Dark days, darker nights. You can’t escape this in Seattle, and the next 10 days aren’t looking any better rain-wise.

Since I’ve been thinking about the impact of turning back the clock last weekend, I wanted to respond to a “writer’s block” prompt I found on Hillary’s blog:

As the Northern hemisphere spins toward the shortest day of the year, it’s getting dark earlier and earlier. What comforts do you fall back on when the days are short and the nights are long?

For me, it’s warm drinks, especially coffee, chai, green tea, red tea, cocoa, and cider. I love cooking from fall’s bounty, too. I just made a spinach, fontina, pear, and chicken sausage pizza with some herb dough that fed my winter cravings. I love sweet potatoes and butternut squash, oatmeal, a hearty chili or stew, and anything with pumpkin or cranberries. I much prefer a blood-red pomegranate or a Honeycrisp apple to Halloween treats or stocking stuffers. The natural sweetness and beautiful colors of the foods of fall are what appeal to me most.

I love reading when the days get darker, as well. Since September, I have read quite a few books, and I’m working on two right now. On Halloween, I bought the complete works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but I’m not there yet. I enjoy reading in bed right before I fall asleep nestled in the comforter’s folds. There’s something about a good story to keep me going through the long, dark winter.

I also like light and fire this time of the year. Right now, I’m typing this accompanied by a candle on the table. Other times, I might turn on our gas fireplace while Justin and I (and Virgil, if we’re lucky) snuggle on the couch and watch a movie. Perhaps we’ll string up our twinkle lights before having people over for board games and snacks–anything to drench our home with the warmth of light.

Lastly, I like to take advantage of any clear, crisp days we have that might feature the SUN! Now, for Seattle, the next 10 days feature a rather high chance of rain. However, on a clear morning, if I can look out my classroom and see Mount Rainier shining in the distance, surrounded by fog at its feet, I know it will be a good day, albeit only 8 hours of sunlight. I love clear, crisp days, though I’m more likely to find them in Idaho at my in-law’s or in Arkansas with my family. I look forward to being there in a little more than a month :), because if there are more remedies to short days, they are travel, friends, family, and holidays.

This weekend (and most of this month) has been rainy, but we managed to have a good bit of fun anyway. Justin and I went out for Thai food, went to a photography show in a coffee shop, went for a walk around Ballard, got some tea, and caught a movie on Thursday night. Saturday, after a big breakfast, we went to see Twelfe Night (the first folio spelling) at Seattle Rep and then got ready to have another couple over for bread, homemade potato soup, salad, and homemade plum-peach cobbler. We had fun just talking with our company for about four hours–something we rarely get to do. Today after church we drove up to Capitol Hill and went to the bike store so Justin’s tires could work again, and then we went for a walk in Volunteer Park in the rain. I could have walked for longer, but we were expecting a Craigslister to drop by. Knowing that I had grading to do, I did what I always do in the face of grading–procrasti-baking. Now I am procrastiblogging, but earlier I made pumpkin muffins, which were quite tasty. This weekend I’ve also been knitting quite a bit on my niece’s baby kimono. Who knows when I will be finished with it. The process is quite fun.

This week is going to be extra-crazy, as I have school- or education-related events every night but Monday this week–including Saturday and Friday. While I’m not doing that, I’ll be reading The Great Divorce for the C.S. Lewis book group I’m in.

It looks like the owner of the MacBook Pro I happen to be typing on needs his computer back (*ahem* Justin) so this mini-blog will have to do.

This is because I can cook on a whim (biscuits and gravy at 9 p.m., anyone?), go to free museum nights without the guilt of not grading papers, sit outside in the SUN, read books for long stretches of time, nap at the drop of a hat, tend my verdant garden, and…did I mention the sun yet?

