Saturday, June 18, 2016

Three Beautiful Things 06/17/16: Diner Failure and Poppies, International Quench, Ana the Plopper

1. Back on April 14th, while I was merrily getting a haircut and taking the dogs to the Diazes in preparation for a trip with the Deke to Nyack to see Adrienne and Jack, at about noon a fire broke out in Plato's Diner in College Park. I didn't know this until today when I thought I'd drive down to the National Arboretum and take some pictures and eat at Plato's on the way, just like I did back on March 26th, but before I was going to leave today, I went online to look at Plato's menu and I discovered the terrible news that a lunch hour kitchen fire gutted the place. No one was injured.

So, I pressed myself into the Sube and blasted off for the College Park Diner. I arrived and suddenly realized I'd left my phone at home. I couldn't be away today without my phone in case the Deke's back seized up and she needed me to take her home from work, so I blasted back to our apartment home and fixed myself some fried red potatoes and eggs and suddenly it was as if the Wicked Witch of the West was seeing me in her crystal ball, chanting:  "Poppies...Poppies...Poppies will put [him] to sleep." The fact that the corgis had insisted on eating at five a.m. caught up to me and I took a nap and when I woke up, I decided to stay put and wait until Saturday to take pictures.

2. The Deke's back did not seize up. By her own diagnosis, she has about 80 percent of her back's function back again, but is still under the chiropractor's orders not to knit. No heavy lifting either, by the way! I picked up the Deke from school and we did some light lifting at the Quench Tap Room as we each enjoyed a pint of Weyerbacher's gorgeous #2 Imperial IPA and listened to the three servers talk about their native countries: El Salvador, Puerto Rico, and Brazil. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to listen more. But, the servers had work to do and we had grandchildren to visit and so the Deke and I left Quench, relaxed and a little more knowledgeable.

3. Molly fixed us some chicken and Greek salad and after dinner we couldn't take our eyes off Ana who is on the verge of walking. She can walk while steadying herself on the coffee table. She can stand without support. From time to time, she walks about six steps or so, then plops to the floor, not quite ready to push it any farther. She's a gamer. Plop. Right back up. Smile. Plop. Crawl. Pull up with the help of a chair. Stand. Stagger. Plop. Again and again. It won't be long until she's done plopping and discovers the exhilaration of walking all over the place.

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