Yesterday was a difficult day in the most difficult time of the year. Yesterday I stood in front of a world-gone-brilliantly-white beautifully decorated Christmas Tree, one of 26 on display at the Mary Bridge Children’s Festival of Trees. And as I stood there, I was still trying to hide my emotions. Moments before the song […]
To Ponder
Letter: Our Hearts, Hardwired for Home
Moms and dads with their little ones are lined up for pictures with Santa. Smiling arm-in-arm couples watch their children hop about on snowflakes which twirl about on the floor, their images projected from high in the rafters. Exquisitely decorated, soon to be auctioned, Christmas trees line the pavilion where husbands and wives consider their […]
Letter: Just Another Day at the Old Watering Hole
Submitted by Aaron Arkin. The Flying Hungarian Trapeze and Tumbling Circus visited my birdbath this morning with two new events on the bill: The Stellar Jay/Scrub Jay Smack down; and the Black Capped Chickadee Strafing Run. The first event occurred when a Stellar Jay and a Scrub Jay arrived at the birdbath at the same […]
Advent Calendar December 1: Advent Calendars
Are you counting down the days till Christmas? Advent calendars are a fun way to celebrate the season AND to do the count. There are countless kinds of advent calendars. The easiest ones to have are the boughten ones with chocolates, truffles, perfumes, cheeses, or even alcoholic beverages. The ones that are truly personal are […]
A Christmas Carol – Harlequin Review
A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens, adapted and directed by Aaron Lamb. There are three important things to remember when it comes to inviting an audience to attend any theatrical adaptation of the 1843 story that taught the world the meaning of Christmas: First, stay true to the text as written by Charles Dickens, including […]
Listening to Constituents
Submitted by Claudia Riiff Finseth. Apparently I am not done with the subject of public comments at our Pierce County government’s public meetings, after the LUAC meeting in Parkland-Spanaway-Midland on the 15th of November, 2023. Blame it on Arlie DeJarnett, my high school civics teacher. Mr. DeJarnett was also a Representative to the Washington State […]
Letter: I Found That One
We met at the University of Washington. That first day on campus I was lost. With over 500 buildings, occupying over 20,000,000 million (as in million) square feet, the University of Washington was, to me, during Orientation Days, as foreign as the Orient and I was as forlorn a freshman as was ever admitted on […]
Letter: Can You Laugh and Cry At The Same Time?
As I entered the kitchen this Thanksgiving morning to get my cup of coffee, there on the stove was a pie, made by our daughter, decorated with a simple tulip in honor of her Dutch mom, my wife. And just like that the tears started. Don’t ask me to pray today as the family gathers […]
CenterStage – Sleeping Beauty – Holiday Panto
My wife Peggy and I had already taken my cousin Lavinia Hart to see a production at CenterStage in Federal Way. She enjoyed it. For the latest presentation, Peggy was feeling tired and opted out, while Lindy (AKA Lavinia) and I drove to Dumas Bay in Federal Way for the Sleeping Beauty Panto. This was […]