EPILOGUE

The article appeared in Seatle's Blog on Monday, December 28, 2016.
"Christmas Gala Brings the House Down" 

There was no snow for Christmas, but Saint Nick and all his elves didn't need all the white stuff to leave presents for Seattle's Homeless thanks to the generous heart, and far-reaching vision of Maydene Short. Capital Hill regulars have stories about their long-time heroine's generosity, and uncommon goodness; enough to fill a sleigh. Artist, family advocate and pioneer mid-wife Maydene Short has lived in her second floor corner apartment of the two story Capital Apartments since she arrived in Seattle in September, 1967.

May Short, more often called Auntie May was born in London, in 1947 to a family physician and one of England's first teaching nurses, and mid-wife. Maydene Short inherited family money and a very determined will created an eclectic vision. Right out of high school, and after a summer spent on the North Shore of the Hawaiian Island of O'ahu a vision began to gel: a four-year course of study at Cornish School of the Arts put the wild haired blonde into a life of Costume Design. Her headdresses and skin-hugging body suits made of crushable foil, recycled silk saris, and recycled window dressings made of natural fiber put her decades ahead of her time.

But it was Maydene Short's 'second major' that created a lifetime of advocacy for women and their families. While enrolled in Cornish, she also studied with the Stella Goldman and her husband Mathew Goldman, M.D. to learn the skills necessary to become a mid-wife and P.N. When she graduated with her B.A. in Costume Design in 1971, Maydene Short and her closest friend Calypso, also a Goldman family trained midwife, converted the Capital Apartments into Seattle's first birthing center for low-income women and their families. More than a thousand babies have been birthed in the Capital Apartments since 1971. They are family.

Forty five years later, on Christmas Night, 2016, Maydene Short gathered two dozen of her closest friends, a few of the many babies now grown with families and even grandchildren of their own; and another dozen of  Seattle's social justice activists, and policy makers committed to solutions for housing women and their families who are without a home. While Stan Costa stroked the strings of his stand-up bass the hauntingly sonic whale tones of the songstress Shine prepared the apartment filled with love for its next voyage.

Some of our readers may not know Jacques Costeau, this writer, admits to being too young to remember the Frenchman. But, I can read, and I've done my homework and know why it makes so much sense to see the hand carved letters hoisted across the former Capital Apartments at midnight Christmas Night.

C A L Y P SO will be Capital Hill's first, and Seattle's first boarding house for families without homes. I thought the name of Costeau's ship Calypso a truly fitting new name. That there was more to the name than that I would learn from the Mistress Maydene Short. The small printed announcement in the shape of a ship gave guests a few details. Renovations to the block-sized apartment building have already begun and will feature a full-size kitchen (with a live-in cook and host the owners and long-time magic makers from the Safety Pin Cafe, Fairy Lady and the Silver-Haired Raven); six studio apartments, and two family-sized apartments. 

"The issues and solutions for dealing with families ... of all sizes, amount to this: make it possible to be in a home so one can catch-up," Maydene Short was clear in her motivation when I finally catch her at a quiet moment Christmas night.

"Catch up?" I asked, wishing, as soon as I asked, that I hadn't. The question and the answer made me shamefully insensitive and short of compassion. But maybe that's the point. How many of us are truly sensitive and compassionate?

May looked me in the eye. We are both nearly the same height. "Have you ever been without a home, or a safe place to sleep at night?" She held my arms in hers as she waited for my answer.

"No. I've never been homeless, but I have awoken in places where I didn't feel safe."

"Doesn't take much to be so. And once you've been there -- never sure where you'll be for the night, when you are one of the untouchables, the illegal -- you will never forget that it might take the whole rest of your lifetime to catch up on the losses that will frequent your waking dreams." Maydene Short has very strong hands. "I've been a baby catcher for almost as many years as you've been alive, sweetie." She said with no glint of judgement, or gloat. May slid right into the next most important detail for the night.

"CALYPSO is named for my very best friend. She didn't have any other name, at least not in the time I knew her. She was a vessel, like Cousteau's ship. At the core of herself she knew giving life and then making the most of it were two interconnected things. Her granddaughter Larkin and her best friend Catlin will be managing things once I am safely tucked away in busy London town. We're passing the torch to the young. And, those Kitchen Magicians will be CALYPSO's resident ... gatekeepers, ensuring the lessons of respect and protocol between beings is maintained with grace."

