1. Both of my doctors have web-based messaging services and yesterday, after a nudge from several Facebook friends, I let both my doctors know I had blacked out on Saturday. My primary doctor asked me if I wanted to come in ASAP. I couldn't come in right away, but made an appointment for first thing Wednesday morning and so I'll be driving to Laurel to talk things over with Dr. Cullen -- and, peering into my crystal ball, I see blood work in my immediate future.
2. Most of my files and folders were already backed up, but I'd neglected a few of them and I had some housecleaning to do with stuff on my desktop. I got it almost all done. My "holding hands" and "come have a sit' folders might need some attention.
3. Molly and Hiram closed the deal this afternoon on the purchase of their house and I watched Olivia and David solo for the first time, solo. We did pretty well. I tried to set up situations where they weren't competing for who gets what physical object and to keep a running dialogue going where I asked questions about Batman or Bird Town or Monkey Lunch and that kept them, for the most part, getting along and us having fun. We all survived Grandpa's first solo flight really well.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 05/11/15: Laptop Fixed, Air Conditioning Fixed, Eggplant Sandwich Fixed
1. Saturday evening, I got up from a chair in our living room, with my laptop in hand, to go to our bedroom to lie down. A few feet shy of the bedroom door, I did something I've never done before: I fainted. My laptop flew out of my hand and struck a wall in the hall. It was busted. Today I went to a computer repair and sales place in College Park and found out that the computer's operating system, hard drive, and software were all unharmed, but that I'd busted the laptop's screen/monitor. I took the machine in at about 12:30 p.m. and the guy had it diagnosed, repaired, and ready for me to bring home at 5:30. I have felt just fine since the fainting spell -- it was like I just stood up too fast and maybe my blood pressure was low -- and it's always good to have a broken piece of technology back in operation again. (Oh, by the way, when I see my doctor again in June, I'll mention the fainting spell.)
2. The heat has started to move in to Greenbelt -- and it's started to get humid. Our apartment home's air conditioning unit was blowing air -- neutral, uncool, kind of worthless air. The complex here has a maintenance staff on site and the AC guy came over this morning, went into the magic closet where the heat/cooling system's guts are located, and discovered that our AC was not turned on. He turned it on, returned a while later to make sure all was working. It was. It is. Our apartment home is much more comfortable.
3. I had intended to build eggplant sandwiches for the Deke and me on Friday. That idea got delayed until this evening. I fried slices of eggplant, zucchini, and red pepper. I piled these on the open, buttered, toasted ciabatta rolls and added slices of feta cheese, fresh basil leaves, and pepperoncinis. it's a great sandwich and the green salad I fixed was a perfect compliment. (Mayo is an option to dress the sandwich, but not for me. I've used yellow mustard in the past, but passed on it today.)
2. The heat has started to move in to Greenbelt -- and it's started to get humid. Our apartment home's air conditioning unit was blowing air -- neutral, uncool, kind of worthless air. The complex here has a maintenance staff on site and the AC guy came over this morning, went into the magic closet where the heat/cooling system's guts are located, and discovered that our AC was not turned on. He turned it on, returned a while later to make sure all was working. It was. It is. Our apartment home is much more comfortable.
3. I had intended to build eggplant sandwiches for the Deke and me on Friday. That idea got delayed until this evening. I fried slices of eggplant, zucchini, and red pepper. I piled these on the open, buttered, toasted ciabatta rolls and added slices of feta cheese, fresh basil leaves, and pepperoncinis. it's a great sandwich and the green salad I fixed was a perfect compliment. (Mayo is an option to dress the sandwich, but not for me. I've used yellow mustard in the past, but passed on it today.)
Monday, May 11, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 05/10/15: Early Morning Church, What a Nana!, Farmers Market, BONUS
1. I decided to try the 8:00 service at St. Andrews in College Park. The service was sparsely attended -- I think everyone there greeted each other during the passing of the peace -- and it's a spare service with no music. As far as life at home, it might be a good service for me to attend regularly. It sure worked out well today.
2. David and Olivia came over to see us while Hiram and Molly had a walk through at the house they are buying. I marvel at how many different ideas the Deke has for things for the kids to do to keep them freshly stimulated -- everything from knitting to sidewalk chalk to reading a book together -- and more.
3. In order to fix dinner, I had to go to the Co-op and the Roosevelt Center was alive with live music for the Green Man Festival -- in addition, there were booths with food and different wares -- including tie-dye! -- and it was the first day of the Sunday Farmers Market. I strolled through the Farmer's Market, made some mental notes -- kale here, strawberries there, apples at that place -- noted that farmers at the market were from Pennsylvania as well as Maryland and Virginia. I'll go back next week, bring cash -- I forgot to do so today -- and buy some fresh food products. (This, by the way, is one of several Farmers Markets in the immediate area, reminding me that although we live in the bewildering labyrinth of the D. C. suburbanopolis, there's a lot of farming going on nearby.)
BONUS: MOM UPDATE: Mom's week got off to a difficult start with intense pain in her lower back and hip and then, on Tuesday, it all but disappeared. We've talked at least three times since Tuesday, when she saw a doctor, and she sounds really good. She and Carol have worked things out so that she spends her nights by herself. Carol and Paul come over daily to help her out with different things and she's getting M-F help from a woman who does housework, the CNA who bathes her and does other things around the house, and from three other medical professionals less frequently. Before too long, Christy and Everett will live next door to Mom. All of this makes me live much more peacefully with the fact that I am needed here in Maryland and can't be two places at once.
2. David and Olivia came over to see us while Hiram and Molly had a walk through at the house they are buying. I marvel at how many different ideas the Deke has for things for the kids to do to keep them freshly stimulated -- everything from knitting to sidewalk chalk to reading a book together -- and more.
3. In order to fix dinner, I had to go to the Co-op and the Roosevelt Center was alive with live music for the Green Man Festival -- in addition, there were booths with food and different wares -- including tie-dye! -- and it was the first day of the Sunday Farmers Market. I strolled through the Farmer's Market, made some mental notes -- kale here, strawberries there, apples at that place -- noted that farmers at the market were from Pennsylvania as well as Maryland and Virginia. I'll go back next week, bring cash -- I forgot to do so today -- and buy some fresh food products. (This, by the way, is one of several Farmers Markets in the immediate area, reminding me that although we live in the bewildering labyrinth of the D. C. suburbanopolis, there's a lot of farming going on nearby.)
BONUS: MOM UPDATE: Mom's week got off to a difficult start with intense pain in her lower back and hip and then, on Tuesday, it all but disappeared. We've talked at least three times since Tuesday, when she saw a doctor, and she sounds really good. She and Carol have worked things out so that she spends her nights by herself. Carol and Paul come over daily to help her out with different things and she's getting M-F help from a woman who does housework, the CNA who bathes her and does other things around the house, and from three other medical professionals less frequently. Before too long, Christy and Everett will live next door to Mom. All of this makes me live much more peacefully with the fact that I am needed here in Maryland and can't be two places at once.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 05/09/15: Right Field and Rainy River, The Diaz House, Bliss at Gilly's in Rockville
1. The Deke and I had a day out that began at the library. While the
Deke was looking for and finding an armload of materials for children, I
checked out a fiction anthology at the recommendation of Smelterville's
own native son, Rick Wainright, and read a most enjoyable story, "Death
of a Right Fielder". Then, since the Deke was still finding and
checking out materials, I read parts of one of my favorite short stories
ever, "On the Rainy River". Both stories had great nostalgic impact on
me. The first took me back to when I loved watching Willie Mays and
Roberto Clemente and Micky Mantle play baseball and the sadness of
seeing Mays and Mantle age right there on televisiGron. Clemente's death
in an earthquake relief airplane crash kept us from seeing his skills
diminish -- he's forever young. "On Rainy River" took me back to teaching the book The Things They Carried and
how much this story moved me -- even though I was never drafted and
never really fished a day in my life -- but somehow the story's
Worthington, MN and Kellogg, ID merged emotionally in my heart and mind
and I was back taking drives alone to Pinehurst or up Montgomery Gulch,
not debating the draft within myself, but having other inward battles.
