"Michigan seems like a dream to me now"

This is the last post from us. The blog began as a means to show family and friends how we were settling into our new life in Eugene and we think we've reached that impasse. It is time. I suppose we'll have to revert to archaic ways of staying in touch: email. phones. etc. 

Michael and I have had a wonder of a year. We swam in the South Pacific, abseiled waterfalls. Michael stopped drinking Mountain Dew. I graduated from Bennington with fifty pages of my own work in tow, as well as life-long friends and fellow writers. Michael turned 30 and we had a Trifecta party. We threw stones into the Atlantic ocean then into the Pacific ocean just a few weeks later. We drove across the country with cats. We found jobs, an apartment, a futon, and a home in Eugene. We climbed mountains and played in rivers. Michael started school. Michael made a 4.2 gpa his first semester. We made New Friends.

Yesterday we said goodbye to our New Friends, now Old Friends, who moved to Colorado. We are terribly sad about it, but they are tumbleweeds in the world. They want to never stop exploring, one of many reasons we love them so. Though it is an awful cliche, it's true: Michael and I both said how we're better people for knowing them. Before they left they bestowed some wonderful gifts, including a record player and records, including MJ's Thriller, Journey, Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, and more. They also passed along their beloved Captain. He now hangs over our entryway, blessing our home with his Whitmanesque spirit.

O Captain! my captain!

"Michigan seems like a dream to me now"

Me and J. We hadn't been drinking. Really.

Favorite peoples

We are glad for our memories and to be better people. Michael and I eagerly welcome 2012, hoping there will be less goodbyes. We have many plans for the new year, including trips to Colorado and hopefully Europe too. We want to hike and climb with every opportunity. We want to do a puzzle together and read a book together. We want to watch whales migrate. Generally, suck the marrow out of life to know we lived.

So, here are some of our favorite pictures, memories of the past year.

Abseiling in the Jameson Valley, Aus. February

Hiking in the Jameson Valley, Aus. February

Sydney, Aus. February

Beavertail, RI, June

Beavertail, RI, June

Beavertail, RI, June

Gradumacated, Vermont, June

Pontificating education. Bennington Campus. June

Saying goodbye to A, L, D, and M. We miss you all. July.

Oregon Coast. July.

Hiking Mt. June. July

Mt. June. July

Hiking Iron Mountain. August

Iron Mountain. August

Playing in the snow in the mountains. Iron Mt. August

Celebrating our anniversary at Crater Lake. September

Crater Lake, September

Katie jumping into Crater Lake. September.

Michael jumping into Crater Lake. September

Camping. Hiking off trail. Our waterfall. September.

Camping. Hiking off trail. Sunset. September.

Camping. Hiking. October. 

Camping. Hiking. October.

San Fran. November.

San Fran. November

San Fran. Michaels and Poets. November

San Fran. November

So, thank you for reading our silly blog. Happy holly days and merriest new year. We love you and miss you.

Katie and Michael

Your Christmas Card

Things are a little tight this year so unfortunately we could not mail our Christmas card to each of you. Believe us, we wish we could. Especially since Michael and I made it ourselves this year! Here it is!

The outside of the card

The inside of the card

More Bathgate!

In October Chris Bathgate did a Tiny Desk concert for NPR. I found it this morning. This is what the good people at NPR said about him:

"Dusky and deliberate, Chris Bathgate's music can be foreboding, even funereal. But the Michigan native invests his songs with warm, rustic beauty — aided by strings, slide guitars and other instruments of emotional devastation — that makes everything too pretty to function as a true downer. A bunch of us at NPR Music fell in love with Bathgate's gorgeous 2007 song "Serpentine," so we'd been looking forward to having him in for a Tiny Desk Concert, but a follow-up to that record took an agonizing four years. (Given that he describes his song "No Silver" as "about living in Michigan and being broke," maybe he was just saving up for the studio time?)"

And here is the link for the 20 minute concert: 

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/14/141135356/chris-bathgate-tiny-desk-concert

A Salt Year

I think Michael and I are starting to feel settled, finally. We've been in Eugene close to five months now, and it's hard to believe we're into December already. Neither of us have experienced a winter sans snow or the holidays without family. We continue acclimating with each new season. 

