Alice Freist
Bio
Alice is deeply interested in many subjects. Astronomy, political theory, carpentry, motorcycling, classic punk rock, archeology, building sciences, art, and geology are just a few of the topics that keep her busy when she's not gardening.
Stories (10)
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How to say "I love you"
You'd think that after living with someone for this many years, that you'd KNOW them. That over time, you could learn to understand one another's moods, and act accordingly simply by observing their body language. After a lifetime together, communication should be about more than vocalization between entities sharing not just living space but also love.
By Alice Freist3 years ago in Petlife
The Kawasaki ZRX 1100 Muzzy
Gather around, my friends, and I will tell you a biker bedtime story. Back in the day, when the world was new and God was young, my boyfriend and I took off from Seattle and we eloped to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho on our motorcycles. We were wed at a charming and notorious little chapel named -- I kid you not -- The Hitchin' Post. To celebrate, we searched out the adult beverage locals were calling "The De-Railer" (I recall it was a fishbowl-sized rum drink, with a limit of 1 per customer, although that part might just be legend). Refreshed, and perhaps somewhat stunned by our own actions, we then agreed it was time to head back to our cabin for the night.
By Alice Freist4 years ago in Wheel
Graduation ... from this life on Earth
My mother is home from hospital. I am afraid she will not be here long. For years and years, we have joked about death, and spoken seriously about what she wants to happen to her worldly goods when she dies. We've giggled at the grim idea of an urn on the mantle vs. a public visiting place, the pros and cons of open caskets and so on. We have speculated on what happens when one "graduates" (the euphemism her parents used), and while it has always seemed slightly morbid, we have tried to make it an amusing idea to contemplate. That's what you do when you're raising your children and have a career in the life insurance business..
By Alice Freist4 years ago in Families
"Unacceptable behavior"
Memories of today are sorted in my mind into a file. It is titled "Worst Days of My Life," and this date belongs nowhere else. Today, the glow of everything being more or less OK in my life was blown clean away. One phone call changed it all, as I learned my mother has an aggressive form of a blood cancer that may take her in 18 months or less.
By Alice Freist4 years ago in Families
Sink or Swim
I have always been both at home in water, and terrified of it. The terror is both a warning and a siren-song lure, though. A bona fide adrenaline junkie, the unseeable and unknown are brushed off with bravado (and maybe, according to my mother, a little delusion). To me, the prospect of jumping from a rocky cliff into a lake of unknown sapphire depth (age 10), is as appealing as wandering the city of Moscow, USSR (age 14). In my twenties and thirties, I thrilled at solo motorcycle trips with nothing but cash and a tent. Now, as I seem to rapidly nearing a half-century on this planet, I do not have to go anywhere to find adventure. I have found bliss: life in a city that is itself a dangerous water park!
By Alice Freist5 years ago in Wander
