Raincharm’s Weblog

It’s that time of year again.

Carl’s great found filthy lucre contest.

We walk, Carl finds money and stashes it in a container. At the end of the year, the coins and bills are counted. We send a picture around to the folks in the neighborhood and invite them to guess the total. Closest to the amount wins the filthy lucre.

We have several guesses received so far, and may get one or two more before the midnight deadline. There are 2 guesses this year that are very close to the correct total. Only $1.03 and $1.06 off. Tomorrow the winner will get the spoils.

Today has been a sunny respite from the rain and fog of the past week. We did take a walk today, but I was a bit tired, so we didn’t push it. The tiredness was primarily due to yesterday’s year end blood donation. The donation went well, much faster than my normal drip rate.

We spent some time slowly un-decorating. The ornaments, Santa’s, snowmen, pictures, and other bits and pieces have been taken down and stowed. The lights remain as does the tree. We have compost pick up Tuesday, so the tree’s days are numbered.

For those that have stuck around, the found money total for 2023 is $86.40.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I always appreciate it when it takes more than one hand to count the new books we have to read in the coming year. And some puzzles as well.

It was a relatively quiet day, except for the continuing patter of raindrops, all day long. I don’t know if it ever stopped.

That was OK as we were content. I am hoping to get out tomorrow for a walk and errand or two. And if all goes as planned, we’ll start to get our holiday cards out in the mail.

We are pretty much decorated. We could do more, but I am not sure I have the inclination.

I am not a huge fan of mall Santas, which made stumbling across Santa in the Zoo magical. He was in a tent near the petting zoo, sitting on a folding chair, with an attendant and bag of small animals to hand out. The attendant had a Polaroid camera. No charge. If you zoom the picture and look to the right, that’s where the early photos are. In the first encounter, Ashlan is on my back, and Rey is just talking to Santa, not on his lap. Eventually Santa moved into the new Zoo Store, and it got glitzed up. Anytime the kids aren’t wearing jackets we were inside.

There is always the question of what to do with the picture ornaments. On the tree or elsewhere. Originally, they were on the tree. But our trees are usually not too large, and at this time we have about 125. They would not come close to fitting the tree. Hence the picture wall.

The original ornament wall was in front of the window. We installed it there multiple years. But it blocks the window, and working from home, I like to be able to see out. Last year we put some on the tree, just chose a few. This year, back to the wall idea, but in a different location.

On to the week before Christmas.

I now have a crown, so I must be a queen. Right?

We had a regular cleaning yesterday, and everything was good. Except a decades old large filing in a back tooth was failing. A crown was recommended, so here we are.

This is actually part of my program to limit holiday food overload by having others put restrictions on what I should eat. Carl was sweet and picked up some chicken soup for dinner. My other strategy has to be away from the office on days when other departments have their holiday breakfasts. So far I have missed the leftovers from Operations and Finance, and the kringle on St. Nicholas day. Tomorrow is the office catered holiday lunch. I am not sure what is on the menu, but I will be kind to my new tooth.

The Christmas tree is still at lights only. Potential for ornaments tonight, but I need to work on a Christmas sweater for tomorrow’s luncheon.

2 days forward, 1 day back.

And that’s not really what folks mean when they talk about Christmas Lists.

Since that picture, we think we solved the problem. At some point today we noticed the list. The tree had been up for more than 36 hours before it decided to lean. Maybe it was trying to watch the Premier League soccer game on the telly. We realigned the trunk, and I tightened the bolts more to the tree trunk. All was good for about an hour, at which point the list returned. Because mere tightening had not worked, we decided to do the opposite, loosen everything and start over. As I loosened the last bolt the tree dropped about an inch. Apparently we had not seated it on the base. So far the tree is still vertical, and lacking ornaments.

Since we missed the Green Lake Luminaria last night, we walked that direction today. Really just to complete a few shopping errands. First stop, Starbucks. Love them or hate them, they make a really good Christmas Blend. We got our first bag of the season today.

Next up was the neighborhood hipster grocery store, PCC. For steak. Not a normal food for us, but a 2 for 1 coupon lured us in.

On the short walk between our destinations, we were behind an older gentleman wearing headphones. He dropped his hat, which we picked up. I am not sure what he was listening to, but I had to basically get in front of him with his hat in my hand to get him to stop. He was appreciative and set off again, with us still following. And he dropped his hat, again. I think it was falling out of a pocket. We picked it up again, and caught up to him again, returning the hat. We did not follow him through the store, but I hope the hat made it home again. For a moment, we thought he was trying to get rid of a hat, but it was a nice Patagonia hat.

What an exciting life we lead. And for that we are very grateful.

The tree is drinking water. That is good, it means it still has a memory of being alive.

As a kid, once the lights were up, we were allowed to put tinsel on the tree. We put it on one strand at a time, and it was the silver, smooth kind. I never liked the kinky ones – probably because I was used to what I was used to.

Some people would put fake snow on their trees. I never liked that much, not realistic, so why bother.

No tinsel on our trees, or snow. Tomorrow I will work on adding ornaments, and trying to figure out how and where to put up the picture ornaments.

If they don’t end up on the tree, which they apparently did last year.

In other news today, we braved the atmospheric river to buy one more present and then visited the post office. The shopping was on foot and we got plenty wet. We drove, with dry socks and different shoes, to the post office. There was traffic everywhere! We were patient and got there and back without incident. The post office line wasn’t out of control either. But we decided the rest of the day would be at home, or at least not in the car.

Others obviously don’t hold that same opinion, and the Indian restaurant at the end of the block must be busy tonight. We’re about 6 houses away, and cars are parked past our house on our side of the street. This might not sound bad, but it’s a No Parking side of the narrow street.

