Raincharm’s Weblog

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The vacation continues and so do the changing numbers at the cabin.
We were up to a high of 9, down to 5 and now back to 6.

And the sun just keeps on shining.
Even with the wind today, it was not necessary to wear more than a bathing suit on the beach.
(And sunscreen)

And the water has been very swimable.

The days have a fairly predictable rhythm.
Get up whenever. Have breakfast with whomever else is in the kitchen. Dishes. Walk the beach. Change clothes for a suit. Swim. Lunch. (The order of lunch and swimming are interchangable.) Read. Dinner. Walk the beach. Watch the sunset. Play Bananagrams. (Or Set) Finally go to bed.

I am not complaining.
Pictures from the past day.

Dave and Pooh, professional beach sitters

The last 2 days beach walks have included golf ball gathering. Not sure where they came from, but it provided an amusing interlude to driftwood and crayfish claws. There were 81 at least, at last count.

81 floaters

Frog at the non-Doelle end of the beach pond.

Here I am. Come eat me. Really.

Sunset

Sun setting in the west – over Iroquois Point

After sunset.

Post Sunset

These are some of the hundred or so windmills over in Canada.
No pictures from today – imagine yesterday with waves.

We went to town today.

I used to think the Soo was the biggest tourist trap around.
I no longer think that, for I have seen Gatlinburg.

And it is still fun to go in and browse a bit.

And buy fudge.

We started the day with a walk on the beach. Or at least near the beach.

Harry walking almost on the water

I chased a sandpiper for a bit – trying to get its picture. It is in here, just well camouflaged.

Can you find the sandpiper?

Before fudge, we indulged in the hamburger hangout that has been there forever, Clydes. We ordered and took our food to the nearby Rotary Park.

The slide that is always at Rotary Park

The seagulls were busy with others for the most part, and we got a great view of the Tregurtha headed upbound.

Tregurtha – upbound

Sated, well – bloated, we headed back to tourist row for some exercise in the form of putt-putt golf. The kids had a threesome, and the next generation a foursome. Let’s just say the kids average was lower than the next generation. And because the next generation was playing second, only the next generation had a group breathing down our necks.

Dave admiring Ashlans putt

A great time was had by all, and we were ready to head back to the beach, and the lake. One last big ship before we left. It looked brand-spanking new.

The Spruceglen – looking shiny and new – downbound

Today’s lake adventure included a fit-ball. Try as everyone might, there was no sitting on the ball in the lake. And with the 5-10 mph wind, it could just about beat you back to shore.

Pasties for dinner, and a pie for dessert has just about rounded out the day.

The cook.

Harry

The latest arrival

Dave

The next to leave, with his Grandma

Rey with Bubs

And for those that were here – note that I did not include the adventure in outhouses episode.

Well first there was Seattle, then Newark, then Detroit, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ann Arbor and finally Birch Point Beach.

There must have been work, and I assume some stuff important happened.
But we are now on vacation, and I can barely remember the start of vacation – so there is no going back to before.

This may in part be due to sleep deprivation followed by very high temperatures. And a ballgame.

More specifically, when the vacation was upon us we packed until about midnight. When I set the alarm for our morning departure, the phone noted that this was in just over 3 hours. Luckily, the alarm was set partly to give a wake up call to our driver. [I think I owe him one now.] Once we reached the airport, there was no complaining about our early rising as it would seem everyone there had been through a similar situation.

Security took much longer than normal. Partly as all of the airport workers seemed to be arriving at the same time, and cutting to the front of the line. We eventually made it to our gate, and waited for the last group to be called to board. I should have taken the opportunity to read or nap on the first leg of the flight, but there was a movie.

The movie was The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The first movie I really remember watching on a plane was The Little Princess. Both of these movies had an Indian theme, with vibrant music and colors. It was a pleasant way to pass the time.

We finally arrived in Newark. This airport was different from Seattle in that there were many more people per square yard. We figured our next gate, and discovered we had to change terminals. This involved a shuttle bus and stairs. And our first introduction to the heat. Carl noted that the personal space bubble that exists in Seattle, does not really exist in this airport. Once we found the gate for our second leg we settled in to relax. There was plenty of entertainment just watching the people around us. While there were a lot of people, and a few harried parents with frustrated children, there were also instances of caring and kindness.

The flight from Newark to Detroit was short by comparison, and I was able to spy at least one great  lake on our route.

Detroit Metro was a veritable ghost town. Especially after Newark. Really – there were entire terminals that seemed to be unused. It was late, so perhaps there would be more action during the daytime. We eventually got the rental car and headed “home”.

[Side note: Jane’s new place is excellent. Shiny and new (for an old place).]

