CHANGE IN THE AIR

I squint through the thick fog which is enveloping us daily, and hear the weather man bemoaning that this is the coolest summer we have had in forty years in the Bay Area.  Still I embrace it better than the  heat enveloping most of our country.  Growing up in the Seattle area, where I will be a week from today, fog was a gentle friend, tickling my toes and fueling my imagination, and often leading me on mystical walks alone through the woods , playing tag with the Madrona trees and bracken fern and stinging nettles,  surrounding our Magnolia Bluff home.

By plan I am going back to my roots to celebrate my 80th birthday with close friends and family, a change in venue and kind of celebration for us all.  In the fall of 1948, Shirley, Dolores, and I were randomly assigned to be roommates at Delta Zeta sorority at the University of Washington. Our paths through life have been diverse, but we have remained friends for 62 years.  Egad. So it seemed fitting to come together with other friends and family for this octogenarian occasion.  

First we will hang our hats at a quaint inn, in La Conner, where on Saturday we hope to regale our audience with a skit I wrote about all the trouble we got into during our first few months of sorority living.  This will be followed by a luncheon for about forty, and toasts to our long friendship.  

I'm saddened that my cousin Dollie, 95, who was going to speak about me at the luncheon, is in the hospital with a broken hip, but my niece Cheari will speak in her place, and four of my friends from here, (Catherine, Mary, Andrea, and Stacey), will be present to liven the party.  

Meanwhile, despite the fog, this has been a historic week in so many respects: with the 9th circuit decision in San Francisco, gay marriage rights will certainly go to the Supreme court, and for the first time ever, three women will be serving on the court.  And on Cathy Lane, the elusive  puya bloom has finally opened.