2. Then the Deke and I headed west to look at the outside of the handsome house Molly and Hiram are buying and a to get a peek at the leafy neighborhood they will live in. We are both happy that the drive, in good traffic, to their house is at least half the distance as the drive to where they currently live.
3. On of the beer-themed Twitter feeds I follow had recently praised, with enthusiasm, the taplist at a taphouse and bottle shop in Rockville by the name of Gilly's. We went there for lunch and, OH! MY!, do I ever wish we lived a wee bit closer to Rockville so we had closer access to this place. We both enjoyed our sandwiches and the Extra ESB from Breckenridge and the half pint of Laughing Dog Bourbon Barrel Dogfather Imperial Stout, brewed in Ponderay, ID, was a great after food beer. It takes over a half an hour for us to get to Gilly's from Greenbelt and I think there will be many Saturdays when we will combine a trip to the Diaz household with a drive to Rockville to return to this, the best beer establishment we've found yet in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.
2. Then the Deke and I headed west to look at the outside of the handsome house Molly and Hiram are buying and a to get a peek at the leafy neighborhood they will live in. We are both happy that the drive, in good traffic, to their house is at least half the distance as the drive to where they currently live.
3. On of the beer-themed Twitter feeds I follow had recently praised, with enthusiasm, the taplist at a taphouse and bottle shop in Rockville by the name of Gilly's. We went there for lunch and, OH! MY!, do I ever wish we lived a wee bit closer to Rockville so we had closer access to this place. We both enjoyed our sandwiches and the Extra ESB from Breckenridge and the half pint of Laughing Dog Bourbon Barrel Dogfather Imperial Stout, brewed in Ponderay, ID, was a great after food beer. It takes over a half an hour for us to get to Gilly's from Greenbelt and I think there will be many Saturdays when we will combine a trip to the Diaz household with a drive to Rockville to return to this, the best beer establishment we've found yet in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 05/08/15: Patience Makes Lighter, Old Line Conference, Adultery and Murder
1. Ah! Back to the Greenbelt Aquatic Center today and a slight increase in my swimming distance. My first goal, since early October, when I weighed 243, has been to reach 220 pounds and, for about two weeks, I've been stuck at at 221.6. The last time my weight got down to 210 was in about 2003/2004 when I was swimming regularly and I'm hoping that swimming, along with some walking, will help me get to 220. I'll keep the immortal words of Horace in mind: "Patience makes lighter...." Then I can set my eyes on another goal.
2. The Deke and I, once again, have some decisions to make about things in our life. We've left Eugene, so we don't have the great thinking beer hall of 16 Tons or the great thinking beer and food halls of Cornucopia or Billy Mac's to go to in order to sort things out, but this evening we went to the Old Line Bistro in Beltsville for a pint and some food and we talked about what we see ourselves doing together in the next twelve months or so. We returned to the Subaru smiling, happy to do what we enjoy doing: putting a lot of possibilities on the table.
3. After the Beltsville Conference, I finished an episode of Inspector Lewis I had started late last night. I gotta say, in the Oxford of this show, you just never know who is hopping in bed with whom and what murders will result from all this extracurricular activity.
2. The Deke and I, once again, have some decisions to make about things in our life. We've left Eugene, so we don't have the great thinking beer hall of 16 Tons or the great thinking beer and food halls of Cornucopia or Billy Mac's to go to in order to sort things out, but this evening we went to the Old Line Bistro in Beltsville for a pint and some food and we talked about what we see ourselves doing together in the next twelve months or so. We returned to the Subaru smiling, happy to do what we enjoy doing: putting a lot of possibilities on the table.
3. After the Beltsville Conference, I finished an episode of Inspector Lewis I had started late last night. I gotta say, in the Oxford of this show, you just never know who is hopping in bed with whom and what murders will result from all this extracurricular activity.
Friday, May 8, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 05/07/15: Swimming Again, Molly and David Swing By, Father and Son Fox
1. After a many, many years' absence, I was back in a pool today swimming laps at the Greenbelt Fitness and Aquatic Center. The walking I've done as evidently served me well. I was in better swimming shape today than I was about fourteen years ago, the last time I took up swimming in earnest.
2. After a day visiting the National Zoo, Hiram and Olivia stayed at home in Groveton and Molly and David drove up to Greenbelt and so Molly and the Deke got to have some long conversation free of having to referee the frequent minor skirmishes between Olivia and David. I had found a recipe for spicy sesame tofu, broccoli, and mushrooms and I served it over brown basmati rice and we all decided it was a keeper -- very gratifying, I admit, to have another recipe work out so well.
3. My little bit of digging into the career of Laurence Fox, who plays James Hathaway on Inspector Lewis, uncovered that Laurence Fox is the son of the superb British actor, James Fox -- oh, you might have seen him in Remains of the Day or Patriot Games or as Lord Aysgarth in Downton Abbey (a train I haven't boarded yet). Well, the fact that James Fox played the stuffy Lewis Carroll specialist, Professor Norman Deering, in the episode, "The Allegory of Love" went right by me the first time I watched that story, so I watched it again tonight, wanting to see the Fox father and son acting in the same episode. I ached with pleasure.
2. After a day visiting the National Zoo, Hiram and Olivia stayed at home in Groveton and Molly and David drove up to Greenbelt and so Molly and the Deke got to have some long conversation free of having to referee the frequent minor skirmishes between Olivia and David. I had found a recipe for spicy sesame tofu, broccoli, and mushrooms and I served it over brown basmati rice and we all decided it was a keeper -- very gratifying, I admit, to have another recipe work out so well.
3. My little bit of digging into the career of Laurence Fox, who plays James Hathaway on Inspector Lewis, uncovered that Laurence Fox is the son of the superb British actor, James Fox -- oh, you might have seen him in Remains of the Day or Patriot Games or as Lord Aysgarth in Downton Abbey (a train I haven't boarded yet). Well, the fact that James Fox played the stuffy Lewis Carroll specialist, Professor Norman Deering, in the episode, "The Allegory of Love" went right by me the first time I watched that story, so I watched it again tonight, wanting to see the Fox father and son acting in the same episode. I ached with pleasure.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 05/06/15: Lewis Lifts My Spirits, Rigatoni Lifts the Deke's Spirits, Hathaway Visits His Past
1. This afternoon, I turned to Inspector Lewis and his fascinating assistant Hathaway for some company. It's rare, but sometimes I fall into a funk of loneliness in this new place where I now live. That happened today and Lewis and Hathaway lifted my spirits as they unfolded the deceit and greed that motivated three murders, all related to a defunct rock/blues band, Midnight Addiction (ha! what a name!) -- a band that Lewis all but worshiped in his youth. I first took notice of the actor Simon Callow about twenty years ago. He played the skinny dipping Rev. Mr. Beebe and, now, here was, fully clothed, in an episode of Inspector Lewis, playing the band's longtime and flamboyant manager, delighting me in the present and triggering wonderful memories of his performances in the past.
2. By the time I picked up the Deke from school, my minor funk had lifted and I was in good shape to help lift her spirits after a difficult day at work by fixing a simple comfort meal of rigatoni topped with whole tomatoes from the can along with butter, crushed garlic, fresh basil, red pepper flakes, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese -- one of Deke's reliably favorite meals, both for how it tastes and how it lifts her spirits -- the power of nostalgia.
