Thursday, August 19, 2010

Living It.

Home. It is hot, but smells clean. The fans and the swamp cooler work well. When they don't the little air conditioner in the corner cools the whole house.  My bedroom.  My bedroom. So happy to be back in my bedroom. My bathroom, crispy white. The lawns, front and back are crispy brown. Well, we are under water restriction here. The green lawns some of my neighbors' sport show just how much they ignore the edict to water only twice a week. My lawns are sad little reminders I am not in Seattle anymore.

Oh, and Water Pressure!  One moves away from LA and one has real actual water pressure in showers and in the kitchen.  I'd forgotten about our sorry little streams, but, the little streams make me happy.  I don't need so much, really, to wash my hair.  It works.  It is just a different sensation.  Less luxurious.  Less.. water!

Home and getting used to it again. I've decided to take as much of the week off as I can. I do have some household obligations, talking to insurance companies and attending a faculty meeting or two that I can't avoid, but otherwise, I'm trying instead to be with my husband, find time for my father and maybe check in with my sisters and my brother, all of whom I've virtually ignored for 10 weeks. Life has to come back in at some point!

And life, it will. I do what I do to make my life. I need to remember to live it.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Thank You Seattle. (And A Few Pics Of The Stage.)

I leave for L.A. Monday, around 3pm.  I've little more than half a week left up here in the wilds of Seattle. Visiting is done, sightseeing over. I'm prepping for the next round. I can't wait to get back home and cook some decent meals for my husband (and myself.) I miss the clean food.

I'm mailing 2 boxes tomorrow. I think I can put the rest in the suitcase. I need to make sure we've taped an archival worth saving. It is all about endings. Yet, this show continues. I've new information that might indeed still take us to Africa. But, as I've said... I will go with the flow. My next step is seeing the week's shows out and getting on a plane. My next ambition. Getting on the plane!


Thank-you Seattle, for providing me with so many diversions. Thank-you, Seattle, for being a wonderful place to work. I will be back.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Final Days.

I had a day yesterday.  My brother-in-law's wife.. (my sister out-law?) and I took the ferry to Bainbridge Island out of Seattle.  I am all about getting on the water!
Of course the day was rainy... But that made it all the more perfect last Monday in Seattle.


We stood outside in the freezing wind. It was the BEST view!

I was smiling my biggest smile.











The furthest from shore I'd yet been: 

A long view of Seattle.  Really small. In the distance!

We arrived and I witnessed everyday sights I'd never seen before, so therefore, amazing!  The island approaching.

The ferry pulling in.












The ferry arriving.














The cars exiting.















All new.  I was delighted.   Upon arrival, this wonderous sight:















Wandering around the island...a few choice pix on a rainy wonder-filled day.









































My sister-out-law bought me a pink hat!





And now, it is all about leaving. I've two final understudy rehearsals this week. I'm packing boxes. (I've finished one, working on the second. Hope to mail both tomorrow.) I'm busy gathering all the information I will need for the show in Los Angeles. I've given some (very little) thought to my teaching which begins very soon. South Africa seems to be on hold for the moment. We lost our major funding, so who knows what the future will bring.  Ever fluid, swirling out of my control. I go with the flow.
I find I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Be well, my friends.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Miles To Go.

It is Fleet Week in Seattle.  All these beautiful young sailors wandering the waterfront.  Huge battleships and smaller tugs.  Humid as all get out, but fun too.  I caught sight of the Blue Angels, though I'm not fast enough to take a picture.  The photo to the left is a "fire boat."  Weird, when one sees it from afar and has no idea what is going on down in the Sound.
This is one of the HUGE ships that have come in.





















And this is a longer view of some of the boats I was able to capture.  Wait... Is that SMOG? 










That was today.  As I've said, I've been a little overwhelmed by all my pictures, so I will dole them out slowly... Last Monday, on the Harbor Cruise:
  I like the picture.  A very long view of the city.

I am aching to go home.  I really need to pack those boxes and send them off so home will start to feel real.  I already feel behind on the work I need to do for LA, and oh, gosh!  I start teaching on August 23!

Miles to go before I sleep.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Homeward Bound. I Wish I Was.

I've not posted in a while. I've been overwhelmed by the pictures I've taken on the, yes, two boat tours I've taken. I just haven't had the energy to sort them out and comment on all I've learned. Suffice it to say...the tours were GREAT.
I look happy! I was! This was on the Puget Sound. It was the second boat tour I took. I like getting out on the water. I am so away from it all out there. I can think of something else besides the show. Activity really creates the day off.

I don't want to write right now about the wonderful days off I've discovered in Seattle.  I've come to them a little late. I've one more Monday before I go home. Everyday at work is a day closer. Everyday is more valuable than the next. Everyday takes me through the prep I need to do for Los Angeles and everyday brings me closer to the man I miss so much and the company I need to keep. Everyday is special.

Seattle is indeed a beautiful city. There is much to do here. I've never been bored, not once. Before I leave I will share those photographs, but for now, I just want to appreciate how close I am to returning home. I'm mailing back the boxes of clothes and whatnot I felt I couldn't live without. I've washed my sheets for the last time. I'm eating all the frozen food and will not go back to Trader Joe's in Seattle again, this trip. I bought 99 cent shampoo because I'm running out and shampoo is difficult. It leaks. (I'll leave the shampoo here.) I refuse to buy any more garbage bags. The grocery store will have to supply them. I'm leaving my Trader Joe's reusable bag at home. I never got the better vacuum cleaner I asked for, but you know, I've no intention of vacuuming again, this trip. The days are too close.

I will wander the Marina again. I liked that. I will visit the sculpture garden I've yet to see. I will rehearse my understudies. I will explore, again, a little further than I've yet gone. Then. I'll be home.