News Trend Car Keys|Actual

"The thrill of coming home has never changed." -Guy Pearce

The last day of a road trip is always a different kind of day.

After day upon day of glorious sights to see and places to explore, the last day is spent mostly in the car.

Long stretches of driving through huge states with lots of space between the people.

Tedious and empty hours pass by uneventfully.

We swing up through the southwestern side of Idaho, and across the northeast corner of Oregon, and then up into eastern Washington.

Dull and dreary, wide and brown.

And there is that subtle taste of bittersweet sadness, knowing that my vacation is almost over. Days, weeks of living with my car keys in my hand every morning, wondering what I will find along the way that day, are soon to come to an end, and the predictable pace of ordinary days will soon become my reality.

Then, as we always do, we come across Interstate 90 and begin the long, slow grind up the last great mountain pass that leads us into Seattle.

Clouds build as we race up the eastern flank of the Cascade Mountains.

The air fills with moody, translucent mists that hover and drift above evergreen treetops.

Approaching Snoqualmie Pass, granite boulders, snowy peaks and towering trees fill the vistas.

Now I know I am home again.

Safe in the arms of the Pacific Northwest.

Where a lush, green, rugged merk of adventure is waiting around every corner, and I need not travel for days on end to find and enjoy it.

And while I am always excited to roam the world and explore every place I find, I'm never disappointed to come home to this remarkable corner of the planet, my beloved Pacific Northwest.

Contentedly, I put my car keys down.

* * * * *

Road Trip 2019: read all about it.

Leaving

Resting

Glacier National Park

Dakota Sunshine

Mackinac Bridge

My Newfound Brother

Fox Trilogy

Cleveland Rocks

Vermilion Legacy

At The Conservatory

Riding To Rifle

Arches National Park: Balanced Rock

Arches National Park: Double Arch

Arches National Park: Devil's Garden Trail

Arches National Park: Park Avenue

Dead Horse Point

Waiting For Breakfast

Canyonlands National Park

Cheeseburgers

Car Keys

News Trend My New Red Pot|Actual

In what world do I live that allows me to purchase a wildly expensive, high end European cook pot and call it within the bounds of my self-imposed shopping ban?

Well, I'll tell you.

This flaming red Le Creuset Dutch panggang has been on my wish list for a long, long time.

For a long, long time, I've been making do with a 25-year-old cast iron contoh to cook dinner for the troops here several times a week. My old soldier was never meant for regular KP: I bought it in 1993 to use on camping trips and ended up cooking with it year round. Somewhere around 1997, I told myself that I was within my rights to upgrade to a more conventional, kitchen-friendly Dutch panggang. I read a zillion reviews and decided that despite its steep price, the Le Creuset pot holds the best value and suit my purposes perfectly. I decided to buy one.

But I never got around to making that happen.

Fast forward to November 2019. Somewhere between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I was scrolling around the Crate and Barrel website, picking up a few Christmas gifts for my homemaking daughters, and thought to myself, Say now, I wonder how the prices are looking on the Dutch oven of my dreams.

There she was, gleaming scarlet, generously larger than my cast iron model, in all ways perfect. And her usual $325 price tag had been temporarily slashed to $199.

So you know what I did?

Yep. At long last, I pulled the trigger.

Two weeks ago, the new girl moved in, and I put her straight to work.

Among other things, she has served us up this delish sausage and white bean soup, a first-time recipe for me that won the family over.

And this weekend, I whipped up a pot of my homemade beef stew. I'm mot ashamed to tell you that we fought over the leftovers for breakfast the next morning.

So my new Dutch panggang has been officially enthroned as the queen of the kitchen. She rules from a semi-permanent position atop the range, because my injured shoulder does not allow me to heft her up and down from the pot cupboard.

Besides, I still need to rearrange the other pots to make space for her. Because my old cast iron Dutch panggang will not be leaving me any time soon. He'll still be joining us for camping trips every summer and occasional overflow duties. He's earned his reward..

* * * * *

So what aboutmy year-long shopping ban? Technically, my rules require me to just say no to new housewares. But, after twenty plus years of consideration and a 39% discount, I decided that this was no impulsive, emotionally-driven consumption-crazed purchase, and I gave myself permission to buy a new red pot.

And I have absolutely zero regrets.

News Trend A Moveable Feast|Actual

"Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever

happen to one again." -Willa Cather

This year's model is a scrappy girl, with an oddly rectangular shape and some rather large gaps between the tiers of branches. But I love her for her straight spine and lovely airiness.

More than the first day of the year, or my birthday, or even Christmas morning, my heart best measures the passing of time according to the day each year that our Christmas tree goes up.