3. Lewis and Hathaway had been so good to me in the afternoon, that I gave them another go in the evening and they came through again as they worked out the details of dark truths hiding in the aristocratic lives of the Mortmaigne family at Crevecoeur Hall, where Hathaway's father had been estate manager until Hathaway turned twelve. The murder mystery was compelling enough, but at the heart of this episode was deepening of Lewis and Hathaway's relationship, with help from the ever shrewd, Dr. Laura Hobson -- my favorite forensic investigator ever -- hmmm, or is Ducky? -- it's close, but I tilt toward Dr. Laura Hobson....
2. By the time I picked up the Deke from school, my minor funk had lifted and I was in good shape to help lift her spirits after a difficult day at work by fixing a simple comfort meal of rigatoni topped with whole tomatoes from the can along with butter, crushed garlic, fresh basil, red pepper flakes, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese -- one of Deke's reliably favorite meals, both for how it tastes and how it lifts her spirits -- the power of nostalgia.
3. Lewis and Hathaway had been so good to me in the afternoon, that I gave them another go in the evening and they came through again as they worked out the details of dark truths hiding in the aristocratic lives of the Mortmaigne family at Crevecoeur Hall, where Hathaway's father had been estate manager until Hathaway turned twelve. The murder mystery was compelling enough, but at the heart of this episode was deepening of Lewis and Hathaway's relationship, with help from the ever shrewd, Dr. Laura Hobson -- my favorite forensic investigator ever -- hmmm, or is Ducky? -- it's close, but I tilt toward Dr. Laura Hobson....
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 05/05/15: Mom's Had a Better Day, A Modest Expedition, July in Kellogg
1. MOM UPDATE: I talked to Mom twice today, once in the morning and again after her doctor's appointment late in the afternoon. After a period the day before of intense pain, on Tuesday the pain in her hip and back significantly subsided and she was having a much better day. I could tell this was true in her voice in our second conversation. It does not appear that she further injured herself from her most recent fall -- that was good news. She got some medicine for her pain. The dizziness/light- headedness comes and goes and will remain under observation. I also talked with Carol and had several email and text exchanges with her. I had a concern or two. Carol helped me understand what I needed to understand and I deeply appreciated what she told me. The upshot? I went to bed knowing Mom was having a better day on Tuesday.
2. I went on a modest expedition today. First, I figured out the route to what will be Molly and Hiram's new house in Silver Spring, so now I know how much closer we'll be to them when they move. They live near a shopping center with a Kohl's and I looked at Kohl's slim picture frame inventory and then I drove to the College Park REI to talk with a splendid and very helpful woman there about ticks and tick repellent and bought a couple tubes of lotion. I enjoyed this modest expedition. I traveled new streets, went to neighborhoods I hadn't visited before, and learned more about getting around in the bewildering maze of roads, avenues, pikes, state routes, county routes, and highways where I live.
3. After toying with the idea of going to Kellogg in late May, but deciding I want to stay in Greenbelt because it really helps out to have me at home while the Deke slogs her way through this very difficult school year, I decided to fly to Spokane on July 4th and stay in Kellogg for a yet to be determined amount of time. Mom seemed happy I was coming out. When I told her my plans, she dropped a classic Mom line on me: "Now, don't come on my account!" Heh. Never crossed my mind.......
2. I went on a modest expedition today. First, I figured out the route to what will be Molly and Hiram's new house in Silver Spring, so now I know how much closer we'll be to them when they move. They live near a shopping center with a Kohl's and I looked at Kohl's slim picture frame inventory and then I drove to the College Park REI to talk with a splendid and very helpful woman there about ticks and tick repellent and bought a couple tubes of lotion. I enjoyed this modest expedition. I traveled new streets, went to neighborhoods I hadn't visited before, and learned more about getting around in the bewildering maze of roads, avenues, pikes, state routes, county routes, and highways where I live.
3. After toying with the idea of going to Kellogg in late May, but deciding I want to stay in Greenbelt because it really helps out to have me at home while the Deke slogs her way through this very difficult school year, I decided to fly to Spokane on July 4th and stay in Kellogg for a yet to be determined amount of time. Mom seemed happy I was coming out. When I told her my plans, she dropped a classic Mom line on me: "Now, don't come on my account!" Heh. Never crossed my mind.......
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 05/04/15: Things Are Tough for Mom, Dinner at Franklin's, Wenatchee Woman
1. MOM UPDATE: Carol is hoping to get Mom in to see her doctor on Tuesday. The dizziness that caused her to fall on Sunday morning persists and she's having a lot of pain in her hip, which could be the sciatica acting up again. After so many days of good spirits and feeling really good, it sounds like Mom is weary and in quite a bit of pain. This news doesn't really belong under "Three Beautiful Things", but for all of you looking for updates, this is the best place to write it out. If there is anything good about this, it's that Carol is right there and so are the helpers who visit Mom through the week.
2. I picked up the Deke at school and we crawled through College Park on down to Hyattsville and shared a 10 inch Margherita pizza at Franklin's, Prince George's County's only brewpub. Some percentage of the cost of our meal contributed to a fund raiser the PTA at the Deke's school was putting on. Franklin's brews good beer and their food is pretty good -- but we are still in search of a place to go that is smaller, maybe even quieter. We are actually looking for a place around here that is more like the Growler and Gill in Nanuet, NY before the six o'clock crowd pours in. I found a joint called Gilly's online. It's in Rockville. Their beer list looks terrific. I'm going to scout it out. (One brewpub in this entire, densely populated county...that just doesn't seem just to me!)
3. Franklin's also has a General Store attached to it with a corner of the store lusciously devoted to a fine variety of beer and wine. The Deke and I, after a pint of beer, each had a glass of Kiona Merlot/Cabernet blend. The Kiona vineyard is in Benton City, WA. I decided to buy a bottle of the Kiona, and while making my purchase, a woman working at Franklin's worked pretty hard to get me to buy some half price Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley and I casually dropped the fact that I'd just moved here from Oregon. Whoa! She'd just been through a divorce in Wenatchee, WA and had re-connected with a first love in her life who lives now in Maryland and moved out here to be with him. I told her my story was less romantic, but we moved here to be close to our daughters and grandchildren. It was fun talking with a PacNW native, shaking hands, and smiling and laughing about our new lives here in MD. As I left, she reminded me about the half price wine from Oregon.
2. I picked up the Deke at school and we crawled through College Park on down to Hyattsville and shared a 10 inch Margherita pizza at Franklin's, Prince George's County's only brewpub. Some percentage of the cost of our meal contributed to a fund raiser the PTA at the Deke's school was putting on. Franklin's brews good beer and their food is pretty good -- but we are still in search of a place to go that is smaller, maybe even quieter. We are actually looking for a place around here that is more like the Growler and Gill in Nanuet, NY before the six o'clock crowd pours in. I found a joint called Gilly's online. It's in Rockville. Their beer list looks terrific. I'm going to scout it out. (One brewpub in this entire, densely populated county...that just doesn't seem just to me!)
3. Franklin's also has a General Store attached to it with a corner of the store lusciously devoted to a fine variety of beer and wine. The Deke and I, after a pint of beer, each had a glass of Kiona Merlot/Cabernet blend. The Kiona vineyard is in Benton City, WA. I decided to buy a bottle of the Kiona, and while making my purchase, a woman working at Franklin's worked pretty hard to get me to buy some half price Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley and I casually dropped the fact that I'd just moved here from Oregon. Whoa! She'd just been through a divorce in Wenatchee, WA and had re-connected with a first love in her life who lives now in Maryland and moved out here to be with him. I told her my story was less romantic, but we moved here to be close to our daughters and grandchildren. It was fun talking with a PacNW native, shaking hands, and smiling and laughing about our new lives here in MD. As I left, she reminded me about the half price wine from Oregon.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Sibling Assignment #162: The Sunnyside Ice Bowl
Carol sprung this prompt for Sibling Assignment #162 on us three siblings:
I remember a lot about my four years at Sunnyside Elementary. I'll never forget Dave Rowley coming up to me under the fire escapes behind the old part of the school and telling me JFK had been shot.
