We had more of the Buchanan gang together in June on Obstruction Island than we have had in many a year. A late birthday celebration.
I can’t believe I haven’t entered any events this year. It always seems something else took precedence over talking about us. But it was a good year. In particular,I want to take a moment to express my gratitude for the joy in continue to have in working with my classes. The interesting and delightful people who wish to learn how to become better painters gives me such pleasure. It is a thrill to watch and listen (lead and suggest) as they discover new or dormant resources within themselves. I may gain more than they. And I thank them. How can I ever stop when it is such fun?
At two in the morning on August 14 my husband, Jeffrey, had a stroke. A combination of pre-planning and luck had him with paramedics and EMTs on Orcas, clot-buster administered within the critical first 45 minutes. He was airlifted by helicopter and admitted to Swedish Hospital less than three hours after he woke me.
“A mixed bag but definitely on the upswing” would be my summary for 2013 at the Unterschuetz-Buchanan island perch.
Right after I wrote the sentence above, the phone rang. The call was from a friend who has been on tenderhooks for the last six months waiting for a liver transplant for her brother. On Dec 13th. the transplant took place and my friend’s brother is doing well. She is with him, helping him through his recovery.
Like this happy event for my dear friend, I hope that whatever your concerns at this year’s end, that you find 2014 answers them in the best possible way.
I don’t like to complain of our weather because generally the Puget Sound’s weather is so much milder than other parts of the country — summer and winter. The 3rd week in January, however, was a different challenge for each of us living in the Sound. Some received 10 inches of snow; many had ice storms, snow and power outages. Transportation snarled. For me on my little 200 acre island, it was a challenge because a) I couldn’t stay home the weekend of 21-22, and b) Jeffrey was in the Caribbean.
The new shop 11/20/11 — goal to complete the roof before his next sailing adventure 12/8
December 18, almost two years ago, I started this blog t
o tell you of our terrible fire. Jeffrey’s beloved shop burned taking all of his tools, records and dreams with it. After finishing up other building obligations, he started to work on the new shop this spring (summer) when the rains finally stopped and he was able to get the site preparation done.
Here he is attaching some of the first beams to the pier pads in July.
UPDATE (December 3): The roof is on and the shop is ready to stand by until Jeffrey returns from his trip. (That update will be posted next).
Summer
If I could bottle the soft fragrance of the lilies,
If I could bottle the light setting fire to that maroon one and its pink neighbor,
Spinning the tall ivory blossoms into angels wings;
If I could bottle the same light as it blinds on the water,
Tips the tops of the firs with gold,
Runs a long finger down the trunks and dances across the green moss floor;
Along with the light, if I could bottle the merry chatter of nuthatches,
goldfinches, crossbills
and add to them the soft warm wind, ………
Jackie Bates doesn’t have to tie up. She had the best way to travel the winter there were no docks. Note the missing float on the Obsruction Pass dock.
Each winter seems to have a personality. The winter of 2006-07 was dominated by tempests both with people and the weather. It started early. In a storm the first week of November, the float of the county dock at Obstruction pass was torn off…
the 92 New Year’s Eve snow, from Obstruction looking toward Orcas
With New Year’s Eve around the corner, we are reminded of our first New Year’s Eve on the Island and our kind of normal.…
I had no idea, when I decided to go to Mother’s Mattress Factory one night early in 1981, that I would be meeting my date for our first New Year’s Eve on Orcas. I thought I was going to Mother’s to hear my friend Annie sing with the Fabulous Mudtones and – newly separated from the good doctor – prove to myself that I could.