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Happy or unhappy, families are all mysterious. We have only to imagine how differently we would be described -- and will be, after our deaths -- by each of the family members who believe they know us. |
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Thursday, January 1, 1998
Today I went for an outing (my father would have said "an expedition," which we went on every Saturday) with my sister M---- and her younger nephew B---. She and her husband are doing the prep work before refinishing some floors in their house, so they are taking shifts in the child care. There is a surprising lack of kids' movies this holiday season, so we decided to go to a museum, after stopping off for lunch. I thought she had called to make sure the Burke Museum (on the University of Washington campus) was open, but she hadn't. Oops! But B--- took the disappointment well, just commenting about how he'd like to take an axe and break open the building. He'd like to chop down the totem poles in front while he's at it. (He's four and a half, by the way.)
So back into the car we get, and off to visit MOHAI (this cool acronym denotes the Musem of History and Industry). Denied! It was closed also. So we took a walk, since the rain had mostly let up. There is a boardwalk and chipped-bark path on the floating islands, which is where I let B---- fall in the water last June. He certainly remembers it, though he took it well at the time. It was cool and gray, a typical Seattle winter day. We didn't see as many birds as I would have liked, but we did see several varieties of ducks, and a cormorant.
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I got some disturbing news tonight. My sister called to tell me that my brother has come to Seattle. (Material on my past with my brother: "Summer of a Dormouse" and "The Scythe of Death.") I haven't seen my brother since 1989, though I have spoken to him on the phone. God! I wish he had stayed in Virginia! I love him as a brother, but I feel really queasy about him being in town here. My sister hasn't seen him yet. He called from the bus station, and she directed him to the youth hostel. Youth! he's thirty seven!
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This month's design uses a cool clipart font from Emerald City fontwerks, called "little people". I also used the Shakespeare folio font from last month.
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