I'll always remember when Delbert Larson was my patrol partner at the corner of Division and Cameron, across from Wellman's Auto, and he rammed the shaft of his patrol flag into the traffic light control box from underneath and the traffic lights went nuts, flashing chaotically between red, yellow, and green, confusing the drivers of the semis and the cars -- luckily no accidents occurred.
I remember when, on our way to junior choir practice at the United Church, Don Windisch pinched penny candy at Walden's story and when he revealed his spoils to Scott Stuart and me, he proudly crowed, "The hand is quicker than the eye."
I remember Mrs. Denlinger kicking me out of class for reading a bloody scene from Where the Fern Grows.
I remember Mrs. Denlinger censoring our Weekly Reader if it had anything controversial in it -- like the space program -- she belonged to the John Birch Society and opposed government programs -- she also made us pray in class and do group memorized readings from Scripture after the Supreme Court ruled that such activities violated the separation of church and state.
Mrs. Denlinger also made me stay for over an hour after school the last day of classes to complete work on Greek Mythology that I hadn't finished back in February.
I remember Mrs. Hitzel putting the kibosh on Scott and me roaring, "A-Yoooooo-Weee" as we darted out of the classroom for recess, calling our joyful cry, "that horrible holler".
Oh, there's more.
But, I need to get to that one especially memorable incident that I can now call the Sunnyside Ice Bowl.
It happened before the historic Ice Bowl of December 31, 1967 when the Packers hosted the Cowboys on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field in severe sub-zero conditions.
I was a fifth grader.
A cold snap had invaded Kellogg.
It was glorious.
The sky was clear and as blue as a robin's egg. A foot or more of dry, powder snow covered the Sunnyside playground.
It was so cold that not one teacher would come outside for playground duty -- and, yet, this being some time in the winter of 1964-65, we boys who wanted to be outside in these conditions were allowed to have our own recess --
UNSUPERVISED.
I have no idea who let us be on the playground by ourselves, but we took full advantage of the situation.
You see, normally, when we played football on the Sunnyside Elementary playground, we had to play two-hand touch, not tackle football.
But with a foot of powdery snow on the ground, no teachers to stop us, and an instinctual desire to warm ourselves up, we divided into two sides and played an awesome game of tackle football.
As I grew older, I came to hate playing tackle football and never did it again after the ninth grade.
But on this day, it was the most fun I ever had on that playground.
I remember my face going from freezing cold to burning and never would I ever have so much fun tackling other kids on the soft cushion of the powdery snow and rolling around in it, hardly, it seemed, even getting wet.
We also were joined in a brief brotherhood of getting away with something we had never done before and would never do again and the thrill of not having to play touch football, but playing tackle, made us giddy, moved us to help each other up after a tackle, laugh at the absurdity of trying to run, pass, and punt in this deep snow with golashes on, and, when the bell rang ending recess, we put our arms around each others' shoulders, laughed more, and made our way back to our respective classes.
No one got hurt.
Mirth ruled.
The warmth of the building never felt better, and, once in, I realized, as I'm sure my classmates did, that the powder snow did, indeed, have water content. My pants and whatever I wore above the waist were really wet and I remember (I think) Mrs. Denlinger letting me stand next to one of the steam heat radiators and get dry.
I admit. The conditions we played this one surreptitious game of tackle football under were no equal to the Ice Bowl in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
But, all the same, as I grew older, I always looked back on it as the Sunnyside Ice Bowl.
Think back to something that happened when you were a student at Sunnyside Elementary, and why you think that incident has stuck in your memory after all these years.Carol wrote her version of the Jets and the Sharks at Sunnyside Elementary, here and Christy wrote about her artistic talents and aspirations when she was a sixth grader, here.
I remember a lot about my four years at Sunnyside Elementary. I'll never forget Dave Rowley coming up to me under the fire escapes behind the old part of the school and telling me JFK had been shot.
I'll always remember when Delbert Larson was my patrol partner at the corner of Division and Cameron, across from Wellman's Auto, and he rammed the shaft of his patrol flag into the traffic light control box from underneath and the traffic lights went nuts, flashing chaotically between red, yellow, and green, confusing the drivers of the semis and the cars -- luckily no accidents occurred.
I remember when, on our way to junior choir practice at the United Church, Don Windisch pinched penny candy at Walden's story and when he revealed his spoils to Scott Stuart and me, he proudly crowed, "The hand is quicker than the eye."
I remember Mrs. Denlinger kicking me out of class for reading a bloody scene from Where the Fern Grows.
I remember Mrs. Denlinger censoring our Weekly Reader if it had anything controversial in it -- like the space program -- she belonged to the John Birch Society and opposed government programs -- she also made us pray in class and do group memorized readings from Scripture after the Supreme Court ruled that such activities violated the separation of church and state.
Mrs. Denlinger also made me stay for over an hour after school the last day of classes to complete work on Greek Mythology that I hadn't finished back in February.
I remember Mrs. Hitzel putting the kibosh on Scott and me roaring, "A-Yoooooo-Weee" as we darted out of the classroom for recess, calling our joyful cry, "that horrible holler".
Oh, there's more.
But, I need to get to that one especially memorable incident that I can now call the Sunnyside Ice Bowl.
It happened before the historic Ice Bowl of December 31, 1967 when the Packers hosted the Cowboys on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field in severe sub-zero conditions.
I was a fifth grader.
A cold snap had invaded Kellogg.
It was glorious.
The sky was clear and as blue as a robin's egg. A foot or more of dry, powder snow covered the Sunnyside playground.
It was so cold that not one teacher would come outside for playground duty -- and, yet, this being some time in the winter of 1964-65, we boys who wanted to be outside in these conditions were allowed to have our own recess --
UNSUPERVISED.
I have no idea who let us be on the playground by ourselves, but we took full advantage of the situation.
You see, normally, when we played football on the Sunnyside Elementary playground, we had to play two-hand touch, not tackle football.
But with a foot of powdery snow on the ground, no teachers to stop us, and an instinctual desire to warm ourselves up, we divided into two sides and played an awesome game of tackle football.
As I grew older, I came to hate playing tackle football and never did it again after the ninth grade.
But on this day, it was the most fun I ever had on that playground.
I remember my face going from freezing cold to burning and never would I ever have so much fun tackling other kids on the soft cushion of the powdery snow and rolling around in it, hardly, it seemed, even getting wet.
We also were joined in a brief brotherhood of getting away with something we had never done before and would never do again and the thrill of not having to play touch football, but playing tackle, made us giddy, moved us to help each other up after a tackle, laugh at the absurdity of trying to run, pass, and punt in this deep snow with golashes on, and, when the bell rang ending recess, we put our arms around each others' shoulders, laughed more, and made our way back to our respective classes.
No one got hurt.
Mirth ruled.
The warmth of the building never felt better, and, once in, I realized, as I'm sure my classmates did, that the powder snow did, indeed, have water content. My pants and whatever I wore above the waist were really wet and I remember (I think) Mrs. Denlinger letting me stand next to one of the steam heat radiators and get dry.
