DYING TO THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUMMER...

 

{Photo taken by the Wee-est Kestra,
Experience Music Project Museum
Recording Studio, April, 2013}


Hiya Everybody,
My name is Chana Meddin. I have been told I have a
"sick & twisted" sense of Humor! Seriously?

And I'm dying.
With my beloved cat, Chai.
He has a brain tumor.
We aren't sure yet what I am dying of,
unless it's my sick and twisted sense of humor!

SO! DISCLAIMER:
Those of you near and dear ones who are offended
that I am going to die with my sick & twisted humor
firmly intact, PLEASE LET THIS BE THE LAST
POST YOU READ: I LOVE YOU, DEATH ISN'T
EASY, AND I UNDERSTAND MANY PEOPLE
JUST DON'T LIKE IT. Hey, I don't!

But this is my blog and I'm not going down without
a fighting good laugh about it, so please do not
read me any more if you find it too painful.
I understand and love you and am grateful
you are my friend. It's O.K.
Honest!

That said, it's my death and I'll do what I want to!

Which is to have the best party possible, the most
fun, as many laughs as we can squeeze out of my
crazy life, and I'll cue you when you may need
a hanky. (I use a roll of Bounty super-absorbent
paper towels myself, but this is not and endorsement.)

I am a drummer and when Kestra and the Wee Kestras visited
me this year for my birthday, we rocked & rolled at what was
formerly known as "The Jimi Hendrix Museum," now known
as "The Experience Music Project" Or, for us locals: "EMP."
Days later, we all took a ferry to Bainbridge Island and enjoyed a birthday afternoon I will never forget. Throughout the day,
Wee-est Kestra announced: "I smell horses." Cracked us UP!
So, Kestra and you two (not quite so) Wee Kestras:
THANK YOU! I HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE!

So, here's the deal. Lots of crazy shit is going down.
It's surreal, but some of it is so absolutely ridiculous
(and tragic, yes, but ridiculous) that it's just funny!

This won't be no morbid party, y'all!

My dear friend and Tai Chi teacher, R. is my
"official Death Doula."
A doula is a nonmedical person who assists a woman
before, during, and after childbirth. I have hired him,
without pay, to assist me before and during dying
because he makes me laugh and laughter is the
best medicine. The guinea pigs help, too!

Just so's ya know, I have finally been guided via a sloth
bear (remind me to tell you that story, too, I just have
limited energy so blogs may be shorter) to a pre-Hospice
"Transitions" program and the women in it are
kicking some medical ass to get me treated humanely!
Love kicking medical ass. They'll also be providing the
support that my Person-of-Interest (NO PICURES,
NO NAME: "I don't want to leave a cyber-footprint!!!)
of 22 + years require for me to die "at home" -
(the place I live in Seattle now, for which the word "home"
is a bit of a stretch, but it is what it is)...I will stay here with
the piggies, dying Chai the Brave Bengal Cat, and our other
cat. We lived in Bellingham and HAD THE TIMES OF
OUR LIVES, CHAI AND I DID! WITH THE PIGGIES.
After my traumatic brain injury a few years ago Chai had
to come back to live with my POI (person of interest) so
now we are all re-united together, all of us:
And it is GOOD.

The possibility always exists that I could get well.

Right now, many loved ones are keeping HOPE alive
and well in their hearts for us. I don't have a helluva
lot of it, but am happy for those who do.

Anyway, the whole journey is new, surreal, tragic, funny,
uncomfortable, and feels like a dream. When I wake up
in the morning only to realize that I am in Seattle, I usually
try to wait until after I've had a little instant, watered-down,
filthy disgusting Starbucks Via instant coffee before I cry.
My stomach hurts too much to drink lattes anymore.

I'm not sure whether I'm crying because I can't drink lattes
or because...oh bloody HORK: INSTANT COFFEE IN SEATTLE?! WHAT AN INSULT!

Anyway, remember that Fleetwood Mac song from their
hit album "Rumors" (I think?)
"You Make Loving Fun"?

Well, my Death Doula makes dying fun, he really cracks me up.

SO! If you think death isn't a laughing matter,
READ NO MORE, PLEASE!!!