The final renovations to the old Capital Apartments will take place between January 1 and February 8th, 2016. The Lunar New Year of the Fire Monkey begins with the second Dark Moon after the Winter Solstice, and with it all the trickery and resourcefulness of the clever monkey will fill the heart of CALPYSO. Long may she live! 

More and Less

Maydene's timing was perfect. Through the cloaked wall she came with Dumpling on one arm and Shine on the other. Shine let out a sound somewhere between High C and the echolocation of a dolphin. Caitlin was deep into knotting and stretching herself into a very tight-fitting body suit made of soft and pliable foil. Knee high boots and wings of quilted red fit with straps like a pack. She had pinned feathers of every color onto strips of ribbon. "Where will you put them?" Shine pointed to the strip of feathers and bounced in place gleeful with excitement and the prospect of new looks, and fun.

"I thought over the tops of my arms? Or maybe under. What do you think?" Without a second's wait the songstress said, "Both."

The view of the room was a soft water color to Dumpling. There was enough light to make out shades and shadows color but no definition. The grand lady was unaffected by the change in her eyes pallet choosing at this stage of the journey to flow with the excitement of the others. She was keen and experienced at syncing. "Just point me to a pile of goodies and I will feel my way to Wonderland." She was delighted to play dress-up. "Are you staying May?"

"I thought I'd stay for a little bit. The next carriage of company won't be here for another couple hours and Fairy has everything in hand for dinner. Let's start with some silk, and jewelry." The two women had a sketchy history over the past four decades. Only a handful of occasions had put them in the same place at the same time. Tonight May Short looked forward to being with the woman who had secured Stan Costa's heart. That man was an old family friend of Calypso's. There was history there.

Maydene threw herself into costuming as easily as she once coached mothers through the journey of delivering babies. She encouraged, but knew when to wait for the push. Dumpling felt the textures of yards of silk asking about color when she came upon pairs she especially enjoyed. Maydene or Shine claimed a length "Delicious! or let's try this one instead, Dumpling. Feel this." So caught up with Dumpling, May had not seen how Larkin had picked her way through the costume heaps collected and assembled season in and season out. When she finally looked up at Calypso's only granddaughter her hands dropped, silk shawls and strings of baubles fell to the carpeted floor.

"You have come to yourself," May Short was never without a lot to say. But now was not one of those usual times. Her voice was low and barely audible. A cherished child is loved unquestionably, and to be an Auntie whether blood-set or though bond made the love that much more ... enduring. Maydene committed to Care with a capital because it was a karmic debt being repaid in this passing through the swirl of time. She had that sight, she knew there were choices made in other lifetimes; choices that took life rather than deliver it. The silence between them stretched while all around them the excitement of costuming transformed the women with more layers, or adornment.

Larkin had chosen tonight to be her moment of shedding. "I can and have always been able to hear and sense the world with this tiny shell of an ear." The headdress of silver and second ear was gone tonight; it hung from a peg on the coat rack next to feather boas and shawls of wool and silk. A simple and stunning sheath of cotton the color of wet moss covered the young woman's body from shoulder to ankle. A vest of shaggy feathered rayon golden and brown at the same time with deeply cut sides lay easily against the wet moss sheath. The sleeves like butterfly wings stretched to her wrists. Larkin had never been without a cap, hat or scarf an unconscious action to cover the head band and customized ear shell which substituted for the missing earlobe.. "Never in shame did we create these accouterments," May stroked Larkin's cheek and fluffed at her hair now loose from a lifetime of subtle but no less confining head ware. Brown locks streaked with natural highlights of auburn brightened her.

"I never once felt ashamed," Larkin leaned into May's tiny palm and continued, "Eventually, there would be a time for me to grow a new sort of atunement. I have always felt that May. This morning when I woke I was with my Ma. I miss her all the time, even if I never got to see her ... in flesh. I know her in dreams. And Gran kept her alive for me. The Pine Needle Dancers connect me to them both. Without the dressing I believe the Dancers are opening their circle for me." Larkin lifted her arms and twirled. "Tonight I am a Pine Needle Dancer."