I admit. The conditions we played this one surreptitious game of tackle football under were no equal to the Ice Bowl in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
But, all the same, as I grew older, I always looked back on it as the Sunnyside Ice Bowl.
Three Beautiful Things 05/03/15: Olivia Approves of SLEEP OVER, Grandpa Wimp, Mom Seems OK
1. The SLEEP OVER drew to an end when Molly and Hiram arrived before noon to gather up David and Olivia. Just under twenty-four hours earlier, Olivia had cried and protested that she didn't want to be apart from her mom and dad and had arrived at Nana and Grandpa's a little tentative about the whole idea of a sleep over. Turns out, however, she had a GREAT time and she left beaming at the prospect that one day this will happen again. David was all in from the start. I'm happy Olivia came around!
2. I might be a Grandpa wimp. In the middle of the afternoon, I retired to the bedroom for some quiet time with Charly and Maggie and fell into a profound coma sleep.
3. This morning, about six o'clock PST, Mom got out of bed, was dizzy, and fell to the ground. She managed to knock the phone in her bedroom that sits on her bedside stand off the carriage so she could call Carol to come over to the house and help her get back on her feet. I talked to Mom about three hours after this happened, and she sounded really good. I hope it's true that this fall wasn't too bad. I never heard back from Carol or Mom the rest of the day with news reporting otherwise. I'll check back in with her on Monday after the different helpers who come to see her have cleared out.
2. I might be a Grandpa wimp. In the middle of the afternoon, I retired to the bedroom for some quiet time with Charly and Maggie and fell into a profound coma sleep.
3. This morning, about six o'clock PST, Mom got out of bed, was dizzy, and fell to the ground. She managed to knock the phone in her bedroom that sits on her bedside stand off the carriage so she could call Carol to come over to the house and help her get back on her feet. I talked to Mom about three hours after this happened, and she sounded really good. I hope it's true that this fall wasn't too bad. I never heard back from Carol or Mom the rest of the day with news reporting otherwise. I'll check back in with her on Monday after the different helpers who come to see her have cleared out.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 04/02/15: Costco World, It's Not Eugene in DMV, SLEEP OVER!
1. I dropped in at the Beltsville Costco on Friday to pick up some pictures and I took a stroll up and down the aisles to gawk at 52 inch tv screens and tables packed with cargo shorts and toolboxes the size of our apartment home and I thought, "Hmmm. I think the Deke and I should come over here and consider a few purchases." This morning, the Deke agreed and we went to Costco. We bought a couple of fans and some flea killer. I got some cargo shorts and the Deke bought a floppy sun hat. We picked up a couple swim suits and couple other clothing items for David and Olivia to have on hand when they visit. I spent a lot of my time strolling the aisles, pinching myself, contemplating this move the Deke and I made. Honestly, I've never been in the company of so many different people from so many countries and heard so man different languages spoken and seen so many people dressed in so many various ways as I have since we moved to DMV. I spent much of my time in Costco today taking it all in: the bright magentas and pinks and golds and purples, the elaborately patterned skirts and radiant head coverings, the many languages -- European, African, Asian, American (South, Central, and North). I realized I was part of the variety with my baggy cargo shorts and gray Orofino Lumberjack Days long-sleeved T-shirt over my purple and gold Kellogg All-Class Reunion T-shirt. I mean, how about if someone in that store marveled that today s/he saw something s/he'd never seen before? You know, a gray guy from North Idaho and thought, "Wow! He was buyin' almond butter and flashlights and fresh blueberries and a tower fan just like other people do. I didn't get to hear him speak, though. I wonder what those people sound like."
2. Going to Costco and spending some time on Rt 1/Baltimore Avenue, an interminable multi-lane thoroughfare packed with traffic, traffic lights, strip malls, shopping plazas, and national chain after national chain like Costco, Petco, Buffalo Wild Wings, IKEA, and others, the Deke and I talked a bit about how where we live now is so different from living in Eugene -- everything we loved to do in Eugene was just minutes away and it was all top-notch: bakeries, beer joints, church, local markets, yarn stores, places to eat, our friends, everything. We laughed at ourselves for ever having moved -- we are now close to nothing and we have found nowhere that even begins to live up to the standards of Billy Mac's, Great Harvest Bakery, Sixteen Tons, the yarn stores the Deke loved. But, we see our grandchildren and we see Molly and Hiram and Adrienne and if you'll just read my next entry, you'll understand what makes us so happy to be here.
3. Molly and Hiram drove David and Olivia to our apartment home this afternoon, hugged them good-bye, and left them with us for their first SLEEP OVER with Nana and Grandpa. We had a great time before the grandchildren went to bed. We had chicken and corn and rice (no eggplant!) for dinner, the kids played outside, watched some frog videos inside, had shortbread cookies and chocolate ice cream about an hour or so after dinner, and took a bath in a whole different bathtub, ours. Eight o'clock was popcorn time and gramps popped a big bowl of buttered and salted popcorn that helped the kids get started on a movie and before long they got to get into the beds we just bought just for nights like this and Nana sang them to sleep.
This was two grandchildren weekends in a row: Jack last weekend for two nights of sleep over in New York and now a sleep over this weekend right here in Greenbelt, Maryland.
2. Going to Costco and spending some time on Rt 1/Baltimore Avenue, an interminable multi-lane thoroughfare packed with traffic, traffic lights, strip malls, shopping plazas, and national chain after national chain like Costco, Petco, Buffalo Wild Wings, IKEA, and others, the Deke and I talked a bit about how where we live now is so different from living in Eugene -- everything we loved to do in Eugene was just minutes away and it was all top-notch: bakeries, beer joints, church, local markets, yarn stores, places to eat, our friends, everything. We laughed at ourselves for ever having moved -- we are now close to nothing and we have found nowhere that even begins to live up to the standards of Billy Mac's, Great Harvest Bakery, Sixteen Tons, the yarn stores the Deke loved. But, we see our grandchildren and we see Molly and Hiram and Adrienne and if you'll just read my next entry, you'll understand what makes us so happy to be here.
3. Molly and Hiram drove David and Olivia to our apartment home this afternoon, hugged them good-bye, and left them with us for their first SLEEP OVER with Nana and Grandpa. We had a great time before the grandchildren went to bed. We had chicken and corn and rice (no eggplant!) for dinner, the kids played outside, watched some frog videos inside, had shortbread cookies and chocolate ice cream about an hour or so after dinner, and took a bath in a whole different bathtub, ours. Eight o'clock was popcorn time and gramps popped a big bowl of buttered and salted popcorn that helped the kids get started on a movie and before long they got to get into the beds we just bought just for nights like this and Nana sang them to sleep.
This was two grandchildren weekends in a row: Jack last weekend for two nights of sleep over in New York and now a sleep over this weekend right here in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 05/01/15: Framing Pictures, Serenity in Beltsville, Popcorn Party
1. I have no idea why it's taken me months to do this, but today I put in an order for twenty 8 x 10 prints of pictures I've taken, picked them up at Costco, and started the process of rotating these pictures in and out of frames I have -- or, maybe I'll buy more frames and frame most of them. I must say, the pictures seem more real when they are no longer images on a laptop and are images on photopaper set in a frame. It's fun.
2. Since Costco is in Beltsville, I decided to find a place to walk and take pictures in Beltsville and drove to the Little Paint Branch Park where I discovered a shortish, but lovely asphalt trail winding along the Little Paint Branch Stream. Here are a few pictures I took:
3. The Deke had a tough week at school and was really worn out this evening and, to help her relax,
I went down to the Co-op and bought a jar of popcorn and a bottle of red wine, popped the popcorn on the stove top, buttered and salted it, and we had an excellent popcorn party here in our apartment home.
