Raincharm’s Weblog

It is the weekend, so there was no alarm. And I think I woke up earlier than the previous few week days.

For today’s walk we traveled to a different neighborhood, for a change in course. The location was chosen for its proximity to a post office. We got to traverse some new sidewalks and found 2 new staircases.

Tree of the day

Trees of a previous day when there was not room in the blog, but they are pretty enough to share.

We are spending more time watching movies this past week:

• Blow the Man Down – Prime Video
• Young Frankenstein
• Once Upon a Time in LA
• The Green Book
• It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935)

And probably a few more I am not remembering. DirectTV has been making the movie channels available without pay for a few days here and there. It has been nice to see some of the recent Academy Award winners.

We had a nice chat with a neighbor, from safe distance. She has a 2 and 5 year old. They have been creating shows to perform over Zoom meetings for family and friends. The first was about mermaids. The production currently underway is about fairies.

Through pictures, Carl has noted real advances in Dean’s artwork. (His 4 year old charge. If he were working. ) He thinks the extended time without strict schedules may be a contributing factor.

Positives in a time of uncertainty.

Happy Opening Day

So that’s not happening, yet

Remember the Kingdome

We had plans to gather with 30 or so friends to celebrate the start of the baseball season today. But, we got derailed with everyone else.

So we will have to content ourselves with celebrating, by ourselves, the 20th anniversary of the implosion of the Kingdome!

The Kingdome holds a special place in our family’s heart. We spent so much time in the building that it was like a member of the family. Like an eccentric uncle. Or crazy husband.

The Kingdome permeated our kid’s lives.

Our decor

Until it was gone.

To the tune of Sgt. Peppers Heart Club Band. Click on the link – it will open up a new window, then hit the play arrow, and switch back to this page to see the new words. Sgt Peppers Music

It was 20 years ago today

And the M’s and us were going to play

Now we’re stuck inside our homes

In married pairs or all alone.

Let me just say to you,

This Baseball Season’s really through,

And the 2020 season’s going to blow up too.

We are the Kingdome Cretins from way back,

And we wanted to enjoy the show,

We are the Kingdome Cretins from way back,

But it’s just an empty T-Mo.

Kingdome and the Mariners,

Kingdome and the Mariners,

Kingdome and the Mariners from way back.

It’d be wonderful to be there,

It’d certainly be a thrill,

We’re such a lovely fan base,

We’d like to see a game with you,

We’d love to see a game.

I didn’t really want to miss the show,

But Covid-19 made it so,

That life’s more important than a game,

And 2020’s such a shame.

Let me just say to you,

This Baseball Season’s really through,

And the 2020 Season’s going to blow up too!

HAPPY OPENING DAY

In this time of social distancing, I have managed to double book myself. A virtual weight-watcher’s (WW) meeting, and giving blood. 🙄

One of the more mundane chores has been to replace it light bulb in the bathroom. The replacement bulb is noticeably brighter. On the one hand, you can see a lot more in the mirror. On the other hand, you can see a lot more in the mirror.

And now I am listening to a woodpecker trying to attract a mate by banging on our chimney cap. My work station is in front of the fireplace.

And of course, across the country, adorableness abounds.

These are times that test one’s soul. We took our walk at lunch today, in a light rain. The sidewalks were emptier than other days. Possibly due to the drizzle. But could be in response to our Governor’s directive to STAY HOME. STAY SAFE. Our walk is actually still allowed, as long as we keep our personal space large. I also received my letter that, with my work ID will allow me to travel around the area, for work that is. Apparently safe drinking water and sewer services are essential.

Our mask. It might not protect us from Covid-19, but it should keep others from getting too close.

Love you.

Picture credit to Mark Axe

We took our walk at midday today. Shorter than yesterday’s, but probably 3 miles and got me to “goal” on my tracker. Our general goal was dropping off mail at a post office, and sanitizing hands afterwards.Today’s tree photo.For scale, Carl’s arm is sticking out the left side of the tree, clad in grey.There is lots of chalk art around. You all should know that hop scotch is alive and well, as well as other art.

