Christmas Ornaments from Here, There and Everywhere
Ten years ago when we put almost our entire life into storage, we had no idea we would be gone this long. We had no idea we would live in four different countries, and that we wouldn’t see our things again for lo, these many years.
Our first contract, I was allowed one thousand pounds. Do you know how little one thousand pounds is? Think clothing, think basic necessities – 1000 lbs. just isn’t very much.
I packed just a very few Christmas ornaments, figuring I could pick things up along the way. Fortunately for us, the next country, after Saudi Arabia, was Germany, the land of Christmas ornaments. Our tree is eclectic. It’s not necessarily a tree with appeal to anyone else; it is a very personal Christmas tree, with lots of memories and stories. Lucky for you, I won’t bore you will all of them. 😉
We are sentimental. When we can, we decorate the tree together, and we remember with each ornament. . . When he was young, our son would get so impatient with us, and our remembering!
Here is the very first ornament our son ever made in school – it is a dreamcatcher; his teacher was very into the American Southwest and American Indian traditions:
We met and married in Heidelberg, so we always have that ornament with us:
My ties to the Pacific Northwest:
AdventureMan’s love of Africa and the Middle East:
Religious symbols:
Beautiful German antique silver walnuts and pinecones:
And memories of places we’ll remember . . .
Whew! I’m tired, too! Think I will go join the Qatteri Cat in a catnap!
Brrrr. . . . Shiver . . . Cold in Kuwait
When I checked my WeatherUnderground readings for this morning, I laughed when I saw that the weather at 0630 in Kuwait was exactly the same as in Damascus, Syria, and colder than Seattle! Oh you disbelievers! Here is what it looked like:
It is going to be another GORGEOUS day in Kuwait – cold, clear and sunshiny. OK, AdventureMan, you are right . . . it is nice to have sunshine every day. 🙂
As lovely as it is, this weather is very hard on the poor, without adequate protection from the cold. Please, if you are feeling generous, please help out the good people at Operation Hope – Kuwait as they gather gently used shoes, coats and warm bedding to distribute to the poorest of the poor. No matter what you can give (they can always use your monetary donations, too!) every penny will benefit those who need it the most – the very very poor.
Qatteri Cat Trims the Tree
3:30 in the morning, and I am wide-awake. I can lie in bad and toss and turn, or I can get up and make use of all this energy now and take a nap later, which is what I decide to do. I want to get a Christmas tree up, and I am hoping Qatteri Cat will not take too much interest. Two years ago, he pulled the tree over in the middle of the night, utter chaos.
Toss a load of laundry in the washer, pull down the tree box, get it set up, lights on – it’s great putting on lights while it is still dark out (I can see the ring of fishing boats along the horizon, and I shiver, thinking it must be really, really cold out there with the near zero Centigrade overnight temperatures) because I can see where I am putting them and how they will look when it is all finished, not too many lights in one area and big empty spaces elsewhere.
And then – the ornaments. When I have my own house, I usually have one big tree in the living room and one smaller one in the family room. The big tree has all the beautiful ornaments we have collected over the years, and the smaller tree is usually a theme tree – Maybe all red and white, pepperminty, one year and all blue and silver another. It’s my experiment tree. But we never mess with the serious family tree – it is thoroughly eclectic, and that is the way we want it to be. Hmmm. I think I will do a separate entry later on the ornaments.
The lights are on – just as the sky is beginning to lighten, the Qatteri Can and I finish up. The Qatteri Cat goes and gets his babies to share the tree with. Thanks be to God, he is not showing any interest in pulling on anything this year. We enjoy the lights together.
We put on Christmas music and I get a cup of coffee so I can sit and see if the tree needs more. Here is one of my very favorite Christmas CD’s (I have a collection of very old Christmas music, along with some very good more recent Christmas music)
The Qatteri Cat says he is finished. He is exhausted. He is going to take a nap. Wouldn’t it be nice, to have the life of a housecat?
Night Flight
Arriving at the next airport, we find our flight is delayed, while a seat is found for every single passenger. As I look around, I feel dismay – this flight is like 3/4 college students. We thought with Eid having ended, the plane would be half empty – NOT so! The lounge is packed with twenty-somethings headed home to Kuwait on Christmas break from their universities in the USA.
I used to be one of those. My parents lived in Germany; my sister and I would travel home. One difference, we were flying military planes, so they would wait until a whole planeload of college students had gathered and then send us all off to Frankfurt on one plane. It was party party party, card games, laughing, talking, catching up with friends from all over Europe, some flying on to bases in north Africa and Greece . . . I don’t think we had any bases in the Middle East at that time (It was a LONG time ago!)
But payback is hell. Now I am about to board a flight full of young people like I used to be. I can kiss a good night’s sleep goodbye! Every single seat on the plane is taken, and it is a BIG plane. I prepare for the worst. I remember those days . . .
Here is what really happened: this was the nicest, most polite group of college age students I have ever met. When they gathered at the food places, they talked quietly. Most of them slept or quietly watched movies the entire flight. The flight was one of the quietest I have ever been on. The bathrooms stayed relatively clean. I was so totally impressed.
If there are Kuwaiti parents reading this blog whose college students are flying home around now, you can pat yourselves on the back. You raised young people with excellent manners. 🙂
Airport Art – SeaTac Airport
Way way down at the end of B concourse, someone has painted the windows. It looks Christmas-y to me, or at the very least, wintery, but I can’t imagine they painted this beautiful painting just for a temporary display, so it must be permanent, or semi-permanent. Having pieces like this on display for people – public art – thrills my heart. It caught the eye, even of people rushing from the plane to their next gate. Even if it were only a second or two, it’s worth it, isn’t it, to have art in unexpected places?
