Raincharm’s Weblog

So after staying up way to late crying in disbelief, and mourning the potential loss of so many gains over the past few decades, I went to bed.

And got up and went to work, because if you just check out – they win.
And I had a meeting.

In the end I was glad to have the normalcy of the workplace in my face.

In the evening we had a plan to go out to dinner with a friend in town on a work trip. Which we did.

Man is it hard to find parking in Belltown.
It did not help that as we circled the blocks looking for parking my stomach was growling, the one-way streets were making the circles larger, and I was getting slightly off where I was with respect to the target restaurant. And the incessant hum of a helicopter not too far overhead. [Finally our friend said, “Pick a parking lot, I’ll pay.”]

As we were finishing dinner a text came in from the east coast.
“I just heard about the shootings in downtown Seattle. Hope you guys are safe over there.”

!!?! At least three phones were consulted to try and figure out this news.

Obviously we were safe, and had assumed the helicopter was associated with the anti-Trump rally. The shooting was on the same block where we parked, but about 4 blocks south. 5 people hurt, 1 critical. Hmmmm, I wonder how much traction gun initiatives will get with the President elect …

But we had dodged the bullet.

And we also managed to dodge the anti-Trump march that wended its way around town, up to our neck of the woods, in and out of our potential routes.

Our ignorance of local events made the evening more blissful. I wish I were happier.

I guess we used up our happiness quotient for the year on the Cubs.

I can’t believe a p****y grabbing misogynist is going to have his finger on the button.

Depression looms. 

Two things are on my mind today.

1. Finishing leftovers
2. Kid Mail

1.  Leftovers.

We had folks over at our house for the last three World Series meals. All with food and drink. Mostly good food to boot. Sunday was chicken thighs stuffed with provolone and lots of other stuff. Monday was pulled pork. Tuesday was leftovers, plus a bit of new side dishes. Plus appetizers and desserts. And drink – wine, beer, water and champagne (x 3 for each day the Cubs stayed alive – and eventually prevailed).

Before these were sausage, local pizza style (Pagliacci), Chicago deep-dish pizza, lasagna, and some other entrees – not at our house. (It is actually difficult to rebuild the food – only a few days after the end of the run.)

We have managed to get through most of the entrees. Bits of appetizers remain, along with beer. I think we may have to cook a non-leftover meal tonight.

2. Kid Mail

By this I mean mail that still arrives at our house addressed to our kids. Neither have lived here for several years, but their legacy lives on.

Rey’s mail has been the most confusing – he gets pet food samples. Rey is allergic to both dogs and cats, and has never donated to the humane society or Paws as far as I know.

Ashlan’s mail is more of a demographic blast. She gets mail about babies. The first time we got one we actually checked in with her to see if there was something we should know. (No there wasn’t). She got one yesterday for Muchery – a meal delivery service. She is a bit of a foodie. It was addressed to Har Ashlan, a name variation we had not seen for awhile, based on computer sites that could not fit in all of her last name – omitting the ms.

The other mail that we always get for Ashlan is her ballot. She has still not informed WA that she now lives in NY. Don’t worry, we don’t vote for her, but we do use her ballot as a draft version with notes – and then transfer decisions to our ballots.  When she was still a WA resident, but living in Canada, we used to drive the ballot up so she could vote, and then bring it back. We did not trust the Canadian postal service to be timely.

For those not in WA, the voting in our area is all by mail (or drop-off). It is not absentee, it is mail. No regular polling places. I miss voting in person, especially during a presidential election.

And we have voted – dropping off the ballots today.

Carl did manage to get the lawn mowed yesterday. It needed some attention – the first since the grass was planted. This is the first day with a no-rain moment when somebody was available with the mower.

Between the Cubs run, vacation to Colorado, work and a work-related presentation yesterday (Saturday) I feel like this is the first day I have had to just do what I want to do for a long time. And it is not raining.

Time for a walk.

The 108 year drought is over. The game had a bit of everything, and the Series even more. We spent the last week with a stalwart group of friends. Started in Mark’s basement but transitioned to our house when the Cubs were down three games to one. Whatever it was, it worked.

