Washington Park Arboretum

Before I proceed to give an account of the rest of our Seattle trip, I'd like to take this moment to thank the blue dot of the maps feature on my iphone, without whose help we would still be going in circles around this city. Even though we took many detours and had to drive miles to get back on track, the blue dot has guided us in the right direction a lot of the time. Not being used to the highway/exit/intersection mentality of Americans, I've struggled so much on this trip to be a good co-pilot and steer my husband in the right direction. Driving here a lot of stress, and I don't know how people do it.
To get back to our subject, we reached the Washington Park Arboretum after a pretty drive along the water. The beauty of the houses that face the water are beyond description. People were running along the shore, walking with their strollers, or just hanging out enjoying the sun. The spring blossoms were so beautiful that we had to stop and take pictures in front of strangers' houses. I was embarrassed, a little, but then we did the same thing with my family so many times. We just love nature. And I'm very lucky to have a husband that loves nature as much as I do.
The arboretum was just so spectacular. Imagine looking around and seeing only green grass, spring blossoms, ducks swimming around in ponds, and trees. And hearing only the birds chirping away. See, words do not do justice to the beauty, serenity, and happiness of that place. I will have to move on and talk about a shopping district or something, as that is something I am capable of doing. In fact we loved it so much at the arboretum that tomorrow we will go running there.
Check out these VRs that give 360-degree views of the place: Glen at Springtime, Springtime on Azalea Way, Woodland Garden & Pond. And more at vrseattle.com.

Pioneer Square

We've been exploring Seattle for the past 3 days. We wanted to take a little trip for our 1st year wedding anniversary, and instead of Oregon Coast which might have been fun too, I wanted to tour Seattle - I miss being in the city and I thought this could be the right fix. I was right! Seattle is full of nice surprises and beautiful sights. We started out by stopping at Pioneer Square on our way to our hotel. I loved the big brick buildings and the entry-level shops.We went into a glass shop where they also had a furnace and people who made things out of glass while you watch, we walked around, visited an underground shopping area with brick walls, went down to the water and took some pictures at the pier, walked back up to the square, and then had coffee at Cafe Umbria, a really neat European-feel cafe. All this time I wasn't feeling too safe as I had seen more homeless and weird people than I have for a long, long time. Throughout our visit, the number of weird people we walked by was to increase. But it was good coffee, and sitting outside in the sun enjoying the Square made it all the more worthwhile. I felt so much better and refreshed to have stepped into a city square again.

am feeling a little nostalgic that's all... remembered the 'package deal' we were. remembered all the package deals this girl been a part of. some goodbyes, some days prior to them and some, subsequent.
it was fun to come as a package deal, after all. even though i've always believed in the 'yalnizlik omur boyu'. some pools we swam in. some beaches we've been to. summer dresses and winter coats. the ones sewn by talented grandmas with green eyes, who wipe your mouth with a freshly soaped hot towel.
and even though i've always believed in the 'yalnizlik omur boyu', i've always wanted to believe in 'alone, together', too.

VW

Dear Leonard,
To look life in the face, always, to look life in the face, and to know it for what it is. At last to know it, to love it, for what it is, and then, to put it away. Leonard, always the years between us, always the years, always the love, always...

Heisey

A famous handmade glassware company, Heisey went out of business in the 1950s but still sends passionate collectors hunting the Holy Grail of their own: the perfect piece, the dream Heisey of each individual collector. I am lucky enough to conduct an interview with a very knowledgeable and long-time collector, as well as lucky enough to be around her rich and beautiful collection every day, as she is my grandmother-in-law. Joyce Rohde was kind enough to answer all my questions. You'll see some pictures as well, although I'm saving the real photo shoot for a sunnier day.

- Can you tell us a little about the Heisey brand?

Heisey was a handmade glass factory located in Newark, Ohio, started in 1896 and closed in 1956. And the reason it was closed, and which has been the fate of most of the other handmade glass companies, is that it was too expensive – the cost of labor was just too much to keep producing the glassware. And it was hard to compete with factory made glassware. It wasn’t the first and the last to close, like Fostoria, Cambridge, Seneca, Imperial, all have since closed. It is a very sad thing though because it is such beautiful glassware. They do still make handmade glass in other countries like Ireland by Waterford, and Austria by Bohemia, but then labor is so much cheaper there.

- How did you start collecting Heisey?

I remember the very day I started – I heard about it before, but after that day, I immediately got books to study it. I used to go to an antique fair called the Treasure Mart in Pendleton at the Catholic Church and they always displayed furniture on the ground floor, and in the basement they had houseware, and I had never been there, because I wasn’t interested in any houseware. This one year I went, in 1969, I looked around, but there was absolutely nothing I could find, and so I went down to the housewares section in the basement. There was tables and tables of stuff, for which I would go wild if it was today, and I saw this little creamer and sugar for 25 cents, and after playing some bridge, visiting with the people, etc. I took them to the cashier. The cashier said, “What in the world, they priced it 25 cents? It should be much more, this is Heisey,” and I didn’t’ even know what it meant. I asked, “What is Heisey?” And I got them for the sheer utilitarian purpose. But then I decided to find out about Heisey, and I did, and shortly after that, I became an avid Heisey collector.