Conversation

"Speech, the most specifically human sound, and the most significant kind of sound, is never just scenery, it's always event." -  "Telling Is Listening": Ursula K. Le Guin on the Magic of Conversation and Why Human Communication is Like Amoebas Having Sex

For what seemed a very long time the only human speech came from beyond the magically cloaked walls. Larkin burrowed deeper into the malleable bean bag, pulled her legs and feet into her chest and began to rock herself into the soft folds of brown velveteen. The echo of story bounced from her whole self as a tuning fork would feel the entrainment, the vibe, the more than words that storytellers have always counted on as their Magic. "What are my gifts Caitlin? What gift can I bring to this newly transforming place. I mean aren't I supposed to get on a plane and start a proper career teaching English! That's what I have in the works."

"Twenty-two year olds aren't supposed to know what they want to do." Caitlin was curled into the high-backed old brocade chair with both arms filled with a family of bears and a well-loved lion. Nuzzling the toy animals she held them up to her face and continued her proclamation. "Did you ever know a twenty-two year old who knew exactly what she was to do with her life ... for the whole rest of her life?" The lion was the first to respond. Caitlin found her lioness voice to offer this, "My dear Miss," the Lion began. "There are many things human twenty-two year olds could do and that is the trick you see. If you could do something means you are free to do the thing; or on the other hand bound to do it if guilt or obligation is the motive." One of the family of bears yawned. It was winter after all and everyone knows bears sleep during winter. "Is it that you don't know what your Gift is now that frazzles you; or is it that you are afraid choosing one expression will mute all your other gifts?"

Larkin reached for the no-longer-sleeping bear. Caitlin pretended to question her friend's intent. And protectedly withdrew the lot of stuffed animals. "Don't be afraid, really. I'm without malice ... promise!" Caitlin loosened her grip, Larkin held out both her arms. "You are not new to this place. May has not just bought you from a thrift shop?" The Bear who was a warm golden brown fleece with stitches on all four paws had one button eye. Larkin stroked the animal's head and whispered something into his ear. The Bear pushed at the headband and molded outer ear on Larkin's left side. Together the Bear and the twenty-two year old human girl removed the silver attachments. The Bear whispered something into the well-tended ear slits that led to the finely tuned canal and bell works of Larkin's inner ear.

Again the dressing room was silent of human voices. The voices of the many animals are stilled as well. After a time Larkin began to hum a hum of no discernible melody simply a random and enchanting bit of nonsense that was the perfect fuel for Imagination. "Did you know Calypso was a name my grandmother chose for herself?"

"Really?" There are many things that go through life without full disclosure. "I always assumed your gram decided to leave her family name a sort of secret and so Calypso as in the goddess was her given name. But obviously I just made that up!"

"Gram chose the name Calypso because she was in love with the ship. Jacques Costeau's floating legend and exploress of Earth's Oceans. You know gram was a water woman, her water connections are truly old, old school. Sailing canoes and navigating the waters by using the stars old school. But when Gram was a girl just out of high school her hero was a French sailor. Her wish after graduation from high school was to legally change her name to Calypso, Calypso period."

"When was that exactly Larkin? What year?"

"1968. Gram was an explorer and adventurer ahead of her time. To ask her parents for permission to change her name was a very big deal."

"I gotta admit something," Caitlin wasn't shy about what she did not know. Curiosity was her middle name. But she was sheepish when she said this. "Who is Jacques Costeau?"

"Do you have your cellphone on you?" Larkin asked.

"Yeah."

"Google him."

Caitlin reached into her pack. "How do you spell Jacques Costeau?"
Larkin rolled her eyes and spelled the name. Caitlin added + Calypso.

"From one legend to another (Dear Reader, click on the red letters to read more about Calypso)

Calypso was, according to Greek myth, the nymph who held Ulysses captive on the island of Gozo for ten years. Today, the name is linked to another legend, that of the Cousteau ship. This floating legend is known throughout the world and sailed the ocean planet for nearly half a century to reveal its beauty and fragility. She is the symbol of human hopes to understand Nature, the better to protect it...

There was a lot to know about Jacques Costeau and his Calypso the symbol of human hopes to understand Nature. When she had finished reading Caitlin looked from the tiny screen. "I'm signing on, Larkin. There's room for me to bring Baba down, park her in the alley. Driver won't leave the carriage here after he and May fly off to London. I get what this Calypso is destined for. I can catch lightning here as well as anywhere. And, if it's the magic of youth that May needs. I've got that."

