SOL 14/31: She took me in!

On my second day in Seattle, I was exposed to Covid. We visited in someone's home for approximately two hours and she tested positive that evening. Suddenly all my plans took a nose dive. I did not want to stay with my friend who had a sore throat and cough. I did not want to stay with my friend who is leaving for Italy and a cruise right after our retreat. I did not want to expose her to the possibility that I might test positive down the road. Planned get-togethers with friends were cancelled. I think I would have just thrown in the towel and headed back home except that I have an appointment with my audiologist tomorrow morning. Oh, the challenges of our post pandemic world and the challenges of navigating medical challenges after a move.

In the middle of this quandary, I decided to call my friend, Nancy, who had Covid in January. She opened her door to me with no hesitation whatsoever. I've been here for five nights and if all goes well, I'll test negative again (no symptoms whatsoever) tomorrow morning. I'll go to my 7 am audiologist appointment and then head for the mountains for our annual book club retreat (some of us have been together for twenty-six years).

But I'm getting ahead of myself here. I wanted to write about the fun Nancy and I have shared for the past few days. We've been friends for twenty-seven years. She worked with me at the middle school. We've served together in organizations at church. She's the "chocolate queen" who coordinated our mass group ordering of Ghiradelli chocolate each fall. She was part of our foursome group of friends who traveled to Italy in 2019. She's stayed in touch despite my move across the country last summer. 

We've talked, enjoyed meals together, talked, shopped, talked, watched the Academy Awards, talked, watched movies, talked, played games (Five Crowns and a new-to-me version of Rummikub with tiles played horizontally AND vertically), talked, taken walks, had late night heart-to-heart chats, and risen in the morning for more talking. She's waited patiently while I've written blog posts, commented on slices, and spent time reading the book we'll be discussing on Friday night.

I'll wind up this post with a gigantic thank you to my friend, Nancy, who took me in and made this visit unforgettable in spite of my Covid exposure. We all need friends and Nancy's one of the good ones, a definite keeper, a talker just like me!

SOL 13/31: Chasing Springtime!

 walking for spring blooms

pink, purple, yellow, blue skies

blissful blessedness

SOL 12/31: Have-To Stops in My Old Stomping Grounds

I asked my friend to pull into my old home's driveway, so I could see the house we lived in for twenty-five years before moving away the summer of 2022.  The driveway was filled with two large panel trucks, so we had to back out, past the rock wall that my friend scraped her new car on in the fall of 2020!

We drove past other homes that are no longer inhabited by friends we once knew who have also moved away.

We drove past the school where I taught for nine years. Still planning to pop by and say hello to a few friends who are still there from when I retired nine years ago.

We stopped by (or called) three friends' houses to drop off some of my pumpkin chocolate chip bread. No one was home or answered our calls. The bread's in the freezer. I'll take it to the book club retreat this weekend. The friend I'm staying with used to love this bread, but she's now gluten free.

I asked for a drive down Island Crest Way to see the daffodils.

We drove by the local library, but didn't stop in.  

I picked up bagels at my favorite bagel shop.

I did two loops around Mercerdale Park with another friend. It was very windy!

The best stop today was in a shop I frequented for 25 years. The current owner had students in our school system back in the day. While there were several employees on the premises, I was desirous of the services of one specific person. The checkout counter had chocolates crafted by the mom of a former student. Can you guess where I was? Au Courant for a haircut from my favorite hairdresser.  

We stopped by Home Goods where we perused almost every aisle, but bought nothing.

We made a stop at Trader Joe's.

We went to Bellevue Square and did a bit of shopping. I purchased several tops with the encouragement of a certain friend.

We visited Din Tai Fong for an early dinner. Since I was with my gluten free friend, I had to eat all ten of the beautifully crafted Xia Long Bao. They are rather small.

And now my friend is waiting for me to finish this post so we can play games. Last night she walloped me in a game of Five Crowns. Tonight, we're playing Rummikub. Cross your fingers I'm the lucky one tonight!

