Grimm Indeed

December 20th was the 200th anniversary of the Grimm brothers 1st publication of   "Kinder-und
Hausmarchen"  or "Children and Household Tales".     Grimms Fairy Tales have been an endless inspiration for writing, art, film and music

It just so happened that Bianca and I watched  Disney's 1937 Snow White on Tuesday.   We snuggled on the couch and oohed and aaahed at the cute parts,  cringed at the scary mirror, mirror on the wall  parts and I fast forwarded during the huntsman part! 
  Even this tame version of the Fairy Tale has a fairly dreadful theme of multiple attempts on the life of the pure and kindly Snow White.

I was in a fairy tale mood after that so on Wednesday, I searched Netflix and found the musical I had seen on TV years ago. 

"Into The Woods"  
 a Steven Sondheim  musical made into a movie.  This was another take on the stories.  What happens in the ' happily ever after'.    The handsome prince isn't quite so charming after he has been won and the neighborhood has to deal with that dead giant in Jack's yard.  Lots of fun and  Bernadette Peters makes an adorable wicked witch. Then  suddenly I'm watching a scene where  gasp!  Cinderella's stepsisters have their toes cut off in an attempt to fit the glass slipper and their bad luck doesn't just end by not getting the prince.   Justice is served by having their eyes plucked out by doves.    Whoa,This isn't the story I read as a kid! 




Poor Prince.  But really, should any girl have a foot that small.

 There was a much darker side.

The original tales were violent and even bawdy entertainment for adults not intended for children.   It turns out Rapunzel had some twins while she was a captive in the tower.














Life was very rough in the times the original tales were told.   I may be sappy but I prefer the gentle retelling of the stories.   I found on the internet  this picture of my childhood book where I first fell in love with fairy tales

In honor of the anniversary check out this interactive google doodle
http://www.google.com/doodles/200th-anniversary-of-grimms-fairy-tales

The eyes tell the story

I am in a petless phase in my life.   I know it sounds sad.... but I am also in a no allergy phase in my life as well.   I have fond memories of four-legged friends  from the past   Mickey and Snowball, 

Rowdy,  Josephine, Tigger,  Prince, Dusty,   Jack Flash and OT  

Now that I don't have an animal companion of my own, I enjoy the cats and dogs  I meet when I am out and about. 

We manage to communicate.  It's all in the eyes.

I think he's saying don't come any closer.  In fact I would bet on it.

Just look at me.  I'm irresistable.  So can I have a treat?



I'm keeping my eyes on you.  This look was intended for the pit bull coming down the street





I know, I know you can't take your eyes off my one blue one







   

a childhood activity

If we keep digging where will we end up?  That is the ageless question of children peering into a hole in the ground and who are drawn to keep digging until they find the wonderful mystery that may be waiting in there.  If you keep digging will you end up in China??

On the other hand, when you find an already dug hole so deep-  what is there to do but fill it up again.     

I

   Bianca took up the job under the watchful interest of little Ruby and the somewhat skeptical appearing observer on a excavator.  The boy never did relinquish his perch there even with the nudging,  cajoling pressure from another parent who wanted him to share.  "  I'm not moving" he said.    Real stick to it-ness which makes me think he may have had the tenacity to be the  hole digger. 

I love watching the play of children.   Left to their own devices in the great outdoors, children are the same as ever and some things like the joys of hole digging and refilling never changes.   Somehow that is reassuring.  Thank heavens for little girls (and boys) who allow us to re-live all the fun. 

.

And about digging to China...   The origins of that saying is linked to Thoreau who is said to have come up with the phrase when he saw his neighbors digging a hole in their yard.   But from North America you would actually end up in the Indian Ocean

Here is a link to show you:  this shows where you end up

 

A tale of June

Once upon a time in Seattle there was a sunny day in June

 So the grateful flowers, fruits and vegies came alive in all their glory and conferred color and tastiness upon the land

Which led to smiles and playful  happiness outside with friends both

old and new...    

Sam

Bianca and Aria at the Library

 And then the Princess turned 4 and a grand time was had by all.

Mom's tree

It is almost mother's day and I've  been musing on mom.   I grew up in a little house.   I never realized just how little until my brother Floyd and I made our pilgrimage there while visiting Yakima a while back.  It is now a place of business with some minimal changes to the outside but the inside bland with desks and files.   We asked if we could walk through to take a look.    We tried to not have our jaws drop when the rooms just didn't match what was in our memories.   The outside walls hadn't changed but the rooms seemed unbelievably small.    Can rooms shrink??  It seemed so.  To our childhood eyes our kitchen was spacious.   The living room seemed grand, filled with furniture but still roomy.  The three bedrooms big enough for us to play even  big games (like basketball) in.    But it took just a minute to sweep our eyes across the tiny rooms.  What a strange feeling.  On the other hand the thing that was small is now large.   Opposite world!  Every summer my mother would be at the side of the house hacking away at a bush.  Being a carefree child of the '50's whose only job outside was to run free during the summer I never had to do that job.  I didn't realize how she was really taming nature.  I have a clear memory of her  turning  to me one day while working on that bush and saying if I didn't cut this down "it would just become a tree".   And indeed it did.   

