Busha Full Of Grace

OK, Where Was I?

Yes, it's been a very long time, I've posted so irregularly. I was just too busy having fun in Vancouver: enjoying my family so very much, getting caught up in the busy schedule of a commuter family taking a little one to school, seeing sights, doing projects, mending pants, reading stories, making the drive out to Deep Cove for more Honey's donuts, walking, visiting Science World, having cocktails, baking bread, I even subbed in Satchel's kindergarten classroom one day. I just downloaded my last batch of photos on my camera from the last day there and got so sad and longed to be close to them again....right now this minute! There's something about staying in the home of one of your children. There is a knowingness of how life is lived. There is an understanding of what comes next or what should be done or not done without spoken word. This is something I am learning during this new phase of my life as Previous Generation Mother. Senior of this class. Your children can trust that you just know, and mosie along without any judgement or even second thought. The "living together" thing comes back within the blinking of an eye. You just know how to be, naturally. So we went from this: to this: and back again, several times without batting an eye. I have so much I want to share with you that I don't even know where to begin. Vancouver is breathtaking. Rich with nature and culture and it all happens so fast. You can have whatever you want fairly instantly. My head was spinning trying to take it all in, choosing what I wanted to see. One minute you're driving down a city street looking at little markets and inviting restaurants And then your breath catches in your throat as you turn a corner and this stands grandly in front of you: Or postcard scenes like this: Deep Cove was an amazing place, a dangerous place as well. I'm not talking about the steep incline of the hike up to this lookout rock but THIS little restaurant where you get the most scrumptous donuts on the face of the earth. They ar big cake donuts, either chocolate, maple or their own original, drizzled honey glaze. No, seriously. They are to die for. I'm not even going to venture to guess how many I ate during my stay (who am I kidding? I know exactly how many I ate. But what happens at Honey's stays at Honey's). Honey's then and Honey's now: 'Nuff said. Some of my other favorite things...the crocus in bloom at Cates Park: Walking under the Lion's Gate Bridge. (Satchel loves the idea that both his homes have a "Gate" bridge. Like the Golden Gate now he has the Lion's Gate.) The sandy beach at Stanley Park where Satchel drew his Celery Monster and our heart: And....Temple's Toes. She has the most exquisite little feet that poise, and move like hands they are so lovely. They grab my soul. I cannot believe I don't have a good photo of them. Perhaps Brooke will post one or send me one to post??? And her Fearless Flying Routine. She loved having my bed on the floor next to the sofa (which she usually can't climb up). But again and again, up she climbed and down she flew! And there is the view from their loft: And their cozy urban loft itself: Ha! Ha! No secrets in this fishbowl. Gotta have lots of love to live here cause ya don't have doors anywhere except on the bathrooms! So....a small offering of the good times spent with brooke and her family. My beautiful, passionate firstborn. Her devoted husband. And the little gems called grandchildren....

