Poem for Wednesday and Edmonds by the Ferry

Old Wind, Old Cedars 

By Susan Landgraf 

Wind is a wanderer -- a crescent,

a sweep, horn, hawk. On the edge

of the Pacific -- Chinook, same

name as the tribe and the salmon

that ran so thick the people

could walk across the Columbia.

Cedars grow tall and upright,

weave their roots into a quilt, hold

the land in a flood so the people

can climb up to the Fourth World.

They speak the language of baskets

and boats. They talk with the river,

huckleberries, firs. And in the wind,

the cedars shiver. They bend.

-------- 

It rained pretty much all day Wednesday, so I had a pretty typical indoor day, chatting with my high school friends in shifts in the morning, eating lunch, then watching the first half of Spider-Man: No Way Home with Kristen before we put on our waterproof clothing and walked to the beach. There were lots of damp waterfowl and an eagle but almost no people. 

We caught up on the Ghosts episode we missed and now we're watching more of the third season of All Creatures Great and Small (not enjoying the animal suffering in war flashbacks and people with suffering dogs). Here is the ferry side of the waterfront in Edmonds and the marsh, which I would like to see in the summer when more animals are around: 

Poem for Tuesday and Orca Sightings

Whale Song 

By Joseph Edwards Carpenter 

I

Oh! the whale is free of the boundless sea,

He lives for a thousand years;

He sinks to rest in the billow's breast,

Nor the roughest tempest fears:

The howling blast as it hurries past,

Is music to lull him to sleep,

And he scatters the spray in his boisterous play,

As he dashes the king of the deep.

Oh! the rare old whale, 'mid storm and gale,

In his ocean home shall be,

A giant in might, where might is right,

And king of the boundless sea!

II

A wondrous tale could the rare old whale

Of the mighty deep disclose,

Of skeleton forms of by-gone storms,

And of treasures that no one knows;

He has seen the crew, when the tempest blew,

Drop down from the slippery deck,

Shaking the tide from his glassy side,

And sporting with ocean and wreck,

Then the rare old whale, 'mid storm and gale

In his ocean home shall be,

A giant in might, where might is right,

And king of the boundless sea.

III

Then the whale shall be still dear to me

When the midnight lamp burns dim,

For the student's book, and his favourite nook,

Are illumed by the aid of him;

From none of his tribe could we e'er imbibe

So useful, so bless'd a thing;

Then we'll on land, go hand in hand

To hail him the ocean king,

Oh! the rare old whale, 'mid storm and gale,

In his home will ever be,

A giant in might, where might is right,

And king of the boundless sea!

-------- 

My Tuesday was pretty quiet, since I had a lot of photos to upload and a lot of laundry to sort. It had clouded up by afternoon, but we walked to the beach past the blooming daffodils, though the eagles that were in the tree over the deck in the morning had gone to hide. 

My Voyager group watched the quite-good "Collective" (the episode in which Icheb arrived), then Paul and I watched the end of the second season of All Creatures Great and Small and the wedding at the start of the third season. Orcas we saw on Friday: 

Lyrics for Monday and Alan Doyle in Edmonds

I Am a Sailor 

By Alan Doyle 

Long before we reach the secret shore,

In the land of you and me;

There's a tide to take to a storm that breaks,

While the sunshine lies asleep,

We'll go into the rising horizon...

I am a sailor, you are a star,

And the midnight sky is ours;

You hold the lantern, and I'll chase the light,

Take me anywhere you wanna go tonight.

For all we know, there could be sand or snow,

A tempest or a breeze;

But hard and fast our lines we'll cast,

Deep into the burning sea,

Leaving all who could find us behind us...

I am a sailor, you are a star,

And the midnight sky is ours;

You hold the lantern, and I'll chase the light,

Take me anywhere you wanna go tonight.

Lost in the morning we'll find,

All of this treasure shall be yours and mine...

'Cause I am a sailor, and you are a star,

And the midnight sky is ours;

You hold the lantern, and I'll chase the light,

Take me anywhere you wanna go tonight.

-------- 

I have two days to catch up on here! On Sunday, we had a fairly quiet morning before heading to Edmonds after lunch, walking in drizzle down to the windy waterfront, where we drank hot chocolate while watching the ferries and the waves come in. Then we walked back through town, where there were lots of daffodils blooming despite the weather, and ate three kinds of tofu for dinner at Thai Cottage before going to the Edmonds Center for the Arts to see Alan Doyle, whom we haven't seen live since 2018 but he hasn't lost a step or a note! 

Canadian singer-songwriter (not to be confused with the actor) Adam Baldwin opened, accompanying himself on the piano, then Alan came out with his band and played lots of old favorites including Captain Kidd, When I'm Up, Consequence Free, Lukey, The Night Pat Murphy Died, 1-2-3-4, Come Out With Me, The Old Black Rum, Dancing Like We Did Last Night, How Did We Get From Saying I Love You, I Am a Sailor, It's the End of the World As We Know It, Welcome Home, and Ordinary Day. The crowd was mostly our age but everyone sang along.

 

I had a bunch of work to get done on Monday ranging from some writing to laundry, but we knew Adam was coming for dinner to eat some of the Swedish cheese we got with him and Haley last week, the kind we used to eat with Paul's parents and brothers on Christmas Eve every year, so we had Swedish (veggie) beef, mashed potatoes, and lingonberries with it. We also chatted with my parents and watched Oppenheimer since Adam had not seen it. Now we're catching up on Masters of the Air, which works thematically.