Now we all have to recover from days in a row of good food, drink and champagne for the last three.

I am grateful we are on the west coast. The games were not short. And then they pulled out the tarp in the late innings. It was a mercifully short rain delay. And then extra innings! Free baseball! 

Again, short, only one inning and then the last bottle of champagne was popped, tears, and hugs all around.

Unlike the previous night, folks hung around to watch the post game and soak in the moment.

Today should be a good day.

And now for a real Cubbie.

First Cubs World Series win since October 8, 1945 (game 6). A game Carl’s father attended.

Luckily for us the Cubs have a day/night off. But the Sounders are playing, so our streak of scheduled activities continues. 

And I am going to start my work day with an 8 am field meeting. Not usually a big deal other than having to be at work early, except that I did not realize the schedule until I was running out the door yesterday to get to the Cubs viewing party, so I am not fully prepared as I drive (ride) in.

And finally I should report that the lasagna Carl made for the shared dinner last night was delicious.

Home again. Sometime before 8 PM yesterday we strolled through our front door. This was about 2 hours later than planned, but not awful. Even unpacked the dirty laundry. 

Our visit with Bob was great, and a nice break from work. 

The biggest change between Colorado and here is the weather. Dry versus wet. Even though it was raining when we landed in Seattle, it was only a light rain during our outdoor wait for the bus and few block walk. (And I really don’t complain about the $3 or so price tag of light rail/bus from the airport to home.)

It was nice in Fort Collins, but it is a really pretty fall here in the northwest. 

This is our third day (2nd full day) at high altitude. Of course that is relative to sea level, but we are a mile high, give or take a few feet. 

We are here to celebrate birthdays with Bob, Carl’s father. It’s been good to catch up in person.

On our first night here we got to watch the Cubs/Dodgers game with Bob. Because it was getting late we retired to our hotel room to watch the last inning, only to find the hotel’s tv package did not include the channel with the game.  (The Cubs held on to win without us.) We plan to watch tonight’s game with Bob again (game 6), and it’s doubtful we will leave early.
Carl and I took some time this afternoon to walk around the neighborhood. We found a trail called the Power trail. I think the name had more to do with the power lines than the workout stations along the path. Or the cats. 

The first cat we encountered was inside the tennis court. With a family playing tennis. The next was along the path paralleling a railroad track.This feline was in stalking mode. Grasshopper perhaps, or some other creature we couldn’t see. But as we approached, the demeanor changed to, “nothing. I’m not doing anything important, just hanging out.” 

Or maybe hunting blue jays. We lived here for about 5 years, and I don’t recall blue jays. Grey jays in the mountains, but not blue jays. (We also ran into blue jays by the hundreds in upper Michigan in May, another place I did not remember blue jays. Turns out those were migrating, and were gone before we returned in July.)

And we found these acorns that are different than what we had seen before.

And finally the Academy o’ Farts and Knowledge.

And after our probably 2 mile walk, I needed to change into shorts and take a rest. Amazing the impact a few days of inactivity and 5,000 feet of elevation has on a person. 

Dinner at McKenzie Place (lamb chops) and now it’s time for the Cubs. (Game face)

CUBS WIN! 4 more and then we can really party!

The pumpkin caramel poke cake turned out quite well, if I do say so myself. It was not cloying. I think the cream cheese frosting balanced the caramel. 

On to the championship series. We rode out the not quite as strong as predicted storm in the basement of a friend. Luckily it is home to his large screen tv and couch. Carl brought his usual assortment of parephanalia of the day. But the best toy was the empty box.

In the hours leading up to the Cubs game I was tasked with getting something sweet to bring. I reviewed recipes, and between the two top contenders, choose an apple bars concoction. (The other choice was pumpkin cookies.) We needed several ingredients, like apples and sugar. Out into the storm. I returned with said items and m&ms (crispy and dark chocolate). 

When it was finally time to serve dessert, Carl remarked that it was not really sweet. I thought back to a conversation noting the recipes left out the words, “sugar”, instead saying, “1 cup and 1 tsp cinnamon.” I only used 1 tsp cinnamon, but completely left out the sugar. One of the items just purchased. 

