Raincharm’s Weblog

Our day was relatively, well, normal for us.

Trying to get caught up on the home paperwork (bills, checkbook, etc).

A baseball game – Carl’s team.

Now this got interesting. His team, new for him this year, has not won a game all year. Carl was pitching, and they got up 4-1. But, alas, the lead did not hold, and they lost 6-5. A few fielding errors were the main reason. [Carl might add that the strike zone was less than consistent as well.] But it was fun to be out playing games.

The team went out for pizza afterwards, with a few wives and kids in attendance. A satisfactory ending for those over 50, playing a game they love.

We topped off the pizza with stop at Baskin-Robbins.

Then home to watch a Midsomer Murders episode.

Fall into bed with a little SNL. (So I could see who Jason Sudeikis is. Ashlan served him a sandwich a week or so ago.)

We have been back for 2 days now (I think).
It has been busy – although we only have ourselves to blame for that.

Jumping back into work with both feet and a few other limbs thrown in for good measure.
Then in the evening I have been crashing – just too tired to move.

We did manage to get a bit of food into the house, but last night was typical.
We had an appointment last night to look forward to retirement funding. So I rushed home through horrendous traffic.

Carl still had two kids running around playing with a hot wheels track that extended from the dining room, through the living room, out the front door and down the steps. They were having a blast. Carl was trying to cook two turkey burgers and couscous, so we could eat and run.

As I walked in he got a call telling him to make sure he went to the NEW Lynnwood High School for their game. GAME? What game? Oh – a baseball game in 1/2 hour, and it is not on our calendar! [Apparently this was added to the electronic calendar, but not on the originally provided calendar.]

Burgers cooked. Put on to-go plates.
Couscous does not look even close – turn off the burner and leave it.
Jay leaves to appointment, Carl leaves for the game.
Turns out Carl left his burger sitting on the table, and the couscous was so liquidy because the couscous had never been added.

Oh, and I am so sorry if any of you received the HEY DUDE e-mail from my account that was hacked/taken over/whatever. I am trying to deal with it, but just delete anything from me that says DUDE, Cell phone, no subject, etc. SO SORRY.

Or something like that.

After a somewhat jumbled morning in which 3 different forms of transportation were considered for an airport jaunt, the best was chosen (because the glass guy was quick).

Then it was flights and reading, followed by walking, light rail, bus and a bit more walking.

It was not until we approached our house that we remembered the Night Out block party was tonight. But it was about 10:30, and there was only our neighbor left on her porch with a friend.

But we are safe and sound, and definitely thinking of getting luggage that rolls. The light rail to the airport is wonderful, but there is the walk required at the end.

Thanks to all that put us up and put up with us.
It was a short long vacation.

We did a few errands yesterday.
That included a walk through campus, downtown and back home again.
We returned about 2-3 PM and, after a bit of cold water, descended to the cool of the basement.

Luckily, we had been provided with a way to pass the time, jigsaw puzzles and movies.

The movie was High Fidelity, the puzzle was a 1000 piece Normal Rockwell, The Connoisseur.

The movie was funny, and the puzzle was proving challenging.
After an interruption for dinner, the puzzling continued.
During an interruption for boarding pass games, the power went out.

I descended to the basement where Carl was still puzzling in the limited light provided by two windows.

I decided to go outside and read.
At a bit past 9, it was too dark to read, so I found my headlamp (sorry Ashlan, it was a necessary fashion accessory), and joined Carl.

He had finished the white bits by feel, but there was still the spatter painting that makes up the majority of the puzzle to go.
With the assistance of the headlamps (I found another in a drawer), we persevered  until the power came back on. (Did not check the time)
And finally, at a bit past 2, we finished!

This is a great puzzle, but you should probably give yourself more than 12 hours to complete. Our only puzzle today will be figuring how to get to the airport.

And we are back into the heat.
Not as bad as the last time, or maybe I am just more tolerant.

Plus, we spent the night in the basement.

It was a beach day, again. So we walked the beach one more time, took the small family picture, blew out the drive and left.
The drive down was fairly uneventful.
A lunch stop, a few slow-downs, and then home.

Got to touch base with the other sister – for a bit, and put together a puzzle.
We may attempt the larger one tonight! (It keeps us in the basement, but we will need a larger platform.)

On a guest computer, so no pictures of the bridge flying by.

Really – our last full day here this year.
And it was a beach day.
The kind that is almost too hot. (Is that possible in the UP?)

And we managed to spend a good bit of it on the beach.

And some of it on the water.

In fact, even Dad got in the water.

It started clouding up a bit in the evening, so who would have expected such a spectacular sunset.

As always the time flies way to fast, and I am just starting to get into the swing of vacation.

Windy – but sunny.
Perfect combination for beach time and no bugs.
So we set off to the east.

I made this little video so I can calm myself down when needed in the future.

And a few pictures from the hike.
Including an eagle nest that we had been told about.
If you don’t get sea-sick, you can see what a horrid little videographer I can be.

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Yesterday was a good day all-in-all.
I did not take any medicine, only a vitamin and calcium supplement.
I only sound like I am still in the middle of illness, instead of on the long end of feeling better.

We started with laundry!
Woo-hoo, choices and clean clothes.

The day started overcast, which made the town visit easier. It got warmer as the day progressed.

