Sunset

That's Seattle on the other side of Lake Washington

Find the Fish & the Piano?

 In the courtyard of the Arete apartments

November Flowers

Dandelions still blooming & going to seed

Roses still blooming

 It's wonderful to see so much color this late in the year

In addition to these flowers, colorful pansies fill many outdoor containers

Gloriously Overcoming Obstacles

“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”  ― Molière

This lavender pushed right through the wood fence and bloomed gloriously

In Memory Of

I frequently comment on Kirkland's abundance of wonderful public art. This statue is one of the newest ones in town. 

When a developer bought an acre parcel in downtown Kirkland, the owner attached a specific stipulation with the sale. The developer had to include a memorial of some sort to the seller's daughter who died young. The little girl liked butterflies. The developer commissioned this statue that stands outside the Voda Apartments.

Leaves

70 years after this photo I still seek out piles of leaves (dry ones) 

to walk through. I love the feel and the sound.

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October 1947 at our home in London, Ohio

Childhood memory - Margaret Farrar, later Reynolds, lived behind the vacant lot next to our house. I have a vivid memory of raking leaves there and making leaf houses, very elaborate (to us) with "walls" for rooms and openings for doorways. Were we supposed to be raking her yard or did we go there because she had the most leaves in the neighborhood? 

such a beautiful time of year

Some Joe Things

It was barely November and Trader Joe's already had their Christmas goodies out

Not at Trader Joe's but at QFC grocery - Joe Chips

I'd never seen these before

February 2013

Dog Gelato

Kirkland & many surrounding areas pride themselves on being dog friendly. I spotted these signs not long ago. The owner of Sirena Gelato said he started carrying the dog gelato because he saw so many people buy gelato for their dogs and felt dogs needed a non-dairy gelato. 

Swell gelato stepped in to fill this need

Kirkland's Wednesday Market

Kirkland's Wednesday Market brings people to Marina Park June through September.

Caryl Holton - WWI & Statue of Liberty

Caryl Holton served in France during World War I. He wrote home regularly and those letters were saved. On this Veterans Day, it’s fitting to share our Grandfather’s thoughts about going and coming from war, expressed in his feelings on seeing the Statue of Liberty. 

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In a July 1918 account of the trip from New York to France, Grandpa writes about sailing to France on the USS Leviathan, the largest ship afloat, along with 13,000 other men. “We were towed out into the river. Then our own engines began to throb, although we could hardly tell it because there was so little vibration, - and we were on our way. … As we passed the Goddess of Liberty, every man removed his hat and a wonderfully inspiring cheer went up. 

The thought that came to me then – and to almost every man, I think, was “WHEN WILL I SEE YOU AGAIN? As we sailed out of the harbor, any number of little submarine patrol boats moved all about us. A destroyer showed up in front of us and started that weaving back and forth in front of us which is [sic] kept up for two days. Overhead a dirigible balloon hovered. It seemed that they were making a lot of fuss over us. All the way down the river were passing larger boats. Some transports; some cargo vessels, and many destroyers and patrol boats. All of them were camouflaged until they looked like a futurists nightmare. In fact everything we saw reminded us of the precautions that were necessary in fighting our hidden enemy, the submarine.” 

He tells about the voyage and remarks “It would have been a wonderful trip for a honeymoon!” This is an interesting comment since he and Celia were married just a few months before he went to Europe. 

“On the second morning out, we discovered that our destroyer had left us and that we were left on our own resources. We were alone then until the following Friday morning. When we first went on deck that morning we discovered that we were convoyed by four US destroyers. Until you have seen the Stars and Stripes show up under just such circumstances as that, you have one sensation to experience because never did they look so good.”

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May 11, 1919 he wrote to “Mother o’Mine”

Caryl will be leaving France in about 2 weeks to sail back to the States.  He writes that he will watch France disappear from view and “… as soon as it disappears below the horizon I’m going to plant myself up as near to the bow as possible and stay there as much as my duty and physical condition will permit so I may be among the first to spy the Statue of Liberty as her torch appears “over the hill” where we left her a year ago. When we passed her last year I removed my hat because everyone else did. This time I’ll remove it for another reason – because I’ve come to an understanding of what she means and represents.” 

Caryl Holton - WWI - Armistice

Caryl wrote "Talmont, France / Winter 1918-19

On November 12, 2018 I was looking through the letters my grandfather, Caryl Holton, wrote home from France during World War I. I found this letter that mentions the Armistice, the agreement to stop the fighting and start negotiating peace. Tears came to my eyes as I realized I was reading this letter exactly 100 years after Grandpa wrote it. 