Because I deserve to laugh. And this is my blog and I'll laugh if I want to. And I want to.
You are invited to step off the train at this station
with hugs, kisses, and gratitude for having
been part of this Wonderful Life.

Or...you can read the posts that I hope to have the strength to write, because funny things do
happen. And these are what I choose to share
and these are how I lived such a wonderful
life and humor is how I choose a wonderful...
ya know! Like I said, there's always room
for a Miracle! Hope remains!

Meanwhile, me and my cat, we be dying.
All together, with the ones I love and who love us.
With the EXTRAORDINARY support of the
"Transitions" team. It's gonna be a jolly good
show because it's been a JOLLY GREAT LIFE!

And I got to record a DVD with the Wee Kestras
back in April! Thank you, Kestra! Thank you,
Wee Kestras!

Thank you all! I love you. You make living wonderful. And, in my heart, you are helping
me through this transition with love, gratitude, peace, and my sick & twisted sense of humor.

Remember "Winnie the Pooh" and that famous
sign Christopher Robin used to put up when he
left home to go Wandering through
The Hundred Acre Wood:

"Gon out.
Backson.
Bisy. Backson."
C.R.

...going out. See ya soon!
love,
chana

PETER-PEANUT

 

 

It's Peter-Peanut doin' what Peter-Peanut does best!
(Can you figure out what it is? We haven't...
We just loves it.)


 

 

LITTLE BEAUTIFULS...

"But ask the animals and they will teach you..."
Job 12:7

 

Squirrel...the newest "Little Buddha"
on finding Joy ineffable in the
simplest gestures of kindness...



 

Squirrel knows things aren't going well...
all the Little Buddhas do. They want
to cheer me up, so we have
"cuddle time" together on my bed.


 

After a particularly difficult day,
Squirrel did one thing, one thing
that might seem tiny to many,
yet was monumental to me...He
came to my open palm at one
point and placed his paw right
into the middle of it, as if
holding my hand to say,
"Everything is going to be
all right, mom. We love you."
He placed his tiny paw on mine...


 

And, in that moment,
everything was better
than O.K. it was
Beautiful!




 

Then he stretched himself out on my
pillow atop one of the many fleece pads
which you (know who you are) Gifted the
Guinea Pig Sanctuary, and he stayed
with me, soothing and comforting me.



 

Because these are not hiking boots,
snowshoes, cross-country skis,
speedskates; they are my Nordic
hiking Poles, they are not any of
the things I am accustomed to...
two days ago a wheelchair came
and not to rent, but to remain.
And they know I am...not quite
O.K. with it. So they comfort me
in tiny ways which, my friends,
are not tiny at all.

Here in our home, the meek have
inherited my life, given it meaning,
and bring me joy...they are too
precious to remain sad around,
too funny for me to become morbid
around:
they do not allow thoughts of
anything but Wonder: that such
tiny creatures know so much,
feel the pain I feel, never complain,
ask for so little, yet always give their all!

~*~

So many of you have supported the
Guinea Pig Sanctuary throughout the years
and you have also sent me many gifts...
these humble acts may seem small to
you but please know that they are not
now, nor shall they ever be small to me!

I look around from bed and all I see are
Gifts. And all I feel is Loved.

How can that ever be a small thing?

Thank you, my dear friends...

love,
chana

(P.S. At long last we finally have a medical team
doing their very best to diagnose then, hopefully,
treat whatever is causing my body to shut down.
We have struggled 10 months for this, so have
hope. At least we have their reassurance they
will leave no stone unturned. That is all we
have asked for. And We have Hope.)

WHADDA-WHADDA-WHADDA HAPPENED?!

 

Hi Everybody! It's me,
Squirrel. Did you see me in
this month's Guinea Pig
Magazine? If not, you should!
You should see me in EVERY
issue, actually. I'm
too modest to say more...



 

Just too adorable.

But, life in Seattle
is very different from anything
we could have possibly imagined.



 

We live in Chinatown, actually
now called "The I.D." or
International District. Mom
spent lots of time here before
moving to Bellingham, taking
photographs for various small 
newspapers which later got published
 in a book called "Pacific Voices,"
published through
U of Washington's Burke Museum.
(Shameless plug, we bad!)
Studying martial arts
with Bruce Lee's first-ever student,
Jesse Glover, and playing in a
Japanese Taiko performance group,
Chinatown once felt like a second home.

But, see, that was before Bellingham...
Way before.



 

We tried to make the best of it,
truly we have! Exotic food shopping,
just a walker (and STEEP HILL)
away, lots of yummy treats-for-all!


 

Eaten in bed...see, that is just
one part of the Big...
Homesickness.



 

Tried drawing. At least you don't
have to move around much to do that!
 

But here, things went from living
color in our Wilderness Town to
Black & White...no one has
adjusted. Mom got sicker.
And skinnier and skinnier.
When our friend said, like from
the "personal columns"
"Well, you're HWP =
Height-Weight-Proportional"
and mom asked,
"Soooo...if I hear this correctly,
I was a heifer before getting sick?"
Our friend is Asian. It wasn't his
fault that he didn't know what a
heifer was and said "Yeah!"
In his defense, he was just trying
to cheer her up. I shan't whisper
what happened next.
O.K. I will: He KNOWS WHAT
A HEIFER IS NOW!!!
(it wasn't pretty.)


 

Nothing beats radioactive
"Creamy Vanilla Smoothies!"
You couldn't do this in Bellingham
without getting an official note from
the hospital explaining the "radioactive
isotope part" because up there you
could be detected from all the Security
Thingies they got during the 2010
Winter Olympics in Vancouver...
And you'd glow green and they'd
wonder why...and so you needed
a letter because the first time they
detected radioactive isotopes, it was
this poor man driving and they all
pounced on him and couldn't
figure out where he was hiding
the "dangerous thing" and it
was really, really embarrassing...
NOT FOR THE MAN! But,
because his cat had just come
from chemotherapy at the vet
and really WAS RADIOCTIVE!
The "Security" faux pas made
national news...LOL!
They saw a "glowing green threat!"
It was a cat!



 

Practicing hand gestures from
the "Learn to Bollywood"
dance DVD, yeah, gonna
get this one DOWN, baby!
Get it DOWN!


 

But not dancing...
just being quiet.



 

Homesick.



 

Dreaming of being a "Whale
Rider" like in this drawing
from when we were still
living in Bellingham...
and felt "rooted" and life
was full of Wonder and
Mystery, inspired by such
a wild, wonderful landscape
of wilderness from Mt. Baker
to the San Juan Islands.
We just isn't "city people"
...or...
"City Pigs."


 

So it's my job to bring joy and
make a smile come out like
the sun. It's all our jobs, us piggies,
and we are doing our very best.

But we would be lying to say we
aren't all homesick.

(At least ain't got no heifers livin'
here no more: LOL!!!)
OH! WE DISCOVERED THAT
VINNY-GUINEA CAN CHIRP
LIKE A BIRD!
It's rare in guinea pigs, but Taj Mahal
used to do it when we watched
"Molly the Owl" over the Internet
all the time, the other night after we
got our habitats switched so's we could
all touch noses and nuzzle, mom woke
up and had to turn on the light since we
got no birds living in here and Vinny just
grinned! Life is still beautiful, and
full of wonder, surprises, with more to
come! We love you all.

OWL ANGELS OVER SEATTLE NIGHT SKY!!!

LAST NIGHT IT HAPPENED: I sit in my one stuffed, blue chair facing Pioneer Square and Elliot Bay, Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountains...the moon has not come up and darkness falls over a city lit up brightly...when it happens! Smith Tower, circa 1914, historic lovely skyscraper - the only one between my window and Elliot Bay - is standing guard over downtown when Mystery flutters from it, something BIG, something with broad wings; wings dark except for the Celestial Glow cast upon them from City Lights, they GLOW, THEY GLOW, the bird is soon joined by another then another!
WHAT?
WHAT?
WHAT?
Peregrine falcons have been known to nest in Smith Tower but falcons these are not! Broad, glistening wings stretch into the night sky, short stumpy full-bodies between them, they are OWLS! How can this be?
More emerge, until five or so soar acrobatically between the tower, above lower buildings, and I am stunned: how can so many owls just appear like this? How can they get along, they are so territorial? Why aren't they engaged in aerial combat? No, they are playing! OWLS ARE PLAYING IN FRONT OF MY WINDOW OVER SEATTLE LIGHTING UP THE DARKNESS LIKE ANGELS! They fly hither and thither together and apart until the first, largest one signals the rest to fly North and he takes off over Elliot Bay, alone. Alone. I watch him soar over the Bay, stunned. STUNNED.

I look up Audubon Owls Downtown Seattle on GOOGLE: nothing!

In darkness I sit, staring at the now-empty sky where only moments earlier Angel-Owls took flight, wings glowing celestial/angelic, reflecting city lights below before departing Deep into Night's Solstice Sky...they had to be a clutch, fledglings "getting their Wings" under the wise, watchful eye of Mom and Dad. I figure Dad went off to hunt across the water leaving mom with the youngsters to explore downtown's abundant vermin population for dinner a la carte. But, who knows?

What kind of owls? Where was their nest? Pioneer Square is home to many trees yet these Pilots of the Sky flew right out of Smith Tower! So many questions, none of them important. Tonight I hope to have my binoculars ready. Although a wintry lightning & thunderous storm is passing, will I be able to see them?

Who cares? Our lonely nights here now have Meaning! Beauty. Mystery: WONDER!

Are we adjusting? It is taking a long time.
Why are there no photos? My computer caught a virus and DommyDom's mom has been kind enough to loan me hers until I get another. And I don't know how to cut and paste or would show you Smith Tower...Castle Residence of "Owls Over Seattle."

Are we adjusting? After last night, yes. Yes, we are.

Sentinels of the Night Sky, we await you now, you have turned lonely, dark nights of Homesickness into glimmering, shining Angels of Hope. Wild Hope.

Thank you, Owls: I wear my "Molly" hat every day. Now I shall wear it at night in the stuffed chair before a window where Miracles Brighten what had been nights filled with Darkness, no longer Lonely are we.

We Are in Our New Home

 

Dear Friends, we moved. Yes, we did.
We would like to thank you for reading our blog
all these wonderful years.
Our computer is not working properly, so we
may not have the opportunity to share our lives
with you until it does. And until we adjust
to life in the Emerald City.
Everything has changed dramatically and
we know, ultimately, for the best.
We love our new place and we already
love the hospital down the hill!
We watch the ferries ply Puget Sound
and leave trails upon the water.
We watch - and hear! - the Medical Helicopter
buzz our roof as it prepares to
land at the hospital down the hill.
We hear cars, planes, trains, concerts
from Century Link Field where we will
also hear Seattle Seahawks games come
fall and winter. Paul McCartney will
be here soon at Safeco Field, within
walking distance...of a Beatle!!!

We watch Mt. Rainier turn pink in her
Alpenglow tunic while trying to remember
how it felt standing on Mt. Baker turning
pink with her...then we try not to remember.
We try to Be Here Now and appreciate
what is all around us.
We enjoy the exquisite diversity of Life in
the International District (formerly known
as Chinatown) where we are surrounded by
sumptuous food, sights, smells, art, music,
gardens, parks...we sit atop a steep hill,
perched quietly amidst the noisy hustle and
bustle of a major port city...we watch the
Costco cargo ship guided in by little tug-boats,
schooners sailing at dusk, and we hear
many sounds, nearly all man-made & Very Loud.

We observe sea, sky, islands, and mountains,
now from the heart of a big city, not the
Silence of the Wildlife Refuge where
PandaPig's Peace Sanctuary began...
We are still adjusting.
It will take time.
We were inspired to write originally
because living where we did in Bellingham
adjacent to Whatcom Falls Park, nestled
overlooking an Audubon Wildlife Refuge,
we were so effortlessly inspired:
communing with wildlife and nature in
a landscape everchanging throughout
turning seasons...we don't quite know
who we are here...without YumYum.
We are Four and Mom.
Life has changed irrevocably and
we may become quieter to compensate
due to so much unaccustomed noise surrounding us.
We may become Very Still.
We may "flow like water," as Bruce Lee
used to advise his students here, just
down the hill from us. We may run into his first
student, Jesse Glover, with whom mom
had the privilege to train in Bruce's Gung Fu
 many years ago back in Pioneer Square:
We miss birds.

We play together at night, let out of our cages
(yes, we have to live in cages here, large ones,
but we don't like it and are creating a LARGE
RUNABOUT SPACE through which to frolic all
at night while our cages are cleaned;
food and water replenished as we explore
our new digs, popcorn, chase one another,
get petted & loved...)
This, our Seattle Bedtime Ritual, Together.

We have moved.
Life is loud.
We may need to become Silent.
On the Inside.
We don't know yet.
Thank you for reading our blog.
We don't know yet whether or not
we will continue writing...we are struggling to
settle in, Life is not as simple as it was,
but It Is Good. We know it will become
better.
We will keep in touch!
We love you all, dear Readers, dear Friends:
We so love you each and every one!
Yours Truly Forever,
Bhindi,
Peter-Peanut,
Vinny-Guinea,
Squirrel,
& Mom ~

Everything's Gonna Be All Right: We Have Each Other and YOU!

*Goodbye YumYum,
We Love You.
Farewell, ye Guinea Pigs all
popcorning together on the 
Rainbow Bridge,
We Love You All,
Forever...

*Goodbye Bellingham:
We've had the time of our lives!

Speedskating

"Molly the Owl"

Snowshoeing Mt. Baker

PandaPig's Peace Sanctuary

Meditation

Mountain Biking

Wildlife Refuge Where
We First Lived for 10
Glorious Years!

ARTISANS Art Gallery

Great Friends,
Familiar Faces,
Fabulous Lattes,
Gorgeous Places...

We are so Thankful for the Years 
lived here as Bellinghamsters
that filled our lives with Excitement,
Adventure, Caffeine, Lots of Caffeine,
Adrenaline Rushes, Winter Olympics,
Island Exploration by Bike,
Ferry Rides,
Rock Climbing,
An Owl Named Molly,
MODS!

A gentle guinea pig we named Panda, who had
been dumped, filthy and knowing he was unwanted,
Who Inspired "PandaPig's Peace Sanctuary"
for unloved, neglected, sick, and dying
guinea pigs so that every pig we could rescue
would experience how it felt to be loved
deeply, madly, crazily adored - by a human
and a herd of other orphan piggies -
before dying. That is what PandaPig
Gifted us...what Grace for such a small
animal! Thank you, Bellingham. 
Thank you, PandaPig.

A Drum Circle!

"Speaking Tree" site at the Times of India 
newspaper...a place to write from the soul.

"Guinea Pig Magazine" where our piggies 
grace artful pages and even the cover of a magazine 
read throughout every corner of the world.
Thank you, Alison Byford!

The MOD Blog, MOST FUN OF ALL?!
 A place to write from the heart 
with humor and pathos;
Sharing the exploits of two clutches
of Very Special Barn Owls, meeting new
people from across the country now
Forever Friends (((MODS)))

yes, everywhere...Friends,
Love, & Laughter!

Farewell,
and thanks for the memories,
all of you who helped create them
We treasure every single one.
But we treasure you most
so we pack you with us,
and off to New Adventures
TOGETHER!

Cars, people sent tumbling into Skagit River as I-5 bridge collapses | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News

Cars, people sent tumbling into Skagit River as I-5 bridge collapses | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News: (Press Headlines to see story)

Dear Friends,

Last night instead of returning to Bellingham from Seattle I remained in Seattle for the night, ordinarily I would have returned at dusk to enjoy the peaceful, calm drive with stunning countryside, the North Cascade Mountains to the East, the San Juan Islands to the West, fields of tulips and daffodils abloom everywhere...and may have been on this bridge when it collapsed last night, it was the time I usually would have been driving over it...yet I was safe.

We are struggling in many ways at this time...and continue imagining YumYum popcorning in Heaven with all his friends...today Guinea Pig Magazine arrived with a funny photo of Squirrel in it and a copy of the New Year issue two years ago when our beloved Taj Mahal made cover pig! Yet died before the magazine arrived...the feature of this issue? "Coping With Loss: Grief and Bereavement Issues"...

The other piggies seem O.K. to a degree...but none are "quite right"...they all caught diarrhea from some organic wheatgrass that I think contained some mold, all but YumYum seemed to recover, but...I am not sure...guinea pigs can die of grief. The home we found...may have been a scam run by a group of unscrupulous thieves who greedily exploit seniors and disabled people...and as it turns out they had no intention of us ever moving in, only stealing more and more deposits they continued to demand...finally it became apparent we face the possibility of homelessness...I found a lawyer and warned them that I knew what they were doing and they would face serious consequences which they were not accustomed to because they rarely get people as young as me in their buildings since people my age I was told "don't like living with a bunch of old people." They exploit seniors who have no nearby families nor advocates to protect them, but I am not one of those. We have received overwhelming support both from the Seattle Housing Authority and Ironman Movers here in Bellingham...now the bridge is down and we have been given a nearly impossible deadline we have to arrive by and the movers are determined we will meet it and they will have to let us live there but they can still sabotage things...so we face potential homelessness...a neighbor with 4 precious girl pigs would foster the boys and I would live - ? Who knows? So, we pray, we cry, we mourn, we feel happy we are together, we rejoice we were not on the bridge and we are safe tonight and home together although I think they do not feel well and I am pouring my heart out here...because it has been tough and continues growing tougher and at the same time we receive Grace in the gift of a wonderful doctor I found in Seattle, in the love and care of our true friends, we have also lost some as I became sicker we lost friends who cannot handle what is happening to me and it hurts, it hurts deeply but we accept what we must and while packing I realize most of what is here was given us by friends, many of whom have drifted away intentionally so what to do with their gifts? I was told to remember the good times but the things they gave me only make me sad now because I realize that...they are no longer in our lives. It hurts. I don't blog like this but losing YumYum, the possibility of having to foster the boys who survive yet appear not to be thriving...and we still wonder, will we have a home waiting, and the bridge collapse making travel a nightmare of many hours, and stress while they are this delicate is extremely dangerous...I find myself staring at the possibility of losing all the guinea pigs either to grief/disease, stress of the move now that we have to travel hours to get to Seattle, if we do not get our apartment having them fostered with a kind neighbor who has four girls - or have I said that already - yes, back up plans for Homelessness have been made as we grieved YumYum's loss...and even if we do manage to strong-arm our way into the apartment we were promised how could it become the harmonious, happy place we envisioned and desire? We will have to learn to create that and we will! I still believe in the goodness of Humanity as we receive so much support in the midst of what feel like catastrophic challenges.

Will you please send us good vibes, prayers, whatever you do for loved ones facing loss, having faith and a sure inner knowing everything will turn out for the best, battling for a home, knowing we were saved by God from having plunged into the torrential, icy depths of the Skagit River, so we are being watched over and cared for, will you still be our friends while our lives fall completely apart? We know only Goodness awaits us. But, being human, I still feel frightened sometimes...
Thank you, I decided to be brutally honest in this post after not plunging to our deaths in the bridge collapse, we know we have Someone Watching Over Us, it's just hard sometimes, too, to be a human being with aspirations for deeper faith.
~ love,
All of Us
in Memory of YumYum



'via Blog this'

Godspeed, Little Fella, Thank You for Being in Our Lives...

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Ani Banani! You don't look a day over MAHVELOUS!

 

We could not have found an apartment and moved
without Ann! At the same time she herself is preparing to move, interviewing perspective realtors to "stage" her own home for sale, she set up a cozy bed for me and and the piggies made a
little "fort" around it, so that we had a place to stay in Seattle. She made us lattes for breakfast every morning and we watched re-runs of the first season of "Grey's Anatomy" to remind me if I don't like any of the hospitals in Seattle there's always 
"Seattle Grace Hospital" and Dr. McDreamy, who just bought Tully's Coffee Company in Seattle, so we are sure to spend lots of quality time together!
sigh...
But this is about ANN'S BIRTHDAY:
TODAY! So, Ani-Banani, this blog post
is for YOU! From Sir Dominic your Italian
Greyhound to Princess Camille sunning her precious old self to a grateful Bhindi-boy,
we are so fortunate to call you "friend" and
wish you all the best in your new home (only
blocks from her current home) and keep the
Latte steamer ready, cuz we be coming back
for Season 2 of Dr. McDreamy!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEAUTIFUL YOU!



 

 

 

 

 

And a new life begins for you, too, Ann!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOU :)
 

On The Threshold of A Whole New Life!

 

Psssssst! Bhindi, have you seen
how hard mom is at work packing
for our BIG MOVE?
like...NOT!



 

Not my fault the barista put
TWO SHOTS OF ESPRESSO
IN MY LATTE!


 

I walked to say "Good Bye" to
places I love, and ferries I will
never take to Alaska...which
actually one can ride all the way
out to the Aleutian Islands practically
To Siberia!
ALAS, not going that way...




 

Yes, packing is hard work. So,
after walking to say "Farewell, Ferry"
it was time for a good read at another
cafe...can never underestimate the
Healing Power of Lattes and Poetry
in the Pacific Northwest...nor the
poets one meets at such places.
It was Sunday.
I had been stuck in bed so long
it was WONDERFUL TO BE
OUT AND ABOUT...


 

Soon, we will live in the heart
of a Big City, in Seattle's famous
International District, where we
plan to run into Apolo Ohno
skating down the steep hill we
will live atop, with a View of 
The World!
And close enough to the stadiums
to hear the Seahawks games Live!
Go 12th man (fans who cheer so 
CRAZY-LOUD in a stadium built by 
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen with 
acoustics specifically designed to 
amplify US to prevent 
opposing teams from hearing their
quarterback, hee-hee) hence, 
our moniker as Seahawks "12th Man!"
We were even accused of artifically
PIPING IN CHEERING IT WAS SO
LOUD ONE YEAR SO MANY TEAMS
COMPLAINED, TO WHICH WE SAY:
"wah!"
And we were exonerated.
We really are that loud!
So, we can sit on the Terrace and just listen
to the Stadium Rock and hope that
9.0 earthquake predicted to take us off
the map never makes that stadium ROLL!



 

From the roof of our new digs we
can enjoy a latte and watch ferries
ply back and forth across Puget Sound,
maybe even get a glimpse of a wayward
pod of orcas known to occasionally
leave the San Juan Islands where we
live now to come south for reasons
only they know...We will watch 
stars at night and we will dream.


 

And just up the steepest hill in the
world on our block we will remember
our Tai Chi, of course we will,
and practice diligently aside the
sculpture gifted Seattle by our
sister city, Kobe, Japan. This park
switchbacks from our apartment
down into the International District
where a vegan Chinese restaurant 
will surely become a regular lunch spot!



 

Who cares, ma, we loves being
Bellinghamsters! And you'd better
start packing and stop dreaming.
Or keep dreaming and let's stay!



 

What? I'm a Guinea Pigster and 
always will be no matter where
we live? In that case...
HEY EVERYBODY, I just got
my nails trimmed, how awesome
is Squirrel NOW?!?

Yes, we are moving.
It is bittersweet, we love it here so.
My neighbors are enthusiastically pitching 
in to ensure I am actually packing instead of
1) reading every page of every newspaper
that was being used to wrap things
2) finding things in every piece of art
while packing and pulling out all my
art pens to redraw what I felt needed
improvement, which was nearly
everything...
3) staring into space, the Final Frontier
if someone didn't make me start actually
PACKING!
4) saying good-bye to so many...
We are packing, we hope it gets done in time,
the movers will come and whisk us away
to the heart of the Emerald City as a brand
new life Awaits us...
(and I can't breathe!) I can't breathe!
What panic attack? I can't breathe!
Big City, us?
I can't breathe!
Piggies, calm yo'mama!
Piggies...
ACK! WHAT HAVE WE DONE?

(P.S. if i already posted a blog just like this one
blame it on my brain which still insists I stare
blankly into space and repeat things I have
already said and done...sigh.)
Thank you.