"Maybe there's a little space up those stairs for a one-eared girl who can teach a little English."

"Only one way to find out," Caitlin was on her feet.

"First things first Lightning Woman." With both woman on their feet they looked at each other. Larkin began: I remember you fondly, and take you not for granted.

Then both continued:

Dancers, dancers of Pine.

Move with the wind.

Sing with the tales that wind through the trees' tops.

Remember me to the people who have gone before me.

Praise their memories.

Dance Pine Needle Dancers.

Dance

Dressing room, guessing room

Maydene led the two young women through the cloaked wall into a room filled with costumes, head dressings, boots, slippers, capes and racks of textiles that could be pinned or knotted together for a desired look. "Come to be costumed," Larkin quietly repeated what May had written in the invitation.

"I will let you to it," May was excited to see how the room would inspire them. "Before I leave though I would like to tell you a story. A ... Short-ish story." A twinkle lit the tiny woman like a candle. Both girl-women laughed at the pun knowing a May Short story could run for moments or meander into the night.

"No. Truly this might be one of my shortest Short Stories." Upholstered chairs and a bean bag chair Larkin remembered from her first visit made getting comfortable a simple affair. Larkin sank into the brown velveteen bag of a chair. Caitlin curled up into one of the chairs and pulled lengths of silk and paisley shawls about her. Stuffed animals were already piled in huddles. She nestled those close.

"Once upon a time two very young women had dreams. One half the dreams could fit with the other half, but only if Lightning was involved." May paused to catch Caitlin's eyes, the older woman winked at the younger. "And so, the Elementals sent Lightning and as it happened the dreams became common magic and born from that was a Birthing Place. A place built of solidly mortared hand-built brick gave its permission to the dream. You know of course it's always a good idea to ask permission of a Place when such important dreams are being birthed?" Again May paused and sought the body language of understanding from her audience. Larkin and Caitlin nodded.

"The Place and the Dream lived together in an up and down and inside out journey. The gifts, talents, sorrows, mishaps and deeds of heroism played themselves out as Sun rose and set and Moon shone bright and dark and in between. Births and deaths have bled their meaning into the brickwork of This Place and still ... the dream has grown. Only one of those two very young women whose dream was lit by Lightning long ago lives still in flesh. She grows older now this once young woman with a dream ... and ready for a return to her Place of Birth." Larkin could not hold her tongue, "You. You are going back to London?" May did not quite break the spell of Teller, but nodded.

"With this Full Moon of December, This Place will be renamed, and a slightly new game begins when the Year of the Fire Monkey starts come February." A large flowing board of letters stood almost unnoticed it was covered with textured capes and lengths of rainbow ribbons.

"Darlin's help me with this please." The story was nearing it's reveal. Two foot high letters spelled The Calypso. "We are turning The Place into a home for those without a home of their own. Named for your grandmother, The Calypso will be a 2016 version boarding house for children, women, men, grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts and all the versions in between. It is your father Daniel who carved this sign, and your mother Peg is the painter. They have been very busy at this conversion."  

"Who will replace you here?" Caitlin wanted to know. Larkin guessed at that answer but waited.

"The Silver-bird and Fairy will move from Salish. They don't require much space to live and a special roost is nearly finished in my former apartment. Driver and I will fly to London after the Year of the Fire Monkey has been welcomed." Caitlin blushed at the thought of the mysterious Driver and May, a couple. 

"There is one part that is still missing in this conversion to The Calypso." May finally unwrapping the whole package.

"Is that where we come in then Aunty May?" Larkin didn't often call her that, but really felt about ten years old at this moment. 

"Clever girl. Raven and Fairy are essential old magic necessary for transitions. Both of them are facile with changes and familiar with the twists and turns involved in nurturing and nourishing the Faceless. But they do not have the magic of youth and that energy is what you two have." 

Maydene called on her chits as elder and hostess of this gala, and asked both young women to be with this story for the while. "I am needed with the others and the other things of tonight's reveling. Take your time sorting and enjoy the dressing room. Now that you have no need to guess what I had in mind ... let the story make its way with you." She kissed each of them on both cheeks and stepped through the cloaked wall. 

