14th Annual Arts & Jazz

Mark your calendars to attend the

14th Annual ARTS & JAZZ Auction this Saturday!

The “Auction, Dance and Proud Community Celebration” will be held Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 7:00 pm in the Blaine Performing Art Center (PAC.) There’s a $5 admission charge and then you walk around looking at all of the cool and amazing items and services up for auction. All the while, munching on the amazing edible goodies donated for this evening. There will be great music, good food, and a fantastic cause to support!

100% of the funds raised benefit scholarships and firsthand experiences beyond the curriculum in the Blaine School District. This directly benefits students participating in visual art, performing art, instrumental and vocal music through the school.

As staffing and operational budget cuts seriously impact the quality of education, so-called electives are being decimated.

Indisputable numbers of studies prove that much is gained through a well-balanced education. It’s proven that students learn better when art and music are components of their learning exposure.

I hope to see you at Blaine School this Saturday night! Be supportive! This is your community … your home!

January 22, 2011
7:00 pm
Blaine PAC
Highland, Blaine WA
$5 admission

I've cut and pasted the photographs used in this blog entry. They were purloined from the Blaine School website. I wish I could give credit to the photographers and the students shown.

Observations of good things to come ...

Yes. It’s decidedly cold and rainy, muddy, icky, and even icy in spots, but I can see spring coming to Birch Bay. It will take awhile to finally arrive, but as subtle signs tease, I’m energized.

First of all with passing into winter solstice, each sunset is a minute or so later, each sunrise is a wee bit earlier. They aren’t significant, but discernable. The added daylight is much appreciated. The pattern of the tides change, too, going from high tide by sunset, to tonight being able to see some beach at dusk and setting sun. In dark winter, the tide goes out at night. I love beachcombing, but even I draw the line at going out on the tideflats in the dark. So, I’m seeing more daylight beach. Hooray!

Despite the coating of snow, bare branches have little buds forming, with the promise of explosions of bright new leaves and the flowers that are natural to the bay. The rains of yesterday and today melted away most of our snow, and uncovered growing blades of grass!

While in the office this afternoon, my broker, Carl Dufton, pointed out cyclists out on Birch Bay Drive. Yes, they were bundled up in their Gortex outerwear, but the three of them were pedaling along. Birch Bay and Semiahmoo are great for cycling and obviously those three weren’t waiting for warmer weather.

I look forward to additional signs of spring coming. There’s so much that is unpredictable and sometimes unsettling in our world today, so it is comforting to see these simple signs of changing season that repeat regardless of what’s raging in the political arena or the distressing financial crisis or whatever turmoil is broiling in the rest of the world.

Spring is coming to Birch Bay!

What do you mean?

When the movie version of a very popular Harry Potter book came to our local theater, I remember having a discussion with a mother and daughter whom had both read the whole series in print form as well as on their Nook. I shared with them that I had seen a program on television about the making of the movie and that I was surprised it had two scripts, one in English (US) and one in English (UK).

They, in turn, shared with me that two English versions of the book were written, too. I knew the books had been translated into other languages, but it didn’t dawn on me that there were two English versions. They said the UK version had different words, illustrations, and even the size of the book was different, to appeal to a different aesthetic. Once I thought about the discussion, it made perfect sense that words or phrases, even though in English, had different subtext, shades of meaning. I was also amused that initially I had thought of the UK version as different from our US version, wherein it was just the reverse. The US version was an interpretation of the original UK version. Perspective is key, isn't it?

It got me to thinking of words and their meanings and how interpretation is a slippery slope.

Even talking with my own adult offspring, words are sometimes imbued with a different context.

As a Realtor selling and listing homes less than ten miles from the US/Canada border, I have business dealings with Canadians, including Asians, East Indians, and Ukrainians/Russians. One cannot take words lightly. I am conversant in English only. There has to be thought as to how the words I use might be interpreted by those for whom English is a second or a third language. In these face-to-face situations, I can re-phrase wording if it seems the client doesn’t understand. Expression and body language definitely become important to communication, although cultural differences result in different postures or gestures.

A great writer can paint a visual scene with their words, but most of us aren’t at all close to being great or even fair-to-middling writers; case in point, blogs, Facebook and Twitter. I am often on Facebook, and the comments are frequently confusing as to whether meant literally or in jest or sarcasm. Context of words in written news media are often limited, too.

