Patina.

by Jill St. George on Jun 29, 2010

The Color Addiction

by jenndag on Jun 29, 2010

When I was little..and given the option to choose my own piece of clothing, adornment, shoe, ball or toy,of any type, I remember choosing the MOST vivid, lightning bolt crazy colors possible. I had no qualms about being seen from a 6 mile radius, or heads turning with curiosity as I accompanied my mother on her various errands. I had no fear of this soundless wonder that can be our best friend, or as I soon learned our worst enemy. It was 5th grade and of course I chose for my school picture day, hot goldenrod yellow skinny jeans paired lovingly with a red, green, yellow and and blue diamond patterned mock neck sweater with shoulder pads. As I proudly strolled through the doors of my classroom, some beast of a child informed me that I looked like “mustard and ketchup threw up”on me!  This prompted an intense day of brooding and obsessing over my outfit gone wrong, and as a fifth grade girl concerned mostly with social issues and my placement within them,  I vowed never again combine so many primary colors all at once, and try to avoid much of the thing at all. Needless to say I was scarred, and managed to ignore color for quite some time thanks to the fabulous shabby chic fad in the nineties (mostly white things and weathered wood), and then the “all beige” fad that soon followed.  I was unable to deny my lust for color much longer when I began art school and actually had to buy and use paint (which is usually colored). I also had to photograph things that inevitably contained bits of color and soon, after much resistance,  I was completely immersed again in my long lost addiction. Once again I was happy to apply color  and painting gave me a sense of freedom from my beige prison. After a lot of hard work and retail therapy in the area of jewel tones and chartreuse green, I feel mostly back to my true self, I am still working on long term color commitments, (those are tough..aka walls, house, etc.) All that aside, I am happy to bring you some photos of my colorful last weekend . Talk about immersion! I went to the Summer Solstice Parade in Seattle..now those are some colorful, HAPPY folks!  How great to see people totally letting go of themselves, unafraid to dress in a plastic bag dress, or cotton balls. Not to mention the zombies and belly dancers. And the umbrella ladies.  .

Hula Hooping women of wonder...

Totally mesmerising...the beautiful belly dancers

Cheetah girls...these little ones were just chilling in their wagon. So cute

After the parade, we went to the most glorious place ever, Ray’s Boathouse.  Sablefish, Amazingly presented, and SO colorful.

What a beautiful place to eat.

Last but not least..my favorite thing ever, Vintage trailers.  I will have to describe in another post how dear these little tin treasures are to my heart.  I am a sucker for all things old, but pretty and shiny and old, with sweet banana seat bikes parked out front with scalloped canopies protecting the inhabitants from the harsh sun..(or in this case, torrential downpours..)  Thank you city of Roslyn for putting on such a wonderful exhibition- next year I hope all the trailers can make it, including my own little trailer who is getting her TLC right now.  Here is a feast for your Mid-Century love fest …and these are just the outsides. I will let you just imagine the insides. My camera could not do justice.  Enjoy!

Lo and behold the "Pleasure Craft" Be still my heart.The banana seat gods are smiling down on this one...

The precious pink-ness...

brown and cream trailer, hot pink metal patio chairs..oh and a ray of sunlight streaming into my photo. sigh.

wonderfully grungy outside, and the engine was GLEAMING..this old car towed a huge airstream-like trailer

I call this the Purple People Eater…:)

Have a colorful rest of your week…Cheers…:)

Profiles of Yakima: Rietje Keyes

by admin on Jun 25, 2010

By Laurel Krueger

Rietje Keyes is a refined lady whose well-mannered, well-spoken, well-postured  presence belies the chaos of her youth.  She is a member of “the greatest generation” who, because of life’s adversities and adventures, lives with intention and purpose.  Rietje has known the darker side of life yet chooses to live in gratitude – an attitude that infects all those fortunate enough to know her.

Born 75 years ago in Voorsehoten, Holland, Rietje’s life is a testimony to the value of hard work, adaptability, global perspective and humility.  As the youngest of ten children, Reitje learned order and discipline at a young age. “You did not come to the dinner table late, you sat up straight, and there was no speaking until after the soup was finished.”  Discipline proved an important survival tool when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.  A neighbor to Germany, Holland felt the effects of war from it’s earliest days.  Rietje was eight years old at the outset of WWII and well remembers food rationing, the forced conscription of Dutch men and women into labor camps or the German army and the general chaos of a country under siege.  Rietje’s father and four oldest brothers worked for the Dutch Resistance, living months or years at a time away from home.  Rietje remembers one nighttime raid in which seven young resistance fighters found refuge under the floorboards of their family home.

As the war progressed, conditions worsened.  For many, malnutrition turned to starvation.  Rietje’s brothers were eventually captured and placed into labor camps. The nighttime drone of first British, then American warplanes was relentless as Rietje tried to sleep in her top floor bedroom.  On 2/28/45, the Germans took over the family home forcing the family to flee in different directions.  Rietje remembers running hand-in-hand with her mother on a road dividing railroad and canal lines, while Allied bombs dropped all around.  The road was pock-marked with holes from exploded bombs, holes that would help them escape bullets and V1 and V2 bombs. They found refuge in a farmer’s home and the underground network eventually united all but one family member under this kind man’s roof.  Rietje’s brother, Jan, was executed in a concentration camp before the 1945 liberation of Northern Holland.

