Reading and Riding (the Bus)

Until the last month or so, bus transportation was not a regular part of my life.

When I was in seventh grade, I was deemed old enough to start riding the bus by myself. As I recall, my mother gave me bus fare to get me the mile or so to our church in Berkeley, where I was enrolled in confirmation class. But then, we moved to Houston, to a suburb not well served by buses, and then to Ashland, Oregon, a small town where my transportation needs were largely met by walking or biking.

So I never really got in the habit of considering buses as a means of local transportation.

When I came to Seattle in 1988, I worked part-time over the summer at the Puget Sound Business Journal. For that, I did take a commuter bus from Lynnwood down to Pioneer Square. Since then, if I had occasion to go to downtown Seattle, I would often choose to take a bus, usually from the transit center near Northgate Mall.

From our house here in north Seattle, there are a couple of buses with stops within easy walking distance which run to downtown. One of these, the 5, changes to the 21 and continues south, dropping me off about a block from my office.

At about one hour, it maybe isn't the fastest way to get to work. If I drove to Northgate, took the 41, and then transferred to one of 3 or 4 buses heading south, it might shave off 10 or 15 minutes from the time I leave the house to the time I walk into the office.

But I have discovered that taking just one bus all the way gives me something I haven't had in a really long time: uninterrupted reading time where there is no other claim on my time — no chores that need doing, no other activities to attract my attention.

Last Monday, I decided I would try taking the 5 and see how I liked it. I was about halfway, maybe two-thirds, through a book called Dreaming in French. It had taken me 2 or 3 weeks to get that far, often reading just a few pages while eating breakfast or lunch.

I finished it while coming home Wednesday.

It was interesting to learn how a year studying abroad in Paris influenced the lives of the three women profiled — Jacqueline Bouvier, Susan Sontag and Angela Davis — three women who are about as different as possible. I especially liked the chapters about Bouvier and Davis. Reading about  Jacqueline Bouvier, before and after she was a Kennedy, gave me a better sense of her as a complete person, not just the president's wife in a pink suit and a pillbox hat.

And Davis. I knew the name, and was vaguely aware that she had been in the news in the late ’60s. But I came away with new knowledge about the source of her activism and the details of her trial.

Also interesting about the book as a whole was how these three women were connected, through the threads of other people's lives who might encounter one or another of the three years apart.

First Sweater (Size Very Small)

Yay me! I finished something today!

I started it last September, and finished knitting the pieces — oh, a month or two ago. I blocked the pieces in preparation for seaming them together, but then they sat for awhile.

In the meantime, I knit Dave's socks, a larger version of the same baby sweater,

one and one-quarter socks,

finished the front of one hand pillow, started the next,

bought the yarn for a full-size sweater,

and purchased fabric and notions to make a shirt for Tim.

What can I say— I get bored easily!

An Accidental Discovery

Yesterday, I accidentally learned about a feature of my point-and-shoot digital camera.

It happened while Tim and I were taking a Stairway Walk through the Maple Leaf/Thornton Creek area of north Seattle. A signature feature of the walk is Thornton Creek itself, which has undergone daylighting over the last 15 years or so.

Much of the walk meandered through residential neighborhoods (not very interesting), but the walk led us by a pond with a beaver dam and through a small wetland oasis.

Beaver dam

Pond next to beaver dam. You can see steam rising from the water.

Wetland

Buds

Mossy log

Our route, following the guidebook, also took us through the area by the Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel. While I considered it pleasant to walk through, it is not without its critics.

Thornton Creek Water Quality Channel

In addition to the environmental aspect, there was some fun public art to look at.

Spires

Glass mosaic circles in the pavement

Floaty things

Globes

Anyway, back to my accidental discovery. At some point, in taking a picture, I hit a button on my camera which caused a display called "Exposure compensation" to pop up on my screen. It took me only a minute or two to figure out that it was controlled by pressing on the wheel control on the back of my camera next to this symbol.

Intrigued, I took a series of test photos this morning of this is the pile o’ yarn.

Its the intended destiny is to become this sweater, called “Better Than the Real Deal” from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for All Seasons.

Here are the test photos. The only difference is in the shutter speed. I can see where this feature might be handy when taking a picture where the subject is against a window and the light outside is too bright.

The yarn is not as pink as it appears here. It's actually more of a brick-y red.

“Coffee” Shirt for Tim

My husband really likes his coffee.

One of his favorite beverages is a double shot of espresso — no milk or sugar, thank you.