And pretty petsWe ate the matzo ball soup provided by a neighbor through a porch pick-up, and spent a few hours enjoyingYou can read more about our nephew, Daniel Axe, on the RegenAxe blog. Thanks to Ashlan for assisting our views.Finally, thank you to our grocery friend for delivering some lentils. There will be chili next week! After we get our next grocery order together, including a jalapeno pepper.

Many are now learning the ins and outs of working from home. Everyone has a slightly different experience. From isolation, good and bad, to sharing the work space. I have one co-worker with 4 adults in the house stressing their bandwidth. And those with small children have an entirely different dynamic to manage.

We have just the two of us. We are managing, and Carl is understanding more of what I do for a living.

Since today is not a workday our midday walk was much longer. Over 4 miles by my tracker. We wandered around Tangletown, an area with streets that don’t strictly adhere to the grid system. My parents neighborhood is referred to as the spaghetti bowl I think.

The other tackled task included chatting with Rey and Becca for a while. As per usual I learned something new. It had to do with the connection between Cincinnati, Cincinnatus and General George Washington, and the Society of Cincinnati that appreciated their similarities. This is likely not fully correct as I didn’t take notes. If you want an explanation I will put you in touch with Rey.

I am working remotely every day, and starting to lose track of which day of the week it is. Life has gotten into a not unpleasant rut. Sun helps! Walks at lunch, and before dinner.

I try to get at least one non-Covid related task done each day. As one caller told me today, if we can get him the information he is requesting, he has a better chance to keep his people employed.

Another result of forced social distancing has hit very close to home. Mother had a fall, resulting in a few days in the hospital. She has now moved to a rehabilitation facility, but they are not allowing any visitors. None! I can’t imagine what she is thinking to be in a strange place, with nothing but strangers. For who knows how long.

I know the reason for their decisions, but it is still hard to accept.

To start or end with humor. Maybe both.

Our Mariners season tickets arrived today. Of course we don’t really know when they will play again.

We continued our midday walk, and added a pre-dinner walk as well.

We further took advantage of the good weather and our neighbor’s lack of paying work to get some yard work done. … A few hours in the sun and the hedge looks much better, and the spruce tree isn’t being overrun with branches. The strange part of this exchange is our inability to pay for the work.

Filthy lucre is not to be touched, and a check is equally suspect. I don’t have a compatible digital transfer app, so we will owe for the time being.

We are still trying to modify our own behavior further. Likely to try to take advantage of the senior shopping hours, and maybe order and pick up.

Of course, this still won’t get us hand sanitizer or lentils.

It’s probably too soon to call this our normal daily schedule, but the sunny weather provides an invitation to step away from the computer for a few minutes. We have taken these moments to stretch our legs, buy a few items from a store, and say hi from a distance to our neighbors. We even met our new next door neighbor.

Today’s purchase included Guinness. For St. Patrick’s Day celebration. And some canned black beans, more broth and some cheese. Still no lentils.

More meetings, although we’re getting more efficient. I even got to three non-Covid related items done.

There was a moment when I got distracted by a phone call Carl was on because I heard Corwin “talking”.

On the work front, Carl is learning a lot about the inner workings of water and sewer. He is subjected to daily check in calls and various other meetings over the web. I don’t have headphones and use speakerphone so I can continue to type. I even made him monitor a meeting for me while I was on a separate call.

Our new normal.

For our social activities this weekend we took walks in the sunny, but cold, city. During each walk we did a little shopping.

We got ground turkey, olive oil, lemon juice, frozen veggies, broth, etc… What we didn’t find was hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes or lentils! I have learned to get down on my knees to look to the back of the low shelves.

We didn’t need TP. Yet.

And we did have breakfast out. Support our local little restaurant. And we had pizza delivered for Pi Day.

The weather was very brisk, but lovely.

The stores were lively, but the sidewalks were not crowded.

Tomorrow it is back to work. From my dining room. I am hoping for a more effective time than Friday, when I had some technical issues that took at least half the day to manage.