January Thaw

 This foto does not capture the magnitude of the icy-ness of the road.

Not only was it glare ice, but it had just a trickle of water on top so that walking was an amazing feat.

 I was gone to Seattle for the week, so I missed the sub-zero temps and then the nice fluffy snow.

I came home to the thaw.

It warmed up and rained and rained and rained and rained.

It was a hard pelting rain, not just some winter drizzle, turning snow into soft sloppiness

 and the packed snow into ice.

It apparently warmed up enough to make this bear think it was spring.

 His trackes were spotted all over the neighborhood, but he stopped for quite awhile at the BarbErics.

He nosed around the suet that they had out for the birds and he nosed around the chicken coop.

When Barb walked down to borrow the phone to call Fish and Game, Eric was having a stand-off with him near the chicken house, whacking him on the nose with a ski pole.

He mostly just seemed like he wanted to take a nap.

He was VERY lethargic.

By the time FW&P arrived, he had wandered off,

hopefully to a new den where he could nap in peace.

Port Townsend in Winter

 While my sister was at work, I spent the day wandering through this little city.

 Up here is where I was introduced to those trees in the earlier post,

they have such a nice view of the world.

 I love how there is green in the winter over here on the west part of our country.

Green grass and this lovely green moss.

Elliot Bay

 This is the view from my bedroom window where I stayed last week in Seattle.

This is from my uncles condo on First Street.

 It was lovely to be back in the 'hood.

To walk Alki Beach and witness the sunsets that turn the entire city orangy-pink.

The sound of the waves rolling onto the beach and the smell of salt water.

Nostalgia.

Art of Living

 A master in the Art of Living

 draws no sharp distinction

between his work and his play;

his labor and his leisure;

his mind and his body;

his education and his recreation.

He hardly knows which is which.

He simply pursues his vision of excellence

through whatever he is doing,

and leaves others to determine whether he is

Working or Playing.

To himself he always appears to be doing both.

Lawrence Pearsall Jacks

These trees overlook the bay in Port Townsend, Washington.

I was there last week visiting my sister, walking the beach, doing yoga, Nia and browsing the lovely town.

So Much

 So. Yeah. I haven't blogged much lately.

Been meaning to, just haven't quite mustered the vibe.

So much to say.

These shots are from a Solstice Party.

Yep, WAY back then, last year!

So Much has happened in between.

At least I am starting to catch up.

We drove to Moscow, Idaho on the Friday before the Solstice.

We visited my sister, Annie and her family in their new house.

We had a lovely hommade dinner with them and then went downtown to music at a coffee shop.

Saturday we met friends at a trailhead and has our first ever "dark&stormy" (awesome cocktail) and then skied in a mile or two or so with heavy packs laden with food and beverages and warm clothing and sleeping bags and spent a lovely night up on Moscow Mountian at a very cool place.

Food, Fun, Fellowship, Fireworks, bon-fire....night skiing on the ridge....

All in all a grand time!

Downhill trekking with much lighter packs the next day was heaven!