Raincharm’s Weblog

What we did not do

Many months ago I suggested to Carl that we should walk the Seattle Half-Marathon. He rather poo-poohed the idea, although he had done at least a 10 mile walk at that point. I thought he would enjoy the slightly competitive edge it would add, but he was dis-interested. So I let it drop.

About 1 month ago he asked when it was, like we were going to do it. Hmmm. Have not signed up, long since missed the early sign-up rates. But we kept talking about it. Last week I decided I should finally actually sign us up – only to find out it was too late to sign up on-line, had to do it in person on Friday or Saturday (Sunday is race-day). Friday we were busy with Liz & Zack, so still waiting. Saturday they were open to 8 PM, so plenty of opportunities.

After some deeper thought we decided that we could do our own walk, and it would not be quite as pricey. And since we had not trained really at all (outside of the 10 miles on Thursday) we would not be disappointed if we could not go as fast as we wanted to. [I am not a really competitive walker normally, but I always enjoy the catching the walker in front of you during the “races.”]

So this morning we slept in until 9 AM (race started at 7:45), ate breakfast and got out the door around 10:30 AM. We first encountered the race course at our Mile 3, entering the Washington Arboretum. We encountered the runners at our Mile 4, leaving the Arboretum. We stayed on the sidewalk watching them climb a hill to their mile 21 as we skirted a gated community and golf course. Back into a neighborhood, and caught up with the runners again when we had to climb same said hill. We basically stayed with the runners (actually were passed by) for the next mile.

My route had us continuing with them on a road through a park (Interlaken) but Carl wanted to separate, so we turned left – straight up a big hill, skirting the edge of the park and then back down again where we once again joined the runners. This added 1/2 mile and about 50 feet of vertical gain, and then loss.

We did stay with them for the next mile because they were following the best non-motorized route over both Highway 520 and I-5 – big obstacles. Then we bid them adieu and headed north as they went south and west to their victorious finish line. We stopped at a french bakery for croissants and coffee before finishing the last two miles up a long, sloping hill.

In all we saved about $190 ($200 late entry for both of us – $10 at the bakery) and got a good walk in to boot (12.5 miles). But no t-shirt, and we didn’t get to catch and pass anybody! [Yes, that is me talking, not Carl.] Maybe next year.

We had a visitor or 2 or 3!

Liz & Zach at Carkeek - only a little chilly

Liz & Zach spent about 24 hours with us here in Seattle and we got a chance to play tour guide.

Liz

We saw the

• Ballard Locks & Fish Ladder (one puny fish),
• Seattle Underground Tour (1st time for me after only 25 years) Very funny tour guide, but Carl thought we could have gotten a little more information (his 6th or 7th visit).
• Troll (under the bridge of course)
• Lenin statue (a real one from Poprad, Czechoslovakia)
• Space Needle
• Seattle Center – generally, but not the Experience Music Project because it was closed for the evening.
• Archie McPhee’s
• Carkeek Park and Puget Sound. We actually saw a few salmon in Piper’s Creek in Carkeek. When we spotted the first one, a really good sized salmon, it was on its side on a log weir, just having made the jump. But it couldn’t quite get all the way over and slipped back down to the lower pool. We watched while it rested and lined up for another try for quite a while, but never saw it leap before we left.

Then it was home again and time for lunch. Best of all Aimee joined us for lunch from the Taste of India restaurant down the street. Sated for the moment all visitors had to depart to their next stops on their way home. We really enjoyed the time visiting and getting caught up.

Aimee shared with us a story of folks coming into the middle of a conversation about the porcupine herd, 10,000 strong. Picture that in your head. Then check it out. Anyway, it was nice to see everyone, and share a few moments. WE WANT MORE VISITORS. (I didn’t really shout that out did I?)

We got just over 10 miles. Before dinner.
Started by stopping at the Taste of India restaurant down the block from our house to pick up some Chicken Nan. Moved things around to fit it into my fanny pack, and off we set.