I am obviously enjoying my summer off. By off, I mean not full-time teaching. My part-time job still requires work, but it’s SO much fun to teach these students. I’m also finished by 11 each day, which means I take the bus home and can take my time if I want to. Or stop at the Bubble Tea place nearby. Or get my nails done at the South Seattle Community College training salon. Or….do anything I want :).

Upcoming Events: Film night Saturday, Camping for 2 nights with students of Upward Bound, travel to Arkansas for my cousin’s wedding, host book club, and more.

Recent Activities: Free night at Seattle Art Museum. More on this to come when I feel inspired. Walked to movie (Ratatouille) and dinner (Tutta Bella) with Justin in Columbia City for birthday (movie was a grand total of $7 for both of us!). Uneventful, yet productive, 4th of July. Recovered from food poisoning Monday. Watched Volver.

That is all. More summer deliciousness to come.

We just got back from our trip to Camano Island. What a relaxing weekend it was! I didn’t get much work done, so in many regards it was a retreat. I had a great time, but I left feeling guilty about what I didn’t do as far as paper grading. Aaron rented a beach house from a coworker, and Elaine, Jesse, Raleigh, Daniel, Aaron, Andrea, Asher, Justin, and I were there for the weekend. The “cottage” is 2 bedrooms/2 baths/2 stories and it’s right on the beach. We got there Friday night and mainly stayed inside for the whole weekend, as there is a lot of living space and the weather was unpredictable (mainly rainy and cool). That was fine, though, because we played ping-pong, watched Shallow Hal and Lemony Snicket, played Wii games, had a late-night poker game, talked, beach-combed, kayaked, ate A LOT, and just had a great time. I finished reading The Good Husband of Zebra Drive, which was one of my personal solitude treats. I ate some of Theo Chocolate’s Bread and Chocolate bars and drank my miracle red tea while finishing the book. This is one of my favorite things to do–drink hot beverages and eat chocolate while reading a book with a nice view nearby. Bonus points if it’s raining or if there are friends or family sitting quietly by, doing their own thing.

By the way, I call it miracle red tea because I kept whining about not having brought my own rooibos tea, and I asked Justin to find some while he went to the store Friday night, but since we were in a rather rural area, there was none. I whined some more the next day about my lack of red tea, and decided to make some of the Celestial Seasonings tea that a previous guest left behind. Upon opening the box, lo and behold, I found a solitary packet of red tea flavored with vanilla! I really appreciated the tea, savoring every sip.

Now I must work. Monday morning calls my name. I only have two more Mondays of teaching this year–and the last one doesn’t count since I’ll have a sub while I help with graduation rehearsal.

Ever wanted a cake that looked like your wedding certificate, lots of Pepsi cans, a Reebok shoe, or a suitcase?

Talk to the Russians. They have it down.

Jesse’s Birthday Party 029, uploaded by amybaeder.

I put some photos up on Flickr from Jesse’s birthday party. Dawn took most of them (thanks, Dawn!), including one awesome photo of Elaine’s piroshkies. Highlights of the evening: Lukas winning Settlers, Jesse’s awesome borscht, my new set of old-skool primers from Daniel, Jesse’s Walden-photo book from Justin (as in Thoreau’s Walden Pond), getting to see friends (of course), checking out a REALLY old Seventeen magazine of Elaine’s, and drinking Justin’s (now Jesse’s) Intelligentsia Black Cat coffee (french-pressed).

Although I am tired from our late-night Lowe’s trip, Safeway run, and video stop….
Even though I stayed up late to make a vanilla pudding-layered fruit salad and biscuits and gravy (not sure why I did)…..
Despite the fact that I ignored my bedtime to work on the Easter homily and got distracted by an online art encyclopedia for several hours….

this morning is a sunny, glorious Easter morning. The birds seem to be chirping the news that “Christ is Risen! Alleluia!”

Today we will celebrate at Daniel’s with feasting and rejoicing. I’m taking a ham, baked beans, and the fruit salad I made last night.