Then we take a leap to words spoken and images shown on national and international media. How often have we heard, "A picture is worth a thousand words?" The viewer is shown crowds loudly shouting, gesturing with angry hate-filled faces. We witness appalling scenes and we make judgments based on our own cultural and ethical norms, not based on how our cultures might differ. It’s often a knee-jerk interpretation, not an educated interpretation.

As busy as our lives have become, there is little time or inclination to study another culture or even to think twice about how words are being interpreted. The global scene has increasingly been thrust into our daily lives without preparation, without knowledge. And because there isn’t time to think globally when we’re up to our armpits in mundane everyday matters, we gladly leave interpretation to others.

Easy enough to hand off responsibility for interpretation to authorities we assume are more educated, more knowledgeable, whose business it is to know what’s what, and to accept whatever information is provided to us.

I urge you now more than ever, to accept responsibility to scratch the surface of the neat, sanitized packages of words put together for us in print or broadcast on television or online media. Question findings and interpretations. Seek a second opinion. Inquire into the background of situations being reported. Think about what others are saying before you judge. Think about what you say before you say it.

It isn’t overstatement to say our quality of life depends upon words and how they might be interpreted, whether here in little Birch Bay or across our great nation or in the world beyond our borders.

My Wish From Birch Bay ...

This afternoon I sat mulling over how to write a cheerful note to go out with my holiday cards to family and friends, but the following refrain came into my head, “Another year older and deeper in debt.” Now, that didn’t strike me as cheerful, and I’m not exactly a lover of Country music, so it seemed a bit odd, even for me.

My curiosity getting the best of me, I Googled “Sixteen Tons” and found it was first recorded in 1946—ironic note: 1946 is the year of my birth—by American Country singer Merle Travis. It was a song about the life of a coal miner. Tennessee Ernie Ford’s version reached number one in the Billboard charts in 1955.

“You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store.

According to Travis, the line from the chorus ‘another day older and deeper in debt’ was a phrase often used by his father, a coal miner himself. This and the line ‘I owe my soul to the company store’ is a reference to the truck system and to debt bondage. Under this system workers were not paid cash; rather they were paid with unexchangeable credit vouchers for goods at the company store, usually referred to as scrip. This made it impossible for workers to store up cash savings. Workers also usually lived in company-owned dormitories or houses, the rent for which was automatically deducted from their pay. In the United States the truck system and associated debt bondage persisted until the strikes of the newly-formed United Mine Workers and affiliated unions forced an end to such practices.

However, ‘Sixteen Tons’ is not simply sociology. While the chorus refers to the difficulties of life in coal camps, the verses depict a mythos of toughness in the face of adversity.”

Many of us have had a tough and debt-challenging year(s), haven’t we? Like the coal miners in the song, saving money has been impossible for folks who are struggling, and in some instances failing, to keep a roof over their heads and food on their family table.

Strength and perseverance are called for to get us through this difficult time. We’ve cut back, stretched our meager budgets, become resourceful and creative … but it’s also comforting to know “Someone’s got your back.” I’ve spoken to many who want to be able to hold onto hope that tomorrow will be better, but are afraid they’ll be disappointed.

Whether we believe in God, Jesus, Allah, Buddha, the Universe, Goddess or something else, life is bleak if it doesn’t include faith and hope. So …

No newsy holiday chit-chat or photos this year.
I simply wish for you
STRENGTH and PERSEVERANCE,
LOVE and HOPE in abundance!

Thanksgiving Leftovers ...

Most of us who celebrate a traditional turkey with all the fixings Thanksgiving very frequently don’t consume all of the food prepared. I love leftovers! I would make extra just so I could enjoy the turkey and cranberries in sandwiches, in Italian style spinach and turkey soup, turkey enchiladas, whatever delicious new way I could to enjoy the abundance.

It strikes me that we often have another leftover that seems to get put aside until we whip it up again next Thanksgiving. It’s such a shame we don’t serve it up more often; it has zero calories. It often warms up the ones to whom we serve it, and it takes so little effort.

No, I’m not referring to pumpkin pie—I did read a report that suggested the aroma of pumpkin pie has an aphrodisiac affect on men, good to keep in mind—but I refer to the act of thanking others. Now that I think about it, men’s performance might also be enhanced by regular backrubs or verbal appreciation for taking out the trash and the like.

