Raincharm’s Weblog

1. Do I go to work. Next week is full of meetings and I really need to finish a few projects.
2. If yes to one, which day. Saturday would get it out of the way. The forecast for Saturday is maybe rainy, a little bit, maybe. Sunday is supposed to be a little nicer. I am looking at the weather because I am hoping to get a long walk in, and hopefully convince Carl to join me. But since Sunday afternoon is the Superbowl, I would have a deadline set in the afternoon to be home by. This can be helpful for motivating me to get going.
3. What should we eat this weekend? This of course could reflect what we have in the house right now, or lead to a shopping adventure. Maybe that could be part of the walk.
4. Will the rest of my tax information finally arrive in the mail? Why is it the one that I really need to get is always the last to arrive.

Now for tonights decision. Should I wake Carl up and make dinner, or make dinner and hope the smell of cooking food will just naturally wake him up.

Got two messages yesterday.
1. Ashlan has applied for the housing lottery for next year.
This tells us that she intends to continue to pursue her studies at UBC. It also reminds us that there is always the chance for having to find an off-campus apartment. It is a lottery – wish for good luck.
2. Rey has an apartment lined up for next month. This means that when he travels south to Tennessee there will be limited nights in a hotel, and a place into which to move the boxes.

Our office furnace does not always stay on when it gets cold out. Something goes out of range and it quits. It quit at some point over the weekend, giving it a few days to really cool down. Yesterday it was so cold at work that I never took off my jacket, even as the building started warming through the day. [Having a window in your office can be a mixed blessing.] When I got home, the house was cold too. I put on my jacket when I left at about 6:45 AM, and took it off when I got ready for bed at 11:30 PM.

We could turn up the heat at home, but it is winter. My mother would always say, “Just put on a sweater.” or in my case, leave your jacket on.

Spoke with Rey today. He is staying with said mother. I am not sure if she said those words to him, but he allowed that he did have a sweater on, and a hat.

Rey’s further update – they walked in to campus today, got slightly lost on the way home (I think). Found the river … not sure what route they were taking. Also found out the dress expectations are “business casual”. Kind of cute – he called to find out what that meant. A small shopping trip may be in order.

Today’s thoughts of encouragement for joining me on the 3-day. Walking can be working out with a goal. (Keeps me focused on regular exercise. As does knowing a soccer game is around the bend.). A chance to bond. (Invite your friends, getting there is half the fun.) www.the3day.org

Rey – update
Rey (and Schaefer (aka Bishop)) made it to A2 yesterday afternoon. Dinner with parents (aka grandparents) and sister (aunt). Finally remembered to call his parents, that is after parents called and left a message. I was actually happy that he was busy and engaged, and just had not had a chance to call. And even happier that he did not interrupt his conversation to run and answer the phone, just let it ring.

I was full of suggestions of things to do in A2, many of them involving walking. Rey did allow that the snow was rather deep …
[Local aside – we have snow once again. It is light, but deceptive as it has been sticking and accumulating faster than you would think tiny little flakes could. But it is supposed to turn to rain this afternoon.]

OTHER A2 NEWS
I have decided to walk the Breast Cancer 3-Day again this year. Probably my last year walking, at least for a while. But the big change for this year is that I plan to do the Michigan walk. It is August 14-16, somewhere in Detroit suburbia (last year may have been near Plymouth).

I would really like to form a team of walkers. Any takers? All you have to be is over 16 and willing to walk a few miles. Think about it. There is a Getting Started meeting in Ypsilanti on February 4th. (Not a required meeting, but a good place to get more information.) The web-site is www.the3day.org It is an amazing experience.

Brief update from Rey (from a Burger King in the Soo. I remember when the McDonalds openning was a big deal.) Rey & Schaefer went out to the cabin today. They went out to look at ice formations and walked down to Doelles and back, care of snowshoes from Fran and poles from Barbara. The burger visit was for something warm. Visiting with octos and others related and not. Tomorrow is the trip south to yet more relatives. I wonder what Schaefer thinks of this family.

Briefer update. On the other coast (yes Superior has a coast) we spent the day indoors. Cold out, even some snow. Some cleaning, some laundry, some taxes (still), planning some vacations.

That is a walk to the park, in the park, around the lake (partway), beyond the park, through the zoo, south park, and back home again. 6.5 miles roughly.
Cold and sunny.
My layers = under armour, long sleeved tee, fleece vest, jacket, scarf, hat, fuzzy gloves. (and pants)
Carl’s layers = long sleeved tee and fleece vest, hat, gloves. (and pants)

Saw several friends where we stopped and chatted, had a burger at Red Mill (just as the crowds were arriving) (they had the biggest pile of bacon waiting that I have ever seen), coffee ala Starbucks, sun bears, tigers, orangutans, siamangs, elephants, zebras, antelope, exotic geese, too many dogs to count, and about as many children, and a soccer game (one of the players plays on a team with Jay).