Greetings from the Center of the Great Big Sea

Just back from seeing Alan Doyle (with Adam Baldwin opening and joining his band for the encores) at the Edmonds Center for the Arts, after a lovely, windy late afternoon walk along the Edmonds waterfront and dinner at Thai Cottage. More tomorrow!

Greetings from Bellevue

Adam drove Haley to the airport very early Saturday morning, though she'll hopefully be back next month. The rest of us slept late, then did a bunch of chores while watching the Orioles' first spring training game, which it turned out we could get on the MLB Channel though Kate caught me up on it before we realized we could tune in. Our neighbors pointed out that there were raccoons sleeping in the trees, the younger of which woke up and did a lot of climbing and wrestling, which annoyed the otters, who came out of the water to chase them back up trees! 

After lunch, we went to Bellevue to enjoy the weather, and to see the animals at Kelsey Creek Farm and the flowers at Bellevue Botanical Gardens. There are lots of daffodils, many blooming trees, and buds on dozens of bushes, plus some singing frogs hiding in the grass. We stopped at Safeway on the way home and ate dinner watching the SAG Awards, which I mostly enjoyed (RDJ, Lily, Barbra, Ali, Da'Vine), and now we're watching Hallmark's Sense and Sensibility, which is really delightful; I love the actresses and the story feels weightier with race factored in to the class issues.

Greetings from Edmonds and Fremont

Paul took Friday off because Adam was taking us whale watching on the same boat that we cruised on last summer, the one with unlimited hot chocolate refills and blueberry buckle. Given the season, we were expecting to see only gray whales, but we got to see two orca pods not very far out from Edmonds -- one hunting a seal, the other taking care of a baby whale. We ate lots of snacks and saw lots of seabirds, and when we got back to the marina, we walked back to the beach and saw some seals who were nice and safe from whales. 

We stopped at Scandinavian Specialties so Haley could see it and we could get some Swedish cheese, then we walked Pepper around Fremont and went to see the troll. Then we met Daniel at Cafe Turko, where we shared four kinds of hummus, two kinds of pide, felafel, eggplant, and two spicy dishes, plus fabulous drinks. When Daniel headed home, we walked back to Adam's apartment, and we ate some Scandinavian candy before heading home ourselves. I have lots of whale photos to sort but here are a few pictures of our lovely day:

Poem for Thursday and Neighborhood Blossoms

To Daffodils 

By Robert Herrick 

Fair Daffodils, we weep to see

You haste away so soon;

As yet the early-rising sun

Has not attain'd his noon.

Stay, stay,

Until the hasting day

Has run

But to the even-song;

And, having pray'd together, we

Will go with you along.

We have short time to stay, as you,

We have as short a spring;

As quick a growth to meet decay,

As you, or anything.

We die

As your hours do, and dry

Away,

Like to the summer's rain;

Or as the pearls of morning's dew,

Ne'er to be found again.

-------- 

I had my semiannual checkup on Thursday, so I had to get my chores done in the morning. My doctor said my lab numbers aren't even prediabetic any more, so that's good news! My doctor is in Redmond and I needed to pick up a prescription in Bellevue, so we got to see the mountain on this gorgeous clear day, then we got home and walked to the park, where there were lots of waterfowl as well as the pair of eagles piping chattering notes at the top of a tree. 

I met my Thursday chat group, six of us tonight including someone who rarely makes it on so that was lovely. Then we ate leftovers and watched this week's The Way Home, which I missed on Sunday (I'm so tired of teenage Kat and Elliot, give us young Jacob and older Del), and tried to watch the new Masters of the Air but Apple refused to stream it so we're watching more All Creatures Great and Small instead. Look how many flowers are blooming in the neighborhood!

Poem for Wednesday and Family Day

A Little Dog That Wags His Tail 

By Emily Dickinson 

A little Dog that wags his tail

And knows no other joy

Of such a little Dog am I

Reminded by a Boy

 

Who gambols all the living Day

Without an earthly cause

Because he is a little Boy

I honestly suppose -

 

The Cat that in the Corner dwells

Her martial Day forgot

The Mouse but a Tradition now

Of her desireless Lot

 

Another class remind me

Who neither please nor play

But not to make a 'bit of noise’

Beseech each little Boy -

-------- 

Pepper arrived bright and early to spend the day with us because Adam and Haley were going cross country skiing up near Snoqualmie Pass. She sat with me while I chatted with my high school friends, ate bacon treats while we had lunch, and walked with Paul at Mercer Island while I had an ophthalmologist appointment. We tried to walk her some more in our neighborhood, but it was drizzling and she refused to turn toward the park, so we took her out on the dock to see the eagles instead. Kristen and I watched the end of Black Widow.

Haley brought dinner from Bangkok Basil and Paul made a cookie cake because Adam told us she had never had one (decorated with Pepper's face -- her nickname is Pluppus). We ate lots of Thai food and played Machi Koro, while the cats tried to steal bites and glared at the dog who was sleeping on the couch all evening. Now we're watching All Creatures Great and Small while catching up on all the email and computer work we didn't get done during the day. A few photos from our day with Pepper and evening with Adam and Haley: