Friday, July 31, 2009

Scatter Sunshine


I've been thinking about this for a long time and am now hoping that putting it publicly into writing will bring it to the forefront of my mind. Maybe I'll actually DO it then.
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There are so many small nice things I want to say to people. Some of these people I know. Some, I don't. I want to get a set of small cards (larger than business cards but smaller than notecards) printed up to jot on and leave for these people. I don't want to monogram them, but some sort of personal trademark might be nice.
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Then, I could do things like leave notes on people's desks, cars, doors and seats. I could tell them things like, "Your new haircut looks great!", "I always notice your beautiful flowers on my neighborhood walks." and "Your lesson really got me thinking. Thanks for your preparation!".

Thursday, July 30, 2009

When do You Give Up on Utopia?


Most days, lately, I feel trapped between my optimistic childlike self and my slightly more realistic adult self. In thinking about making a move to WA in 2010, I'm left, again, with the realization that I will never have everything all in one geographic location.
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My Utopia would be a place where my family, close friends, good employment, romantic potentials and breathtaking nature are all together. It would also have ample cultural resources in close proximity and a healthy dose of classic architecture and history. (In fact, if you want to get into the details, it would also have wide streets, park-like medians, sidewalks and bike paths abounding). That place will never exist, but I think I'm just beginning to come to terms with that.
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I know,... I know... you're wondering why this is a big deal to me. You've likely realized such things long ago. Don't get me wrong. I'm very blessed. And, no matter where I've been, I've had elements of my Utopia. A little piece of me has been holding on to the belief that at some point, though, all of those elements would come in line.
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I'm sure Facebook is to blame for some of these feelings, too. Reconnecting with old friends can be eye-opening. Two friends from high school have children of their own entering high school this year. Old roommates are on their third child. Taking a look at other lives makes me more aware that I've been living in some sort of parallel universe during the years we've been apart.
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As I type this, I'm watching a show on PBS about a modest income family who sails on their 25 boat all around the world with their two kids. Playing with puffins, touching an iceberg, watching the moon rise over the ocean and daydreaming while watching glowing phosphorescence under the water in the middle of the night.... kind of tempting. I loved a quote during it, "when we measure our lives by possessions, we miss who we truly are."
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What would be in your Utopia? Or, if you already live in your Utopia, what makes it so?
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Monday, July 27, 2009

What's Wrong w/ This Picture?


I stopped in quickly for a tire gauge. It was hard to capture this without making the cashier aware. (Richmond, Friday 7/24).

As a fun game - please leave your guess for such wackiness in the comment section. :-)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

P.S.

I know this background doesn't match my header at all, but I thought it was so cute that I had to put it up temporarily.

Cute Pictures

Again stalling putting actual thought and intellect into my posts.... I bring you two very cute pictures.

1. My niece. Just as fair warning, I will continue to brag about her and shamelessly promote her cuteness for years to come. Happy 2 months, Kaelyn!


2. Little Miss Hanover Tomato. (From Hanover Tomato Festival 2009). It is fair and festival season in Virginia, and I'm on the road A LOT. While I miss being home more often, I do enjoy this little slice of Americana ; Arts and Crafts vendors, parades, cotton candy, corn dogs, port-a-potties.... ok, maybe not the port-a-potties so much.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Destined for the Pacific Northwest?

I could spend several posts explaining what it's like to work on a campaign. The lifestyle is far different from normal jobs (whatever that means in today's society). Each campaign is it's own entity, but most patterns are similar. Rather than go into specifics, I will just generalize by saying hours are long and, more often than not, 7 days a week. Vacation time is an unspoken word. Deadlines, events and voter contact never sleep - and thus... neither do we.

(Insert obligatory plug: If you live in VA, please don't forget to vote for Bill Bolling (Lt. Governor) this November. It will have made this lifestyle more worth if for me. *end plug*)

Anywho, somehow I got the green light to spend a short amount of time with family over Father's Day weekend.

My grandfather passed away in January, but in order to comply with his wishes for no funeral opted to gather in June to honor his life in a location that couldn't have been more ideal. It was the very best combination of mountain, sea and Naval air strip that seemed to be crafted just for celebrating the life of my Naval aviator, Sierra Club (before they went super liberal) hike leader, ship-loving and nature expert of a grandfather. Simply put - PERFECT.

The location? Whidbey Island, more specifically, Deception Pass State Park. And, because my grandmother and three of my mom's siblings now live on the island as well, it made for a great get-away. Truthfully, I can hardly wait to move there.

More thoughts in the future, but for now, some pictures from the trip.

1. The Welcome to Whidbey sign you see in Clinton, right after getting off the ferry.


2. View from the Mukilteo-Clinton Ferry looking at the vessel carrying passengers in the opposite direction.


3. Deception Pass Bridge (from below). This was on our hike to the location we went for Grandpa. Deception Pass is named such because the narrow water connection passing through actually flows in both directions, depending on the tide. Sailors were frequently mistaken about their location because of it.


4. Family pausing for a break along the hike.


5. The home in Oak Harbor that my mom's family lived in (she was age 3, I think) when Grandpa learned how to fly at the Naval base there. Very overgrown now. You can't even get 1/2 way up the steps from the street to the front door because of the vegatation.



6. View of the house from side/rear. These windows are where the dining room was at that time.



7. Another rear view with the view of the Puget Sound and Vancouver Islands in the background. Aunt Susan is explaining where the fire pit that my great grandmother built was in the back yard.


8. Statue in the town of Langley. Very quaint artsy little town.



9. View of the dock in the town of Coupeville (similar to Langley, but a little more friendly and less "uppity") I learned a great deal about Orcas inside this little building waiting for the restroom. I never knew there were resident and migrating species or variations in how carnivorous they are.

10. View of the Coupeville shoreline from the dock.

11. Family on the ferry to Port Townsend.



12. View from the Ferry to Port Townsend (warning: a lot of references to Port Townsend ahead. It wasn't my favorite locality, but it was when I actually used my camera more)

13. Weirdest birds ever. These little guys would sit patiently waiting for the ferry to come along in the water and then dive down. After the ferry passed, they'd pop back up.
14. View from the upper deck of the ferry to the car deck below.

15. Ferry docking ahead in Port Townsend.


16. Seagull perched at the top of the ferry parking poles. I never saw him move. I suspect the State of Washington pays him to sit there and make the arrival more surreal.

17. Barnacles on the bottom of the poles the gull is perched upon.


18. Architecture in Port Townsend.



19. More of the same.


20. And, again (car was timed well - the town did seem to be from a bygone era)

21. Roadside garden in downtown Port Townsend. Flowers grow SO well out there.