The city could make lots of money here if they patrolled many Fridays and Saturdays. Getting out of driveways with cars on both sides means lots of back and forthing.

Hoping for less wetness tomorrow. Tonight is the Green Lake Pathway of Lights, where they put luminaires along the 2.6 mile path around the lake. We have been to several in the rain, but decided not to get drenched twice in one day.

We have started.

It’s a slow start, but a start nonetheless. The lack of the atmospheric river helped get us out to the lot. The tree lot is at the elementary school our son attended for 1 year, and our daughter for 6. We put in our time on the lot, and now try to support the school moving forward.

As time has marched forward, our neighborhood now attends a different elementary school, sort of in the same neighborhood.

Tomorrow we’ll tackle the lights and ornaments.

We are thankful and just plain full.

We finished our Thanksgiving lunch, as it turned out. My initial ETA was somewhere around 3 PM. Actual time was around 2 PM. The cooking time estimates bone or no bone were the issue. Luckily, preparation for the other dishes was basically done, so it just meant eating early.

The repast.

Not pictured, roasted green beans with hazelnuts and pecorina cheese

It was small as Thanksgiving meals go, but no reason to go overboard.

Bonus for the early meal was an opportunity for a good walk.

We discussed making a turducken. There are chickens in the neighborhood to go with the ducks. But alas, no wild turkeys running around.

Ending with some local fall colors.

A few pictures from dinners many years ago. Note that there is a pumpkin in most of these celebrations. For the kids, the dreaded soup in a pumpkin. It was like a French onion soup, but cooked in a pumpkin. They were more excited about the turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes, and even the broccoli. And of course, eggnog.

These are hard copy pictures. I have not spent the time to find later digital versions.

There were the Canadian Thanksgiving years, when we were able to have many friends over, because nobody had other plans in October. Including the infamous exploding stuffing. In those years, on American TDay, we would sometimes make a turkey sandwich and wander the quiet city.

And a memorable dinner in Missoula with Rey when we brought everything to make dinner, because his apartment had very little in the way of pots, pans, spices, etc.

Oh, the memories. Good ones.

Michigan in fall can be lovely. It was sunny and highs around 60 each day.

Ann Arbor is named after the two wives of the founders, both named Ann. Yes, they would meet under an arbor near the spot of this plaque. The plaque was erected in 1924, 100 years after the founding of the town. I passed the plaque many times in my years here, but I had forgotten about it until I happened to pass it on my way from dropping off the rental car to the airport bus pickup location. It’s on Huron, just past the railroad overpass, one block from the truck-eating bridge.

I wasn’t crazy enough to make a special stop to get a good picture. Instead, I settled for a stoplight view. I did spend time in and around the Big House growing up. It is kitty-corner to my high school. For the non-marquee games, you could get a high school ticket for a buck or get in free after half-time.

Little Ceasars was just a local pizza chain when I was young. Complete with the statue, we would occasionally get pizza to bring home. The Baskin-Robbins was a more frequent stop. I seem to recall stopping there after Friday night swimming. We swam at the UM Women’s Pool. I think that was the name. That building is currently gone, being rebuilt as a much larger recreation center.

I did try to walk some every day. This was Wednesday. The route was from Dad’s place, along the river to Gallup Park and back, about a mile each way. And then continuing to Parker Mill on Fleming Creek, and back to the All Seasons building. I had too many layers on and was ready for water and a rest when I got back.

Most of the fauna was at a distance, but this gaggle had wandered out of the water. On my first pass, they were still near the edge of the river. On my return, they were scattered on both sides of the path, with a few on the route. I tried to keep my distance and move smoothly through their midst, but two still hissed at me. At least they didn’t charge.

This was an interesting sight as I was walking to breakfast on Tuesday. These mounds are actually Christmas trees. I guess Thanksgiving is almost upon us.

For some reason, I just haven’t gotten T-Day in my sights. I was letting someone know when I would be available for a meeting, “Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday,” I offered. In their reply, they noted two of the offered days were holidays and scheduled the meeting for the following week.

This is the place you will most likely find my father when he is in his apartment. It has a place to put a drink nearby, a sturdy arm to push against when rising, a lamp for reading, and a view out the window.

I had heard him use the word before but got the correct spelling today. Based on the root word querer, or to want. And then he was telling me about bulls in a bullfighting ring that would frequently go to one spot, over and over, between being tormented by the bull-fighters. Their querencia.

And I am not comparing Dad to a stubborn bull.

One of the sisters asked me to take a picture with Dad. This goes just a little further.

Heading West again. It was a good visit. Not too long, but with some quality moments.

Great-Grandpa got to see two of his four great-grandsons, if only over a device. Rey and Zai-Shin video chatted one day over lunch. I was able to prop the phone in a Kleenex box so we could watch Z do his thing, mostly eating, but waving at us too. We zoomed with Ashlan and Elijah one night, and video phoned the next, so Great Aunt Jane could see his hijinks as well.

And then there was exploring the NY Times Extremely Detailed Map of NYC Neighborhoods. I brought this interactive map up on the computer, and we explored his old neighborhood in the Bronx and surrounding areas. It was interesting because he would point out things or tell stories and history behind some of the place names. It was enough of a hit that I brought it up again the next evening when Jane was over.

The most amazing part of the trip is on the flight home. There are 2 kids, a baby and a 2 year old with their parents in the row in front of me, and a 2 year old with a mom behind. AND an empty seat next to me! It gets loud occasionally, but I am comfortable with my pretzels and ginger ale.