Whirlwind of Unexpected Events

Arriving in Vancouver opened doors I hadn't expected. After a day of travel on Thursday, I stayed in on Friday and gathered myself (and slept in!) while Brooke took Satchel to school and went to the gym. In the afternoon we walked around the Gaslight District, where they live. Some friends from school took the seabus over to meet us and we had coffee while the children played. In the evening when Matt got home from work, we ordered out falaffels for dinner, listened to music, played with the kids and visited. Saturday morning dawned, and we discussed our weekend plans; a door opened to an unexpected vacation within a vacation. The original plan was for Matt to go skiing with his buddy on Sunday for the day. Last minute, we all decided to go up on Saturday and spend the night into Sunday. I'm so glad we did...Whistler Ski Resort is such a breathtaking place on this earth! Alex works at the Fairmont in Sonoma, so he got us a room at the Fairmont Chateau in Whistler It was a rainy day when we left on Saturday, and by the time we arrived at the ski resort the snow was falling. A foggy ride, but I was taken by the frozen waterfalls along the rock walls of the mountain. The lodge. (FYI: it was nice, very nice and I'm so grateful...don't get me wrong. Luxurious. BUT, I couldn't imagine paying the asking price of $500.00 per night. Even if I could! Thank goodness for Alex's connection.) That said, the beds were quite downy and cozy, and our room opened onto a patio with this view: Other fabulous perks? Matt's skis were waiting for him when he was ready to catch the gondola in the morning, and they had cheese fondue in the lobby as folks returned from the cold of the day. We had cocktails in our room and then took the shuttle into Whistler Village for dinner. All the photos from that adventure are on my little camera (the one for which I forgot the cord to download.) But we had so much fun, and Satchel charmed and engaged all the young snowboarding dudes! I'll post photos of him with his new buddies when I return to Chicago. The village is for pedestrians only, and it was alive with folks from so many different parts of the world in friendly, excited vacation chatter. On Sunday Matt went skiing and we slept in (yes Even the kids) and sat at the table in our room enjoying coffee and the bright blue sky outside our window. Again, we boarded the shuttle and went into the village for breakfast. While there, the sky darkened once again and the snow began to fall quite heavily. (Cherry, cherry pow pow for Matt up there on the mountain!) When we returned to the chateau we headed down to the pool area. It was amazing, with the snow falling on the outdoor pools and hot tubs, the gondola lifts and skiers on the mountain immediately adjacent to the pool area. And then, the warm indoor area with pools, jaccuzis and saunas. satchel particularly loved the idea that he could swim inside and out and back again! And is he an amazing swimmer! In this next photo, notice the snow falling and the skiers in the background? Heavenly, is all I can say. The ride home was snowy, but cleared as we approached Vancouver, and I could see the beautiful coastline that I was unable to see on out drive up. The of thchanging weather of the Northwest, the glory and beauty, is something worth reckoning with!

Norte

Traveled north yesterday...all day. But so much new to write about...

 Every seat on the plane was filled so it was a "close" flight. Luckily I had some wonderful seat mates, but it does make you notice and count your blessings. It also makes you think twice before any kind of judgement. S0, after passing through security and proceeding to Gate B17 (yes, just imagine where gate 17 was in relation to security), I sat down proud of my "A" group status of boarding, pulled out my knitting and heard, "Marianne Julie Frost, please return to the security station to retrieve your driver's license." Shit. Now it's 5 minutes until boarding and I can just forget about my "A" status. So quick thinking.  What to do?  I ask all those folks sitting around me if anyone could possibly save me an aisle seat (so I can straighten my weaker knee if necessary). My eyes lock with a quite fancy young woman, perfectly coifed, donning a briefcase...and she unsmilingly says she will. OK. Thanks.  But still noticing.  Perfectly hilighted and cut blonde hair. Meticulous slacks and sweater. Diamond stud earrings. Perfect barely there makeup. hardly smiles. And a leather briefcase so creamy looking you can smell the leather even if your nose is stuffed. What would YOU think? (C'mon, I'm not the only one whose little judgemental mind rolls into action).

I'll leave this part there. I race to the security, actually running on the moving walkways to catch every extra second of time. When I get back and board the plane there she is with my seat saved. I offer her a homemade chocolate chip cookie that Shannon sent with me, she declines. (More judgement, you ask?) I struggle with my armload of crap, all discomboogulated, into the overhead bin, with impatient passengers waiting to move past and trying as hard as I can not to drop anything on the heads below me. Phew. Plunk down into my aisle seat, my "seat-saver" in the window seat. Just as she says to me, "Maybe, with any luck, this won't be a full flight." Indicating she likes this space between us as much as I do? At that point I glance up and my eyes lock with the wise old eyes of a solid, strong, colorfully dressed, 70ish  African American woman, also with perfect manicure on long nails and wonderfully braided hair, who nods at the seat next to me and smiles. "Of course." I smile back. I unbuckle...stand in the crowded aisle again, and make room for seatmate number 2, who pleasantly fills our part of Airplane World.

Skip ahead 4 and 1/2 hours and we are landing in Seattle. What do I know? Susan, the woman at the window, is headed to spend 3 weeks helping her sister with her 3 children under 5 years old, while she goes through chemotherapy. I listened as she talked and cried. And then in June she is headed from Pittsburg (where she lives with her husband and Golden Lab) to Sonoma for 4 days; and now she has a whole list of favorite spots to experience, from me. She also pulled out a big ham sandwich on a french roll, thus, not such a food purist afterall. And Birdie who sits between us, is retired and headed to Seattle to meet her youngest daughter to attend a seminar with her. In the previous hour I heard all about her retiring from GM and longing to travel just about anywhere.  I laughed aloud and teased her about reading the map on the beverage napkin as she spoke about her trips.  I think I kept her from punching out the young girl sitting behind her (rocking out to her Ipod and kicking my seatmate "in the be-hind" on every downbeat). I learned that our paths as women were very similar: two marriages each but basically raised our children alone(she's "not the submissive type", nor am I), lots of children (me 5, her 6). All three of us recently lost dogs we loved. And when all was said and done, we all agreed to pray for one another as life passes by. I truly met 2 women who have carved places in my memory bank, in my heart, forever.

