Raincharm’s Weblog

We flew the flag.

I wore the pearls.

We voted (a few weeks ago)

The polls have closed, except maybe Alaska and Hawaii.

I hope. I HOPE!

I went to work again today. Another new employee, so that’s a good thing. Driving in I realized there are many things I have been missing.

Downtown buildings that I watched under construction, lights festooned on their tower cranes, are now finished boxes. Sun peeking through the fog. Mt. Rainier silhouetted against the morning sky. The dead deer at the entrance to our office.

I don’t drive much anymore. I drove more during our 3 weeks in Michigan than I had over the preceding 6 months. And my Dad’s car is a manual transmission. On the few times I have driven since our return I have a strong urge to put in the clutch, which is not part of a Prius.

Funny, and true, snippet from Halloween night. We were gathered around the Chai Tea carafe, neighbors chatting (distanced and masked – except while drinking). A neighborhood family moved back to Michigan a few months ago. Their house was up for sale when we left in September. When we returned in mid-October, the for sale sign was gone. And here were our old neighbors, drinking tea. It turns out they changed their mind after living in their new home in Michigan for a while. So they waited until they could vote in Michigan, voted, sold their new house to a brother, and moved back to Seattle to their old house. Who knew that moving to a battleground state to vote was a thing.

That’s all folks.

Or day after Halloween.

We have not trick-or-treated in many years. With small children. There were clever costumes and a few failures along the way. What the kids would be and how to make it were a bit stressful for me. We still have a paper mache toucan head/hat that was part of a Rey costume. The large nose hung around for several years. It was also paper mache built on a baby backpack carrier frame, worn on the front. The nose extended from waist to shoulder. This was topped by a “hat” out of an inverted 5 gallon bucket with a brim cut from a diaper bin, with the words, “The Great and Powerful Schnozz.” That was the same year as the Starbucks coffee cup, which also used part of a diaper bin for the bottom circle, with painted foam sides and a cardboard lid.

Yesterday’s activities were actually the most fun we have had doling out candy in a while. One of the families on the block put together a scavenger hunt for the kids. There were five or six clues that led them around the block to different porches and places where they would find the next clue, and finally, a treat. The organizer had given the parents the answers so they could assist the mostly pre-school kids. Our bat garden had a clue taped to one of the bats.

The parents on the block were also organized to put down a one way course on the sidewalk, with signs encouraging distancing. And a suggested start time. Many candy giver-outers had little packages in their yards or on their porches to be picked up. The City allowed non-arterial blocks to close the street for an hour while the kids gathered their loot – to allow for safer spacing. One neighbor warned the Indian restaurant at the end of our block of the brief closure, and he supplied a large carafe of Chai Tea for parents to share. Is chai tea caffeinated? I stayed up past my normal bedtime. At our house Carl dressed up as a baseball player and pitched origami baseballs with candy inside. It seemed to be a huge hit. These were made a bit ago and should be “clean.”

Before that fun started, we took a walk to the farmer’s market for squash and garlic. The squash is for eating, the garlic for planting next year’s crop. Which meant the kale and tomato raised beds needed to be cleaned. For good measure I also pulled the zucchini plants out to compost, which led to a massive weeding attempt of that bed. And I added bagged compost to the raised beds and soil amendments/mulch to the other area. To help keep the weeds at bay. I did need Carl’s help to move the bags into a place I could work from. Especially the 3 cubic feet of amendments. I could “walk” the bag, but not lift it. Which is why the bags that have not been used live by the side of the house, instead of being stowed with the rest of the garden stuff.

And we are off to see what more we can complete today. Carl gets to dress us as a baseball player again for practice this morning. I hope to plant, file and reorganize my work area. And drink coffee.