My last day with Rey, Becca and Corwin. Tomorrow it is back into the eye of the SARs-Cov2 storm.
From early days
From a few days ago
And today
Errands, chores,
The diaper tree
and a desperate attempt to get far enough on the knitting project to go solo…
Today we took a brief trip to Nashville. 3 stops.1. Anylabtest – this was a bit of a bust. Carl needs to periodically get his blood tested for thinness. That is that it is thinner than normal, but not too thin. He wouldn’t bleed for our home test, so off to the lab. He wouldn’t bleed there either, after 3 pokes they gave up. He did get permission to wait until he gets back to Seattle. 
2. Visit Rey at work- went okay, but Corwin was sleepy and not overly smiley.3. Donate some diapers to tornado victims. There was a donation/distribution site at the Nashville Sounds baseball stadium, so we headed that direction. Following GPS instructions we wound our way through a maze of closed roads and heavily damaged buildings. Really brought the reality of the storm home.On a lighter note We found this at the grocery store. And it stayed in the store.
Corwin being his adorable self.
We have been keeping up with Seattle area news with online Seattle Times and work emails. The Corona Virus is dominating the feeds, as well it should. The Pacific Northwest appears to be ground zero in the U.S. It’s a little odd being aware, but away from the storm, and knowing we will be returning to the current eye of that storm. Still, using our standard protocols for hygiene will likely suffice.
And in our current locale, we have weathered a tornado. Carl was woken up by the sirens. I missed those, but saw/heard the lightning and thunder. We were unaware of the damage extent until Rey texted us that Becca’s school was closed, so we could come over later. Mind you, he didn’t say why, so I got online and finally found the news.
Rey may have been distracted by a flat tire on his car. He did manage to get some air into the tire, before taking Becca’s car. There is a screw in the tire, diagnosed by the fine folks at Midas, where I am waiting for the repair. On the positive side, it is warm and sunny, so driving in strange areas on a tenuous tire was only slightly tense.
In other events: Knit and Pearl. Decrease, cast off. Those are lessons as I try to remember how to knit. The goal is to complete a project I started in 1987. Coincidentally, Rey was born in 1987 and I got distracted.
Becca has been trying to bring back my onetime skills so I can finish the sweater. The first lesson has been knitting and pearling a swatch smaller than a hot pad.
At some point, soon, I will have to take the leap back into the actual project.
Overall I have to give this trip a big thumbs up. From relearning skills to mundane household tasks (dishes, laundry) to new and exciting recipes to Netflix series (Stranger Things and The Good Place) to house hunting, and of course, baby holding.
And it’s not over yet!
After a week of caring for Corwin we have managed 2 outings. Thursday we took Corwin to high school, to visit his mom at work. There were much oohing and aahing, although the star of the show remained relatively stoic throughout.
Yesterday we took him to the Hitsville Caravan, or something similar. The Nashville Sounds Triple A baseball team was out drumming up interest. The directions to the location were pretty straightforward, until the end. We were in a shopping center with a Kroger and a gas station. It took us driving completely around the Kroger building and out to the road again, to finally realize the gas station convenience store was the correct location.Corwin woke up for introductions, but was not quite in his party mood. He still made a good impression, and survived his first mascot encounter.
Most of the time Corwin was his normal friendly self.
The theme of being lost in shopping center parking lots continued into the evening. We set out for Casa Fiesta, a restaurant almost across the street from Rey and Becca’s apartment complex. Rey had warned us that getting into the left lane for turning into the parking lot in time could be challenging.The excursion started with a major hassle leaving the apartment. The one lane exit from the complex to a really busy road was blocked by two cars and two police cars, forcing exiting cars to use the one lane entrance, along with all of the folks returning to the complex. And the police in attendance were not making any effort to help direct.After finally escaping the apartment, I paid close attention to getting left, and turned too early, into the wrong shopping area. Once again, so close, yet so far. Not wanting to deal with left turns onto the busy road, we explored the back alleys of the shopping area and found a switchback path down to the lower area and then up to the restaurant.Dinner was quite tasty.As with most nights, we retired to our Airbnb room, a few episodes of a show, and off to sleep.