- What, in your opinion, makes Heisey special?

Well, I don’t suppose it is any more special in quality then Imperial or Fostoria, for the most part, but I did limit myself to one brand and didn’t want to collect a whole bunch of glassware. Instead I concentrated on Heisey.
Also, in 1973 or 74, the Heisey Collectors of America bought all the Heisey molds from Imperial glassware, who had bought the factory when it was closed. The reason was to prevent any other company from making glassware in the Heisey molds and then calling it another name. So when you’re collecting Heisey, you can be sure that it’s Heisey.

- How about the social perks of collecting Heisey; have you made new friends who are collectors over the years, or have you reinforced friendships?

Actually, I would say that it’s the biggest reward of collecting Heisey - the relationships we built and the friends we have made. As an example, we started the Caraways, our friends in Texas, collecting Heisey. We used to take our mobile home to the Heisey convention in Newark, OH, and this man approached us when we were in one of the social gatherings there. He was Percy Moore, the director of Heisey Collectors of America. We visited for a while, we talked about glassware, and then Glenn said, “Well, enough about Heisey, are there any old cars?” That started a long and rewarding friendship, and we bought 3 antique cars through him. The following year, the Moores invited us to stay at their house, and we did every subsequent year thereafter, and I can’t tell you how we loved that! One of Percy’s favorite quotes was, “Gosh, I wish I’d known you wanted that,” indicating that he would have found us the piece, after we found things in the yard sales in the area. All the people in Newark knew about the convention, and we would go a few days earlier to the convention, and look at the yard sales that people organized knowing that the town would be populated at that time, and every time we found something we would go back to the Moores, go through our stuff, and he would say the same thing.
And we made so, so many friends collecting Heisey and going to conventions.
And the Caraways - even though we have been lifelong friends, now we had a common purpose; it made our collecting so much more fun. Calling each other and talking about our finds and interests, because we each had our concentration – Dale collected candlesticks, and Barbara liked old-sandwich and empress and crystolite – and it made us closer and we had more in common, and more things to do together.

- What are your best sources in finding new pieces?

It’s a great question. I have to say that ebay is where I find most of my stuff in the last 10 years. Previous to that, it was estate sales, yard sales, and antique shows. And then I also became known in this area for collecting Heisey, and I was always asked to do programs for different organizations, and it wasn’t uncommon for someone to come up to me and say they know of someone who had Heisey, or they have some Heisey, etc. and I found quite a bit that way.

- Do you wish that Heisey was still being produced, or would you rather have it this way?

I’d rather have it this way. It wouldn’t be any fun if anyone sold Heisey it wouldn’t be hard to find, there would be no challenge.

- What is your favorite piece of all times, and do you have a dream piece, one you have been looking for but can’t get or find?

I do have a piece that I have been looking for in years - and it’s the favor vase in tangerine color. Heisey indicated that there were some of these made, but as far as I know, there is no one in the US that has the favor vase. But if I found it, the hunt would be completed.
And I have numerous favorite pieces, it’s in the flamingo color, it’s a cologne bottle and I love it so much that I can’t resist buying it. I already have 3, and there’s one on ebay right now and I’m watching it with anxious expectation.


This is one of her favorite cuts from Heisey.

Her favorite piece, the one she cannot resist buying over and over again even though she already has 4.


A capturing display of her favorite color, 'zircon'. Her favorite zircon piece is the mustard bowl with the little paddle. She even remembers the day she got it.

Milkman

There are some memories that are so deeply entrenched in me and so dear even though they seem so random. Like the milkmen that came to our door to deliver daily milk. I still remember two of those guys very clearly - one of them had really blue eyes and a girlie voice, and this other one had a beard. But this is not the memory itself. The memory is him putting the metal pitcher into the bigger metal thing, filling it up with clinking sounds here and there, and in one big move, pouring it over to the yellow enamel pot in my hand - the milk looking like a solid white thing for a moment, and the pot getting surprisingly heavy, even though it's expected.
(sutcu, teneke masrapa, tencere are the Turkish words you are looking for)
Then you thank him, and he goes away, and you put start boiling the milk, and then there's the "cream", Sunday breakfasts, honey and cream, dad's pjs.
These memories are so much easier to come back to me here for some reason. It's like, whenever I see a gallon of milk, I remember the milkman and the memory of the milk-pouring ceremony ("bi dakka tencere getireyim"). Whenever I see the boys having breakfast, I remember my grandmother feeding me breakfast, the butter, the sourcherries on the butter (soldiers in the snow). And the sound of pigeons.
And my other memories with my grandmother, which are basically the only things I remember from my childhood? They keep coming back to me these days and accumulating in the back of my mind. That will be a whole another post.