2. Since Costco is in Beltsville, I decided to find a place to walk and take pictures in Beltsville and drove to the Little Paint Branch Park where I discovered a shortish, but lovely asphalt trail winding along the Little Paint Branch Stream. Here are a few pictures I took:
3. The Deke had a tough week at school and was really worn out this evening and, to help her relax,
I went down to the Co-op and bought a jar of popcorn and a bottle of red wine, popped the popcorn on the stove top, buttered and salted it, and we had an excellent popcorn party here in our apartment home.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 04/30/15: Come Sit by the Lake, Sube Success, Eggplant Challenge
1. I hadn't taken any "Come Have a Sit" pictures for quite a while, so today I decided to take my camera with me to Greenbelt Lake, get a walk in, and take some pictures. I like low exposure black and whites, so I kept adjusting my aperture and shutter speed accordingly and here are some of the results:
First, a picture of the a section of the trail that goes around the lake:
Here are a handful of the numerous places to come have a sit around the lake:
When I saw how this reflection on the lake, I couldn't resist taking one shot in color:
2. I just like it when stuff works out. The dent I caused in the Subaru is repaired and the bumper liner replaced and our car looks like its eleven year old self again! To add to my happiness, everything worked out great at Enterprise rental, too, and, once again, Alicia provided top-notch customer service.
3. Molly and Olivia and David came up to Alexandria for a visit and I know Molly loves Chinese food and I know she is a somewhat recent convert to, well, to eggplant AND the Deke dropped a comment not long ago that she finds take out Chinese food not that tasty, so I challenged myself to cook a Chinese dish Molly would enjoy and that the Deke would find tasty.
In peanut and sesame oil I stir fried chunks cut from two eggplants. I took them off the electric frying pan and the stir fried garlic, ginger, green onion, and red chili paste. In a small bowl, I combined chicken broth, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and corn starch. I poured the broth into the pan. It thickened. Then I returned the eggplant to the pan, mixed it up with the garlic, ginger, and green onion. I let the mixture heat up until the eggplant absorbed most of the broth. I roasted sesame seeds with my cast iron pan, poured them over the eggplant, and topped the whole dish off with fresh basil.
I served this mixture with brown basmati rice.
Success! Molly and the Deke loved it.
First, a picture of the a section of the trail that goes around the lake:
When I saw how this reflection on the lake, I couldn't resist taking one shot in color:
2. I just like it when stuff works out. The dent I caused in the Subaru is repaired and the bumper liner replaced and our car looks like its eleven year old self again! To add to my happiness, everything worked out great at Enterprise rental, too, and, once again, Alicia provided top-notch customer service.
3. Molly and Olivia and David came up to Alexandria for a visit and I know Molly loves Chinese food and I know she is a somewhat recent convert to, well, to eggplant AND the Deke dropped a comment not long ago that she finds take out Chinese food not that tasty, so I challenged myself to cook a Chinese dish Molly would enjoy and that the Deke would find tasty.
In peanut and sesame oil I stir fried chunks cut from two eggplants. I took them off the electric frying pan and the stir fried garlic, ginger, green onion, and red chili paste. In a small bowl, I combined chicken broth, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and corn starch. I poured the broth into the pan. It thickened. Then I returned the eggplant to the pan, mixed it up with the garlic, ginger, and green onion. I let the mixture heat up until the eggplant absorbed most of the broth. I roasted sesame seeds with my cast iron pan, poured them over the eggplant, and topped the whole dish off with fresh basil.
I served this mixture with brown basmati rice.
Success! Molly and the Deke loved it.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 04/29/15: I Didn't Lose My Cart, David Simon Talks About Baltimore, Swedish Wallander
1. A couple of days ago, I went to the Co-op and I took three bottles of seltzer water off the shelf and turned around and my cart was gone. I looked up and down every aisle. I talked with a checker to see if anyone had reported a lost cart. Then, about five minutes later, I found it. Today, I went to the Co-op and kept my cart with me the whole time I was there.
2. David Simon was a chief writer, executive producer, and show runner for HBO's The Wire. Former New York Times executive editor and current editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project interviewed David Simon about recent Baltimore history and what people outside of the city need to understand about the death of Freddie Gray and the response to it, here.
3. I watched about half of the first episode of the first season of the Swedish version of Wallander before I got too tired and had to go to sleep. It's intense. I'm eager to get back and see how the story of this episodes turns out.
2. David Simon was a chief writer, executive producer, and show runner for HBO's The Wire. Former New York Times executive editor and current editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project interviewed David Simon about recent Baltimore history and what people outside of the city need to understand about the death of Freddie Gray and the response to it, here.
3. I watched about half of the first episode of the first season of the Swedish version of Wallander before I got too tired and had to go to sleep. It's intense. I'm eager to get back and see how the story of this episodes turns out.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 04/28/15: Lake Walk and Pictures, $$$, Frank Serpico
1. I enjoyed a stroll around the circumference of Greenbelt Lake and I took pictures of its late April beauty. Afterward, I posted Sibling Assignment #161. Christy assigned the three of us to write about where we go to find beauty and to reflect upon this place. I did more photographing than reflecting, I think, but if you'd like to see the picture and read what I said, just go right here.
2. The Deke and I had another good round of discussions with the money guys and are getting closer to making some decisions.
3. My library card gives me access to movies and television shows through a service called Hoopla, and I was browsing the movie offerings, I came across Serpico and realized I'd never seen it. So, I settled into a brilliant performance by Al Pacino and plunge into police corruption and the dilapidated streets and neighborhoods of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn of about forty to fifty years ago. I couldn't help but think how much movie tastes have changed since, say, 1973, when Serpico was a commercial success. I kept thinking that if Serpico were made in the same cinematic style in 2015, it would be, at best, a small market independent movie playing at art houses, never making its way into the multi-plexes. Maybe I'm wrong, but, sadly, it just didn't have the look or feel of 2015 feature film.
2. The Deke and I had another good round of discussions with the money guys and are getting closer to making some decisions.
3. My library card gives me access to movies and television shows through a service called Hoopla, and I was browsing the movie offerings, I came across Serpico and realized I'd never seen it. So, I settled into a brilliant performance by Al Pacino and plunge into police corruption and the dilapidated streets and neighborhoods of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn of about forty to fifty years ago. I couldn't help but think how much movie tastes have changed since, say, 1973, when Serpico was a commercial success. I kept thinking that if Serpico were made in the same cinematic style in 2015, it would be, at best, a small market independent movie playing at art houses, never making its way into the multi-plexes. Maybe I'm wrong, but, sadly, it just didn't have the look or feel of 2015 feature film.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Sibling Assignment #161: Quiet in the Midst of Constant Noise
Christy gave us siblings a photography and writing assignment to do next. She raised this question:
When the Deke and I decided to move to the greater Washington, D. C. metropolitan suburb-a-maze, it went without saying that we would be leaving behind some of the richest natural beauty found anywhere by saying good-bye to the Willamette Valley, the cities of Eugene and Portland, the Cascade Mountains, the Coast Range, and the Pacific Ocean.
Until we were here a while, I had no idea where, in the midst of the thousands of miles of freeways, toll roads, state highways, streets, turnpikes, avenues, boulevards, and county roads; of more buses, trucks, cars, trains, and vans than I'd ever seen before traveling on these routes ; of apartments stacked on one another, tight city streets, and miles and miles of strip malls, shopping malls, plazas, and high rises, I'd find beauty.
And, certainly today, with pictures of fires, broken glass, turned over vehicles, and broken store front windows in Baltimore dominating the news, friends of mine back in Oregon and Idaho have wondered if I was all right -- after all, all of this is happening just thirty-two miles away.