Vijay, Swapna and Jahan were at the aiport to pick me up and take me to the train station for the second leg of my journey. Since we had a few hours in between, we headed out to Pike's Fish Market. What an incredible place that is. I can't even explain the feeling there, but we all loved it. Fresh. Wholesome. Funky. Alive. I really enjoyed spending this time on the west coast with my Chicago family, as brief as it was... I picked up a Greek salad and we headed to the train station where I said goodbye to my little jahan for a couple of weeks. I checked in, and waiting to depart to Canada, ate my salad and people watched. It was dusk by now so I wasn't able to take photographs any longer, but the magnificence of Washington state and Canada. Magestic. It was so late when I arrived in Vancouver, yet I still had to smother Satchel in kisses and eat him alive. Oh it was like I saw him only yesterday. Temple was sleeping, and even though Brooke so graciously offered that I could wake her up, I knew I couldn't do that to them...I'd soon be happily in dreamland and they would be up with a baby. but I stared at her and stroked her sweet little cheek.

Oh, and one final thing about my day traveling north. Brooke had a very cozy bed made up for me on the bottom floor of their warehouse loft. And our family version of "turn-down mints" on my pillow:

Thunder.

Wow. Being in the midwest? NOW I know thunder! Amazing! Exciting. Thrilling to my bones.

I Think I'll Be Six Forever and Ever....

My first born grandchild turned six yesterday. Of course, he was on my mind all day. It was the first birthday I wasn't able to be with him on the very day. So while out walking in the city (full of thoughts of this beautiful boy), what did I see discarded in the gutter? Well, that ol' 5! So I picked it up and brushed it off and tucked it away in the pocket of my jeans like a lucky penny. I'm going to bring it to him in Vancouver next week...so he can have it just incase six gets too hard and he wants five back.

If The Recession Becomes A Depression

Us Waldorks are ready. We can bake bread, making the cherished bulk food order stretch all the way to that last day of school and maybe into the next year. We love to hang our laundry on the line and treasure musical instruments. Bicycles are not foreign to us and we don't need nylon stockings because they're synthetic and many of us don't shave our legs anyway. We know how to serve basic grains a myriad of ways and more. We can sew, and knit, and love to recycle and read out loud. Our hens are healthy as can be and we have enough eggs to share with most of the town. We live and love candlelight, can even "roll our own", and our children can entertain themselves quite nicely without electricity. And besides, most kids go to bed before the sun goes down anyway. We are raised in this "community consciousness" that will only manifest greater as things get tougher.... Oh friends, I could go on and on. There's only one foreseeable problem. The tuition.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Saturdays are my day to care for Ike and Fiona so that Isaac can attend class. This weekend began like all the rest, with some indoor play. Immediately when I got there, Ike had this elaborate plan up his sleeve that we were going to prepare a party; then when mommy and poppi came home we would hide and jump out and say surprise. I never did find out what the party was celebrating, but...oh well. Right? So these were all Ike's own plans. First, he made a sign to hang on the front door. (When Shannon got home she asked me if it was a Polish party.) And then we had to...clean the windows? I swear, all his idea! And then we had to make African Honeybush tea and serve it with honey sticks. And that was it. A sign, clean windows and tea and you had a party! Fiona just wanted to walk around in her hat and sweater, and practice hiding. I made the hat way back and it finally fits her. It's angora and cashmere and so soft. The sweater...you'll never believe the story about the sweater. it is hand knit, BEAUTIFUL work, and feels like a merino wool. Shannon found it at my favorite thrift store for one dollar. One. Dollar. Can you imagine what the person who made it would think? Oy vey. Yesterday while chilly, it was crystal clear and the sun invited us out to play in the school yard. While there were little bits of winter still about, there were peeks of spring too. And then less than 24 hours later,without any warning... I'm wondering what tomorrow might bring....