Sequim Gazette Editorial and Letters to the Editor

Every winter, I, along with millions of Americans, actually sit down with a pen and piece of paper and make a list of New Year's resolutions, usually including "Wake up at 5 a.m. to exercise for three hours before work" or "Win the lottery."

Then all of a sudden, Jan. 5 comes along and the treadmill is a lost memory as I sit on my couch eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk while watching Oprah fix other people's lives. I am no closer to winning the lottery; in fact, the ice cream has pushed me $3.50 farther from the goal of becoming a millionaire.

This year, I decided to make smaller resolutions - ones I can actually keep until and beyond Dec. 31, 2008 - instead of the setting-up-to-fail "weigh 100 pounds by 2009" resolutions. So here goes:



Stop and smell

the ... lavender

Most Sequimites relocate here for the stunning promise of 300 days of sunshine. I also was enticed by that guarantee but unfortunately failed to take full advantage - and I'm not the only one. Many longtime area residents I've spoken with haven't been to Hurricane Ridge or Lake Crescent or even the Dungeness Spit.

I can't only point fingers at others - although I've been here for nearly a year, I've been to the spit and the lake only while on the job and I haven't even made it to Hurricane Ridge.

So that's the resolution: Enjoy the peninsula now, while Sequim is still a relatively small town with much natural beauty to offer.

For more information on the hikes and activities the peninsula has to offer, visit the Olympic National Park Web site at http://www.nps.gov/olym/.



Learn to cook

My mother is an amazing cook who can whip up healthy vegetarian dishes that could please even the most stubborn carnivore. My sister can put together delicious meals. Even my father is decent - he makes only one dish, but that one dish sure is delicious. Maybe I was spoiled by all the cooks in my family but I never inherited the talent and can burn water.

However, I enjoy eating far too much to survive much longer on pasta and TV dinners. So this year, I am determined to become, if not a gourmet chef, someone who can make a decent meal when called upon.

The area has many options not only for beginners like me but for those cooks who want to venture into different cuisines. Peninsula College offers community classes in, for example, Thai and Italian cooking (http://pc.ctc.edu/). The Sequim Lavender Growers Association also offers classes on how to cook with lavender and infuse the herb into everyday dishes (http://lavendergrowers.org/).

I may not be rich enough to afford my own cook by 2009 but, hopefully, my own cooking skills will improve and it won't even matter.



Get to know my ancestors

Sequim, like many smaller cities, has many generations of residents who can trace their lineage back to the start of the town. Many residents moved out of Sequim to attend college or begin careers and then promptly returned to the land of their ancestors.

"The grapevine still grows here," said Dr. Neil Cays, who grew up here, left for college, and returned to open Sequim Vision Clinic. "It still has a small-town atmosphere ... everyone is almost a big family."

After two interviews with Cays, I've learned interesting information about his family and other Sequim pioneering families but realize I know little about my own ancestors.

My parents immigrated to the states from India and I have heard bits and pieces of my ancestral history: my paternal grandfather worked for the Indian government pre-independence; my maternal grandfather was a coal miner.

After moving here, I believe more in the importance of tracing a family tree and really learning about ancestors.

Sequim's Museum and Arts Center (681-2257) has a genealogy department that can help residents, but often the best way is to talk to grandparents, parents and siblings before the memories begin to fade.

After all, when we are all gone, do we not want our descendants to remember us as people and not just names?



Become an artiste!

I promise you, I do have a few talents, but cooking, drawing, painting and sculpting are not on the list. The work of the second-graders I interview puts my own stick figures to shame.

Sequim glass artist Rolf Wald allowed me to get a tiny taste of artistry when he let me make a marble in his heated glass-making furnace - and actually, sincerely, told me I was better than most beginners! Granted, he did much of the work, but still I figured maybe I could become decent with a pen and paper, too?

Sequim is jam-packed with painters, sculptors, glass blowers and photographers - and many of these people are more than willing to teach others their skills.

Peninsula College's Community Education program (http://www.pc.ctc.edu/community_education/com_ed.asp) offers courses from dog portraits and art with colored pencils to classes in watercolor painting and mixed media.

Carlsborg's LoBo Designs offers one-on-one courses to help people with original art and photographs for prints. Contact 582-1919.

Sequim artist Carrie Rodlend, who is popular among Sequim's elementary school children due to the art classes she teaches there, also offers classes for adults. Once a month she hosts "Women, Wine and Art" classes, which she says "are incredibly fun." For more information on those classes or receiving private lessons, call Rodlend at 681-0104.