A2 was also hot. But there is a basement. And windows. And fans. And the evenings were quite tolerable. So for the one day that we were in town we waited for the middle of the day, and set out to see the Ann Arbor Art Fair.

2012 Ann Arbor Art Fair

The A2 Art Fair puts all others that I have attended to shame. It is large, spread out, and has a wide variety of art available.

Carl kept seeing some of the kids he has cared for over the years.

Angela

Lillian & Eve

I knew we would not be able to see everything, so we just chose our route as it came to us. When we got too tired for more we found a Starbucks and called for a ride home. (Thanks Jane!)

Soon thereafter Rey arrived on the scene. Yeah – good to see him again. Vinnie Wydown passed 200,000 miles in Kentucky! So we put it in the garage for a well-deserved rest.

That evening was our Tiger’s game. Jane, Rey, Carl & I got there in time for BP. Carl caught one early on, and then had another tossed up. Fister was pitching for the Tigers. (He used to be a Mariner.) Our seats were between the home and visiting bullpens, so we were able to get a good view of Fister warming up.

FISTER

The evening cooled to an acceptable 83 degrees and everybody cheered when they announced the temperature at the start of the game. The game was fun – the Tigers won handily. We were hoping to catch Cabrera’s 3rd home run of the evening. It would have been Miguel’s 300th home run. However, he did not hit even one. Instead Carl managed to get the bullpen coach to throw him a ball at the end of the game, which he presented to Jane. A nice rubbed up ball at that.

Carl, Jane & Rey with the spoils of the game

Our exit strategy from Detroit left something to be desired. We do not know our way around, and it took quite a while to hit the highway. In the end that was just fine, because our next stop was Detroit Metro. We just can’t get enough of airports!

This brings us to Ashlan’s day. She worked, went home, packed, got a cab to the airport, and waited for her plane. About as we got to the ball park she texted that her flight might be 2 hours late. Apparently there as quite a storm in NYC. I checked the American Airlines site, and they were suggesting 1 hour. A few more text’s from Ashlan indicated – 1 hour, then I am getting on the plane, and I might be early.

I checked the flight status a few times during the game, and it kept saying one hour. Since Ashlan had indicated otherwise, we were just a bit confused. We decided to go to the airport anyway, and check the flight status at the airport.

Just as we were arriving, the flight status on the phone changed to “CANCELLED”. Rey tried calling Ashlan – and she answered – saying she had just deplaned – in Detroit! What we did not know was that the plane she boarded was a different flight that had been delayed and had a few extra seats.

All I can say is – Thank Goodness.

Next morning we managed to squeeze in a breakfast with Jane before we headed north. The drive was relatively uneventful, and that is a good thing.

I can see the bridge

The cabin is the cabin. Somewhat changed from my youth, but still my favorite place in the world. Family, familiar surroundings, and of course the lake. We all took the opportunity to stretch our legs.

Rey & Ashlan and Frisbee

Ashlan on the beach

Today, our first full day, was a perfect beach day.
It may have been 80 degrees on the beach. Enough to chase us into the water.

Frisbee, walking, swimming, reading, sitting on the beach. (Sorry, no pictures. The phone is roaming to Canada, so I tend to leave it behind.)

Dinner is cooking, both kids are in the house, a nephew scheduled to arrive shortly, and life in this moment is just about perfect.

A few posts ago I was posting pictures of our front yard rhodedendron.
I did continue to watch its progress. Here is the complete cycle (at least until I stopped taking pictures). Just under one month from start until end.

Why won’t it slideshow for me??

This is fresh news – that is, news of the day.

I went to work. Work came to Carl. Carl and his work went to Remlinger Farms. Sounds like they had a good time.

Carl went to the Seattle Aqua Sox game tonight. The goal was to see the  newest phenom – Zunino, a catcher. Guess who else was at the game – Hultzen. Hultzen is a promising pitcher that we saw at the Southern League All-Star Game (AA) last month. He was called up to Triple A (Tacoma Rainiers) after the All-Star Game. Not sure why he was hanging around the Aqua-Sox game (A), but it was an interesting coincidence.

In news of the nation, somebody uncovered some extremely valuable baseball cards in the attic of their grandparents house. Now we know we have a lot of baseball cards, in our attic. We also know that they are not the super valuable cards. But  — for all of those that continually speak of flinging, beware of throwing away too much.

AND – Here is a must see video. (And must hear)
This is Rey’s work – from a few days ago, when a heavy storm blew through. If you heard about damage to Smoky Mountain National Park – this is the same storm. We think Rey is in there somewhere, but we do not have confirmation. At the beginning he was taking down umbrellas from picnic tables.

Tarpnami

I can’t believe it has been a week.
And a rather busy week at that, at least now and again.