The “dessert” was not horrible, just apples with cinnamon between pie crusts. It is now breakfast. 

For today’s game I am going to try the pumpkin cookies.

Go Cubs!

Or is it 1-4.

Whatever, it’s been raining steadily all day and the winds are in the offing. A cyclone appears to be behind the severity.

So I am going to tempt the gods and bake a cake. A pumpkin caramel poke cake to be more exact. It is a friend’s birthday, and he has a sweet tooth. (Happy birthday to Dave too, probably close to half the age of said friend.)

This particular recipe comes by way of my carpooler. At least his suggestion.

Carl is treating him to a batting cage session tonight. Hopefully the lights will stay on and a good time will be had by all.

A little fall color creeping in.

More colors.

Last night was pretty dry. We started the evening at Uwajimaya, shopping for dinner to eat at the stadium. Some sushi, inari, pork slices and mochi.  We watched the majority of a Sounders game and headed home.

It was interesting to be out without the crowds in an area that has a rather high homeless population. Nothing bad, just some folks relocating a mattress using a hand truck. Homelessness is a real issue in Seattle, even with record employment. No real cohesive plan in place, but a desire to change the situation. I am not in favor of the current plan under consideration, that would open up many, many public spaces to camping. The problem is with the non-directed locations it would be very difficult to effectively provide support services. I agree with distributing the available locations, but choosing ones that can be supported.

Okay, enough with the social issues.

Back to baseball.
Outside of cage work – our games are done for quite a while.
So watching the Nationals/Dodgers on the tube.
Game 5 – win or go/stay home.

It is Dave’s birthday, and I know that he rooted for the Nationals at least for a time.

So Go Nationals! (for today)

We are into the baseball playoffs.
Carls 55+ baseball team won their playoffs.

Mariners did not quite make it. Again. Again. Again.
But the Cubs are in and won their first game. And this also means a bit more “free” time at home.

Carl was quite the star here and there through both the Silver Foxes and Mariner season. Here he is, perhaps questioning a call.

On the Silver Foxes he pitches and plays the occasional third base. For the Mariners he plays right center Section 106. He caught 3 home runs total in Safeco Field this year. The August 9th Kyle Seager 8th inning, game tying 3-run home run earned him the most notoriety. Friends from across the country reported seeing him on the news. And just recently we have been made aware of some other internet reports.

CFox –  Old Timer in Leopard Print Fez cap is the real star of the Mariners comeback win.

Click on the link to see the report – or for those that don’t click – here is a reproduction.

And another link from The Big Inning blog. Game 74//Fifteenth Inning Seattle//The Seager Game. (No reproduction here)

And at the final game of the year, with the hope of the playoffs a distant memory from the  night before, he got one last mention from the announcers. October Mariner Baseball I hope the audio comes through – you may have to listen carefully.

Not that it is all about home runs. Carl brought a bunch of baseballs to the last game of the year and handed them out to kids.

The last weekend’s games were basically fun. A co-worker gave me a shoe box of old cards he had in his attic. They definitely smelled like attic, but provided about 3 innings worth of entertainment. The cards were from 1970 to 1980, with a smattering of football and basketball in addition to baseball.

Lots of folks stopped by to chat, especially on the very last day – when hope was gone.

And speaking of friends at games – Ashlan and Allen showed up for two games!

We also got to take a ferry ride with them – just to get out on Puget Sound. We were trying to show Allen some local sights, and Mt. Rainier hid the entire time he was here.

What a good looking couple!

Bringing us back to the present – we spent today out on the town.
A bus, train, SAM, train, St. Demetrios, and a walk.

St. Demetrios was all about the food – and some greek dancers. SAM was all about Yves Saint Laurent. The dress, more dresses, hats (even a fez or two) and lots of sketches of his developing work. They had quite a bit of information about how his career developed. Very interesting.

I think the one on the right is in Pooh’s colors.

This is from another walk – lunchtime at work – but with a bit of wildlife. (bad phone camera from a distance)

Enough for now – we picked up some chicken nan from the corner Indian restaurant on the way home. Games on the tube and a restful evening at home ahead.

Go Cubs Go!