Holland Holiday Happenings

This weekend was a special holiday for OH. A celebration of Dutch roots. Saturday turned out to be perfect weather for a parade, carnival and street fair. This one was unique with the senior citizens dressed in traditional Dutch costumes, a Dutchman making wooden shoes by hand, and the "klompen" shoe race down a miniature canal in the middle of the street fair on main street (rather than the "pinewood derby" done in so many other places). It was fun to wander around. Of course the parade ended with the pirate ship (sans Santa, but with festively dressed pirates). Evidently the pirate ship is the local Yacht Club's contribution to the city's festivities.

Evidence of the importance of this celebration to the community was the bumper to bumper traffic all morning as people went to and from the parade. There were lots of children's organizations represented including Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church youth groups, Twaekwondo kids, and even a Therapeutic Horseback riding organization...which I didn't know was available till now. The high school bands were good and there were a couple of floats (one of an orca whale, of course).
Another memory made. Another elephant ear eaten.

Dutch Singing Trio
Carnival
Dutch Shoemaker
Four blocks of Street Fair
Parade with Kilts and Bagpipes
High School Bands
Shriners

A Sunny Weekend

A homemade vegan Manicotti.
Lilacs picked from an apparently abandoned garden.
A Tulip Festival.

Letting Go

This week has been hard as more and more staff and families find out I am leaving. Why is it that one has to leave or die before we find out how 'wonderful' we are? :o) It isn't all roses...well, maybe it is, as the thorns keep drawing blood.

One of my assistants and I had a major upheaval this week. It is somewhat settled now, but the emotions are still ragged. I do think part of it is the background of my departing soon. I understand from others' reports that my assistant has a very hard time accepting change (don't we all?). Add to that our locking horns on issues surrounding teaching strategies for transitioning a student with whom she has been 1:1 for the last 2 years. Then there were the nitty gritty teacher/assistant relationship vs. friend relationship and you can perhaps understand how emotionally drained I am this weekend.

I'm going to drown myself in the Tulip Festival and perhaps have beautiful photos to share for the next post.

Tail-end of Spring Break and Back to Work It is!

It was just WONDERFUL to see so many of you during my brief visit to River City! You are all so dear to me! Thanks for taking time to visit! I know I didn't get a chance to see as many of you as I'd like, but there will be more opportunities! The full flush of spring in River City was so wonderful to behold! A feast for the eyes! Here's a bit of what I got to enjoy.



Lots of news has filled my life in the last few weeks. I applied for and accepted a job to work for the Walla Walla Public Schools doing what I'm doing here. So I am thrilled to be able to be near family and my first grandchild next year.

I always said I'd "never" move to WW. Well, as usual, never say NEVER! I will desperately miss the snow-capped mountain views, the fresh sea air, the walks beside the sea. I'm sure I'll find other enjoyments for walking, but I will miss this area. Perhaps I will one day retire here...when I stop working at 75! :o) I will miss this funky little town with its wild seaside weather and subtle "we've always done it this way", international-Navy culture.

It is tulip festival month here. The end of the month there is the Oak Harbor "Holland Happenings" festivities. I can't wait to see it all. There is a marathon/walk and I'm going to try the 5K walk. I used to do them every once in a while in Portland, but haven't exercised as well here, this year. We'll see.

I have a lot to do before I leave. A bit of a repeat of last year, only I have a couple more months in which to do it. I plan to do a bit of inexpensive sight-seeing before I leave the area. If any of you would like to join me, give me a call. I am tentatively planning on moving the end of July/first of August, so I have a couple weeks to settle in before school starts the 3rd week of August in WW.

More Fun

Our trip Sunday didn't turn out to be as warm as our one the day before, but it was fun, anyway. We rode one of the ferries as 'walk ons' which was quite cheap. A man gave a Celtic Harp concert on board (while having his CDs and DVDs available for sale). The concert was a delightful surprise. Upon landing, we walked around Port Townsend. Very interesting place. We had 'high tea' at an English Tea Room and Jean and Dave were quite thrilled to have people to talk to about England. I learned a lot about their excursions. It was great to catch up and learn a few 'English terms.' They enjoyed sharing memories with the proprietor at the tea room and in a few other small shops we browsed.

We ate a cold picnic on the pier. Not only was the picnic food cold, but the weather was cold, which made us cold. We finally gave up and headed for an indoor coffee shop to warm ourselves. All in all is was fun day, just cold! Jean and I identified even more shore birds. We had anticipated staying in town till sundown and then watching the sun as we rode the ferry back, but gave up about 6 pm, as it was rainy and all. We kept hoping to see whales and even considered a whale watching expedition, but they were too expensive for us!

I introduced Jean and Dave to a couple of vegan meals while they were here and they cooked for me a couple times as well! Ah. Friendship. The stuff life is made of.

Spring Break at Last!

I've been blessed to have company from Portland come to stay this weekend of spring break and we had a glorious day yesterday first looking at old cars at the "Cruzin' Whidbey' group on main street (much to Dave's delight) and then driving south to walk along trails to view the San Juans and Victoria, standing very close to winter-starved blacktailed deer munching sweet, green spring grass with the bunnies near by doing the same thing. We sat on a deck in the warm sun, eating a cafe lunch, watching and labeling shore birds (Jean and I especially enjoyed this part). We strolled through the delightful little shops. Later we looked out over the sound from another vantage point and looked at the light house, though it was closed. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous and the pictures do not give justice to the beauty we imbibed.