Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Lots of gold

“Daffodils that come before the swallow dares, and takes the winds of March with beauty.”
William Shakespeare
I noticed something completely random today, as we sat outside a station, waiting for a freight to pass - there are TONS of daffodils growing in Oregon. I mean, seriously. Like weeds in some places. Now, I know what you're probably thinking. But, no, these little golden flowers weren't growing in gardens. They were growing in some strange places, that I noticed:
  • between the rail tracks and an old car lot, and factory
  • in the middle of a forest (twice)
  • between the rail and a... ah... dump is the best word I can come up with
  • outside a homeless encampment
  • and other, slightly less strange, places.
I wonder if the Amtrak employees throw the bulbs out the window or something? Anyway. As we paused at another small town, I took a picture:

look! a Kanga and Roo! (sorta)

On a 7 hour train ride (oh, yes, we were over an hour late) I had a lot of time to think. Some of the things that came to mind:
  • I have a week until the Solstice-Equinox Challenge date. I need to start dyeing, spinning, and knitting something.
  • I have way too many swaps going.
  • There are far too many painfully impoverished families in this country (actually, one is too many) - this came to mind as we passed by shack after shack in a couple of dirt-poor towns.
  • My sister's FIL is a Holocast survivor. I'm still coming to terms with this. I felt like the floor had fallen out from under my feet when I saw a portrait of him and his family, all wearing the golden Jude stars, in my sister's study. My niece is part of the "blessing" on Shoah survivors. I mused on this as we passed through Vancouver.
  • And then I noticed all the daffodils.
Weird, the things that pop into the mind, eh? Ohwell. The house is a MESS. I leave the boys alone for 3 weeks and what do I come home to? Paint dust everywhere, the furniture piled up in the bedrooms (mine in particular, I mention), the cabinets all gone in the kitchen, no chairs anywhere... etc etc. I understand that these are part of the renovation process, but, really, we're not doing every room at the house at once - so why don't we tear the place apart as needed?

Really. Males.

I was very pleased to notice that there were THREE parcels for me sitting on the dining table (sans chairs or china cabinets). Two were from my Hogwarts Houses Swap partner, Laural. The other is, ah, a surprise. For someone else. Who reads this blog. So, nieder.

Back to the Harry Potter goodness. I opened the smaller box first and squeed to find a Gryffindor Totoro! He was on my wist, and everything! I nearly died of the squeeage. He also came with some other goodies...


... a colouring book, stickers, Harry Potter stitch markers (LUMOS, FAWKES, HARRY, MUGGLE, HEDWIG and WIZARD), and a QUILT!!:


My wonderful, magnificent, partner made me a Gryffindor QUILT!! I nearly dropped it when I opened it. It's being modelled on the 'rents queen-sized bed, so it fits my double perfectly. I had to wash it, since the paint dust and Charlie-hair clung to it the moment I got it out of the box. The second it's out of the dryer, I'm hiding it in my room. On my bed!

OMG! I think I have to go and SQUEE again... And cuddle my Totoro.

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    I'm a recent graduate of the University of Oregon, a Peace Corps nominee, and trying to knit, spin, and craft up my stash before I get sent off to a foreign country for 2 years.

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