Raincharm’s Weblog

So the (1992) little golden book version of the Cornish folk tale, Jack and the Beanstalk, is rife with what I would consider inaccuracies. The giant doesn’t say his normal rhyme and doesn’t even include anything about making bread from bones. That’s the rhyme that everyone knows from that story. Fee, Fi, Fo Fum I smell the blood of an Englishman. Be he live or be he dead I’ll grind your bones to make my bread.  Who wants to read the story with this dumbed down giant. Also the moral ambiguity is ripped out of the story on the last page when it turns out that the giant had originally stolen the harp and the goose from Jack’s father.

Yet Little Golden Books used to be far more interesting before they tried to protect children from fears of giants in the clouds baking bone bread. If you ever see The Taxi That Hurried be sure to read it. The taxi driver smokes, honks his horn, and acts generally abrasive to the world around him yet he is hailed as a hero for getting the mother and son in his taxi to the train on time. Because nicotine enhanced road rage gets the job done.

Anyway, Jack and the Beanstalk in its original form teaches children important lessons about the risks involved while meddling with magic, giants, and beans. Dumbing it down hurts all of us.

In case you didn’t notice the difference in delivery, this post has been guest written by a certain young man that recently returned to our town, and has been reading books to small children.

Rey is home.
Drive across 3 states was relatively nice by Rey’s account. Icy at the top of Lookout Pass, but pretty good roads elsewhere.
Nice to have a full set of kids in the house.

Here is Carl’s first effort of the season (or maybe the last of 2008)

12-13-08 Snow

Mr. Man was built after we returned from the Seattle Women’s Chorus. Great show. Ashlan and her friend, both just back from school, both had sinking spells during quiet parts of the show, but going on a few hours of sleep, and then hearing a beautiful version of Silent Night will do that to you.  It continued to snow over night, light & dry.

Rey update – still in Montana – waiting for Monday when it is supposed to be flurries and partly sunny.

Canada trip update – forgot to add this into yesterday’s report. Between the Canadian border and Vancouver proper there is an area that is flat, mostly fields and wetlands. In both directions there were seagulls, various smaller birds, swans and bald eagles. 8 eagles counted on the drive north, 9 on the drive south. The first one I saw was fairly low and really caught my eye. Then they seemed to be everywhere. As I was watching one out the windsheild, a different sort of bird appeared over the top of the car. A red helicopter going up the freeway. I am sure this was a RCMP on a different sort of mount.

So – quick update, now that most of the day has transpired.
Jay travelled to and from Canada
Ashlan travelled from Canada
There was cold, some rain, some snow, about 1 minute at the border going up and about 45 minutes at the border coming down. The two vehicles in front of us coming down were both pulled to the side, the second one after quizzing them for about 10 minutes.
Rey – didn’t travel. A good decision I think
Carl – travelled around town doing errands. Recovered from his trip to Jay’s office Christmas party the night before. Driving wind and rain, closed roads, lost on the Plateau (but had Ashlan’s cell phone – finally a good use).
Carl, Jay & Ashlan travelled around Green Lake on foot, ~ 3 miles, for the luminnaire. Candles lit the path, cold but crowded and lots of groups singing.
In a few minutes we travel to see the Seattle Women’s Chorus.

We are sorry Rey is not joining us, but still, the right decision.

I agree that the news folks frequently overhype storms, especially the first storm of the season. And that is what is happening now, except it is a Canadian blast (they are more trustworthy to show up), and while the snow amounts are still in question, the cold air is not.
Tonight has predicted 1-2 feet in the mountain passes, and potential for up to 6 inches in the higher lowlands (like where I work) and a trace to a few inches in Seattle. Now, I am from Michigan, and lived in Colorado, and have driven in all kinds of snow. But snow in Seattle is really ice with icing. And if you hit the freeways during the storm event it is always an adventure.

I fully admit they have gotten much better at managing the mountain passes. They stop traffic earlier, clear and then have them go in single or double file all together, which removes much of the “I can go fast and not worry SUV” spinouts that really can mess up the highway for everyone else. But, still. Trepidation.

Tomorrow, still snow and wind and
1) Rey is scheduled to drive back from Montana – 3 mountain passes, plains and snow the entire way.
2) Jay is scheduled to go get Ashlan from Vancouver, with possible snow and cold temps. [This is much more of an unknown as far as the forecast goes.]

So the question is – who will be in Seattle Saturday night? Carl, Carl & Jay, Carl, Jay & Ashlan, or the whole kid & kaboodle.