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France, Tuesday Nov. 12, 1918 

Dear Dad,

These are great days. All our prognostications have gone by the board because none of us in our most insane moments dared forecast the end of such an early date. There will be very few who can honestly say “I told you so.” I didn’t know that so many things could happen in such a short time. The newspaper accounts have read like pages from a novel - and even yet it is hard for me to convince myself that the terms of the armistice aren’t fiction. They were just published today - they must have been very humiliating to Germany. It certainly takes no chances on their resuming hostility. But at that they are receiving more consideration than they deserve.

Of course the big question on everybody’s lips now is “when do we go home?” We really haven’t any idea what they will do with us for they may put us to training up north [not sure of this phrase] or send us up to help reconstruct some of the devastated country - or they may even sent us home from Bordeaux I really think that we’ll be kept in this base - in different jobs until they’re ready to ship us back. I figure that they can send us back at the rate of five or six hundred thousand a month. The ships can sail home by the direct route - and they won’t travel in convoy which held the fastest boats to the speed of the slowest - then too they can use neutral shipping - and shipping will be realised [?] constantly which had been transporting food and supplies. So I’m expecting to get home by June at the very latest. [jht – He did go home June 1918]

………. [comments about the election & flu epidemic] 

You notice I refer to us as “old men” for we have been over almost 5 months now - although I admit it didn’t doesn’t seem possible. Dec 22 we sew on a service stripe. It would be a joke if we would not stay long enough to get one - but it would be agood[ underlined twice] joke.  I don’t want one bad enough to be willing to wait one extra day for it! 

Lovingly 

Caryl

Lt CHolton

CoD 32^ndEngr

American E.F.

Veterans Day

Joe - Navy

Dad  - Navy - World War II

Harry Floyd  & Caryl Holton - World War I

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 Civil War - Notes About Our Family & the Civil War

Leonard Caryl Holton, born 1812, would have been too old (grandfather of Caryl Holton)

Alson Landus Ames, born 1818 – We have a letter from his wife Urania in which she states he was going to Rockford, Illinois to tell the military he was too old to serve. As far as I know he didn’t join. (grandfather of Caryl Holton)

John Marshall Cathcart, born 1842 in Ireland. Came to USA in 1860 and settled in central Illinois. I’ve never seen any mention of military service for him. (grandfather of Celia Cathcart Holton)

James Silas Sconce, born 1831. Lived in central Illinois. I’ve never seen any mention of military service for him. It would seem he might be the right age to serve unless someone in his 30s was considered old. (grandfather of Celia Cathcart Holton)

John Bowman, born 1831 in Germany – husband of Jane Judd & father of Idah Alice Bowman Browne, Mary Floyd Holton’s grandmother - served in Civil War, from Michigan

Edmond Floyd, born 1848; Maine (Harry Floyd's father). I don't think he was in the Civil War. His brother Henry was. 

Henry Floyd, born 1842, Maine. Served in Civil War. This is Harry Floyd’s uncle. Henry Floyd was reported missing in action and presumed killed. His body was never found. His mother received a pension based on his death.

William Browne, born 1827. Don't know if he was in Civil War, from Michigan (Mary Floyd Holton's great-grandfather)

Click on the "Military" label to the right to see other posts about our family and the military

Alerts

My phone set to make a sound when I receive a text. Sometimes I put it on vibrate. 

Sometimes I think I'm not as tuned in to the still, small voice that is often God's as I should be. 

I wish messages from God had alerts like my phone does so I wouldn't miss any of them. 

What Else Am I Missing?

See the train signal? It's pretty obvious, right? Not to me. 

That's a train store on the left. In the seven years we've lived here I've walked past the signal dozens and dozens of times. I never noticed it until this summer.

This made me think seriously about what else I'm missing. 

I think of Linda Burton's advice to "First observe, then serve." 

I want to be the kind of person who notices the beauties of nature, who is aware of her surroundings. I want to be the kind of person who is tuned into the people around me and listens to the Spirit so I can do and say what Christ would do and say. 

When I Grow Up

When I grow up...

I like the contrast of the young tree right next to the much older tree. 

Heeling Is Healing

Gratitude Sailing is a nonprofit organization formed "to use the challenge of sailing to help people unburden themselves from a physical, mental or social crisis." gratitudesailingnw.org

The sailboat often moors at the Marina Park dock in Kirkland

One of our friends is very involved in this wonderful organization. They contact individuals and organizations and arrange for free sailing adventures. 

One of Those Days

It was one of those beautiful autumn days

The wind was blowing leaves off the trees

The subtle, overcast light made leaves glow

The wind was a bit warm 

but hints of cooler weather to come were in it too