The Spheres

Yesterday, we finally had the occasion to make good on our 2020 birthday plans for TWO – a visit to The Seattle Spheres. (https://www.seattlespheres.com/).

So…many…plants. The main wall had approx 800 species on it.

To get the right experience, you pretty much need to see it but suffice it to say that it feels bigger on the inside and it smelled vaguely like a terrarium (but not overwhelmingly so).

Some of the ferns were REALLY BIG – see the pic from above and the wee people below. Their new growth shoots were about the size of my arm/fist.

Hot time in the summer

I’ve come up for a breath of air after prepping for prom, graduation, and generally being very busy.

Tomorrow is another graduation party and our earlier events, at about 80° proves that our new patio gets really hot – like really hot.

Now we are trying umbrellas, water-misters, and kiddie pools (for anyone who wants to get really wet) to try and make tomorrow’s 105°+ temperatures.

Right now – I’m enjoying a moment of calm before the storm.

A sinking feeling

Been pretty happy with progress on our patio. I did warn the workers about our septic system nearby. What I wasn’t aware of was the legacy drain field, or maybe it’s the french drain piece from the gutter?

Really wholesome of me eh?

Either way, it was gonna be a whirlwind of an April – but with this now?
Well…first things first.

Winter 2020

I don’t need to tell my contemporaries that this year has been rough. There will be plenty of expert analysis in the world for many years to come but on a personal level, and almost one year into the pandemic, my extended family has not had to experience the worst of the suffering. We continue to have our physical health, financial stability, and (usually) good humor, together, as we plow ahead.

I think this collective experience is leaving a visible scar on our generation because we all know people who have suffered loss and our usual solace is hamstrung by isolation. While we count ourselves lucky, our inability to comfort each other in person, and in so many of the usual ways a community brings solace, contributes to our suffering and emotional difficulties. We are not special in this regard but, in this past week, with news of more than one effective vaccine on the event horizon, I suppose I feel once again like sharing some observations I have made in the past 6+ weeks. On some level, these feel like an ointment for the scar.

Some events have come to pass.

La Grande turned 18 – four days too late to vote in the election. 😦

More miles have been put on the car in the past month than in the previous 10 months I think.
A few days later she passed her driving test and got her license.

This first ever ‘solo’ Thanksgiving was a very hearty meal – for the next 4 days.

On a nice afternoon the WHOLE family put up Christmas lights – another first.

With a semblance of normalcy we invited AK to help us get our tree.

Some nature has done it’s thing.

An interesting cluster of mushrooms.
(Fun Fact: If they were less clumped it would be called a ‘troop’ of mushrooms.)

There doesn’t seem to be a special name for a patch of lichen but TheWeeOne said it should be called ‘a ruffle’.

The web in my wood shop becomes quite conspicuous when I spend enough time sanding down to 400 grit (or better).

Some glimpses of the everyday.

Some damned fine holiday cookies.

Old School Communication methods make a resurgence.

Like a joke on a fortune cookie. “You will learn French this year…in bed.”

Hedgehog Kitchen timer is the new school bell.

Lap dogs have an abundance of laps.

Tupperware (or Rubbermaid in this case) is still in the line of fire.
#thingsIhaveBroken

Good food and togetherness continue to garner our undivided attention.