An Existential Question

What do you do? 
I was asked this question twice this month and came up short on my answer both times.  The first was at a retirement party for a friend in Seattle.  Another Metroid (as we liked to call ourselves) in asking where I lived these days and trying to imagine me in the woods near Rosario Resort since this was his only experience with the San Juans was answered only with "Oh, I manage to keep busy".  And last week at an equinox bonfire, the same question was put to me by the daughter of a friend.  "I'm retired" is all I could manage to say.  She turned away.

As you can see from my blogs these last few years, I feel my life is full and meaningful.  Why is it I can only come up with lame replies such as "Anything I want to do" and "Everyday is Saturday"?  In part, I suppose it is hard to label such a life.  I volunteer, or I garden, or I weave baskets are all inadequate by themselves.  And I don't want to blab on and on when the casual question does not require it.

Gentle Readers, if any of you have experienced a similar self-identification situation, perhaps you could help me with a solution.  Meanwhile, here are a few of the things I have been in March:

Grandmother

Roger and I became grandparents once again early in the morning on March 13th when Corbin Olafr Ellison arrived in the world.  Met with the news of his arrival two weeks ahead of schedule, we raced to get our car out of bondage at the repair shop, make the 10:30 boat and pick up the grandtwins and return to the island with them.  We had a fun filled two days and then I brought them home to meet their new little brother.  Meanwhile their two year old sister Audrey went home with another grandma.

Lenora & Iliana meet Corbin



Nature Lover

March has been interesting weather-wise to say the least.  We've had snow and wind and rain and yesterday, a gorgeous gardening day.  The daffodils are blooming but we are cognizant of the possibility of another frost or two before the season is over.  Roger and I have been chipping up a year's worth of prunings and limbings and fellings.  But yesterday we switched gears and chose between building better fences in the chicken yard and the courtyard and harvesting willow for that project and the "crow's nest" (see last month), and weeding the raspberry patch and a bunch of other tasks equally important. 

early March snowfall

Committee Member
Last week alone and in part due to grandmothering from the week before, I squeezed in a nominating committee meeting and regular lunch meeing of SIFri, two membership meetings, a board meeting, and a monthly gathering of the Textile Guild,  plus my bi-weekly shift at the Food Coop.  Oh, and I took a day off for a yoga retreat as well. 

Social Butterfly
This month (so far) I've been to two birthday, one going away, one retirement (in Seattle) parties, an equinox celebration,  two neighborhood gatherings for games, a fund-raising dinner, and a play.  Still have a week to go.  When do I have time for anything else?

Creating Collages on Peggy Sue's birthday

Blogger
Next month I will show you the pictures from a three day workshop on Shaw for Tahitian Market Baskets that I will be attending this week.

What I've been up to

Gosh it's late February already.  I'm sure you're all wondering what I've been doing in the dead of winter.  As last we left it, we were pretty much snowed in for a week.  Lovely, lovely time.  But then the events that were postponed bumped up against other events and I feel like I've been double-booked ever since.

Karen Z, Carol C, and Victor O at Janey's Retirement Party

I've been on a couple whirlwind trips to the Mainland, one fun (Janey's retirement), one not so fun (dental work).  I've been weaving at a workshop on Orcas for a few days.  I've been to several parties, the playwrights festival, and a lot of meetings.

Susan M working on Doubleweave Pattern

And in between all of these things, I've been painting my upstairs bath and bedroom.  Bright colors. 

Outside, the weather improved quite a bit and has actually been quite mild since last month.  That all came to an end this weekend when it started snowing again.  Roger and I have been chipping up all the tree branches and shrubs we put into piles last July (sometimes it takes us awhile).

Note snow on lens of camera

We also started a tree house for our grandkids!  First, cut off a Willow Tree a few feet off the ground.  Then let the willow sprouts encircle a floor attached to the stump.  Place gangplank from higher level across chasm to "crow's nest".  Begin weaving basket using willow sprouts as stakes.  In a couple years, ya got yourself a treehouse!

This month also marked the beginning of my first book club since retirement.  Five of us met at my house for a dinner of West African cuisine as we discussed Little Bee by Chris Cleave.  It'll be a great success if its only half as good as the ones I've belonged to in Seattle.

Looking forward to March we planned more home improvements, another retirement to celebrate,  more meetings and parties to attend, and the best of all, helping take care of the twins when our grandson arrives in the world.