Raincharm’s Weblog

For many years Thursday has been the worst day for commuting. I don’t know why, but you could count on extra time in the car or just stay late. Over the past six months Wednesday has started to rival Thursday. I don’t want my decision on when to leave work to become a traffic check.

But most of my traffic woes are during the evening commute. Morning drive time has a fairly direct correlation to time of departure ( as does the toll rate).
I am riding this morning so have been able to catch some jiggling sights.

Mount Rainier

The new 520 bridge under construction.

That is one of the bald eagles on the light pole. Yesterday both adults were on display, and word is they have eaglets

Lake Sammamish

Not a bad ride.

That would be Dick Fitzgerald.

Not to be confused with the Edmund Fitzgerald, which is a big part of where Rey is currently employed.

Edmund Fitzgerald

Dick turned 80 years young last week.
He is one of the regular pitchers on Carl’s 55 and over baseball team.

Tonight, to honor probably the best 80 year old pitcher in the country, Dick got to throw out the first pitch at the Mariner game. [The next pitcher to take the mound after Dick got it warmed up was Felix Hernandez.] And his catcher was not a Mariner, but his regular catcher – Ken Combs (a youngster at 73).

Dick pitching to Ken

Here is my somewhat shakey video of tonight’s festivities.

Here is a much better description, by a local news station a few years ago.

Dick got as high as AAA a few years ago, and was actually called up to the big leagues, only to have the pitcher he was to replace decide he did not need to go onto the disabled list after all. So close. But had that happened we would not have the happy circumstance of being able to play with this wonderful person. For a better biography (brief) – click here.

The Mariners lost. Surprise, surprise. Except that IT WAS FELIX. Hernandez that is.
But it was a great time. Several current, past, teammates and opponents were on hand. It was like the six degrees of separation from Mr. Fitzgerald. Great fun!

So life is busy, but that doesn’t mean I have anything interesting to talk about. Work, work. Watch the mariners lose. Again. Wait – I haven’t checked today. Oh, yeah, they just started. ( I am not at the game today, still at the office, though obviously not working. ( Waiting for my carpooler.))

So I’ll tell you a short tale of a certain boy and his squirrel companion.

Our cabin in the great north woods is rather old, and a simple log cabin to boot. It is well loved by many, and well cared for by the second generation to have charge of the place. However, there are a few chinks that show up each year and call for chinking.

We know this because every year there is evidence that we are sharing this space with a few creatures that should really be in a more out of doors space.

The youngest of generation three was the first to check on who had wintered over on the inside. She dispatched with the mice, who had already really departed. And she noted the presence of one of their slightly larger cousins. Now I am not sure whether there was direct visual confirmation or only indirect evidence. But no progress was made on encouraging them to move out before the task was abandoned.

About a week later generation four arrived to take up residence for an extended time. During the first day there was no time to address the interloper, other than to say hello. But over the next several days things got more serious.

The trap was found and baited.

First try involved Doritos.
Apparently Doritos are not on this particular squirrel’s diet plan.

The second and third and fourth tries included said Doritos plus an addition of some peanut butter. It appeared that peanut butter was on the approved food list.

The trials went from using the Doritos to scrape the peanut butter off of the trap mechanism to licking it directly to sticking bits of Doritos onto the peanut butter on the mechanism.

Then the boy got serious and scientific. He spent some time thinking like a squirrel. The Doritos were removed and the peanut butter was painted on as many parts of the mechanism as seemed reasonable.

SUCCESS! (look closely)

Wise Squirrel

Then the boy took his new friend for a ride. To a cemetery. The squirrel was still kicking. Rey had done his homework on agitated squirrels. Paper underneath to keep the seat dry, and a towel above to keep things calm.

It seemed that the peanut butter had not been enough to sate the beast and he started pulling the towel in for a bite. The boy yelled that this was not acceptable, and the squirrel stopped.

So what we had for a winter guest was a furry beast that uses tools and understands english.  When offered the opportunity to leave the car he was anxious to do so.

And back in Seattle the raspberries are ripe.

First pickings

And this morning I swore I put on blue jeans, but this afternoon I noticed they were black.

Once again Rey has figured out how to meet his obligations and still spend the summer up north. I am looking forward to the time when I can once again head north at the first sign of summer, and stay until fall. Of course this means the chance of freezing mornings, and possibly sharing the cabin with critters who have not realized that winter has gone.

Congratulations Rey for making the moves to spend a few months at the cabin. We will join you as soon as we can. In the meantime, happy birthday.

Just a bit chilly – but only some of the time.

Why wouldn’t you want to be here