer last night. It was the worst 15 minutes of my life.”

I have always heard that to adopt a new habit you have to keep it up for 21 days. After that it will feel natural. Well Carl & Ashlan left Seattle on August 8th, and it is now August 31st. 23 days. I wonder if they will be able to give it up.

We are in Tennessee. Got in last night during the 3rd inning. Closed the bar. I haven’t done that in forever. Of course it was because Rey had to close the bar, and the bar was in the ballpark.

Fast forward about 16 hours. We are back at the ballpark, pre-game.
I have been hydrating.

Anyway, the protocol question …
What is the correct protocol when you are in the public toilet and they start singing the Star Spangled Banner?

Sit or stand?
Hold or go?
Flush or wait?
Wash or wait? (skipping is not an option)

And the song takes like over 2 minutes to complete.
This singer did not carry a tune all that well, but I think she got all of the words.
[Later singing America the Beautiful she had to consult the words and still mixed up a few.]

I think I was the only person in the rest facility, so maybe others have considered the dilemma posed and avoided the room at the crucial moment(s).

Back at home, Rey’s home. A few minutes together, so I am signing off.