The Big Green House

Wednesday, December 31, 2003

 

Boy in the ‘hood

OK, so where did we leave off? Oh yeah, the new neighborhood. Well, just so you don’t think I absolutely hate it there, I should tell you that it does have a few redeeming aspects to it. For example, not all of the older houses have been demolished to feed the ego of some demented rich dimwit with all their taste in their mouth. There are still quite a few beautiful homes left standing. Several would certainly qualify as “mansions”, to be sure, but they’re not nearly as pretentious as the ostentatious dreck that gets put up these days.

Also, there are a lot of very old trees throughout the area. The neighborhood itself is chock full of old maples and firs, and the Arboretum is just a few blocks away from Science Manor. For those of you not in the Seattle area, the Arboretum is 200+ acre park full of trees and shrubs from around the world. It’s very easy to forget that you’re less than ten minutes from downtown. Lucy is in doggy heaven, living so near to it. And I’ll tell ya what, driving through it in the snow* last night on my way home was enough to set me grinning like an idiot.

With all the trees nearby, we get a lot of birds visiting the feeders Science Girl has put up on the back porch. She enjoys watching them from the kitchen.** I’ve never really been one for bird-watching, myself, but I have to admit that we get some interesting little freeloaders out there. If I had to choose, I think the flickers and the juncos are probably my faves.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

OK, I realize that this is not the most scintillating post I’ve ever thrown together. Part of that is due to my feeling Not Quite Right. Not sure what the problem is, but I’m definitely not at the top of my game. Hopefully it’s just a shortage of sparkling wine; I should be able to rectify that tonight after work.

Also, I’ve noticed that a lot of my recent posts have been on the negative side. Mind you, I’ve got nothing against a good rant; it’s what Al Gore invented the internet for, you know. I just don’t want to slide into unrelieved snarkiness all the time. I had an acting teacher who one day told the class, “Anger is the ketchup of emotions”. I’m not entirely sure what he was getting at, but I’ve always interpreted it as meaning that it’s very easy to give in to the Dark Side – entirely too easy, sometimes. When I’m stuck for a writing topic, I know I can usually whip up some sort of rant with minimal effort. While that can be cathartic, it can also be a trap. I want to push myself away from the easy option, from time to time.

Does this mean that reading The Big Green House will now make you want to rinse the sweetness and light off your brain afterward? Will it be unsafe for diabetics? Well, I hope not. I don’t think there’s too much to worry about on that count, since I’m constitutionally unable to maintain a positive outlook for more than fifteen to twenty minutes at a time. My inner cynic has my inner child tied up and locked in the closet a lot of the time.

Anyway, here’s to a better year for everybody except that asshole in the White House.

Oops.

*We got about three inches, citywide. It’s all gone now, but we’re supposed to be getting more through the weekend. Life is good.

**As does Martin the cat. He makes the “kill the bird” noise, but that’s about as far as he goes in his aggression toward them. During the summer, he actually sleeps under one of the feeders, ignoring the birds as they ignore him. Every now and then he’ll look up at them, give them the kitty equivalent of “Eh, too much work”, and go back to sleep.

bmarkey 12/31/2003 09:06:00 PM