A spot of color

The lowly dandelion  pulled, poisoned , pulverized by the mower or at the very least completely overlooked  always gets a second look by the little ones.  After all it is so bright and cheery.   And added to my all white lilac bouquet, was a lovely spot of color especially as it was added with love.

A new doll



Just look at you sitting there so cute





wow, shoes, socks and pantaloons too

 







I really like you

 





 





March weather



March 16th at Alki

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.  This afternoon of mid march looked like a tie between the two.  Half the sky a bright and promising blue alongside the other half threatening and dark with all the portents of more lion like weather.   And the winner is?  It snowed this morning.  Two more weeks of March and waiting for the lamb. 

Smile and the world smiles with you





                                                                                                              

                                                  A Quote by Anonymous

                                                 Smiling is infectious,         

                                                 You can catch it like the flu.

                                                  Someone smiled at me today,

                                                  And I started smiling too.

           Here is a classic song about smiling.   I enjoyed it even with the scratchy record sounds maybe even more so. 
           Louis Armstrong's band  1929   ...      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCilFJ44mFI

Stormy sea

In my last blog  I boasted of victory over illness.  Then while I thought all was well - a surprise attack by a new wintertime virus.   I've been in battle with it ever since.   I left my defensive position on the couch yesterday to replenish my supplies.  On my drive to the store I came to these turbulent waters along Alki.  The scene seemed a metaphor for my state of mind- besieged by a storm of sorts, battered, tossed about but hanging in there

                                

           PS:   Wow was I gloomy.  I've returned to this post feeling all better again.  Now the scene appears pretty, invigorating and energizing.  Feeling good certainly changes  one's  perspective.                                                                                                                                         

Kitchen Medicine

My organic ingredients from PCC

The first week of my 'staycation' and I was out of sorts.  Not in mood.  My mood was all elation at

having 3 weeks off work -3 weeks of  freedom from structure. Hooray!!  But I felt as limp as a ..well.. as a limp rag.  I took to bed early in efforts to beat the bug , would rally the next day only to fade back to fatigue. Then I tried the same routine with the same result.   No way to spend a vacation.  I needed something to kick this thing.    So I went to the Internet where all questions are answered  and found a tea that  promised to cure whatever winter illness might come along.  What a delightfully delicious concoction it turned out to be.  And I was cured.  I felt better from the first cup and have been feeling tip top ever since.

My mother used natural remedies that were handed down from generations of german russian mothers who healed and nurtured children with their old ways.   Oh how I wish I had paid attention to the makings of poultices laid on my chest or the paste mixed up on the stove that was put on itchy spots with such relief.   And what was in that salve that she put on my foot?  I remember watching in awe at the mysterious preparation (in which lighting a match was involved) of a homemade anti-fungal that worked so quickly and completely  Of course, first I got a little lecture about how I wasn't supposed to be playing in the basement barefoot anyway.  Good advice. 

Ginger Honey Tea

Take a 1-inch piece of peeled ginger root, 6 cups water, 1/3 cup honey, the juice of one lemon and four bags of your favorite tea. Add a slice of rind if your lemon is organic. Slice the ginger into coins, and combine with the lemon rind, water, and honey. Bring to a boil in a small pot. Add the tea bags and steep. Add lemon juice, strain into a teapot, and serve.

 
 
 
 

Things Change

A mid-afternoon gloom was settling in as I took a walk in West Seattle





I was taking a new route and came upon my local library from a different perspective. There it appeared like a beacon in the dark which of course libraries have been over the years.

  I hope this lovely Carnegie library with all its lovely books won't become a thing of the past. 

Kindle world doesn't have a beautiful building on a hill but boy oh boy does it have books.   



Nine virtual books on my Kindle compared to nine actual books on my table



I'm starting to enjoy being old enough to talk about the old days.  I remember first learning how to use the library by picking through the tightly packed card catalogue in order to find the Dewey Decimal System clue to the book or magazine article I wanted. 

I spent less than 30 seconds to download this book after spending a few minutes on a wireless connection to find my latest read.

I understood the basics of the library system.  I have no clue how it is I can put any book I want on this thin Kindle.  The quote from the Wizard of Oz keeps coming to mind.  "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."