Chickens

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Happy May day

Can't decide between these two photos. May 1 is opening day for boating here in Seattle. The Montlake cut is closed for the day as crew teams race from Lake Union to Lake Washington. Everyone with boats, forms a corridor on the east side of the cut, to view the team races and celebrate the day. Hence, the photo of me is on my friends yacht. If I had children, perhaps we would pick flowers and visit the neighbors, ringing and running and yelling, "Happy May Daaaaay!" Seems like the thing to do...although, I don't remember why. Well, here's a photo of the rose bush I purchased in memory of Mama. It's called a Margaret Merrill. I think it's so beautiful in all stages of bud, slightly opened and fully open. I'm pretty proud of this picture too. While living in Austria, there were many stories about the May Pole dance and pranks played on neighbor villages. Now those, those seemed like fun. Tradition. Where has it gone?

Rain City Chickens

So I just realized that I kinda started another blog... but not really. You see, for the past few months, I've been talking about getting chickens. I grew up with them...which, for the record, does not mean I grew up in a barn...but we raised them in our living room. My dad was more prone to farm stock than he was dogs & cats. Well, something must have carried over from those childhood days. At the risk of repeating myself, I'll send ya over to Back Yard Chickens so you can see what I've been up to. For the moment, the skies have cleared and it's time for a walk.

Hope

Some funny things rattling around in my mind. One being that I have been thinking and not blogging. So here's a thought on the last movie my friends and I watched. It's called, Henry Poole Is Here, a "romantic comedy" (my friend's picked it out). I wonder if I would think more of this film if it were categorized differently. I guess it was ok for a $1 Red Box rental (again, I didn't have to pay the dollar). I s'pose it was artistic with original melancholy songs...I sat wondering if Luke Wilson was going to be sad the entire time or something would change. There are certainly interesting characters which perhaps give a glimpse of what it means to care for one another. Adriana Barraza played Esperanza, a meddling, good intentions neighbor. She-was-the-star. In watching the directors bonus thoughts (ha! too much time on our hands)... He said that he was trying to portray hope. My mouth fell open. My heart saddened a little thinking, "This is what the world sees as hope??!"

Without getting overly profound on cinematic doctrine shaping pop culture views or sounding too preachy... I will say this. Romans 8 has lots of good things to say about hope. Verse 24 says, "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?" Makes sense. Even one of my favorite movies, A Knight's Tale, (yes, I know it's cheesy) has many, many great parts. Where Henry's director fails, Williams director successfully captured hope. Secretly, I've wanted to give this to the love of my life one day... that day has yet to come. This is a note from Sir William to his love Jocelyn...

"It is strange to think, I haven't seen you since a month. I have seen the new moon, but not you. I have seen sunsets and sunrises, but nothing of your beautiful face. The pieces of my broken heart are so small that they could be passed through the eye of a needle. I miss you like the sun misses the flower; like the sun misses the flower in the depths of winter. Instead of beauty to direct its light to, the heart hardens like the frozen world your absence has banished me to. I next compete in the city of Paris, I will find it empty and in the winter if you are not there. Hope guides me, that is what gets me through the day and the night. The hope that after you're gone from my sight, it will not be the last time that I look upon you."

A day late...

...and a dollar short. S-t-o-r-y of my life. Not sure the relevance yet, but that's how I'm feeling. First off, what was I thinking going to the post office to mail a long procrastinated care package on tax day?! I was thinking: 1- It's way past high time I got rid of this stuff, 2- It's a gorgeous day in Seattle, cool ocean breeze, 62 degrees, 3- I need to mail this check that my accountant said I needed to mail (hopefully it wasn't yesterday) to avoid late fees... So yeah, pretty much caught up in my own world.

Qdoba routinely has the CNN on. I prefer Fox News. But I like to practice speed reading the subtitles while I have lunch. Turns out, there's a huge volcano in Iceland that just erupted...four days ago. Gosh! Where have I been? I am often baffled how long it takes me to hear the news. This photo flashed across their screen which I thought was super beautiful. I wish it could be bigger. I've wanted to go to Iceland for years, not for any good reason, but just to go. I seldom need a reason. Being there for the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano would have made an awesome story... and perhaps I could have taken a few great pictures myself.
Photo by Ólafur Eggertsson, from the farm Þorvaldseyri