A couple weeks ago we went to a show at our favorite bar, Sam Bond's Garage. Chris Bathgate, an Ann Arbor local, was playing and for weeks we were PUMPED. We brought New Friends and the four us together made up about a third of the audience. It didn't seem to influence Bathgate and his band though, because they were stellar. Please check them out if you're not familiar with his music. He's a great writer, which I love, and a talented musician.    

http://www.myspace.com/chrisbathgate

They played my favorite of their songs, Salt Year. I was able to take a very short video before our camera ran out of battery. 

"I'm just screaming in the dark here / I'm just choking down a salt year"

 "when sugars all I've longed for // all I've longed for, all I've longed for" 

 

"try again."

Love from the west,

Katie and Michael

A Very San Francisco Thanksgiving

On Thursday morning Michael and I left to spend four days in San Francisco visiting with my brother, touring the city, and seeing friends. We drove most of Thanksgiving Day through southern Oregon and northern California, driving through Grants Pass and past Shasta Mountain. Lovely. After arriving in the city around 6pm we met up with my brother, found Thai for dinner, and talked about tentative plans for the weekend. The next morning we walked around the North Beach neighborhood, ate bagels, then watched and listened to my brother's friend who busked on the streets with her accordion.

We stayed for a few songs then wished them well. Michael and I were super excited for our visit to the Academy of Sciences museum. It has a planetarium, aquarium, a natural history museum, and lots of weird, cool things to look at and (sometimes!) poke. We spent most of our afternoon there on Friday. And since it's located in Golden Gate Park we found it convenient to stop by the tea garden too.

The live roof of the Academy of Sciences building

 

The Japanese tea gardens

My brother and I walking through the tea garden.

The rest of our day was not, unfortunately, captured on film. We met up with one of my beloved Bennington friends, her husband, and sister-in-law for dinner at the Stinking Rose, an Italian restaurant that isn't modest about its love for garlic. I am most lucky, having been able to see this friend on both sides of the country within the last couple months. After dinner, more wandering of the streets. This has turned out to be my favorite activity when traveling. We walked around Union Square, which earlier that night had their annual tree lighting ceremony. We watched ice skaters. We talked. We got tired and we said our goodnights.

The next morning we started our day with a climb up Nob Hill. We stopped in at Grace Cathedral before continuing on to the Cable Car museum. The museum, which sounds touristy, is really interesting. All the cable car lines are directed through the museum, and it offers a lot of history on the city. Especially the earthquake and fire of 1906.

Grace Cathedral

Inside the Cable Car museum

Little Mackenzie shout out!

We spent the rest of the day doing my most favorite thing, wandering around the city. My brother is a most excellent tour guide! We visited the famous Lombard street and walked UP it like the badass siblings we are. We then meandered south toward Castro, where I stopped to buy a belt at a thrift store called Out of the Closet. We walked through Castro and I was very excited to see the building that was once Harvey Milk's camera shop. It was actually the 33rd anniversary of his death on Sunday. A crowd honored him with a vigil. 

Brother bear and Sister bear!

A view from the top of Lombard street

The doors to Castro Theatre

We meandered on to Dolores Park, one of my favorite parts of the city. It had gorgeous views and offered us time to relax in the sun (sun!!). That night we had dinner in the Mission neighborhood with my brother's accordion-playing friend. We ate the biggest burritos of our lives. Michael and I then went to Oakland to see Bennington friends. 

Michael, myself, and brother (our shadows anyways) in Dolores Park

Sunday was our last full day in the city so we packed in the touristy events. We played at the Ferry Building, barked at the Sea Lions at Pier 39, and thought about souvenirs (I decided against it):

A Whale of a Hat!

Sunday was also our scheduled visit to Alcatraz. Did you know it's a national park? It's beautiful! Not only does it afford stunning views of San Francisco, but has gardens and greenhouses throughout the island. I knew the cell block tour would be fascinating (it was!), but I was surprised by the winsomeness of the island. Pictures of our tour:

The greenhouse and gardens

 

A view of the city from the cell blocks

Of course, it did have it kitschy moments. While waiting in line to board the ferry everyone steps in front of an alcatraz backdrop to have their picture taken. These photos are then for sale later--two for 22 dollars! We passed on buying ours, but took a picture of the picture. It's maybe my favorite picture from the weekend:

We concluded our trip with pizza, beer, and movies at my brother's apartment. It was a great way to end our time together. Michael and I cannot wait to visit again, to see even more of the city.

More soonish.

Love from the west,
Katie and Michael