253 Magazine February 2022 Issue

FEB 2022

Local Real Estate Market Trends, Plus...

Lunar New Year Near & Far

Black History Month

Spring is almost here What's coming up

The power of Windermere. The personalized service of Windermere Chambers Bay.

Japanese Camellia

HARDY CYCLAMEN

What's Blooming in the Pacific Northwest!

Crocus

Flowering Quince

Winter Heath

Helebore

Primrose

Lunar New Year Near & Far

Black History Month

Local Real Estate Market Statistics

The Lunar New Year is a time for family and celebration that is deeply rooted in tradition. The legend says that on January 31st of each year an ugly beast will come to terrorize the villages with its fire breath. However, you can scare them away by hanging up decorations, lighting lanterns, or making loud noises (like firecrackers)! During this time people typically will prepare food offerings to the ancestors and gods, and hope for the best.

Families come together to ring in the New Year often dressed in new clothing of red and gold. During these festivities, people enjoy a variety of foods including spring rolls, baos (filled Vietnamese sandwich bread), pancakes, noodles, and dumplings. Fish symbolizes abundance for this year's hopes - it can be served with either fried or steamed rice and formed into balls called “bamboo shoots."

The lucky money tradition is a centuries-old custom in which family members would wrap coins in red string to ward off evil spirits. This has transitioned to wrapped in red paper and now, put into red envelopes (lai see). Today, family members receive red envelopes containing small amounts of money. Giving the money to children, elders are hoping to pass on a year of good fortune and blessings. The younger generation gives to their elders as a blessing of longevity and a show of gratitude. In other regions of China married couples will give red envelopes to their unmarried friends to transfer some luck.

Lunar New Year The Lunar New Year date is dependent upon the cycles of the moon and the lunisolar calendar that tracks the phases of the sun and moon. Although the date varies annually, it will fall between January 20 and February 21 on the Gregorian calendar. The Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, takes place over 15 days and begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar, this year being February 1, and ends on the first full moon of the lunar calendar. Dances and fireworks are prevalent throughout the holiday, ending with the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated on the last day of the New Year’s celebrations.

Each year has a corresponding animal from the Chinese zodiac, based on ancient Chinese mythology; 2022 being the Year of the Tiger. Though Lunar New Year follows the Chinese Lunar Calendar, the holiday is celebrated across Asia and each country has its own traditions: Korea A three-day celebration known as Seollal and a chance to pay respect to your ancestors and elders. Dress is traditional costumes known as hanbok. As part of the celebration, children receive money and words of wisdom for the new year.

Bowing to grandparents and elders for New Year’s Money, or seh bae don, is one way to show respect. Family dinner gatherings include dishes of Korean dumplings (Mandu), soups, braised beef short ribs (Galbijjim) and rice cakes (Ddeok).

Vietnam During Lunar New Year, also known as Tết, families gather at the temple together to pray for good luck, health, and fortune in the new year. Traditional costume known as the áo dài is worn over pants. The áo dài is a silk tunic with slits on either side. Children in Vietnam also receive red envelopes with money. Celebrations with family include meals of bahn tet and variations of banh chung depending on location. Pickled scallion, dried fruit, and dried shrimp also accompany many meals.

Singapore With the population being primarily Chinese, they celebrate with The Chingay Parade which includes giant floats and lion dancers. Each year the largest Chinese New Year festival in Singapore, known as the River Hongbao, is hosted in a different location across the country.

Malaysia The Lunar New year is a time to welcome spring and bring families together for an annual dinner. The holiday lasts for 15 days with some days having specific celebrations depending on your ethnicity. A salad dish to be found at most tables, called Yee Sang, represents good luck and prosperity. Red pocket envelopes with money are given to children and unmarried family members.

Cheongsam or Qipao are the traditional outfits worn in Malaysia. Most are red, but if you are celebrating your zodiac year, it is customary to wear gold to attract more abundance for the year ahead.

Taiwan It is a time to be at home with your family celebrating with food and fireworks.

Dumplings are the most common dish associated, along with pineapple. Not eating all the fish and keeping some leftovers from your holiday meal is considered good luck. Taiwanese also exchange red envelopes.

Philippines In the Philippines, Lunar New Year is called Midia Noche. To celebrate, families come together for a midnight feast consisting of sticky rice dishes, round shaped fruits as the shape represents good fortune, and long noodles to bring a long healthy life and good luck for the year ahead. The round shape can be seen again in the attire and dress of wearing polka dots, said to bring prosperity and good fortune. Another tradition includes opening the doors and windows, turning on lights, and setting off fireworks to scare away any bad spirits.

