Kathleen's Korner at TheStidhams.com

All over Western Washington, records are being set.  We have had three power outages in the last week, apparently all from waterlogged trees being blown over by the wind.  The most recent, yesterday, was on the little 1400-foot long road that connects our dead-end street to the rest of the peninsula…  luckily a neighbor allowed us to use their extra-long driveway (which connects both streets) so we could get M to his rehearsal yesterday.  By the time he was done, the crews had cleared the tree from the road and restored power.  But it was a good 7 or 8 hours before the lights came back on!

Seattle has had, as of this evening, 12.34 inches of rain, the normal amount to this point in the month is about 3.61 inches (data from KOMOTV.com).  The record for ALL of November has been 12.92 inches.  We are south and west of Seattle,  and typically get more rain than they do.  I haven’t been keeping track here.  It’s been a lot though…

The trees seem to be holding their own on our property, though I haven’t checked the ones down front — Most of the ones I would worry about are still small enough that I don’t think their bare branches would catch enough wind to tip them.  The quince, however, are still pretty leafy, and I am concerned that if enough of a gust hit them they might go over.

The medlar finally dropped all but the few leaves on its tips, so I am comfortable with it’s status.

The figs are done for the year, and the last ripe ones we harvested went bad in the fridge.  Oh well, we’ll have more in early summer!

The dogs would like it to dry out a bit again, even the galoot doesn’t much care for being covered in mud all the time!

And I?  If more of it were falling as snow in the mountains, I would be happier.  But though some of the ski areas have opened early (some of them last week), it’s been warm and most of the precipitation has been liquid, filling the rivers, channels, lakes and puddles instead of building reserves as snowpack.

Wind, rain, cold. We have it all, here in beautiful rural western washington…

We experienced a power surge this morning when a transformer down the road blew. The major items were spared, but the router for our LAN was toasted. One child chose to go play at a friend’s house and spend the night, though they were totally without power. The other is home, and was content to read and talk with us.

Good thing, too. We worked through some difficulties from earlier in the week. And had a good time.

And it is wet. It is dark. It is cold.  I must admit, it is worth it.  The clouds parted briefly tonight, and the stars that we could see were brilliant. Clear, fresh, untouched — unsullied — by man’s needs and hopes and fears and works. A reminder of how small is the world we inhabit.

And we are, obviously, back online.

today are turned to burnished bronze.  They glow in the light as if they were fires in the dusk.

But yesterday, they were bright!  I am putting the pics in, full size, because they were so pretty!

The rain stopped for the morning, and the sky opened up to the bright blue that seems enhanced in postcards.  But it was just clean Pacific Northwest air.  And as the children emerged from the school, the rain began again.  In earnest.  And again the clouds brushed the treetops briefly before the night closed in.

I am tired.  I am tired of politics, I am tired of parenting, I am tired.  Tonight when the children are asleep I will play computer games and then fall into bed early.  And I will dream of cheerful yellow trees, doing their best to brighten the world at a dismal time of year.