Over the past few years, we've finally managed to tame the once-hectic process - no one cries anymore, no one needs a nap or a diaper change or a time out to calm their teenage temper. In the course of a few hours, we can now go from wrestling the tree into its stand to putting the star up on top, and even getting the boxes back into the garage in a calm, orderly manner. We have indeed become a rational, efficient Christmas tree machine.

But oh, how my heart fills with the memories of years gone past.

As my thoughts skim back over the decades, I ride the waves of emotion that carry me from my own childhood into my daughters' lives, the years of my young adulthood and early married days - sights and sounds bring my whole life forward in my mind.

And while the memories are overwhelmingly positive, there is a bittersweet edge to my heart songs.

This is my life.

I can feel the weight of it in my hands, I can smell it in the pine branches and see it in the lights.

This is what my life looks like.

It has taken shape.

And no matter what the future holds for me, these years, these memories of putting up Christmas trees, year after year after year, will always be mine.

So, one more time, let's sweep up the last two thousand pine needles and comfortably crash onto the couches to admire our handiwork. Once again, the Streicher Family Christmas tree is up and I am ready to celebrate another year's success!

News Trend Around My Thanksgiving Table|Actual

Ten people around my table and so many more present in my heart.

Gathered around my Thanksgiving table this year could be found:

my husband, three of my four full-grown daughters, and my second-born daughter in Ohio who was present through the magic of the internet;

my friend, Aqil, a Malaysian native who grew up in various countries around the world and is now working on his master's degree in astronautical engineering here in Seattle;

Angelo, Aqil's friend and fellow Malaysian who is also studying here at the University of Washington;

Andy, an American-born student at Montana State University who, as the son of an international businessman, has lived here and there around the world and studied at an international school in Kuala Lumpur where he met Antonio;

and Kina and Tiara, two young women from Malaysia and Indonesia, respectively, who are best friends to one another, UW undergraduate students and friends with these three gentlemen.

* * * * *

We feasted upon roasted turkey with all the usual trimmings, ate until our bellies groaned, then summoned up the strength to play a few favorite Streicher after-dinner table games: paper golf and three-part people drawings.

Eventually, we dragged ourselves to the family room and indulged in our classic Thanksgiving movie marathon: the Indiana Jones trilogy. We just got past the big fight in the Moroccan market when we paused for dessert:

spongy trifle

banana cream pie

chocolate pie

tiramisu

and pumpkin cheesecake.

Yum.

* * * * *

Our meal together was, like the best of Thanksgivings, an interesting mix of family and friends, old and new, gathering around the table together to celebrate differences and forge new bonds.

This year as every year, I give thanks for many things, but most especially for the wonderful people who spent this lovely day with me.

News Trend What Matters About Christmas|Actual

As evening gathers over gloomy Pacific Northwest skies, I sit on my front porch and marvel at the way a few feeble strings of Christmas lights chase away the darkness and bring joy into my heart.

Merry Christmas Eve

If you are anything like me, this day is a welcome to relief to at least a solid month of

overflowing to-do lists,

a tangle of online orders, deliveries, and returns,

heaping piles of secret boxes and bags in the back of the closet,

a near endless stream of trips to the grocery store,

and most of all,

an insistent voice in the back of my head that insists I'm forgetting something important.

This hectic, frantic busy-ness, we all know, is not what Christmas is supposed to be.

And yet it often is.

* * * * *

Tonight, this night, the night before the night before Christmas, is when I try to take a deep breath, slow myself down.

I remind myself that no matter how hard I try, no matter what happens, the Christmas celebration that is about to unfold will not be perfect.

I'm not a perfect person.

My family is not a perfect family.

And with any festival day that is built up as Christmas is built up to be, there will always be

disappointments

failed expectations

annoyances

and a general sense that things just did not turn out as I wanted them to turn out

If you are anything like me, Christmas often comes with despair and pain and regret.

* * * * *

But before I sink into this darkness, I remind myself  that all of this imperfection is okay.

What matters about Christmas is not what we do. It's about what God has already done,

He came to us as a child

He brought light and love to the whole world.

He had a special heart for the outcasts, the outlaws, the outsiders

He forgave us for our endless imperfections.

He taught us how to love him

He showed us how to love each other.

That's what matters about Christmas.

And it helps me to remember that

before the star burned bright in the skies over Bethlehem,

before the choir of luminous angels sang from the heavens,

before a bunch of grubby shepherds showed up at the barn with their lanterns aglow,

the story began with a baby born in the darkness of a barn at night.

Light drives out darkness.

And that's what matters about Christmas.

* * * * *

I know there are people in this world who push back from that kind of talk.

People who have had religion shoved down their throats.

People who have lived among hypocrites who do not practice what they preach.