Some other things of note that we saw on the walk.
Invisibility Cloak: We start off wearing our cloaks of invisibility. It is the only explanation. Car’s making turns just kept not stopping, cutting the corner close to our path, or cutting in front of us. And we were in crosswalks, or crossing at the corner, and this is Seattle where cars actually usually stop at crosswalks.

Chocolate bridal dresses. At least we imagined them to be. A little storefront on our route was for many years a Boehm’sChocolate store. Local, really good chocolate. They had ice cream bars that they would hand dip in melted chocolate just before serving. Mmmmm. Anyway, the proprietor finally wanted to retire, and no one stepped in to take over the store, so Boehm’s on Ravenna closed. Now it is a Bridal boutique. We figure the dresses are made from white chocolate, and getting the bride out of the gown just gets more fun. Use your imagination.

Faux foxes On our journey back through the park we passed the baseball field. Seattle parks shuts down the better baseball fields during the winter to try and preserve the outfield. Soccer and football players would use the outfield and tear the grass to smithereens. (There are very few grass soccer fields in Seattle due to the wet winters. They just get torn up. There are dirt and cintrex fields, and finally now they have several artificial turf fields that  play like fast grass, and hold up in the weather.) They would put rows of orange construction fencing across the grass to discourage open field play.  As we were coming down from above, it looked like an animal, dog maybe?, squatting on the field. Then I thought maybe a goose, or geese, making a different silhouette. We both were trying to figure out what this non-moving thing was. Finally close enough we realized they were stuffed, or very realistic looking foxes, in ready to pounce poses. There were three spread around the outfield. And what there was not, were any geese. This is really unusual, so they must be working. (There were no rabbits in view either, and there is quite a rabbit population in the area.)

North by Northwest, that is.
I am tired. Maybe it’s from working a full week for a change, and really working for a good part of it. I think I may leave our rather chilly living room for a warm waterbed, where the black and white TV (that I hope will work with DTV) resides.
How very 1970’s.

Well, not a lot of news.

Just that the Soo is still there. Perhaps a little more black and white than before.
Black, as in it was nighttime. White, as in a lot of snow on the ground.

And that Rey & Schaefer made it to that fine town, round about 7 PM local time.
After a brief contact to figure out exactly where Aunts house was located (remembered it was somewhere near the college), they arrived safely.

We are happy they are there, and will have a few days to visit and relax.
The trip was all about decent weather, not too much precipitation, and relatively good roads. (And, I am assuming, very low traffic volumes.) We are also happy they have such fine people to spend time with. I am a bit jealous.

Maybe I will be able to convince Rey to do a guest blog, and give you his perspective on the trip.

Well, in Bismarck the locals say that spring is just around the corner. It was sunny. Only 13 degrees, so apparently the sun is the determining factor.

Rey & Schaefer spent some time in Bismarck filling out an apartment application for Rey. For an apartment in Knoxville that is.  Faxed from the public library, and then hit the road.

Today’s trip was Bismarck, North Dakota to Superior, Wisconsin. Approximately 450 miles. Good weather, good roads, and only a bit of trouble with keeping the windshield clean. I think the Seattle windshield cleaner is not rated for single digit temperatures.

When Rey told me that Schaefer had done some of the driving today I wasn’t surprised. That is until I figured out that this meant Schaefer had not done any driving the day before. (Check the mileage from yesterday’s travel notes.)

Tomorrow’s aim is for the Soo!

Awesome.
I tried to do work and watch at the same time, but it quickly became apparent that work just had to wait. Well worth the need to maybe stay a little later tonight.

Thankfully I work for an office that is willing to be flexible.

UPDATE
Finally got out of work at 6-6:30.
Thought about the events of the day on the way home. The journey through the last year came to mind, rather local events really.

Starting with our caucuses. Long story short – I ended up being the chairperson of our precinct. One neighbor in our caucus said my volunteering on the spot had inspired him to volunteer to be a delegate, which included more than just the few hours effort I gave. I wonder what his experience was like, and how far he got. What a culmination.

Rey update: Called from Bismark (that’s North Dakota) ((that’s Bismarck)) 750 Miles. No real problems. Planning to aim for Duluth tomorrow. [spelling Bismarck incorrectly in Randmcnally.com will get you nowhere, literally. And it is Sault Sainte Marie, not Sault Ste. Marie.]