I have given everyone permission to take their time, delay, stop and get a room, etc… But I am still a nervous Nellie.

One of the things that could happen, is that Rey gets partway home and wants to find out what the next pass (Snoqualmie most likely) is like. Since I may be on the road and Carl is not what we call “a friend of the computer” I am going to post a link to a great weather and traffic site. So if you get a call from Rey you will not have to hunt around. (I am giving out phone numbers too – if you know you are going to be home Saturday, feel free to e-mail me)

Snoqualmie Pass road report (other passes can be found as well)

http://wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes/snoqualmie/default.aspx

NOAA Weather map – you can use the aerial map (right side a little way down) to move to different areas, and just click on the spot where you want the forecast. It is long, but set for Mullan, near Lookout Pass, the first pass to be crossed. If you just go to http://forecast.weather.gov you get the entire nation map, and then have to drill in. I thought the longer would be quicker.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=47.46802133894551&lon=-115.80551147460937&site=otx&smap=1&marine=0&unit=0&lg=en

Maybe this is old news in the Great Lake State, but it was new news to me – reading an engineering daily e-mail.

http://www.businessnorth.com/briefing.asp?RID=2776

You know when there is more to get done than you can possibly accomplish (my normal state of existence), and the shorter weeks are looming, but you can’t quite kick yourself into the higher gear. That’s where I am today.  Actually this could probably be any day in December.

I can’t even just take it home because I have too much to do there too.

So I guess it is time to get to that to-do list and contemplate what the correct combination of caffeine and inspiration would be.

We managed to find a few clothes to wear (see previous post). Nothing fancy, but one of the Christmas colors, so we blended well. We met our friends and enjoyed an evening with the Seattle Mens Chorus and their special guest Jennifer Holliday. She was the Effie in Dream Girls, 25 years ago. She apparently has lost 200 lbs since then, but she also talked about getting divorced several times, so I wasn’t sure if she meant her weight or her husbands’ weight. In either case she can sure belt out a song.

But, to me, the real show was still the Mens Chorus. The basics are a chorus of roughly 175 men. Gay men. They have been around for 25 years and are wonderful singers that can be serious at times, but know how to poke fun at themselves and the situations that exist here, across the country, and around the world.

This show was a true Christmas concert, with many standards. There was even a small sing-along for the audience. The printed the words for those of us that had not been caroling in a while, and turned up the lights. So we are all standing and singing along with Winter Wonderland.

Sleigh bells ring, are you lint’nin’?
In the land, snow is glist’nin’,
A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight,
Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland.
Gone away is the bluebird,
Here to stay is a new bird,
He sings a love song, as we go along,
Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland.

In a meadow we can build a snowman,
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown;
He’ll say, “Are you married?” We’ll say, “No, man!”

At which point the audience lights went out, the singing stopped, and one of the groups on stage was holding a sign saying, “Legalize Gay Marriage – Keep your promise Joe Biden.”
Lights came back up …

Later on, we’ll conspire,
As we dream by the fire,
To face unafraid, the plans that we made,
Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland.

Since an unmarried couple has about 1000 less rights than a married couple, such as being able to visit a loved one in the hospital or act on their behalf, this can be more than just a minor inconvenience.

Anyway, off my soapbox for now. It was a great show and we had a good time. Next step – finding a ride to work in the morning.

So yesterday I went out and stimulated the economy a bit. Kind of a fun, not quite cold, not sunny kind of Seattle day. Had fun at a couple of stops interacting with the working folks.

Today was focused on coffee, paper and relaxing, maybe some work, … until I remembered that it is the season.

And, oh yes, we have tickets to a show tonight. A show that I really want to see, and we are meeting some friends, in fact they were potentially stopping by for dinner before hand.  (This is the season when we actually seem to have a social life of sorts)

Hmmm, maybe sweatpants aren’t going to make the grade all day today.  One thing I definately don’t have is clothes for going out on the town. Each time I think I will really go get some nicer clothes, and then I don’t. Tonight will be no different I am sure as I am motivated to work on things inside the house, but not to head out into the world.

Today is also a typical Seattle day – only the wetter kind.

OK – it finally dawned on me that it really is December and perhaps I should look at Christmas things.
Carl noticed it earlier and has a pretty good Christmas shrine going. (That is what we call the revolving set of items that live on our mantle.
So – time to hit the streets – do a little shopping and a lot of walking. I guess my brain is still not completely focused on the “season”.