And then there was Not-Thanksgiving dinner. Good to have a picnic with so many around. There were four sisters in the good or evil wear. Pretty funny, and unplanned. (I think maybe you need to be older or younger to truly appreciate the sentiment. I am told that another set of older sisters also have the shirts, but the young adult sisters do not see the fun.) If I can grab a picture from Pooh I will post it later in this post.

As the dinner was winding down, the temperature was winding up.
Carl & I picked enough berries for 1/2 a pie in front of the cabin. We will try to get the other 1/2 to celebrate Jane’s arrival. (Hopefully. A2 experienced 6 inches of rain in 12 hours a day or so ago, and with that a branch through a window that she is working on getting repaired.)
I have heard that there are berries that appear in your bucket faster in locations west of here. But it has been a while since I have picked enough cabin berries for a pie.

It was warm enough to convince me back into my suit, and into the water.
Spent a good long time in, playing briefly with a 3-year old, and then frisbee with a slightly older set.

Finally time for some reading. 1/3 of the way through the book that is my goal for the cabin reading.

Stayed up a bit late, but got up early anyway. It rained last night, but is now sunny and breezy. Carl & I are planning to walk the rocks to the eagle’s nest area.  The pictures are from the last few days.

So yesterday there was a hike to Betty’s Cove, on the northern shore of Gitchee Gumee (in Canada). But I missed it due to lack of sleep and too many cold symptoms.

What I did do was read. I finished “Dooms Day Book” by Connie Willis. My son lent me the book, and I will leave it in A2 so he can get it back the next time he is there. It was a good read. [Rey – I was sure that Father Roche was somebody from the future. At first I was sure it was Dunworthy, but that did not work, so just somebody. In the end I was wrong.]

This morning we got up a bit late. Pooh rode to the Point Iroquois lighthouse, and we followed later in the car.

After a bit of walking around the point we adjourned first to the Dancing Crane, and then to the Cozy Inn for a whitefish lunch.

 

Apparently the lunch was more than some usually eat for lunch.

Carl & I took a beach walk. It was very smooth water, and the water was out – leaving some areas where the water could move in very shallow waves over the sand.

The blackish stuff is sawdust and vegetation.

It helps define the ripples in the sand.

A day or so ago there was a big blow, and there were at least 5 dead seagulls, a dead Canada goose, and a dead fish (or shoe) on the beach. Lots of live gulls too, and some mergansers.

I have also started another book, The Map that Changed the World, by Simon Winchester. I need to finish it before returning, as it was borrowed from St. Louis.

OK – I am on vacation, and I have not been posting regularly.
I could blame the lack of internet access at this remote outpost, but that would be a lie.
It is really more due to lack of energy. I never get sick – at least not when I am in my normal work life. And to tell the truth, we had been on vacation for more than a week before I decided to really relax. That was after the driving from here to there, and schedules, and things to do had been done.

I think the problem was that I did not have any structured plans once I got to my place of relaxation, so those little bugs that just kind of hang around on the periphery decided this was their chance.

Nothing bad. Took a mile or so walk a few days ago, and then basically slept the rest of the day. Aches and pains, no stomach upset. The next day was a bit better, although it only had a short walk (Doelle’s) at the end of the day. Today is “better”, but really it has just moved to the next stage, which in my case involves post nasal drip (there was no pre-nasal drip to go with this) and coughing. I signed my life away to get my favorite dry-em-up drugs [I don’t do meth] and hope to go for a hike tomorrow.

So there has not been a lot to report on recently, and I still don’t have the correct frame of mind to reconstruct our days of travel in the oppressive heat. (Maybe I just don’t want to relive that part.)

However, I had started writing a bit earlier about a strange occurence, and reoccurrence while we were in St. Louis.

When we were visiting Pooh and Mark’s fine abode, I merged its floor plan with Carl’s parent’s old house in Wilmette, Illinois. Every time I went to go to the stairs to the second floor I headed in the wrong direction. Every time. And we were staying on the second floor, so I had ample opportunity to go to the stairs. Not just the first day – but all the way through the 2 days we spent in their company.

I would get up from the dining table, the kitchen, the living room, etc, and head toward the front door, from which point the stairs should ascend. There was a side table, closet and entrance to the computer room at this location. Realizing my mistake at this point, I would circle back through the living room and dining room to the correct location off of the dining room.

When starting at either the kitchen or dining table, I would basically walk past the correct entrance to the stairs to get to my incorrect location.

Pooh was sure if I just walked into the closet by the front door, just once, that I would cure my little issue with directions.

I have been to this house before, less than 10 years ago. And Carl’s parents moved to Colorado, probably more than 10 years ago. Who can tell why my brain works the way it does.

OK SHORT DESCRIPTION OF TODAY.

Up by 7:30, without prodding.
Breakfast and coffee.
Walk the beach.
Futz around. (Carl & Pooh both did some sweeping chores)
Went to Penny’s Kitchen for Monday lunch. [REY – a shout-out from Barbara Mullin. She says she misses you and wishes you were here.] Also got to catch up with Daschie (sp?) Piedmont-Colbert (not sure what she uses as a name, but her husband, Charles Colbert just published a book titled, “Haunted Visions, Spiritualism and American Art“, and Betty Piedmont. (When I had just given birth to Rey, Betty’s youngest had just given birth as well – and that baby just got married! Are they old enough?!?)

And now it is time to go spend a bit of time in the sun, in case the predicted thunderstorm comes to pass.