T'is the Season to be Folly

Well, here I am, wrestling myself through another Christmas. My checkbook has hives and my credit cards are genuflecting while visions of bankruptcy dance through my head.

Lights are going up all over Astoria, and it's starting to look like a Victorian Christmas card around here. Now all we need is some snow.

I did have some time off from the holiday madness when I got distracted by the storm of last week. I would have preferred a blizzard, but 100+ mph winds was pretty damn impressive. Even more impressive was the way the house stood up to the onslaught. Last year's heavy gusts made the house sway like it was going to fox-trot right down the hill. Pass the dramamine and valium. With the new foundation on the back of the house, it didn't even move. I may not end up serving breakfast from my kitchen in the middle of the river after all.

We had about 24 hours of no power, which was excruciating for me. Fortunately, I had already pulled out the hurricane lamps that belonged to my grandfather, and they were ready on the counter when the lights went out.

I hadn't realized what a slave I was to the computer and TV till they weren't right at hand. I would have handled it all a lot better if we'd had snow. I know, I know, I'm obsessing about snow. Sing along with me ... I'm dreaming of a Currier & Ives Christmas ...

The children can't be here for Christmas, so we've been feeling rather down and out about it. But it turns out the Triangle Tavern, ever sensitive to its orphan customers, will be open on Christmas Day. So we won't have to spend the day all by ourselves missing the kids after all. I'm perking up already.

Astoria Photografpix

Astoria, Astoria storm, high winds, Pacific Northwest storm, Christmas

Astoria's Marble Man

I had to mention the passing of a local celebrity of sorts, Stan "The Marble Man" Brown. He was a fellow vendor at the Astoria Sunday Market, so I saw him every Sunday, almost always wearing a black top hat. He always gave me a marble when I went by his tent.

One Sunday, he actually came into my tent and dropped off a marble on one of my tables. "For luck," he said.

Well, I didn't have a lot of luck that day vending, but I sure appreciated the thought.

The Daily Astorian did a nice writeup about him:

The Marble Man

Anyway, this last weekend I was vending at the Starving Artists Faire at the Astoria Yacht Club. And I was doing incredibly, wonderfully well - my photos, cards, and magnets were just selling like hotcakes, and I was really tickled.

Late Saturday afternoon, as I was reaching into the magnet box to get another magnet for a customer, I saw something shiny. Yup, it was a bright orange marble, one of many given to me for luck by the Marble Man.

So a belated "Thank you!" Marble Man, and I hope you're having a grand old time wherever you are.

Astoria Photografpix

Astoria, marble man, marbles, luck, good luck, stan brown