Things are quiet here in Greenbelt and today I went on a walk around Greenbelt Lake. It's my closest and primary source of beauty here in suburbia, a peaceful park and human made lake that sits still and quiet, while all around it exists the never-ending buzzing and whirring of people on the go.
I took pictures today -- more than the five assigned (sigh) -- hoping to convey some of the peace and beauty and variety that is alive all around Greenbelt Lake, to convey some of what calms me as I walk the trail circumventing the lake.
First, though, the Deke and I are very fortunate to live in an apartment complex that is almost like a park with its many trees and large expanses of grass, dotted with buildings holding the apartments. I took a couple of pictures as I left the complex today.
First, here's the main entrance to the complex:
And here is a look at what the grounds look like as one approaches the entrance:
The park, as I mentioned, is calming, and here you can see the expanse of the water and a woman and a child, holding hands, enjoying the company of a couple of ducks near the shore:
I'm not alone as a member of the over sixty set walking the circumference of the lake and I enjoy nodding a hello to other people. This man walks faster than I do -- which is easy to do -- and you can see, if you look closely, a runner on ahead of him, and see all the trees and other growth that line so much of lake's path:
I never know what I'll see each time I walk and, today, I imagined that someone dangled this reminder of the Easter season from the branch of tree along the path:
Flowers grow along the lake's trail, like these daffodils:
And, every day, gaggles of geese swim and fly and feed around the lake:
It's not just those of us of the over sixty set who stroll around this lake. Youngsters come here as well -- and they hold hands!
Now that it's spring, I've walked around Greenbelt Lake during each of the four seasons. Each season the reflections on the lake's surface are unique to the season. Here you get a sense of what the lake reflects back to us who stop and look during the spring:
Springtime is famous in the Washington, D. C. area for cherry blossoms, I have to admit that I'm not sure these are cherry blossoms, but I'm going to say they are until I'm corrected! I'm not sure the bee at work here really cares if I got the identification exactly right. The bee is having a zen moment of union with these blossoms.
I enjoy the sensation of feeling lost among the trees and flowers and water and birds and other walkers at Greenbelt Lake. This feeling of being lost in the beauty of this place is a feeling of union. Rather than feeling that, as a human, I'm alien and different in this place, I feel a part of it all -- the colors, the smells, the shapes, the sensations of heat and coolness and breeze.
I'm very fortunate, in the midst of all the movement and busy-ness of this place I now live, to live so near an oasis of beauty, so near Greenbelt Lake.
When you want to surround yourself with beauty, where do you go? Take five pictures of that place and share your thoughts on its beauty.Christy presented a photographic essay on her gardens and leaving them behind, here, and Carol put together a photo essay of our hometown, Kellogg, Idaho, here.
When the Deke and I decided to move to the greater Washington, D. C. metropolitan suburb-a-maze, it went without saying that we would be leaving behind some of the richest natural beauty found anywhere by saying good-bye to the Willamette Valley, the cities of Eugene and Portland, the Cascade Mountains, the Coast Range, and the Pacific Ocean.
Until we were here a while, I had no idea where, in the midst of the thousands of miles of freeways, toll roads, state highways, streets, turnpikes, avenues, boulevards, and county roads; of more buses, trucks, cars, trains, and vans than I'd ever seen before traveling on these routes ; of apartments stacked on one another, tight city streets, and miles and miles of strip malls, shopping malls, plazas, and high rises, I'd find beauty.
And, certainly today, with pictures of fires, broken glass, turned over vehicles, and broken store front windows in Baltimore dominating the news, friends of mine back in Oregon and Idaho have wondered if I was all right -- after all, all of this is happening just thirty-two miles away.
Things are quiet here in Greenbelt and today I went on a walk around Greenbelt Lake. It's my closest and primary source of beauty here in suburbia, a peaceful park and human made lake that sits still and quiet, while all around it exists the never-ending buzzing and whirring of people on the go.
I took pictures today -- more than the five assigned (sigh) -- hoping to convey some of the peace and beauty and variety that is alive all around Greenbelt Lake, to convey some of what calms me as I walk the trail circumventing the lake.
First, though, the Deke and I are very fortunate to live in an apartment complex that is almost like a park with its many trees and large expanses of grass, dotted with buildings holding the apartments. I took a couple of pictures as I left the complex today.
First, here's the main entrance to the complex:
And here is a look at what the grounds look like as one approaches the entrance:
The park, as I mentioned, is calming, and here you can see the expanse of the water and a woman and a child, holding hands, enjoying the company of a couple of ducks near the shore:
I'm not alone as a member of the over sixty set walking the circumference of the lake and I enjoy nodding a hello to other people. This man walks faster than I do -- which is easy to do -- and you can see, if you look closely, a runner on ahead of him, and see all the trees and other growth that line so much of lake's path:
I never know what I'll see each time I walk and, today, I imagined that someone dangled this reminder of the Easter season from the branch of tree along the path:
Flowers grow along the lake's trail, like these daffodils:
And, every day, gaggles of geese swim and fly and feed around the lake:
It's not just those of us of the over sixty set who stroll around this lake. Youngsters come here as well -- and they hold hands!
Now that it's spring, I've walked around Greenbelt Lake during each of the four seasons. Each season the reflections on the lake's surface are unique to the season. Here you get a sense of what the lake reflects back to us who stop and look during the spring:
Springtime is famous in the Washington, D. C. area for cherry blossoms, I have to admit that I'm not sure these are cherry blossoms, but I'm going to say they are until I'm corrected! I'm not sure the bee at work here really cares if I got the identification exactly right. The bee is having a zen moment of union with these blossoms.
I enjoy the sensation of feeling lost among the trees and flowers and water and birds and other walkers at Greenbelt Lake. This feeling of being lost in the beauty of this place is a feeling of union. Rather than feeling that, as a human, I'm alien and different in this place, I feel a part of it all -- the colors, the smells, the shapes, the sensations of heat and coolness and breeze.
I'm very fortunate, in the midst of all the movement and busy-ness of this place I now live, to live so near an oasis of beauty, so near Greenbelt Lake.
Three Beautiful Things 04/27/15: Alicia Helps Me, Angela Helps Me, Mom Flings Her Sling
1. After I turned the Subaru over to the body shop, I saundered into the Enterprise Car Rental shop located right there at Capitol Cadillac and Alicia had everything ready to go and set me up with a Chrysler 200. Then, a few hours later, when I had some questions about the electronic door lock system and went back to ask about it, she was patient and informative in assuring me that the way the system was working was the way it was supposed to work and helped me wrap my 2004 auto ownership mind around it.
2. I had to return to LabCorp today. The blood sample mailed to the lab in Baltimore two weeks ago was rejected because the label didn't have the date or the phlebotomist's intitals on it. The good news was that I got to visit my favorite phlebotomist again, Angela (Angie). She listened patiently, without any defensiveness, to why we had to send another specimen in and I think we got it right this time and I deeply appreciated her commitment to making sure that we did just what the lab in Baltimore wants and her good humor about it all. I have my fingers crossed that I don't receive another "your specimen has been rejected" letter from Baltimore.
3. MOM UPDATE: I stayed up until 10:30 p.m. so I could call Mom after Jeopardy got over. She saw her doctor today and he liked what he saw in the X-ray picture and freed her from her sling and told her she could do light duties around the house. Mom has decided that she doesn't need anyone staying with her all night, As Mom put it, "I'm on the road to recovery!"
2. I had to return to LabCorp today. The blood sample mailed to the lab in Baltimore two weeks ago was rejected because the label didn't have the date or the phlebotomist's intitals on it. The good news was that I got to visit my favorite phlebotomist again, Angela (Angie). She listened patiently, without any defensiveness, to why we had to send another specimen in and I think we got it right this time and I deeply appreciated her commitment to making sure that we did just what the lab in Baltimore wants and her good humor about it all. I have my fingers crossed that I don't receive another "your specimen has been rejected" letter from Baltimore.