This afternoon I must:
–pack for tomorrow’s trip to Vancouver
–deposit checks in bank
–do laundry
–exercise
–finish knitting hat (almost done!)
–take shirt back to old navy
–work in garden
–clean out car (wash and vacuum)

There are some days that, with the sun shining on you in all of its warm, Spring-Break goodness and the Friday freedom settling in, make one dream. The possibilities seem endless. The future seems hopeful. I get restless. I reflect, dream, wish, think, and feel both optimistic and dissatisfied. These days make me wonder whether I am doing what I should be doing. They make me wonder why I watch so many movies and grade so many papers. They make me think about health, spirituality, literacy, creativity, beauty, truth, and justice. They make me want to DO SOMETHING. They make me think that anything is possible. This is one of those days….which leads me to my next point….

Tonight Justin and I saw “My Name is Rachel Corrie,” a play written about the young American woman who lived in Palestine for a few months to help stop the violence there. Although there is much more to this story than the play had time (and intentions) to get to, I was moved by this young lady’s intelligence, joie de vivre, passion, and conviction as portrayed by this play. The play was based off of her letters, e-mails, and journals, so it truly captured her voice, which moved me to want to act.

How does one take action in such a messed-up world? What passion can I pursue? What can I devote my life to that will truly make a difference in the lives of others? I feel like there is a secret menu somewhere with a list of world issues that well-off Americans can peruse, select the issue-of-the day, and comfortably try to make a change with the change left over from their cupholders. What can I really do? I feel like we take the easy way out when we say, “Oh, you ARE making a difference. Think about how many lives you impact each day…yadda yadda yadda.” I don’t feel like we can afford to do that. I want to concentrate my efforts–make them potent, passionate, and intense. I want to see the effects of my actions. Perhaps it is water that is provided for a village. Perhaps the malnourished bodies of infants become plump and healthy again. Perhaps I save a species, eradicate an illness in a village, rebuild a demolished city, help fight global warming, stop child soldier recruitment, or preserve a section of the rainforest. Am I naive to think I could make this much of a difference? What kind of a world would we live in if each one of us had a “pet” issue that we fought for throughout our lives? Most Americans can afford to do this, both time-wise and wealth-wise, but we don’t, and why not? Are we too afraid of what will happen if other countries don’t need aid anymore? Will helping other people threaten our superpower status? Do we just forget what our neighbors in other countries are going through? Do we find it too troubling to think about?

I am feeling incredibly un-incredible right now because I am thinking about how different–how much more passionate and creative–I could be. I am both energized and disheartened by this thought.

Today I had a long prep period and a long talk with a student who has run away from home.
Today we finished reading Othello in class, and the students acted out the last scene.
Today the sun came out for a while.

I presented “Multicultural Science Teaching Strategies” to science teachers around the district….and got paid for it!
I had a double Americano from Uptown Espresso.
I got my order of new products from Mary Kay, as well as my online order from Old Navy.

We walked in the rain to a nearby Pho noodle restaurant and shared tea and lemon wafer crackers while we waited for our food.
We ate take-out in front of the fireplace while watching the rest of Syriana.
We sloppily slurping our soup with noodles, beef brisket, lime, Thai basil, sprouts, jalapeno, and cilantro.

Lesley and I fawned over cute overload, looked at her jewelry creations, and inspected my new MK products–thoroughly girly things to do, I know.

Today was a satisfying day, and even though my house is kind of a mess and all of my papers aren’t graded, I will rest tonight and be happy that I am able to do all of these wonderful, beautiful, simple things*.

*caution: weasel words present!

I like fiddle music, as well as banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, and other bluegrass-folk style music. Last night, Justin and I went to “Fire on the Mountain,” a play/musical story about coal miners that was told through song, pictures, and dance. I was reminded how much I love fast fiddle music (a la Charlie Daniels, etc.), but it’s hard to get recommendations for the style that I like. Does anyone know where I could find some modern-style bluegrass music with great fiddling action?