Northwest to Green Lake (1 mile) and started around the north side. (Note that the bathroom was locked.) 
Left the lake (passed 19 dogs) at Winnona to continue west where we could cross Aurora – a rather busy thoroughfare (2 miles). About this time I noticed that my hind quarters were rather warm, almost hot. Realized that it was the Chicken Nan.
Continuing west along 74th and up the first hill of note. At 8th Ave (mile 3) we found an open coffee shop and had a brief visit to use the loo.
Further west through quiet neighborhoods, past Loyal Heights playfield to reach mile 4 at 24th.
Less than a mile to our furthest west destination, Sunset View Overlook. It looks west over the Puget Sound, marina and to the Olympic Mountains. The mountains were only barely visible, but there was a small patch of blue over the islands. We sat and at our Chicken Nan and said hello to the few others out walking.
South to 70th and then turned eastward at mile 5.
More neighborhoods and through Salmon Bay park. One block was blocked off with a tent set up in the middle of the street for a large family, or maybe a neighborhood feast.
Mile 6 at 15th NW and a coffee shop with an “OPEN” sign still lit. Stopped in a asked if we could get a latte. The lady said she was closing, (2 PM) but would serve us. Chance to use the loo (again) and get a warm drink. Off again to the east and up another big hill to reach Mile 7 at Greenwood.
Turned south on Greenwood/Phinney to the Zoo. Into the zoo at about Mile 8.  After we had been in about 2 minutes they announced the zoo was closed, but we had 1 hour to complete our visit. (Notice a trend of just making it at closing.) Saw the penguins, a new exhibit complete with a resident, non-captive blue heron. On to the gorillas and out the south entrance.
Back to 50th and east toward home. Tired legs and one blister (bandaged by the penguins). Down and then up one last big hill passing Mile 9. Down one final last steep hill, cross the freeway (not on the freeway silly, using an overpass).
Finally back home at 10 miles. 4 PM. Didn’t get the time when we left.
It was raining when we left, then just cloudy, and raining when we reached home. It looks like it is raining harder now, and more than that – it’s dark out! Glad we didn’t leave any later. Made it home just in time.

Time for dinner and some pie. (See previous post)

First of all – Happy Thanksgiving.
Since we are on the west coast, I hope you all have your turkey, tofurkey, or whatever in the oven.
We have a pie cooking. An apple pie. This is significant since the kids almost always demand a pumpkin pie. Now I like pie, but I also like apple pie. Haven’t made one in a long time. What I forgot, is that apple pies often bubble over a bit and it is a good idea to put something underneath them to catch the drippage.

That would have been a good thing to do, maybe even the right thing to do. Yesterday Carl had a chance to do something or do nothing.

Carl was out getting a child, normal stuff that takes him out of the house for a few moments. When he returned he was going to call one of the parents to see when another childs pre-Thanksgiving pre-school performance was happening. The beep-beep says a message is on the phone. So he listens, again. The person on the phone does not say his name or my name or their name. She just is breathing hard, a baby/small child is crying, she says something like, “help,” “this is horrible,” then appears to think she has hung up but you can hear the crying continue, breathing, an, “Oh shit,” and on for about 1-1/2 minutes. Then the phone is hung up. There is a second call, but no message again and very short.

Not knowing who it was or what was going on Carl called for a second listener to see if I could tell who it was. No idea – sounded a bit like one of the mothers, but I was able to get the phone number by having the voice mail try to return the call. (No one answered.) So Carl called the Dad, who he had picked up the phone to call initially. Not them.

The next call was to the North End Police Precinct. Carl told them the story and provided the phone number. They said there was not much they could do, but thank you.

Later that afternoon, Carl got a call. It was the woman. She wanted to thank him for following through. Apparently the police had called her and gotten through. The crying and initial call was due to a 2-year old falling and knocking out a front tooth. Lots of blood, pain, and crying. The woman had been trying to call the dentist, and one number had been mis-dialed, leading to us.

In the end, not a really big thing, nothing heroic, but one of those little things that is the right thing to do. And her returning the call at the end of it all with a, “Thank You,” closed the loop and made us all a little more connected.

Happy Thanksgivings and remember to say Please and Thank You.

Even when most of the family is far away, there is still anticipation.
We already had our holiday. Our plans are modest. And still there is anticipation.

Perhaps it is the short work week.
Perhaps it is the “start” of the bigger season.
Perhaps it is the plans to meeting with friends here and there.

But there is anticipation.
And it is a good thing.

Happy Wednesday. If you are travelling, be patient and be safe.

While you wait – you really should watch this. I just love the Muppetts

If you are one of those folks that is never cold, you can stop reading now.

Sweaters or Sweatshirts – which would you prefer?
Before you answer, “Depends on what I am doing,” the question is for when you are in your own space.