This is my thirteenth year to participate in the March Slice of Life. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.

SOL 11/31: Dinner and a Bookstore

When I arranged to meet Mimi one evening during Roots Tech, I asked if we could do dinner and a bookstore. Dinner was delicious, but the high point of the evening was definitely the stop at Weller Book Works, a bookshop established in 1929 with rare, used, and new books.  When my friend picked me up for dinner, she mentioned that The King's English Bookshop (our first choice) closed at 6 pm. 

Weller Book Works was a wonderful place to amble and suggest books to each other. I love going to bookstores with fellow bibliophiles. Just wandering the aisles is a great way to share books you've loved. One book she recommended was Wallace the Brave by Will Henry, for fans of Calvin and Hobbes and classic comics from the past. We didn't see it, so I recorded it in the Notes on my phone. I snapped pics of several other books to remind me to request them from the library. I'm not sure if they were all recommended by Mimi or if they just appealed to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mimi is the daughter of a friend, but I love seeing her when I'm in Utah. She loves books, is currently writing a young adult novel and shares books on an Instagram account. She's also a member of a long-standing book club. We snapped this pic of us in the bookstore to send to her mom.

SOL 10/31: Seattle Getaway

Day1: Smooth plane ride bodes well for my first trip back to Seattle after moving to NC

Day 2: Covid exposure 

Day 3: Friend and I visit Island Books, Terra Bella, & her local library where I score a copy of The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store (928 holds on 206 copies) from the Ready Reads shelf!

Day 4: Power outage at friend's place (and she's not there), but reachable by phone with sure knowledge of location of two flashlights 

Day 5: Return ride to friend's place forgets me after Sunday morning service. No worries, my host comes to the rescue! 

Tomorrow will be better, right?

This is my thirteenth year to participate in the March Slice of Life. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.

SOL 9/31: Why I Slice

1. To enjoy friends from all over the world

2. To expand my world view

3. To uncover new poets, authors, books, music, podcasts, and so much more

4. To explore my favorite passions: books, bookstores, libraries, grand kids, cookies, cats, poetry, ... (to name a few)

5. To expose myself to the passions of other people

6. To connect with the world of education

7. To laugh more

8. To be inspired in my writing journey 

9. To bond with online friends

This is my first draft list (I may have tweaked a verb or two), in the order that I thought of them. There are many more reasons why I participate in this community, but I limited myself to nine in honor of this ninth day of March. Heartfelt gratitude to each of you, my fellow slicers! 

This is my thirteenth year to participate in the March Slice of Life. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.

SOL 8/31 and Poetry Friday: Celebrating Friends

I had fun creating a ten-line poem, one syllable per line ascending to ten syllables to capture yesterday's Three Rees (Three Retirees) gathering. The Three Rees are composed of three friends who used to work together in our middle school and vowed to stay friends. Once all three of us retired, we made sure to gather often. We even had pandemic gatherings outside and once in a covered parking garage during inclement winter weather so we could safely distance from each other. 

After my move to North Carolina, we've stayed in touch via frequent phone and Zoom calls. Yesterday's in-person gathering was delightful! There's nothing quite as soul-sustaining as hugging and chatting in-person.

The 

three Rees

together

again after

seven months apart,

meet friend's grand niece, Iris.

Two-and-a-half-year old charms, 

excites, entertains our trio.

Next stop - lunch, laughter, chitter-chatter,

joyful scrapbook moments, treasured friendship.

 

Glad to offer up this etheree as my slice of life and my contribution to Poetry Friday. The poetry form, Etheree, consists of 10 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 syllables. Etheree can also be reversed and written 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

This is my thirteenth year to participate in the March Slice of Life. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life. 

Happy to let this post do dual duty for Slice of Life and Poetry Friday. I've been an infrequent visitor to Poetry Friday lately. Laura Purdie Salas is hosting our round-up of poetic goodness this week. Check out her post where she shares her newest book, Oskar's Journey, and its transformation from prose to rhyme.