War-torn Holland eventually rebuilt and by the time socialism arrived in 1959, cities were a mass of concrete roads and high-rises.  Rietje was 24 in 1958 when she made a life-changing decision.  She and her fiancé had waited three years on an expected six to eight year waiting list for a small flat – the necessities for starting a marriage and family life.  The climate, overpopulation, crowding, socialism, and intense structure of Dutch society made Rietje think, “there must be something better elsewhere!”  Post WWII Canada, Australia and New Zealand were underpopulated and needed the manual labor that Europe could provide.  Rietje chose adventure over convention. She broke off her engagement, ended a career as a Physician Assistant and trained to be an esthitician, a trade then regarded as “laborer.”  This vocational shift into skin care provided the means by which to immigrate.

In 1958, getting on an immigrant ship was difficult, especially for single women.  Rietje’s brother, Walt, a New Zealand Air Force pilot, and his wife, agreed to host Rietje for three months while she looked for employment.  Rietje found both employment and love in New Zealand.  The New Zealand Air Force, in liaison with the American Air Force (and more than 70 countries), had been exploring the South Pole since 1956, in a cooperative scientific program aimed at studying the earth and its environment.  Jerry Keyes was a Navigator for the American Air Force, stationed in Christ Church, New Zealand.  Walt and Jerry soon found more than flying in common!  Rietje and Jerry dated for five weeks before his assignment in New Zealand ended, redirecting him back to the States.  They wrote every day for two months, Jerry proposed by letter to Rietje’s parents and two days after her arrival in America, they married.  What started as  “lust, intellect and friendship,” is now marked by 48 anniversaries.

Marriage to Jerry and the Air Force translated to 15 moves in 30 years.  Rietje welcomed each move as an opportunity to meet new people, exchange new ideas and update the languages of her youth: French, German, English and Dutch.  Rietje’s attitude about moving speaks to her adventuresome spirit.  “Good friends you keep; new friends you can make anywhere.”  Rietje approached moving as “a challenge in making a new place livable.  Once we lived in an army barrack.  When we first moved in, Jerry put the our two cots on either side of the barrack, the way he had lived as a bachelor.  I reminded him that we were married and moved the cots together.”  Two cots, two sons: Walt (1960) and Eric (1964).  Their sons are now grown, married and have blessed them with four, much-loved grandchildren.

Jerry’s retirement from the Air Force in 1979 brought Rietje and Jerry to Yakima.  Reitje has worked as an esthitician in Yakima since 1989.  While some may regard an ethitician’s work as frivolous, those who count themselves as either client or friend know her work is a ministry to both the body and spirit.  Her touch restores the body.  Her words nourish the soul.  She has known depravity and loss, joy and contentment.  She chooses to live with compassion and humbly dismisses the enriching effects of her spirit.  I, for one, sit much taller in her presence.  “I can’t remember hunger.  What I remember most is fear of airplanes, fear of bombs, the cold and darkness.  Now, on cold, damp, dark days, when I feel like shrinking up, I realize that if it doesn’t get any worse than this, I think I’m lucky, and then I go buy yellow flowers and play a lot of music.”

Cherry Recipes We Adore

by Heather Caro on Jun 24, 2010

Life is just a bowl of cherries…especially when you live in the Yakima Valley!  Don’t let the season pass you by without enjoying sweet (or savory) treats made from cherries straight from the tree.

So, Different begins.

by jenndag on Jun 17, 2010

I don’t really mean to be different..I don’t actually think I am. I have stories, funny, dramatic, silly, wierd, cute..etc.  just like everyone does.  I think the only difference is that I like to talk about them. I really am not too worried about how I might look to someone as I describe how I found a dead bird in my car after months of just thinking something smelled “off” haha.  I just like to tell people about my life, things I have experienced, how I relate, and where I am going next.  I am so flattered that Yakima Magazine asked me to contribute a blog to their site, I love to try new things, experience other cultures and try to discover what is new and different in Yakima and our surrounding state of Washington. We are so lucky to live so close to SO many diverse types of environments, rainforest, desert, city, rural, snow, water, ocean, lakes..they all draw so many different types of people and interests.  Yakima being the center, we sometimes are content to stay where we are, and not realize that so many people around us are doing some fantastic things..and they are not very far away! I want to find these people that are doing some original and innovative things, living creatively and immersing themselves in projects and ambition to live big in our valley and beyond and not afraid to be different, or against the grain.  I hope you will stay connected here, and use these blogs as jumping off points, find your own new thing, and tell us about it.  Yakima is opening up, we are learning about who we are, who is around us and what we really have to offer .  A great example was this past weekend’s artfest.  I participated with other local artists and was so excited by all the people that came out to support us and ask questions and hang out with us on one of our only warm days so far this year.  I would have taken more pictures, except I had just shot a wedding and my battery died..oops. Thanks to everyone who put out such great work and helped out. Even the people that just sat and kept the artists company for the day!  More to come on here next week, huge busy traveling weekend so hopefully I will have some colorful surprises from the Roslyn Vintage Trailer Rally, and the Fremont Solstice Parade in Seattle.  Have a wonderful weekend people, and please…bring back our sun;)

LeAnne Ries

Art Fest 2010