I am going to look through my pictures, and see if I can figure out what I/we was/were doing

• The Dixons came to visit
• Helmets in general
• Carl had a birthday
• We got to see films ala Nyback
• There was a Bucket Brigade in honor Beckett (Chicken & Beer?)
• Mariner and Sounder and Islander games
• Work – with grown-ups and with more grown-up kids
• A little bit of house work.

The Dixon’s visit – Dan, Parker & Maggie.
Several baseball games and some sight-seeing.

The Dixons at Kerry Park

Kerry Park

Maggie

And what trip can happen without the Space Needle

And the new Seattle Center Chihuly Museum

A glimpse of Chihuly – from the outside

Helmets – This tradition started for Tom Wilhelmsen, Mariner pitcher. It was during last season when the center front row of Section 106 decided that Wilhelmsen must be a Viking. They started out just pretending to blow the Viking horn, but it soon morphed into wearing cheap Viking hats. (Conical with horns out the side.) [Rey noted that the real Viking hats did not have horns, and probably had a nasal. But nevermind reality.]

Chief Sealth plus some Scandinavian Emigrants

Then there was the bit about whether Wilhelmsen was potentially a Viking. The only way to figure this out was to actually ask him. Which Carl did. Guess what? They were right! He (Wilhelmsen) said the name was German, but his family was of Norwegian descent. AND he allowed that it would be fun to have them wear the helmets. At a much later time – this year, he told Carl that his father gets quite a kick that they wear helmets for him. And note, Wilhelmsen was working as a bartender before joining the Mariners.

Carl had a birthday. See the previous post for a picture. And I am still older.

Dennis Nyback made his annual pilgrimage to Seattle for the 4th of July. Since Carl’s birthday is close to that holiday, Dennis put on an outdoor showing for a small crowd gathered in the Shannon’s yard. The fare included a baseball tutorial film, and a full length 1-hour Twilight Zone episode, The Bard, written by Rod Serling himself. This particular episode included a bit with a book store owner who is enamored of baseball players. It also includes Burt Reynolds doing a Brando immitation.

Buckets, or is it Beckett’s, of Baseball.
Carl + the Dixon’s hatched a plot to poke a little fun at Beckett. For the back-story link here.
First we went to Kentucky Fried Chicken. This had not happened for several years. Secondly they talked a few buckets out from the server behind the counter. They did have to buy some chicken, but she put it into a box. (There were cameras, so just handing over the buckets could have gotten her in trouble. At least that is what she implied.)

Bucket Anonymous Parker

Parker may have been a bit reticent, but Maggie was ready to go.

Bucket Maggie

One of the ring-leaders

Dan the Man

Where did this one come from?

The most famous Bucket of them all

And the heckling did take place. Beckett did not really acknowledge the joke, but a few of the fans got the point.

Birthday Bucket Carl

As noted above, there have been several Mariner baseball games.

And a Sounder soccer game. A great Sounder game. We had been watching the UEFA Cup (European Cup) over the past few weeks, and marvelling at the passing and shots. And at how many fewer hard tackling fouls seemed to be present in the game. I put this down to what the referees choose to call, as well as how the players play. The first 2 minutes of the Sounder’s game seemed just like the UEFA Cup. Passing, movement, and no fouls! The remainder of the game was above par as well, but not quite as pristine as the first 2 minutes. And the Sounders won 2-1 (over the Colorado Rapids).

This was one game we did not walk down to watch, and bus home. Instead we drove down early, parked and went out to dinner. We tried Mike’s Noodle House. It was good soup, with uncontrollable noodles. (Chopsticks and a soup spoon.) At one point I looked around and realized we were the only non-aisian folks in attendance. I took that to be a good sign.

The little brace

The other reason we drove was that Carl had a baseball game of his own the next day. This was the first game back after the attack of the right-ankle tendon. This attack was beaten back by a month or so in a boot, and now into the little brace.

He was able to pitch 5 innings the next day for the Islanders.

Much of the rest of the time has been work.
My work with the normal work folks. Carl has been working/playing with Lillian and Eve. This has been a fun interlude. They are both a bit older, play well together, and love to read.

The helmets make you angry

The house project has started to move along a bit. A structural review has changed a bit of the project – but not for the worse. It actually made a decision for us it would appear. Our own efforts have been a bit limited in our time at home. We are measuring windows.

All for now.

I have not posted for a few days, and there has been a lot to share.
But not a lot of time to focus on sharing.

Well, there was one evening I spent home alone, but it ended up being mostly decompressing, and watching a soccer game. [And when I was watching the soccer game, I could not multi-task because I was watching it on the computer, and my screen is just not big enough to enjoy a soccer game AND write a post.]

And I am getting ready to start the work day – so this must be quick.

But I did not want to miss (although I already have) my significant other’s birthday.