A version of the other

Larkin and Caitlin instinctively found each other's hand once inside the old brick apartment which neither of them had been to since they were girls. It was not the chill that brought their hands -- Caitlin's right and Larkin's left -- to clasp. The heart of the Rayburn was doing its job filling space and wrapping arms around each Being, a huge Teddy Bear who knew just what and who might be in need of a spark. "It's changed somehow, hasn't it?" Caitlin looked at the big room she remembered in a child's dream memory. "Yes! But I can not say how it's changed exactly." What she did know was that the house was still exceptionally good at listening. Larkin searched the walls and sought the stairway that she remembered conscious of how the ears of this old house opened its channels to it all.

"They, the stairway, are still there," Maydene sought Larkin's elbow and pointed as the night's hostess was also facile at hearing. "We have laid a quantity of Appearances and Disappearances in the magic of this night. So for a little while what once was will ... come and go. See!" Seemingly out of a nowhere space at the back end of the large room two figures, familiar yet dressed differently were Daniel, Larkin's father and Peg her step-mother. "We are Tree Shavings and Mushroom. A version of ourselves, the wood worker and ..." Peg curtsied, "Mushroom Mother." The effect of the costumes set both young women giggling at what was at once beautifully depicted and whimsical. The flutes and ruffles of Mushroom was not a Portabello but it was closely Chantrelle-ish if it weren't for the avenues of violet and purple that showered Peg like a crown. Daniel's feet were encased in boots that were more furry than smooth and dangled with rootlets with an underside of Velcro. "It's possible I will be the night's vacuum." Larkin reached for a hug speculating on the effect. "Fear not fair one." Daniel squeezed the wood shavings. "Foam peanuts for packing parcels!" That did it! A merry foursome of Foam peanuts with furry feet, a violet-ish Mushroom and two young witches yet to be costumed for the night circled and jigged to the grand amusement of the rest.

The silver-haired Raven was at his between world best. Standing inside the large room he was a Silver bird dressed in a waistcoat of brilliant red brocade held with jewels set in taped silver. An emerald faceted like the hair of kelp still swimming in water was closest to his bearded feathers. Next a red stone, maybe garnet ... yes, it must have been for next was a diamond rough rather than polished. The two garnet and diamonds are said to reside in Earth's depths close-by. The fourth and last stone was golden amber. "All of them gifts," the Bird-man was not lying.  Jacob and Rabbit listened. Rabbit's long ears twitched. Jacob simply listened. "Each of the stones were given some willingly though others were payments for deeds others could not do for themselves so these were exchanges rather than true gifts." The Building considered the worthiness of the Silver Bird. Could he serve as gatekeeper to the new birthing coming soon? Breathing in and out, the walls and roof allowed for the future. Maydene had a plan unfurling. The place trusted her.

Fairy Lady apprised the gathering with amusement. Comfortable with serving her interstitial clientele at The Safety Pin Cafe, this Christmas gala would be a time of movements. She would be leaving the care of The Pin to the younger generation of Salish. Mina and Skeena would continue the legacy she and their father, the Silver-haired Raven, started decades ago. When the new year of the Fire Monkey began the Rayburn and this kitchen would be her new domain.

"I had never thought to become a city fairy," she confessed when first she heard of Maydene's plan. "My kin have in the past enjoyed the activity of city rather than woods. But it has been a very long time since that was true. Hundreds of calendar years to be sure." Maydene began her meddling just after the harvesting of apples began. Apples were and remain the prime fruit for pies baked for regular customers and those who wandered into The Safety Pin Cafe. Fully dressed with their chosen faces, or faceless because life had flushed unexpectedly or prematurely, the common magic of the cafe fed and nurtured. The idea Maydene Short was proposing had a pure ring to it, fairies are keen to the sound and smell of an idea not true.

What is to give light must endure burning

Driver pulled the white Suburban to a stop. The rain had stopped, two tiny golden-headed women burst from the double doors of the brick building. Maydene and Fairy Lady were of equal height and the shimmer of them would have stopped rain simply because they burned so brightly together. The man behind the wheel paused, his head turned appreciatively as he thought of Maydene's tattoo, the one he had caressed so often. What is to give light must endure burning. 