I don’t understand exactly how this all fits together. There are three pieces, the forest and eagle, the night sky with constellations, and the people dreaming in their cottage bed. I tried to get an overview, and then broke it down into sections so you could see it better.
Even posting the photos, I see new details. It is as if the artist is playing a game with us, challenging us to spot the countless little details s/he included to catch our eye and delight us unexpectedly. Look at the little owls in the trees to the right of the cabin! Look at the way the artist disguised/included the doors on the left as part of the mural! Look at the stars, drifting down toward earth – or are they becoming snowflakes? Look at the comfortable couple, wrapped up warmly on a cold winter’s night. Look at the sun and the moon in their carriage, the moon pouring out the milky way stars . . . so many details! Draco the dragon! Ursa Major! I love the scope of this mural!
Anthony’s At the Airport
We like the Anthony’s chain of seafood restaurants in the Seattle area, and we did not know they had one at the Seattle airport. We got there early, our flight was delayed, so we decided to have breakfast. There were all kinds of options, but when we saw the Anthony’s, we knew that was where we wanted to eat.
First, as you walk in, the floor is sort of sea-like, beach and sea-like, all done in stone and concrete and glass, but in waves. I was so fascinated by having all that beauty underfoot that I completely forgot to take any photos, but it thrilled me to have artwork so beautifully utilitarian. I can’t imagine who designed it, but it delighted my heart.
And, speaking of hearts, AdventureMan and I were disgustingly good. We just got our blood tests back and while our cholesterol levels have improved, we are still borderline, and want to be careful. I am not a big fan of oatmeal, but when it is smothered in brown sugar and pecans and blueberries it is a whole different ball game.
AdventureMan had the granola with bananas and blueberries – and said it was a “Yumm.”
We loved the windows of the restaurant – it reminded us of the old Saarinen TWA wing at JFK airport, with it’s soaring ceilings and feeling of flight.
I love the care taken with the details – even the teacups:
And the reminder that Anthony’s – even at the airport – sticks close to the sea:
Leafing Seattle
A quick stop by the bank to stock up on cash before we leave for Kuwait, and although it is raining furiously, we take delight in the gorgeous leaves all over the pavement (dangerously slick but oh so beautiful.)
Tai Ho in Kenmore, revisited
I can never go back to Seattle without touching bases with my best friend from college, we never miss a beat, once we are back together, even after all these years, it’s just all about catching up, and there is never a dull moment. It is particularly delightful to me that she and my husband also get along so well.
Many times, with her busy schedule, with my blowing into town for a short time, we have to catch what time we can together. Last time I was there, she introduced me to Tai Ho, and oh! WOW!
This time we ordered totally different things – and the food was equally delicious. Wontons, Dumplings, Noodle Soup with Chinese Pickles, Shrimp with vegetables, and Chicken with Black Beans and garlic – great food, even better conversation, and an wonderful, unforgettable evening. Everything was delicious, but the noodle soup was my hands-down favorite. They make their own noodles, and on a cold night, oh, hot Chinese noodle soup – my favorite.
The Apple Store Christmas
Just before leaving, we make one last stop at the Apple store; AdventureMan needs a tune-up. All the Apple employees have on shirts with Christmas related sayings, very clever, wish I could remember a few to share with you.
In an instant, AdventureMan has an appointment, and with another instant, the glitch is fixed and we are on our way.
Love their display windows:
The other stores at the mall may look a little ghost-town-y, but not the Apple store (although this is NOT busy for the Apple store):
The air is crisp, to say the least, and no relief is in sight. Guess it’s time to get on back to Kuwait, where the temperatures are above zero F. 🙂
Seattle Sunset
“Quick! Look! Look at the sunset!” AdventureMan pulls over. “Don’t you want a photo for your blog?”
We’ve both still got colds and I am tired. At this point, I just want to get home. But . . . he is right, it is a glorious sunset.
Yes, that is me holding the camera.
When we got to the airport to pick up our Seattle rental, the helpful, courteous man behind the counter asked if we would like a small SUV.
“For the same price?” I asked. Part of me remembered by May rental when I ended up paying $70 every time I filled the tank.
“Same price, small Jeep” he said with a smile, and handed me the folder.
When we got to the rental cars, it was not a small Jeep. It was a Jeep that looked like a Hummer. AdventureMan loaded all the bags in (it’s Christmas, remember? We are loaded with bags.) We get in the car and AdventureMan starts driving out of the parking garage.
“I don’t think I like this car.” I say.
If you are married, especially if you have been married for a long time, you can keep reading. You are the kinds of people who understand how much a marriage has to survive to endure.
“It’s too big. I can’t drive this car.” I say.
“What do you want to do?” AdventureMan says patiently, but any wife who has been married a long time knows that whatever happens next has to be quick and relatively painless.
“I want to see if we can get something I can drive, too.” I say.
“You want us to go back and park and get another car?” he says, to clairify.
“Yes.” I say, knowing he is very tired and I am walking a fine line here, but I HATE this car, it feels cramped and you can’t see all around, it is sort of squashed feeling.
I quickly go to the Fast Counter, and the man, God bless him, has a Rav4, just one, and I can have it at the same price.
“You don’t want the luxury car?” he asks me as I am signing the papers.
“It was supposed to be a SMALL Jeep.” I countered. “That is not a small Jeep.”
“No,” the counter guy said “You almost got our top of the line Jeep for the economy car price.”
“I don’t care,” I reply (not as rudely as it sounds) “I don’t like it.”
I take the new keys back to AdventureMan, who gamely pulls the bags out of the big huge luxury Jeep and loads them into the more modest Rav4.
It was a smart decision. We both enjoyed the Rav4, being a little high up, having space, but still being small enough to fit into the narrow, short Seattle parking spaces. Anyway, that’s the Rav4 in the photo with the sunset.
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