People who have experienced ugly things in life, and wonder why God has left them to suffer.

People who have anger and pain and hopelessness that won't go away.

People who have come to believe that the story of God's love for his people is just foolishness.

I think that's okay.

I don't judge anyone for that, nor would I try to talk them out of feeling how they do.

But if you are one of those people, I only hope that you will pause to consider the sweet mystery of light and darkness.

And whatever brings you light, I hope there will always be enough of it in your heart to drive out the world's darkness.

Because that, too, is what matters about Christmas.

 * * * * *

Our 2019 Christmas adventures:

What Matters About Christmas

Another Happy Christmas Morn

Christmas Refreshment

News Trend The Management|Actual

Readying my kecil Christmas trees.

Making the annual ornaments.

Whipping up some math midterms.

This is what mid-December always looks like at my house.

Thank goodness I have my trusty cat, Luna, here to supervise the entire process.

News Trend Another Happy Christmas Morn|Actual

Merry Christmas morning!

Here are a few scenes from how the festivities played out around here.

^ The stockings were indeed hung by the chimney with care, though these are substitute stockings. Last year, I vowed to lay aside our red and green collection of stockings from childhood and embrace a more refined, neutral aesthetic.

However, despite my best efforts to comb the collections of West Elm, Crate & Barrel, and other upscale purveyors of Christmas stockings, I came up with zero options. So, on a last-minute Christmas Eve romp through Target - which was surprisingly drama free - I grabbed a set of eight sequinned stockings to get us through the year.

Yes, eight. Six Streicher humans - all of whom were home for Christmas this year - one for Gracie and one for the cats to share. I mean, they're brothers after all. They are used to sharing.

^ Gracie took it upon herself to inspect the stockings almost constantly, a task which I'm sure had nothing to do with the bowls of candy on the mantle, or the pup treats in her stash.

And if you count carefully, you will notice that there are actually nine stockings under Gracie's purview: eight, as previously mentioned belonging to the Streichers, and one more - white with a gold cuff, for our holiday guest. A Vietnamese  friend of my third born is staying with us this week, and it's been delightful to share a typical American Christmas with her. Yay for company!

^ For the first time ever this year, I embraced the concept of a second Christmas tree, and an artificial one at that. I never knew that twenty bucks for an IKEA mini tree would make me so happy, but that's now a proven fact. This little tannenbaum stands in my family room, where I can see it from my usually cooking posts of duty, and I love the festivity it brings to my daily routines.

^ Family room mantle. My two younger daughters had a vision for greenery; I contributed our first nativity scene, candlesticks with lopsided candles - hey, that's life - and a strand of pom-poms from

the dollar section at Target. Feel pretty good about that five dollars too.

^ Okay, breakfast is ready. This year, in lieu of our usual yeasty cinamon rolls, my second-born asked that we try a gluten free version to help her manage her celiac disease.

Well, here's the verdict: gluten free cinnamon rolls are a really nice idea that does not play out in reality. She said, and I quote, "I'd rather eat real cinnamon rolls and deal with the stomach ache than settle for these." Good to know.

^ Now, on to the present-opening portion of our day. We enjoy quite an easy-going, orchestrated routine these days, with orderly decisions about which category of gift of open in what order. Here's our general approach:

Stockings first.

Then gifts between sisters

Gifts from parents to sisters.

Gifts from sisters to parents.

And finally, gifts between parents.

I received a lot of nice gifts. My daughters know me well and don't need any suggestions from me to pick out dreamy gifts: handcrafted soaps, artisan shampoo, artwork, handmade vases, a cookbook and a long-coveted 2020 Stendig calendar.

From my husband, I got exactly the gift I asked for: a new pain of L.L.Bean boots. For walking my dog in the rain. Mhmm. Can't wait to use them.

^ My daughters go all out on gift wrapping. Sometimes it's a struggle to rip open the presents, but eventually I find a way.

By the way, I am a ripper. Everyone else in the family carefully opens the gift wrap but I take great glee in grabbing hold of an edge and letting fly.

^ Over the course of the morning, she stole my seat half a dozen times but I forgive her. Look at those eyes. How could I not?

^ After our present-opening marathon, our energy reserves worn precariously thin, we were ready once again to eat. The Christmas Day lunch menu repeated our quick and easy post-worship Christmas Eve dinner: charcuterie with meatballs in the classic American style of chili sauce and grape jelly and washed down with plenty of sparkling apple cider.

And so, satisfied of heart, mind, and body, we Streichers wrapped up another happy Christmas morn

 * * * * *

Our 2019 Christmas adventures:

What Matters About Christmas

Another Happy Christmas Morn

Christmas Refreshment