Happy Valentine's Day

I had red marbled roses delivered to our house on Saturday (Scott was home, too). Traditional, but pretty.

(That's a bottle of Stag's Leap Petite Syrah that he bought for our Valentine's Day Eve dinner - along with New York strip steaks, fresh prawns and asparagus).

Scott stopped at a florist and designed this arrangement himself - ginger, orchids, gerbera daisies and some others. I think he WAY outdid me.

Sitting on a table in the dining room when he first brought them home ...

... and on the entertainment center in the living room this morning.

He's da bestest.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

*Tap Tap Tap* Is This Thing On?

Yes, it's on. Sorry - I've been lax at posting anything lately, haven't I?

And I'm only taking the time to post today because I'm at home sick. Bleah. Cold/flu thing - although I'm not really congested anymore, just fevery/achy/exhausted.

Things have been depressing at work, on a personal level - one co-worker had an operation for a brain tumor (which went incredibly well, and she's doing fine). Another was diagnosed with breast cancer - but is in remission after a lumpectomy and radiation. Another suffered a seizure at work (boy, was that scary!), but it seems to be a reaction to a medication, and she's doing fine now, too. And now, another just found out that his wife has pancreatic cancer that has spread to her liver, and there's nothing that can be done to save her life.

These are all people around my age or within ten years of being older than me. It's a scary reminder that we're all getting older and having to deal with things we never even imagined when we were young and invincible. I'm having a hard time accepting the fact that I'm not young anymore, and that I'm not immortal. I find myself thinking of ways to be more active, to get back in shape, to be healthier. There's a lot on my plate there.

And now it's fall. It came quick and hard this year (doesn't it always?). From a hot, hot, HOT dry summer to cloudy and cool and rainy in 24 hours. I feel like I'm waiting for it to be the pretty fall that I swear I remember always having as a child. I don't think I should be waiting.

So, I'm looking out the window and seeing that the sun is out. It's lower in the southern sky, and filtered, and not as bright as before - but it's there. The leaves are decaying and dropping - but the trees are alive, just winding down for the year. The sky is a fading pale blue, with wispy high clouds strung across it - but it's there. It's still above us, and the ground is still below us, and our 104-year-old house is still standing and solid and warm and it's all okay.

I do miss the anticipation I used to feel this time of year ... football games and marching band and homecoming and my birthday (which does still happen - October 22, start shopping!) and Thanksgiving. That still happens, too, doesn't it? I guess it is time to start inviting everyone we know to Thanksgiving dinner and planning my favorite holiday, where we get to share what we can with people we love and who love us back. I need that right now. Life keeps moving and days pass by and it's hard to see anything but a week or a day at a time. But I'm sensing that I need to breathe in deep and take in what's happening around me and embrace the days that I live in.

Thanks for letting me ramble and vent. I think I'll go pet the dogs now.

Matterpics

There's still another day left of summer, but let's face it - it's fall. It feels, smells, looks different ... the light is lower and even though the sky is blue, it's paler than before. It's kinda like everything was taken with a Polaroid camera.

I'm not totally complaining. As much as I love summer, I couldn't live without the seasons changing.

Now if only we could have spring start in full force on January 1 - I'd be happy.

Anyway - here's today's Matterday (and Scooterday):

Trees turning prematurely red and orange. (I just got my hair cut - I know the feeling. Umm, except with grey).

Christmas decorations at Lowe's. On September 21. I believe the elegant phrase "WTF?" applies here.

I didn't realize that Tin Tin had a laundromat in the Rainier Valley/Columbia City area.

Pioneer Square, near where my office used to be. Smith Tower (with the pyramid-shaped top) used to be the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. If you look right in the middle, straight up Second Avenue, you'll see the Space Needle.

Heading up First Avenue.

The Seattle Central Library downtown. Rem Koolhaas was one of the principle designers. I've only been inside briefly, and didn't get a chance to explore much. I think it's a very cool building and would love to see more. Oh, and I totally miss working near downtown.

Back home. The impatiens and lantana at the bottom of the steps to the backyard.

Japanese barberry. I love the color, and it will turn bright red in the next month or two. And it has very sharp thorns.

One of our banana trees. No fruit, and it dies back to the ground every year, but very cool. (It's about eight feet tall).

Sunflowers that grew after Scott threw some seeds into the garden (that were mixed in with birdseed). These are perfect sunflowers, I think. Not too tall or demanding - just purty.

Bougainvillea in a basket. Go child go.

We have a plethora of garden spiders currently subleasing space in our yard. This is Sidney.

Blue lace cap hydrangeas.

I love hydrangeas when they fade - they're supposed to make great dried flowers, although I've never been into that. Maybe we'll try it this year.

And another.

A Japanese maple starting to turn colors.

I could never grow miniature roses indoors, like I wanted to. But stick them in the ground outside and ignore them, and they do great.

Japanese blood grass - or, something close to it. It doesn't turn as red, but it's a very cool ornamental grass.

More fading hydrangeas.

Blurry Buddha on the edge of the pond.

These poor old wooden chairs have seen better days. Seems like a perfect end-of-summer picture, though.

The end of summer means we get to see our statues again. This one is still being a bit shy.

Hope you enjoyed our day and the garden tour. Dinner's in about an hour - go wash up and I'll pour you a glass of wine.

Goodbye, John Hughes.

His movies were usually set near Chicago, mostly in places that I recognized since they were very close to where I grew up.

This tribute rocks.

In Which Scott And His Army Clean The Carpets.

Welcome to Our Neighborhood

Our neighborhood (the Central District of Seattle) is a very diverse place - a huge part of the reason that we live here. A little over a block away is the main intersection in this area, 23rd Avenue and East Union Street. It has struggled for a long time ... the Nisqually Earthquake in 2001 damaged the Coleman Building, an old run-down brick retail and residential building on the corner, and eventually it had to be torn down, including the reknowned Ms. Helen's Soul Food. A fast-food restaurant on the opposite corner was the site of a deadly shooting spree early in 2008, and it's been boarded up ever since. Drug dealing, prostitution, and gunfire are not uncommon around here.

But starting this month, the vacant lot where the Coleman Building stood is going to be part of an art project. This is a hugely positive thing, in my opinion. Here's a little video that gives a short peek at our little corner of the world.

The Corner: 23rd and Union preview from The Corner on Vimeo.

Matterpics

Memorial Day Weekend. Scott off ... well, at least Saturday and Monday. Trips to the nursery. New plants. Yard work. Pet store. Re-planting all the hanging baskets (nice basket, heh heh). Sore backs and knees and lots o' splinters. Cooking ribs for dinner. Hope y'all had a great long weekend.