Home Alone

Yes, it snowed again last night. Not a lot, about a soggy inch. Looking at the long last two months this is an improvement. It should warm up today and probably rain so it should go away.

Last week my back went into a spasm for no reason I can tell. Thankfully I had my phone in my pocket because I couldn't get off the floor. One of the downsides of living alone. My lovely daughter-in-law Heather came and managed to get me into her car and take me to Urgent Care. Bottles of muscle relaxants and pain pills got me semi-mobile but left me in a total fog. Eldest son Chris came and stayed with me the first night. He was very entertaining, I think, I remember laughing not much else.  Grandgirl Natty came over and cleaned, and visited the next day. The end of the fourth day I could finally get in the shower, omg, grandgirl standing by just in case.  I took the pain meds just one day, they made me really stupid. By yesterday I was no longer foggy brained and could drive again.  That was my week or what I can remember of it.

Four of the Grandgirls!

Chris and I are going to go see a film this afternoon.  Haven't picked one for certain yet but it's nice of him to get me out of the house.  We used to have three theaters here but eventually two closed and then the third was remodeled into a 12 screen thing.  They tend to cater to children and the 15-25 young man crowd. Add the fact that three or more films are shown in 2D and 3D there really a fewer offerings.  "Hidden Figures" is playing. And the "Lego Batman Movie."

Now I am going to go drink coffee and read the newspaper.  Peace and love to you all.

Immigration

My sister-in-law Pam posted a picture of me on FB from when I was about 24. It got me to thinking, especially about the look on my face.  Wonder what I was thinking. I would have been married about a year by then. 

I was working full time and taking Norwegian classes at night as my husband's Mom spoke mostly Norwegian having migrated to the US in her 50's. We were struggling to speak to each other. They left their remote farm in Norway to join an uncle in Williston, North Dakota. When my husband graduated high school they moved to Seattle. He and I met at the University of Washington when I was 19 and he was 21.

Their farm is located about 200 +- miles north of the Artic Circle. The snow we got in Walla Walla this year was nothing compared to the stuff the piled up to their second story windows in the winter. Each year they shoveled a tunnel to reach the critters in the barn. They did indeed ski to school. During WW2 their farm was occupied by German soldiers. His father was in the British Merchant Marine and outside Norway when it was occupied by Germany. That left my very young husband, his older sister, his mother and his grandfather running the farm.  It's located on a fjord opening into the sea.  Nearby is Hakoya Island outside Tromsø where the German battle ship Tirpitz (the sister ship to the Bismarck) was sunk by the RAF in November 1944. Young as he was he has some very vivid memories of those times. He remembers going to Tromsø I believe when his sister needed to have her tonsils out. It was done in the doctor's office. While the operation was ongoing he saw the office building next door knocked to the ground in an air raid.

My own grandfather and his brother came to this country to stay when they were around 12 and 14 from Great Britain. They were Scots who were born and lived in the east end of London.  The family were mostly displaced Highlanders who ended up around Edinburgh and then on to London. They were effectively orphaned at 4 and 6 when their mother died and their father left. They both ended up on ships as cabin boys and jumped ship twice in New York. The first time they were actually shanghaied onto other ships. How they survived as long as they did I don't know. The second time they were taken into foster care in NYC and later as young men took the train across the country to Washington State.  On that train ride he and his brother Tom met my paternal grandmother Laura and her cousin Lena who were leaving Iowa for Seattle.   Tom married Lena and Grandpa married my Grandmother. Grandma Laura was a Cushing, and always proud of being a cousin of Cardinal Richard Cushing. His family arrived in the 1840's but Grandma Laura's were here in the 1600's part of the fur and shipping trade. I doubt they knew each other.

Funny what starts a train of thought.  I am relieved that our judicial system has retracted *'s immigration ban. We are all immigrants.  Without immigrants I wouldn't exist or have my sons, my grandchildren, and my extended web of family and friends or you. My whole world is richer because of it.  Husband and I parted ways many years ago but have managed to remain civil and friends who can still hug each other on the rare occasions we see one another. Practicing peace and inclusion.

What was that bright light?

I got up before sunrise Monday and when it dawned it was dazzling. Clear blue sunny sky, dazzling snow.  Before long the streets were dry and bare. And then snow everywhere Tuesday. I had 10-year-olds and miles to go so we got into the van.  Dropped Isabel off for basketball, dropped off mail and headed for the game. No Isabel. Left the house without my phone. Duh! Got one school to call the other and sure enough she'd missed the bus. Got back in the van and retrieved her but now no parking places. Of course. Dropped her off, parked and Adam and I walked back.  She played both games because a lot of other kids were out due to the snow.  Got them both to their house just as their Mom was cooking dinner. I declined her invite as it seemed to be raining and freezing. Ran for home.

Since then it has been snow, rain, ice and more ice. This is a winter of records.Today Thursday half the town is shut down.  All the schools are closed including the three colleges and many businesses as well.  Parts of the highways are closed. Trucks and cars off the roads everywhere. God bless our police, fire fighters and EMTs. What a mess. Where would we be without them?

Photo: Walla Walla Sheriff's Department

This is a main commute and truck route out of town. People who can't turn around and go home are just stuck there for now.

I can't complain, I'm warm and safe. Not out of coffee.  My daughter-in-law Heather is home with 9 of our 10 grandkids. I told her to put the eldest ones in charge (they like to boss everyone anyway) and hide in the bedroom.

Still icy and white outside.  It should start melting midday if the weather man is correct.  Yesterday I baked some apple crisp and banana bread for the grandkids but the slickery roads kept them home.  This afternoon, post melt, I'm going over to visit and deliver the baked goodies before I eat them all up. I had two servings of apple crisp for dinner last night.

Drivers here are still sliding into each other and slipping off the road, often on their side. Watched some fellow weave in and out passing others only to end up doing doughnuts until he ran into a pile of snow.  No one hurt or even dented.  Someone has an alert guardian angel. Whether it is him or us watching I cannot say.

It is beautiful though.  This is a plaza at a main intersection in our downtown.  In the summer musicians play here in the evenings.

Photo Sandi Roddick

Miss you Sam

This last weekend was the memorial service in Seattle for my cousin Sam and a very fitting one in a packed theater in Seattle.  He began his juggling career busking in the Pike Place Market and went on to become Smerdyakov with the Flying Karamazov Brothers. Beyond that he was a bright shining human being with a loving heart and we will always miss him.