I love sweatshirts. They can be really comfy.
But at work (violating the rules, I know) I wear cardigans. I wear one almost every day. I think I am my father, as I seem to remember him wearing cardigans too. And getting elbow patches when they became worn. Working indoors most of the time would seem to make sweaters a choice. But for us cold folks the few temperatures difference between the different parts of the building make an extra layer a necessity. This is so you can change in and out as you see fit.

At home, where sweatshirts normally rule, I am finding myself looking for sweaters more and more often. That woman mid-life thingie is partly to blame. I never used to want to take the sweatshirt off. But now, sometimes I just want to layer down. Taking sweatshirts all the way off involves glasses and long hair. I don’t have a real fancy hairdo, but it does pull those pesky side hairs out of whatever band happens to be trying to hold them in at the time.

In fact I am typing this with a sweatshirt mostly on. Arms not in, but with the cooling cycle upon me I have it pulled down over my elbows with just my hands sticking out.

Today was a soccer day. A wet day to start.
It started with a very small gathering of friends on a pitch. The rain was light and kept many away, so we moved to a different field with others that play rain or shine. Carl did not participate to save his legs for another day.
When the small game ended kids were arriving for the late morning games. One of the first girls to arrive did not have a ball to play with, so Carl shared and kicked a bit with her. He ended up playing goalie while the team waited for balls and more to arrive. Kind of a fun little bit of unexpected play.

Big soccer event of the day – the Major League Soccer Championship: LA Galaxy vs Real Salt Lake. A few pictures:

Start – March to the Match. A Seattle tradition (for all of one year). Passing by. Notice the wet pavement and sunshine in the background.

March to the Match - 2009 MLS Finals

Warm-ups: the best I could get of Beckam was his butt.

Beckam - LA Galaxy

Start of the game: a bit of the fal-der-al to get things rolling with a bit of pagentry

Starting line-ups

The game was tied 1-1 after 90 minutes of Regulation Time. The game was still tied 1-1 after 30 minutes of extra time. On to penalty kicks. Real Salt Lake wins! after 7 kicks. They really deserved to win this game. They seemed to play harder and just had more action going through most of the game. It was fun to be in the stadium. Cold, but dry and buzzing. One of the best aspects was that we were not rooting for either team. Just a good game.

I had not really paid much attention to the fatsia in the backyard lately, other than to prune it back. But today you will note that it is flowering.

Fatsia flowering in the fall

As I was picking up leaves off of the lawn (we do not rake yet, we pick) and looking for any other rodent activity or damage some motion caught my eye. It was a hummingbird! I don’t know if I have ever seen one in our backyard. But it was flitting around the fatsia flowers.

You may notice there is no hummingbird in the picture. By the time I had retrieved the camera, it was gone. It added interest to an otherwise uneventful time in the backyard. Leaves were picked and only one area was found where it looked as though some animal was trying to find out what was underneath the new grass. No watering today. Not much rain either, but I figure the soil could use a day of dryerness, and it is supposed to start raining again tonight.

I saw the moon on the way home from work today.
This could be a comment about how dark it is by 5 PM, but that was not my first thought.

The moon this evening is the first heavenly body I have seen all week, not counting Carl of course. It has been so dark and rainy, and windy. It has been hard to lift your eyes towards the sky, much less see anything other than the drops falling down with the few remaining leaves. The moon almost surprised me. It was just a sliver. I don’t know if it is waxing or waning.

The weekend is supposed to be a mix of rain and rain breaks, maybe even a sun break.

This is sounding a lot like a weather report. Hmmm. Must be reflective that all I have done is work and drive to and from. Not much else to go on about. Looking forward to checking out the lawn tomorrow. No watering today. My current thought is to not water all weekend and let nature be the primary provider. She certainly has been doing a great job since we got the installation down.  (oops – back to the weather)

I read every day. I read a fair amount.
I don’t often get to read for personal fun right now.
Most of that is my fault. I need to make time. I used to have many things that kept me out of the house in the evenings. Not so much anymore, but I got out of the habit.
I read a lot at work. But I don’t often get to read the myriad of periodicals and papers that fly in to my in-box. I even made a reading in-box. But that box is full. So at closing time I decided to clean out the reading box and do some reading. Well really more perusing and ready the occasional article. I probably got through half a dozen before I decided it was time to head out into the elements.

And speaking of elements – no watering with water we pay for today. Rain most of the day. I haven’t really seen the lawn since Sunday. Leave and arrive home in the dark. Have to wait until the weekend to see how it is doing. Not worried about it drying out. Now I am worried about it floating away.