Visit Travel and Leisure for more information.

How did February Become Black History Month?

This month-long observance grew from a weeklong initiative in 1926. Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard-trained historian, brilliant, and highly accomplished son of slaves, and Minister Jesse E. Mooreland founded The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). The ASALH group sponsored a national Negro History week in 1926, choosing the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of both President Abraham Lincoln (February 12) and abolitionist Frederick Douglass (February 14). The event inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local celebrations and lectures.

By the late 1960s, thanks in part to the civil rights movement and a growing awareness of Black identity, "Negro History Week" had evolved into Black History Month on many college campuses. In 1976, President Gerald Ford officially recognized February as Black History Month, calling upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

Today, Black History Month is a time to honor the contributions and legacy of African Americans across U.S. history and society—from activists and civil rights pioneers such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Rosa Parks to leaders in industry, politics, science, culture and more.

Now, every year has a different theme. This year’s theme is the importance of Black Health and Wellness—physical, mental, and emotional. Start by learning more about the history of Black health and wellness here.

Here are four reasons we should all, regardless of our own heritage, celebrate Black History Month.

1. It celebrates diversity.

Black History Month does not just promote diversity, it celebrates diversity.

Promoting diversity is bringing awareness to the idea that we are all diverse and we all have something to contribute. But when we celebrate diversity, we are conveying the idea that diversity is beautiful.

2. It unites us.

Celebrating diversity and recognizing its beauty brings us together. We can take the time to learn about people from different cultures and backgrounds, and to understand how we are all connected.

3. It takes us beyond the history books.

Going beyond the textbook paints a different, much richer picture of history.

4. It helps us understand the importance of our stories.

Black History Month is about sharing and celebrating the stories of countless men and women who made a difference in our world.

Additional Resources:

Great Reads to expand your understanding of how and why we are here in this time of Racism.

Teaching Black History to White People Leonard Moore has been teaching Black history for twenty-five years, mostly to white people. Drawing on decades of experience in the classroom and on college campuses throughout the South, as well as on his own personal history, Moore illustrates how an understanding of Black history is necessary for everyone.

With Teaching Black History to White People, which is “part memoir, part Black history, part pedagogy, and part how-to guide,” Moore delivers an accessible and engaging primer on the Black experience in America. He poses provocative questions, such as “Why is the teaching of Black history so controversial?” and “What came first: slavery or racism?”

These questions don’t have easy answers, and Moore insists that embracing discomfort is necessary for engaging in open and honest conversations about race. Moore includes a syllabus and other tools for actionable steps that white people can take to move beyond performative justice

The Color of Law

White Fragility The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality. In this "vital, necessary, and beautiful book" (Michael Eric Dyson), antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and "allows us to understand racism as a practice not restricted to 'bad people' (Claudia Rankine). Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful crossracial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.

Widely heralded as a “masterful” (Washington Post) and “essential” (Slate) history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law offers “the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation” (William Julius Wilson). Exploding the myth of de facto segregation arising from private prejudice or the unintended consequences of economic forces, Rothstein describes how the American government systematically imposed residential segregation: with undisguised racial zoning; public housing that purposefully segregated previously mixed communities; subsidies for builders to create whites-only suburbs; tax exemptions for institutions that enforced segregation; and support for violent resistance to African Americans in white neighborhoods. A groundbreaking, “virtually indispensable” study that has already transformed our understanding of twentiethcentury urban history (Chicago Daily Observer), The Color of Law forces us to face the obligation to remedy our unconstitutional past.

Buyers!

Buyer Beware!

We currently have a situation where only the best offers survive.

So, what is the "best offer"? The one most likely to close - but it could be anything from money to terms and conditions. With multiple offers being submitted on a listing, it's crucial to work with an agent who knows the market and knows what makes offers strong. That way you have a better chance of getting your offer accepted.

The importance of having a perfect offer cannot be overstated.

An incorrectly worded or imperfectly completed contract can create all sorts of problems for both the buyer and seller. These red flags are reason enough to make your offer seem less likely to close. Closing is the end result both you and the seller wish to get to.

The agent's job is to make sure that both parties are happy with their end result. You want someone who will work hard and do what needs done in order for the deal go through, but also have knowledge on how real estate markets currently operate so they can give accurate advice when necessary.

Who you work with matters!

MUCH LIKE PEOPLE, EVERY MARKET IS UNIQUE. SOME MARKETS HAVE VIEWS, SOME LARGE YARDS. FROM HOMES BUILT AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY TO NEW CONSTRUCTION, EACH AREA HAS ITS OWN FEATURES AND TYPES OF HOMES.

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