Mossy Cottage Knits

The Brigadier Bash!

<Very picture heavy post, Dear Readers.>

Huh. I think I forget to mention that blogging will be spotty as I take time off to show the Man in Red the sights and sounds of The Emerald City. My bad. Blogging will be spotty as I take time off to yaddah, yaddah, yaddah.

Somewhere, God and Buddha are sipping iced double tall lattes together and having a righteous chuckle over the sight of two nine-to-five “civilians,” if you will, who live very much on the grid and lead tightly and anally structured lives, trying to entertain a monk who lives very much off the grid and just goes with the karmic flow, and vice versa. But we’re all happily making do. Right now he’s in Portland with good friend Sarah and plans on being back here this evening. Perhaps. Maybe. We think. Let me check my Day Timer, my Outlook Calendar, and my BlackBerry.

Those of you who read Cuzzin Tom’s blog know that when he’s not all about the Buddha and the Mongolia and the religion and the politics, he is all about the birds. It’s no surprise, therefore, that here we are at Meadowbrook Pond, ostensibly to see the beavers that come out every evening, but, as always, the Cuzz is scanning the skies, the shrubbery, and trees for some new beakèd friend. Or some old one. He’s not particular. And, look, he seems to be sucking me in as well…

We spent much of the next day at the Union Bay Natural Area continuing our hopeful scan of the skies. Since the UBNA is located at the Center for Urban Horticulture, we were also able to enjoy some beautiful plants. The plant-list box was annoyingly empty so all you get are pictures and the thoughts and impressions of this know-nothing amateur.

The Center’s outdoor display consists of a central point marked by a fountain, with paths radiating out from it in a 360-degree, spoke-like pattern:

We saw ethereal white poppies taller than one’s head, perhaps a day past their prime, but this only made them all the more beautiful, like the wings of sad or sleepy fairies:

A breath-taking, substantial, cascading grass, a green and white frozen waterfall of foliage:

Light-cantaloupe-colored dahlias with almost-black leaves and a chubby bee or two:

Dark coral-red day lilies with chartreuse leaves:

What look like variegated orange-and-yellow Echinacea or daisies. Anyone know what these are? We want!

Two utterly charming photos that TMK took of a white-crowned sparrow:

And, look, a turtle! These big galoots were everywhere.

Sunday was the Big Event, the bringing together of the Cuzzin and the Northwest Chapter of Dulaan Brigadiers. I was deathly afraid that hordes of people would cancel at the last moment—and TMK and I would be left with 5 lbs of minced burger meat, 16 hotdogs, 50 tomato slices, an entire head of washed and torn lettuce, and 24 cans of soda to eat or drink—but my worritin’ was for nowt.

The calm before the storm:

In full swing!

Cuzzin Tom being a Tibetan Buddhist monk, TMK and I thought Tibetan prayer flags might add some appropriate ambience to the fête. I bought these at the most quaint and fascinating little Tibetan hole-in-the-wall, the kind of place you're convinced will do a Brigadoon on you and disappear in the mist. To counteract our Catholic and Episcopalian cooties and to honor the flags as best we could, we carefully researched how and when they were supposed to be hung which is, apparently, in the morning, in the sun, in the breeze. The morning part cooperated, the breeze part cooperated, the sun part not so much. However, after many false starts, many yells of “Quick! Quick! The sun is out!” and many dashes out into the yard, only to have the sun disappear, success!

Cuzzin Tom holding court and charming da ladies...

...and wearing a hat knit for him by MaryB. (What do you suppose was going on in my mind that I was making that face? I was eating ice cream! Who makes a face like that around ice cream?)

Local Brigadier Diana, on the left, and Camela, who drove all the way up from Portland, showing off her fetching smile and a felted Mongolian sheep pin she won in a little parlor game we played.

Carol in Seattle who, we were surprised to discover, lives in Olympia, not Seattle at all. But she was spiffy, and we hope our paths cross again!

The twins, MaryB, and the back of Naomi's sister’s head.

Lastly, incontrovertible proof that the Cuzzin was here:

I can’t begin to describe how wonderful the party was, the food, the company, the knitting, the weather, the Cuzz, and all with the knowledge that another very successful Dulaan year was behind us.

Wait. Did someone say “successful?”

Lookee here, people:

16,465!!!

And more to go.

Posted by Ryan at July 18, 2007 11:34 AM