Raincharm’s Weblog

It is back to work after a nice weekend. I was even able to read the Sunday newspaper on the back deck.

Today was even warmer. Into the 70s. It may hit the 80s by the end of the week. Of course I will spend most of the daytime in the office. And a loud office to boot. Work on our tank has about 3 or 4 loud pieces of equipment. The sand blaster, vacuum, generator, dehumidifier, etc. And it promises to get noisier when the blasting moves to the exterior.

I will admit to being impressed by the workers putting up the scaffolding. And this to will pass, in about a month.

First up was Friday night’s Seattle Style at MOHAI. A bit of everything, and a lot about the history of Eddie Bauer. He patented the first down jacket in the 1930s, if I recall correctly. It’s not all flannel, but some is, and a lot revolves around rain.

Today was opening day of boating season. The Windermere Cup and boat parade. There are lots of races in different age classes. The invitational had teams from UCLA, Boston College and Germany. I think the Huskies won the Men’s 8, the only race we saw.

We did get to see all of the crews make their way back through the Montlake Cut, the first parade.

As soon as the races are through they raise the Montlake Bridge for the boat parade. Several boats would not fit under the bridge.

The more formal groups, and several not so formal groups participate.

These pictures were all around the bridge, for us land lubbers. The real party was out on the water. The races went through the log boom, and the boat parade heads back out through the line of boats, watching the other boats.

You may be able to tell, it was a gorgeous day. In the end it was about a 5 mile wander.

I am obviously getting older, but she just keeps getting better.

Happy Birthday.

And a few more, just because it is a milestone!

Both shows we went to over the weekend were great, but very different.

Surrogate Cities was an avant-guard presentation about the incessant change in cities. One day there is a place, and the next day it’s gone, or different. The music was a mix of melodies and cacophony provided by at least five percussionists. And two singers. The woman had a beautiful voice and the man had a voice that he could manipulate. He did have lyrics sometimes, and other times it was more like scat, but not jazz. David Moss is his name, and one quote on his website describes him as Jim Carey imitating Ella Fitzgerald while being eaten by an alien.

The picture was taken well before Saturday’s horrible crane collapse.

Yesterday’s show was rock and roll with the Women’s Chorus. Sarah Rudinoff led the show; emceeing, soloing and singing with the Chorus. Also had an appearance by Ayesha “Musicbox” Brooks. Not that I knew who they were before the show, but local performers of note.

Both shows had inherent energy. The Mariners, not so much. Both Friday and Sunday we left well before the game ended to get to the other venues. They did pull out a win on Friday. I skipped Saturday. Carl had an invitation to sit behind the dugout and I just needed a little down time. Apparently, so did the Mariners, losing Saturday and Sunday by a combined 29 to 2.

On a sunnier note, as we walked and transited our way around town we found these visions.

During all other hours you must be normal

We have had places to be almost every night this week, and it continues through the weekend. The Mariners started a homestand yesterday, so that accounts for several events. They won 14-2 last night over the Texas Rangers. We did feel a little bad for their starting pitcher who was making his major league debut, and only managed to go 1/3 of an inning.

And there was the play on Tuesday, and a meeting on Wednesday. I could swear there was something on Monday, but I can’t remember what it might have been.

Tonight we are double booked. We start with a happy hour with the Mariners. Really, they are providing appetizers and drinks. This will likely be dinner. Then it is off to the light rail to travel into downtown to Benaroya Hall. We are seeing a show called Surrogate Cities with the Seattle Symphony.

Our tickets say Saturday, but it was rescheduled a few months ago. We also had Saturday tickets to see the Seattle Women’s Chorus, also at Benaroya Hall. They were rescheduled to Sunday afternoon at 4. We also have Mariner tickets on Sunday for a 1 PM game. We should be able to see most of that game. And dinner out with friends after the show.

Saturday is just the Mariners.

I am hoping for reasonable weather as I think most or all of these activities will be supported by transit.

Happy earth day.

And now we are out on the town. Judging by the audience demographics, this show is probably from a book read in school.

I am not familiar with this story. It’s entertaining. The sound system is a bit heavy on the band, sometimes obscuring the lyrics. But enjoyable and a very energetic crowd.

We walked to the light rail and transited downtown. The Drumheller fountain on the UW campus is having a bit of work done, allowing us to see under the water.

That sort of ties in with the show, son of Posidien and all.

I just hope the Gods of water are pleased enough with the show to hold back their precipitation.

We had pizza for dinner. Not very Easterish, and definitely not appropriate for Passover. But it fit our energy level for dinnertime.

This followed about 4 hours of intense yard work. Weeding, mowing, clearing and working on the raspberry patch. Which followed yesterday.

Camellias are pretty, until you’re trying to clear fallen blooms off of the other plants

Before the yard work, in the wee hours (for a weekend), Carl played the Easter bunny for the kids he cares for.

They looked like they had fun.

Yesterday’s exercise was 8 miles of walking. We reprised our normal stadium walk to see the Garfield High School baseball team participate in the High School Baseball Classic at T-Mobile park. In the end they lost their game on a wild pitch, 2-1. It was a fun event nonetheless. Saw some friends and ballpark acquaintances.

We did not walk the entire way home, opting to take light rail to the UW and walk the final 2 miles. On the way home we passed by the site of the Burke Museum. At least where it used to be located.

There is a totem on the left, the beak is the pointy bit poking out from the vegetation. The empty space is where the Burke was. The new Burke is the building beyond on the right.

Yesterday we had the energy to muster dinner, even after 8 miles. Okay, it was sort of leftovers. Turkey burgers, prepped the night before, and roasted sweet potatoes.

Now I only need to decide how soon I can go to bed.

At some point during both Wednesday and Thursday I thought it was Friday. It is finally here.

And it’s raining!

The forecast for the weekend is not raining, and a bit warmer. Hopefully that will pan out so we can take a real walk, and maybe weed. And fix the raspberry patch “fence.” This is the loose grid of stakes and bamboo pieces, held together at junction points by zip ties.

In other news, tulips are taking over for the waning daffodils.

It all comes down to having to pay to pee.

Seems like I remember having to pay a dime to get into the stall. Nobody else I have mentioned this to has a similar memory. Was it at airports? Shopping centers? Theaters? Ski “resorts”? My memory only includes the bathroom interiors.

If only we could have won the game.