Any coffee-related gift is a sure bet. One of the earliest presents I gave to him was an oven mitt made with a coffee-themed fabric. For his birthday a couple months ago, I gave him this.

Over the holidays, I hit on the idea that he needs a coffee-themed shirt. He has a few casual, sort of Hawaiian-style shirts that he likes, and he has a silkscreened T-shirt featuring a coffee design that I gave him a few years ago. A coupon for fabric was burning a hole in my pocket and had to be redeemed by December 31, so we made a trip to Pacific Fabrics.

First we looked at the coffee-print fabrics in the quilting cottons, but they were all a little too "cute-sy" for a guy. Then we perused the batiks. I had pulled out a couple of bolts, when I spotted a batik with coffee cup motifs. Well, that was the obvious choice.

Tim went on his way, and I picked out a pattern, some buttons and thread.

The selection of patterns for men's shirts was pretty limited. Among three catalogs (McCall's, Simplicity, and Kwik Sew) there were just 6 that I considered, out of maybe 10 or 12 different patterns (if that many). I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but it was a big change from the time I made a couple of men's shirts some 20 or so years ago.

Curried Shrimp Chowder

Yesterday, my husband and I sat down to do some meal planning for the coming week and round out our grocery shopping list.

Every so often, Tim likes to make clam chowder. He has not made it in awhile, and floated the idea. I like his clam chowder very well. Usually, we buy a couple of cans of clams, which is fine. But this week it morphed into something else.

It started when I suggested that we use some sort of firm white fish instead of clams. But when we got to the market, their white fish didn't look all that great. But they had shrimp! But I had to promise to peel them.

Today, while we were out and about, I asked Tim, could we add curry powder? Tim responded, I don't think it would work with the milk, but maybe coconut milk? I said, that sound great!

A plan began to develop in Tim's mind.

He sautéed onions and garlic in one pot, and cooked about 2-1/2 pounds of small red potatoes (cubed) (unpeeled) in a separate pot, so he could drain off the starchy water. When the potatoes were fork tender, he added two cans of coconut milk to the onions and added the potatoes as well as some cardamom, turmeric, cumin, salt, and black pepper. When that was heated through, he added the shrimp and simmered just until the shrimp were pink.

It was very tasty, but I'm not sure it conforms to the strict definition of chowder.

Christmas Ornaments

Between one thing and another, we didn't get our tree up and decorated until a couple nights ago. But now it is all lit and decorated and festive.

Over the years, I have acquired quite the assortment of ornaments. When my sisters and I were kids, we would receive typically one new ornament each Christmas, such as these three. The first two I kind of remembering getting while I was in grade school. The third one, the elf, I've had for so long I don't remember how old I was when I got it.

Some of my oldest ornaments I must have made, possible at Sunday school. Styrofoam seems to be a popular craft item.

In the above picture is also one of my oldest ornaments, the little red horse. Here is a better angle.

It used to have a curved, gold-colored horn on its head. That fell off quite some time ago. I'm not sure why I never tried to fix it, and now I'm not sure if I even still have it. I may have to look carefully in the bottom of the box where I store my ornaments to see if it is there.

Several ornaments are made of straw, and I believe come from the Scandinavian tradition.

 

One of my favorite ornaments is this sled that my dad made out of popsicle sticks and painted silver. 

This year, for the first time, I put up some ornaments that came from my mom. I remember a few of them from when I was young. As I recall, I wasn't allowed to touch them because they were so fragile, such as this glass horn.

Quite a few ornaments were gifts from various people over the years. This bird is the first ornament I can remember being given by someone who was not a member of my family.

Her name was Tina Caloroso. She was in my Camp Fire Girl troop when I was in fifth or sixth grade. She was a student at my school, but she was in the class for hard-of-hearing kids. Whenever I hang that ornament, I wonder about her — where she is, what she's doing.

Exotic Birds

Yesterday, a customer came into the store with her macaw, named Maia.

It was the second time she had come in, since I began working there last August, but I gather she is a semi-regular customer who comes in from time to time.

The first time, after she left, I thought, "I should have taken a picture with my iTouch!"

The second time, I didn't miss my chance.

Maia is a very accommodating bird.

She showed her "eagle wings."

More than once.

She is friendly. She willingly used my arm as her perch. Her grip is not uncomfortable at all. Her claws look sharp, but her grip is relaxed and does not pinch.

And showed her eagle wings again.

Pretty bird.

Later in the day, another customer came in with her little parakeet. It was chirping loudly and insistently, apparently because it was hungry. I was able to snap just a couple of pictures before she had to leave.