3. MOM UPDATE: I stayed up until 10:30 p.m. so I could call Mom after Jeopardy got over. She saw her doctor today and he liked what he saw in the X-ray picture and freed her from her sling and told her she could do light duties around the house. Mom has decided that she doesn't need anyone staying with her all night, As Mom put it, "I'm on the road to recovery!"
Monday, April 27, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 04/26/15: Jack Schools Bop on Rescue Bots, Jack Rigs Hooks and Pulleys, Jack Trumps the Monster
Before I get going on today's 3BTs, I'd just like to note that my grandson Jack's name for me is Bop. When he first started to talk, when he tried to say "Grandpa", it came out Bop and Bop stuck.
1. Jack loves Rescue Bots and has a toy Heat Wave. I had no idea what a Rescue Bot is, so Jack and I got on my computer and he schooled me on the fine points of Rescue Bots. I then found an episode of Trainsformers in which Thomas the Train transforms into a superhero like Optimus Prime, only he is Opthomas Prime. Jack became unglued with peals of rolling laughter when he saw Thomas become a Rescue Bot.
2. I went on the back deck with Jack and he took his ingenuity with rope, clip hooks, and pulleys to new levels, especially when he rigged up a pulley system on a hook that comes down from the interior of the roof above the deck and he figured out way after way after way to clip the rope to all kinds of objects and pull them as high as the deck's ceiling and let them down again. Every time Jack tried hooking something new or ran the rope in a different way or figure out something else to lower to the ground below the deck and back up, he enthusiastically, sometimes breathlessly, proclaimed, "I have an idea!"
3. Jack hooked me to a rope and attached the rope to a hook on the deck and told me to walk forward. I did and then I couldn't go any further and I snapped my whole body back in an exaggerated way. I've never seen Jack laugh so hard. After doing this for about ten minutes, Jack enthused, "I have an idea!" and he created a series of rope and toy obstacles for me and told me to be a monster who tries to come after him and eat him. I asked Jack if he was sure he wanted to be eaten and he replied, "Bop. It's pretend." Relieved, I played the role of the monster, but I never could catch Jack and my failures made Jack, once again, double over with laughter.
1. Jack loves Rescue Bots and has a toy Heat Wave. I had no idea what a Rescue Bot is, so Jack and I got on my computer and he schooled me on the fine points of Rescue Bots. I then found an episode of Trainsformers in which Thomas the Train transforms into a superhero like Optimus Prime, only he is Opthomas Prime. Jack became unglued with peals of rolling laughter when he saw Thomas become a Rescue Bot.
2. I went on the back deck with Jack and he took his ingenuity with rope, clip hooks, and pulleys to new levels, especially when he rigged up a pulley system on a hook that comes down from the interior of the roof above the deck and he figured out way after way after way to clip the rope to all kinds of objects and pull them as high as the deck's ceiling and let them down again. Every time Jack tried hooking something new or ran the rope in a different way or figure out something else to lower to the ground below the deck and back up, he enthusiastically, sometimes breathlessly, proclaimed, "I have an idea!"
3. Jack hooked me to a rope and attached the rope to a hook on the deck and told me to walk forward. I did and then I couldn't go any further and I snapped my whole body back in an exaggerated way. I've never seen Jack laugh so hard. After doing this for about ten minutes, Jack enthused, "I have an idea!" and he created a series of rope and toy obstacles for me and told me to be a monster who tries to come after him and eat him. I asked Jack if he was sure he wanted to be eaten and he replied, "Bop. It's pretend." Relieved, I played the role of the monster, but I never could catch Jack and my failures made Jack, once again, double over with laughter.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Three Beautiful Things 04/25/15: Driving Upstate, The Cooperstown in My Mind, Jack's Rescue Missions
1. I followed a circuitous route provided by Google maps to drive from Nyack to Cooperstown today on purpose. I've never been to upstate New York before and thought it would be fun to drive through small towns and see the countryside. Well, as it turns out, that's the only way to get to Cooperstown from Nyack since Cooperstown is a rural town on the southern tip of Lake Otsego. I had one flub up as I wound my way on state highways and country roads past barns and silos, green fields and horses and cattles, past lakes and rivers, and a Girl Scout troop inviting drivers with big signs to a roadside barbecue in the middle of town, but I recovered, and arrived in Cooperstown, already wishing I was staying for several days rather than an afternoon so I could walk around the village more and take more drives into the countryside with ample time to take pictures.
2. I spent over three hours in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. One of the first things I wished was that I could be there with a fellow fan of baseball, preferably someone I grew up with and we could talk now in the Hall of Fame and the museum about the stuff we talked about when we were young. I especially thought of Dad. Not having a companion for the day, the details of the plaques in the gallery and the exhibits in the museum gave way to the Hall of Fame and baseball museum in my mind. I found myself looking less for artifacts (say, the bat Willie Mays hit his 600th home run with) and looking for pictures or videos of moments I have loved most: every hit I ever saw Roberto Clemente stroke, the thunderous home run George Brett hit into the third deck off Goose Gossage in Game Three of the ALCS on October 10, 1980, Kirk Gibson hobbling around the bases after crushing a 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the ninth off Dennis Eckersley to win Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, and more. I found a video of the Gibson homer, but almost everything else I would have enjoyed seeing was triggered by stuff in the museum and I saw my life as a baseball fan, especially from the time I was about eight years old until I was about forty pass before my eyes.
3. While I was away on my visit to Cooperstown, the Deke and Jack had gone to Home Depot where the Deke bought Jack some light rope and hooks. When I arrived back to Adrienne's, Jack took me out on the deck and showed me how he hooked sticks and other stuff onto the end of the rope and lowered them to the ground below and how he hooked stuff down below and pulled them up to the deck. These were rescue missions. Jack loves rescue missions. He also has a lively four year old's imagination for what ropes and hooks and sticks and other stuff become when lowered and raised over the rail of the family deck. The Deke struck gold when she bought him these materials to play with.
2. I spent over three hours in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. One of the first things I wished was that I could be there with a fellow fan of baseball, preferably someone I grew up with and we could talk now in the Hall of Fame and the museum about the stuff we talked about when we were young. I especially thought of Dad. Not having a companion for the day, the details of the plaques in the gallery and the exhibits in the museum gave way to the Hall of Fame and baseball museum in my mind. I found myself looking less for artifacts (say, the bat Willie Mays hit his 600th home run with) and looking for pictures or videos of moments I have loved most: every hit I ever saw Roberto Clemente stroke, the thunderous home run George Brett hit into the third deck off Goose Gossage in Game Three of the ALCS on October 10, 1980, Kirk Gibson hobbling around the bases after crushing a 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the ninth off Dennis Eckersley to win Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, and more. I found a video of the Gibson homer, but almost everything else I would have enjoyed seeing was triggered by stuff in the museum and I saw my life as a baseball fan, especially from the time I was about eight years old until I was about forty pass before my eyes.
3. While I was away on my visit to Cooperstown, the Deke and Jack had gone to Home Depot where the Deke bought Jack some light rope and hooks. When I arrived back to Adrienne's, Jack took me out on the deck and showed me how he hooked sticks and other stuff onto the end of the rope and lowered them to the ground below and how he hooked stuff down below and pulled them up to the deck. These were rescue missions. Jack loves rescue missions. He also has a lively four year old's imagination for what ropes and hooks and sticks and other stuff become when lowered and raised over the rail of the family deck. The Deke struck gold when she bought him these materials to play with.
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