Music and Cats

In 2006, I made two short lists on the first day of the year. Some might have called them resolutions, intentions, aspirations or longings; I called them hopes. Two years later, I still have many of the same hopes, and have a couple to add to each list. I have high hopes for 2008.

In 2008, I hope to have in my life more:

1. Family: Playtime with Paul, visits with our extended family, and fostering/adopting a child.
2. Community: Reconnecting with old friends, building new friendships, finding a spiritual community.
3. Music: Playing my violin, singing, attending concerts.
4. Movement: Dancing, walking, perhaps getting back to a gym.
5. Writing: Not only blogging, but getting back to work on the book I began in my writing class three years ago.
6. Flexibility: Physical, mental and emotional; the yoga class that I’m starting next week is the first step.
7. Gardening: Growing some of our food… and not having the messiest yard on the block.
8. Contentment: Will this follow from acting on these two lists?

In 2008, I hope to have in my life less:

1. Stress: Much of my stress last year was work-related. I’m hoping for less stress at the new job I start next month.
2. Weight: The issue of fitness aside, I weigh more than is healthy.
3. Inaction/hesitation: I’m not getting any younger; it’s time to go after the things that I want in my life.
4. Stuff: If I don’t need it or use it, why have it? Freecycle is my friend…
5. Television: I’ve often used TV to numb out. I’d like to stop doing that.
6. Driving: Selling my car, and taking the bus or walking, will be better both for me and for the planet.
7. Sadness: I may not be able to control events that sadden me, but I can hope for fewer of them, can’t I?
8. Fear: That’s what therapy’s for…

May all your hopes for 2008 be realized.

We’re home after an evening of firelight and fireworks, beach and bubbly, sparklers and soup. In a few minutes, I will kiss my husband as the year turns. In the meantime, this little cat is demanding — loudly! — that I pay attention to her… and so I shall.

Happy New Year!

January

After an uncharacteristically snowy early January, the Olympic Sculpture Park opens on a clear weekend. We join twenty-five thousand Seattleites gazing at Calder’s Eagle against a true blue dream of sky.

February

As my first tulips of the year open and lean toward the light, I stop to photograph their maturing beauty.

March

In our house, the only east-facing window upstairs is in the bathroom. While I hate getting up in the dark at this time of year, I certainly do see some lovely sunrises while I’m getting ready for work.

April

Grow where you are planted.

Could a photo say this any more clearly? And perhaps also: Life’s better when you have someone with whom to share it.

May

We spend a weekend in Providence for my 25th college reunion at Brown. I love the many Romanesque Revival buildings on campus; this one has the school’s crest and motto, In deo speramus (In God we hope), carved on its facade. Do you see it there, behind the lacy, spring green branch?

June

Soup’s on at our place — specifically, three pea soup, with split peas, English peas and sugar snap peas. Did I buy the pea-pod print tea towel just for this photo? Would I do such a thing?

(Truth: I bought the tea towels in May, because I thought they’d look good in our kitchen. Let’s call it serendipity.)

July

After months of planning and work, the Queen Anne Farmers’ Market is open. The neighborhood loves the market. The farmers are happy. Life is berry, berry good.

August

Pike Place Public Market, the mother of Seattle’s farmers’ markets, was 100 years old in August. With its salmon-tossing fishmongers, aisles of colorful produce and flowers, and myriad options for a tasty bite to eat, Pike Place is a favorite tourist destination. Locals love the market, too… in winter.

September

We’re off to California for another college reunion, this time for the 30th anniversary of Paul’s first year at Deep Springs College. Besides being an academically challenging school, Deep Springs is also a working ranch. Paul and his friends remember this rake from when they were students.

October

That’s my favorite guy, along with his favorite cat. Look at the squeeze Sergei’s putting on Paul’s arm! Paul is Sergei’s favorite person, too.

November

Our friend Phil comes to stay for Thanksgiving weekend; Janeen joins us Saturday night. On Sunday morning, we have dutch baby pancakes. Love to eat them babies, babies what I loves to eat. Bite they little heads off… And I love our new kitchen, which is now a year old.

December

Another Christmas in Texas. It’s all about the boys. They adore their uncle Paul, who knows much more about being a little boy than does their aunt Kimberly.

When traveling, some people visit museums and restaurants; I seek out farmers’ markets. Seattle’s markets are part of my daily life, and I’ve been involved in starting one in our neighborhood. When I travel, I want to see not only what local foods are available to people in the areas we’re visiting, but how well the local farmers’ markets seem to be doing.

When I left Houston 12 years ago, there was no farmers’ market in the city. Now there are several, but I’d never been to one. This morning, before Paul and I caught our flight back to Seattle, we went with my mother to the Bayou City Farmers’ Market. I’d been warned that Houston’s markets are small compared to Seattle’s, so I didn’t know quite what to expect. (After all, our year-round markets shrink considerably in size and variety during the winter months.) I was pleasantly surprised today to see a well-attended market with a nice selection of products: Greens, root vegetables, cauliflower and cabbage. Tomatoes! Eggs, cheese, beef and shrimp. Oranges, satsumas, Meyer lemons, kumquats, ujikitsus, grapefruit. Bread and pastries. Prepared Indian food and sushi. Orchids and citrus trees.

One of the questions I ask myself when wandering through a farmers’ market for the first time is: Could I do most of my grocery shopping here? At the Bayou City market today, my answer to that question was a definite yes.

Do you have a farmers’ market in your city/town/neighborhood? If so, do you shop there?

In Houston, we are rarely in the company of cats, as several of my relatives are allergic. When here, Paul and I are always happy to visit the home of our friends JD and Annie, not only because we love them, but because they have two beautiful, if shy, Scottish Fold cats. Sadly, I forgot to take my camera when we went for our bit of feline fur therapy last night.

My sister and her husband have always had dogs. Harley, an English setter, has been a part of their family since before the boys were born. A hunting dog who was not trained to hunt, Harley nevertheless displays the attributes for which she was bred. This afternoon, as we played soccer with the boys in their back yard, Harley spotted a squirrel in a neighbor’s tree. She froze, nose quivering, and didn’t move even as I walked around her, camera clicking.

Good dog, Harley. Good girl.

If you’re looking for photos of the McKittens, I’m sorry to disappoint. Can I point you instead to the Friday Ark, where lots of cats come aboard each week? We’ll be home tomorrow, and then there will be cats.