Which was yesterday. The short version –> A visit to the Space Needle picture booth, a walk down to the stadium, a ballgame, and a film showing with friends.

And Cake.

Happy Birthday Carl

(It is the Church of Baseball – and it was even Sunday, although the day of the week is really superfluous.)

Just a brief post as we try to figure out what time it really is, and adjust to the fact that tomorrow is a work day.

Seattle is just a bit cooler than the places we have been.
At least 20 and closer to 30 degrees cooler.

The trip home was pretty uneventful.
Normally I read on the plane, but today our trip coincided with the UEFA Cup Semi-final match between Spain and Portugal. (Soccer) The game started shortly after we took off, but did not quite have time to be completed before we landed. This was because after the Full 90 (minutes), the score was tied 0-0. They had played most of the 1st overtime half, but not the 2nd.

Watching futbol really makes the flight go quickly. The game could have been better. Lots of starting and stopping. I usually root for Spain, but I would have taken either team after the end of regular time. Towards the end of the game I was being distracted by scenes like this.

Mt. Rainier

This was after watching Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens pass by in the somewhat further distance.

I did not get pictures as we were taking off and heading north from Denver.
Initially we could see the huge clouds of smoke rising from the Colorado Springs area. As we went north we were able to catch a bit of the Ft. Collins area smoke. On the shuttle ride down we could see smoke rising above the Flat Irons outside of Boulder.

[We watched the remainder of the game once we got home, on replay. SPOILER ALERT: Spain won in penalty kicks. As I said, I thought had stopped rooting for Spain, but when Portugal’s Bruno ?, hit the post and his shot went wide, I was happy. This could be because I did not particularly care for his style of play throughout the game. Or perhaps I just never stopped rooting for Spain, but simply disappointed that their play was not up to par.]

Yesterday we saw an Osprey nest just off of the road.
So this morning we took a short side trip to get a closer look.
At least one osprey was in the nest, and moved about a bit, but not enough to provide a really good picture. (We did note a more determined photographer setting up a tripod.)

Osprey nest – obviously next to a road

The more interesting feathered friends turned out to be the rather large flock of swallows that inhabited the underside of the bridge adjacent to the osprey nest.

Swallow Nests

The cheaper homesites – no sun.

Full line of nests

The pictures of the flock are anything but in focus. But what do you expect when you pair a smart-phone camera with darting and diving fliers. But here is one anyway. There are birds against the sky, the foliage and the water.

Check out the lower left corner of the picture

This is all adjacent to a wildlife preserve area.

Poudre Trail area preserve

The heat was again warmer than Seattle is likely to see for several years.
When we left at around 8 AM to check out the osprey it was 79 degrees.
When we arrived at the nest a few minutes later it was 84 degrees.
When we got back to the hotel, a total of about 30 minutes later it was 90 degrees.

The next step was to gather with family once more.
Here is a parade of Harms as we left for lunch. (99 degrees)

Doris, Bob & Carl the enforcer

Lunch was at the Island Grill – pretty darn good food. And entertainment – natural style.
There were a few planter boxes on the outside dining area (we ate inside – it was almost 100 degrees after all).

The boxes were full of pretty flowers. And a butterfly. And two bees that kept bugging the butterfly – essentially attacking it from above or the rear. Their goal did not seem to be to hurt the butterfly, but rather to drive it off of the flowers, so they could get the nectar for themselves. This went on for quite a while. And there were other flowers in the box that could have been tasted.

I did not venture out in the “heat of the day” to see if it topped 100 degrees again. But I assume it did.
Carl did venture south – to the Colorado Rockies game.
When he left there was some rain, associated with a thunderstorm.

This was likely the same storm that had just graced Boulder, a little more than 20 miles to the south.
Unfortunately in Boulder it touched off yet another fire – one ridge away from the City.
I will be curious to hear what they may have seen as they drove south, east of Boulder. Or later tonight on the return trip when it is dark out. For those that know Boulder – the fire is close to the NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) facility.

The Fort Collins (High Park fire) has been usurped in the local news by the new Boulder (Flagstaff) fire and the Colorado Springs fire (Waldo Canyon fire). The Colorado Springs fire is perilously close to neighborhoods near the Air Force Academy. As I have been writing this we are jumping back and forth between the ball game and fire coverage. The Colorado Springs area is just amazing, coming right into neighborhoods with likely homes burning as we watch. There is a ridge that is keeping the camera from seeing exactly what is burning, just a wall of black smoke.

And tomorrow AM we will be leaving this triple digit heat. We hear the high in Seattle was about 65 degrees.
For those that wonder about the difference between a humid heat and a dry heat. A dry heat is easier to take. In Tennessee it was in the 90s with high humidity. In Colorado it has been in the 100s with extremely low humidity. I can stand the Colorado heat more easily.