Day 3-1/2 of child care, Tennessee style. The first day all of us took naps. I will put some of that down to travel fatigue. No issues with the travel to speak of. There was the minor situation where we followed those phone directions a little too closely, and turned into the airport parking structure instead of onto a road. Luckily they allow 20 minutes of parking for free, so we didn’t have to pay $6 for the detour.
We are getting into a pattern of sorts.
Corwin has patterns too.
We are enjoying our relatively quiet, focus on the baby time.
Rey and Becca are more organized than I remember being. But it works! Corwin is a content and happy child.
Tomorrow we are going to go for an outing. More on that later.
There is twilight during the morning and evening drives.February showers will bring flowers.
The lilies were planted last year to brighten the spring. They are lovely, but we have barely seen them since time in the backyard has been limited by the continuous rain of January into February.I did manage a raspberry pruning yesterday. And Carl picked about 400 spruce cones out of the backyard today.Cuteness among the produce.
And in view of equal time for our two kids kids.
Carl and I kissed this morning and went our separate ways. Work and all that stuff.
We will reconvene tonight, and see what happens. We have no specific plans. Maybe we’ll walk, but it could be dark and wet, so maybe stay home.
This is not a holiday where we spend a lot of energy. When the kids were young, and valentines for all of their classmates was de rigueur, the “holiday” would not sneak up. With that said, we both remember one of the best presentations I provided one year long ago.
A square of treasure cave blue cheese, flat on the plate turned 45 degrees. A slice of braunscheiger, cut in half, and place each half circle next to adjacent sides of the blue cheese. Surround the resulting heart with crackers.
I don’t have any pictures, and the last time I looked I could not find Treasure Cave.
We do have some bacon, so maybe a festive BLT. I will share a picture or two from yesterday, as we celebrated Jane’s birthday from afar.
And a few new Corwin sightings
When a picture just won’t add, you go to extremes
Tomorrow we will spend most of the day at home. Today we left about 9 am, and didn’t return until after 5 pm.Our first stop was on the UW campus for a memorial service. A friend’s wife, who died unexpectedly before Christmas. We did not know her well, but wanted to support her husband, whom we do know well. Trying to put understand what her husband is going through is almost impossible to concieve. Tears and joy at the memories shared, of the lives she enriched. Carl and I have each tried to imagine life without the other. Not good for either one. We each see major deficits that are filled by the other.At the conclusion we didn’t really want to go home, so we set off to walk and talk instead. Several miles later we were on top of Capitol Hill. And we did climb the hill. A little urban mountaineering. No long incline, this was a long hill.We lunched at the Rhine Haus. It hit the spot after our trek, and allowed us to pass some time waiting for the second event of the day.
The Seattle Women’s Chorus concert, including a set by the acappella group, Acappella Joy. The focus of the concert was voting rights, and human rights. I find myself despairing of the current goings on in our country on so many fronts. But we just keep moving forward as best we can, putting one foot in front of the other.7.5 miles for the day, according to my tracker. And it didn’t rain on us until the very end, and that was barely noticeable. This is after a week of rain. Not showers or drizzle or mist, RAIN. And wind for the last few days. We consider this a major win. And, yes, it is raining again.And now for what we are thankful.
Should be 4 pictures
We were invited to a 49ers party last night. Nothing to do with football, although baseball was discussed here and there. It was, instead, to fete 3 folks that recently turned 70. The 49ers. Holding the party in 2019 just didn’t work out, so 70 plus a bit.
The party was held in a sweet common room of the age-restricted apartment where one of the honorees lives. They provided a main dish, and others brought sides (especially beer and wine).
One of the sides was especially inviting, a charcuterie. A platter with crackers, cheeses, salamis, olives, and other assorted foods. It reminded me of smakerel lunches my parents would make. Always a favorite, but with a fancier or at least, harder to spell name. Since our family was rather fond of the Winnie the Pooh books, I am thinking our term is from that source.
“Nearly eleven o’clock,” said Pooh happily. “You’re just in time for a little smackerel of something.”
I guess we don’t party late that much. We did stay up past our bedtime, but didn’t drink too much. This morning I feel like doing a lot of nothing while I gather myself. It appeared it might be nice enough for a walk. The moments of sun are still somewhat limited, and I don’t feel like working to stay warm.
Plus, there is a project that needs attention. It is in the figuring out how to make it work before completely diving in. Currently on the second trial. Must get the how down! There is a potential requirement for additional tools.
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