We stayed pretty close to home this week but still a few highlights stand out – especially with food and people.

Saturday morning we had a WhatsApp video chat with Shirley and Jim, our friends and former neighbors in Mukilteo, who now live in Paris. Though technology can be a pain, we are thankful for the ease with which we can “visit” with friends all over the world.

For lunch on Saturday Tricia once again did some magic. She made courgette gratin, something she has not made since long before we went to France. Oh my! I had forgotten how good it is. She served it with sautéed bay scallops.

Wednesday Tricia met up with Alexis and Kasaundra (our granddaughter) for lunch, I got to join them at the end, always impressed with both of them.

Thursday we went to a new place, well at least for me, the Lan Su Chinese Gardens, just a few blocks away from where we live. I see some painting and sketching time there soon, as well as a visit to the tea garden. Today Tricia posted more photos.

Thursday evening we joined friends for Lisa’s birthday dinner at Noble Rot, a place we went to pre-covid. There were eight of us there, great food, laughter, and conversation – thank you Tim.

The ornamental pear tree outside our window has made sure we know that spring has arrived by clothing itself in dazzling white blossoms, an acrylic ink on black just made sense.

Spring always brings out my oil paints, our floor-to-ceiling windows make for the perfect studio. Spring also elicits thoughts of olive orchards in Provence.

The war in Iran and the neighboring countries got me to thinking about the people who live and have lived in the midst of conflicts, something that so far I have never had to experience. My mind went to Croatia, one of our favorite places in the world. Just 31 years ago their bloody war of independence ended.

On April 4, 2024 I played a guitar in an eclectic wineshop in Dubrovnik. The owner told us that when Bono, of U2 fame, was there he played the same guitar – a fitting memory for my thoughts this week considering that he has been an activist for peace for many years.

Dubrovnik, the setting for the fictional violence of The Game of Thrones, was in reality heavily and brutally bombarded in 1991- 1992 during the Croatian War of Independence. The walls and fortifications have witnessed the violence of war for over a thousand years as one nation after another claimed this beautiful country as its own.

We took a small-ship cruise while we were there – only 30 passengers. Robert was our cruise director, guide, and fount of historical knowledge. He knew the war of independence well since he had fought in it – he has lived through things that I cannot imagine. He told us many stories about the history of Croatia, but there was one that still is hard for me to comprehend. One afternoon as we sat on the deck he told us that his parents had lived in five different countries, all while living in the same house. The reality of what that must have been like is beyond my grasp.

Yet the country and the people have rebuilt their country and their lives – they share their vibrancy and kindness with the tourists that flock to their cities.

Just outside of the city walls of Dubrovnik I found this rose in bloom, right next to a stone wall, it is makes a quiet symbol of endurance and hope. A reminder to me to be inspired by the people of Croatia and never let the evils of the world take away the beauty or the hope that is inside. Victor Frankel told us many years ago from inside a Nazi concentration camp that our attitude is the only thing we always have control of, I do forget that too often these days. Thank you Croatia, our time there will always be special.