"Please make yourselves be welcomed by the Ladies. They have waited a long time for this today. I will drive around with the chattel and bundles." Driver had a lovely way with his speech. Shine was taken to wondrous places when she tuned to his lilting sentences. These were the sorts of sounds her ears absorbed deeply. Music would come of it. She counted on the outcome. It was her clockworks.

"If you don't mind," said Stan "I would like to help with the bags and my bass. She, this bass and I have a long standing agreement that it will be me and me alone who moves her."

"I get your meaning perfectly Bass Man. This carriage and I have a similar arrangement." Driver helped everyone else from their seats, waved cheerfully to the hostesses literally fluttering from the landing. Stan walked to the carriage door and held two hands out for Dumpling. "You my darlin', are my ..." Dumpling slid in the words, "Primary Bass. I will follow you anywhere." The couple was now well into their eighties and it was a beautiful thing to see how perfectly they continued to fit. "There are four steps and then a wide landing. Then four more steps. The handrail is just here." Dumpling felt for it. The wood smooth and sturdy.

Raven observed the procession of young and old and inter-species company climb the deep brick and concrete stairs. Seven guests walked toward the doors ahead of the bird-man. The glimmer of light that could easily be mistaken for drizzles circled him. Whispering he said,"This is an event not limited by time Border Witch. Let them know you have come." Once up the stairs and onto the landing, in deference to the tiny women's stature it was a silver-haired Raven dressed in elegant garb who leaned toward his hostesses. Feathered wings embraced them, and a hibiscus -- one purple and one red appeared from each his wings. "Pale's gifts," he said. Fairy Lady was given the red, and Maydene the purple.

Transforming the Capital

Maydene Short was more city than Salish Islander. Her friendship with Calypso connected her to the island and the community of women who cared for women. Birthing, nursing and making room for families to thrive. Those three things kept May and Calypso woven. Midwifery in 1960's America was a Border Town more hippy than mainstream medicine. Maydene Short came from an England which had just moved from a firm and committed esteem for midwives who delivered babies at home. Hospitalization and the role of the M.D. would displace the home-based midwife soon enough. But May was on a ride ahead of the curve. Calypso had the blood of kahuna who cared for woman and her family as a whole. The natural process of birthing at home was almost as natural as surfing ocean waves. Two women rode the same wave, but started from opposite sides of the Planet.
The five hour plane ride from Honolulu to Seattle those decades earlier opened a potential neither woman could have imagined.

"Do you really believe we can do this. Are you crazy, May." Calypso was not convinced she wasn't crazy, so the expletive was just her way to sputter through the proposal. The idea of creating a birthing center in the middle of Seattle was more than Calypso was prepared for. Midwifery was no doubt her calling, she was not questioning that.

"I have made very powerful connections in this city Calypso. People who not only have money, but people who believe in women. They believe in creation. Thanks to my Mum and Dad the Capital Street Apartments has no mortgage. And, as of today I am twenty-two. I own this place and the land upon which these brick are built ... well, it's what you folks call 'aina. This land feeds me. I feed it. I want to share it with you and your family. Forever! That's what this paperwork says." The parcel of paperwork May held bound in plain brown wrapping was a trust fund that held into perpetuity this building and the half block of land upon which it rose.

"You will never need to move from your beloved woods on the Island, but. But, this place this building of bricks will always be here for birthing and caring for people. How we do this may change as we change. What cannot change is this line "Care for children, women and their families is fundamental."

In 1972 The Capital Street Apartments quietly transformed into a birthing center for low-income families. Maydene's east-facing second floor apartment remained her personal residence. Early into the process of conversion, one of the downstairs apartments became a fully functioning kitchen equipped with a natural gas Rayburn with enough heat equivalent to 20 radiators. Plenty of hot water, cozy heat, and cast iron cook tops for meals became the heart of The Capital Street Apartments.

If you counted, the beautiful Mahealani Moon of December 25, 2015 and all her many cycles since 1972, the 'iewe, the afterbirth of more than twelve hundred newborns were buried in the rich and sustaining gardens that surrounded a stout brick building on Capital Street. A gala party was traveling by ferry and carriage to welcome a new sort of birthing on this Full Moon. But what did not change was this line "Care for children, women and their families is fundamental."