Oops, off on a tangent.

There are so many expressions of thanks we can share with all sorts of people we come in contact in our daily life. I know we all are so rushed with our busy schedules and have a lot to deal with just to keep moving forward.

But,when someone makes the time, even a total stranger, to thank me for something, I experience a softening reaction inside. There’s an opening of my heart. Don’t you react this way, too?

This works even if the expression is simply a rote social convention. When I was in France a couple of years ago, I remember how nice it was to be greeted when I entered a little shop, “Bonjour, Madame.” And when I would leave, inevitably I would be told, “Au revoir, Madame” or “Merci, Madame.” It was a social convention, but it warmed me nonetheless. It was someone telling me they were aware of my presence. I was an appreciated potential customer. It even works when I overhear someone thanking someone else!

Put that special ingredient of yourself into your expression of gratitude. One of the most positive, proactive impacts we can make every day throughout the year, with negligible effort, is to say, “Thank you.” It makes you, as well as the intended, better for it.

People may tire after a week or so of leftover turkey, but they seldom tire of being genuinely appreciated every day of the year.

Thanks y'all!

How does the photo relate to the topic? It doesn't have anything to do with it, well, maybe the autumn leaves, maybe just needed a visual filler. Who cares! To see more photographs: www.kweststudio8.etsy.com

Thankful Options ...

Summer’s done, done, done! In fact, we had light snow flurries in Birch Bay off and on today, with more snow forecast for the weekend.

Halloween came and went.

It is now the week before Thanksgiving. What? Really!

What to do for Thanksgiving 2010 tumble around in my thoughts. I am grateful I have friends and relatives who have invited me to join them for Thanksgiving dinner; the aroma of roasting turkey, sinking my choppers into whipped potatoes and gravy, finished up with pecan pie and a dollop of whipped cream.

Lovely, indeed!

I’ve been watching the geese and the ducks migrating through the bay, and I thought that in the accounts that I've read of that first Thanksgiving between the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims, turkey wasn’t even mentioned. They had duck and venison, and the diners likely enjoyed seafood, cabbage, onions, corn and squash.

Then Janet McCall at The Northern Light mentioned on Facebook about re-thinking Thanksgiving Dinner from a locavore perspective. She brought up the idea of locally caught crab, clams and even Washington white fish available at Barlean’s Fishery.

All this mulling over food options; has Thanksgiving has been reduced to food? So it would seem.

This year I’ve decided that food is not going to be my primary focus. I can wine and dine with family and friends any day of the year. I read in the newspaper that volunteers are needed to help serve Thanksgiving dinner sponsored by the American Legion Post 86, at the Blaine Senior Center. A quick phone call and my Thanksgiving plans are settled.

I’m thankful for the abundance I enjoy, the loving family and close friends in my life. I’m grateful for the freedoms I enjoy by living in this great country.

But, this year I'm opting to spend Thanksgiving by serving a hot turkey dinner to folks in my community.

Nov 12 ... passage of time seems unreal!

Veteran’s Day Weekend here in Birch Bay, WA. Today turned out to be a nice day, evidenced by people out walking or cycling. I noticed a truck was out collecting the last of the Porta Potties. The familiar blue structures will no longer dot the beachfront, at least until next spring. Some businesses will also close up for the winter, as the bay settles into the quiet of the off-season. Such are the signs, much like the leaves turning color signaling the end of summer and arrival of fall and winter.

I’m sitting in my office on Birch Bay Drive looking at the bay. A breeze is chopping up the water. I think another weather front is due to come in this weekend. Daytime temperatures are in the low 50s, high 40s, and nights are in 30s, but not quite freezing; not yet anyway.

I’ve started offering my photographs for sale in an online shop at

http://www.kweststudio8.etsy.com/

and in looking over the 30-some that I have uploaded so far, I’m a little surprised that I haven’t included any photographs of Birch Bay.

I love it here and spend a lot of time beachcombing and simply enjoying the environment, so where are those photographs? Hmmm.

The only good photos I have are of sunsets. I’ll have to go through my files and see if I have some of shells or driftwood to include in the shop. My photographic equipment isn’t sophisticated enough to capture great shots of the many migratory birds in this bay, which is a shame.

Speaking of beachcombing, I’m including a couple of photos of some cool shells of Birch Bay.