We’ve had this Madrone tree along the beach bank that has been slowly dying. Here’s a pic from a few years ago where that shorter tree in the middle was healthy-ish. It was still rather annoying, blocking part of the view without being a lovely tree but oh well. To the left you can also see another Madrone with sparse leaves that was also in the process of dying. (Click to enlarge)
Over time they have both become twiggy and ugly, (and dead) but especially the shorter one has been an eye-sore. (This picture above gives me a start because it has been MONTHS AND MONTHS since we’ve seen blue skies and blue water! Jeebus!) Here’s the dead tree:
There are a lot of shoreline rules about cutting down trees; apparently the Shorelines Management agency sometimes flies around in an airplane and documents whether people have cut down any trees. There are also rumors that they use drones! (We HAVE seen drones, but my guess it’s residents playing with their own). There can be steep fines. BUT, we’ve been documenting the demise of these trees. I dare them to fight with us over dead trees.
And today, John cut down both of them! He was whupped. His chainsaw was seriously acting up and he’s going to need to replace the bar and chain, but he managed to get the job mostly done (aside from cutting up the one trunk to burn).
Yep, he’s having himself a well-deserved beer!
I figured it would make a slight difference in our view, but I was amazed! Holy moly! (I wonder if it’s possible to reach that big draping Fir limb? Might be nice to whack it…)
I mean, WOWZA!!
It’s Birthday Month around here: Mine was the 1st, Nate’s was yesterday, and John’s is coming up the 15th. Certainly nothing exciting about any of it. (Nate’s halfway around the world).
I’m excited for the 4th of July!! Helen is coming, and so are Sandra and Quinn! It should be a fun dynamic! I’m certainly hoping that the weather turns around by then. Lordy what a WET Memorial Day Weekend it was! All those years of working, I never had a holiday off after New Year’s Day until Memorial Day, and I looked forward to that long weekend so bad. And the times (and there were many) that the weather was crap were so depressing. This would have been another one of those years. (It doesn’t affect me the same way these days. Heh.)
“Our democracy is being thwarted again and again by an increasingly radical, antidemocratic GOP driven by white grievance and nostalgia for a pre-civil-rights America.” -Jennifer Rubin
Absolutely remarkable! Yes, I managed to get up at 4:45 a.m. Tuesday and we were on the road at 5:30. (Then hit brick walls of commuter traffic in Tacoma and Federal Way…) We drove directly to Stan Sayres park/pits, which was the first time I’d been there (man, that place needs an infusion of funds and TLC. I was horrified of what a “pit” that place is! It’s quite famous around here because of all the years and years and years of SeaFair and the hydro races and the Blue Angels, but c’mon, Seattle!) While we were crawling in traffic, the Miss Squire Shop was ready to leave the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum:
There were actually four of the restored vintage boats doing their “shakedowns” that day: Besides the ‘79 Miss Squire Shop, there was the Miss Maverick (1950s era), the Miss Notre Dame (1960s), and the Miss Pay&Pak (1980s). Here are the “butts” of all of them at the pits (if you click on these photos you’ll see awesome enlarged versions—just remember to hit the back arrow afterward):
The Executive Director of the Museum is Dave Williams, who is a veteran hydro driver and crew chief (and a great guy), and he drove the Squire for her maiden run. It was so exciting when the crane dropped her in the water for the first time! John is intimately familiar with every single nut, bolt, hose, fitting—literally everything—about this boat.
Speaking of the crane: I LOVE them. It was right next to us and it was very LOUD (I could have done without THAT), but I love how skilled the crane guys tend to be. This guy was excellent. And there is something dramatic about them lifting the boats in and out of the water. I got my first taste of that in 1997 when John raced an Unlimited at Tri-Cities (Nate was 11 years old!)
Dave’s maiden run indicated some issues, especially with oil. The Merlin engines (these engines are from WWII fighter planes, so they are 80 years old!) are notoriously difficult to start, and Dave had some trouble, but it finally caught, struggling a bit on the course at first. But he finally got it going and had a good run. He and John and the crew think they figured out the oil issue but when it was John’s turn to drive, they decided to test some things at slightly slower speeds to either confirm or disprove their analysis. (Dave had also said to John, “I’ll never fire a driver for going too slow.” These boats aren’t intended for racing, so they typically don’t go faster than 130 mph, vs. up to 250 mph speeds of the racing turbines). So John took that to heart and stayed under 120 mph. (Except maybe on the back end of the course out of sight of everyone where he gave it a leeeetle more throttle…)
So, here he is dressed in his race suit:
And here he is strapping in!
And there he goes!!
Ooops. No he doesn’t. Couldn’t get her started.
It came down to the battery winding down and *almost* dying. But then! It caught! Belch. (There were cheers. Heh.)
Yikes. But then, THERE HE GOES!!!
And after three laps of the course (required by the officials), he headed back in. If you look closely, you can see the heat waves from the exhaust behind him.
Back, safe and sound. (There’s me in blue taking photos and grinning my lips off).
There was SO MUCH going on! All around us, with the other boats, and within our pit area with our boat and crew. Complex machines, these boats.
Quite a lot of people (fans) were there, too. And mostly with gray or white hair! Lol. These are the boats the older crowd remembers fondly, these “Thunder Boats.” The hot pits were barriered off so you needed a pit pass to be close to the boats, but the barrier wasn’t huge and they all got to see the boats a lot more up-close than at the big events at SeaFair or Tri-Cities. It did feel like a privilege to have full access! However, I also didn’t want to be in anyone’s way, so I was cognizant of that. But it was nice to be able to be out on the dock!
Locals will remember John Keister from the mid-‘80s to 1999 “Almost Live” comedy show on local TV, and he was there! I didn’t recognize him (we’ve all gotten old…), but he ran up to John and introduced himself and was super excited about the boats and asked John if he could take a picture of him in front of the Squire! Lol! (John had to tell me afterward who he was! Oh yeah! John Keister! Huh!) And I overheard conversations everywhere, some pretty dumb. These are vintage restorations of well-known hydroplanes of yesteryear. The Hydroplane Museum is all about that, overseeing all of these restorations. And there was a younger woman standing there gaping at the boats and she said to her partner, “Why are these boats all so OLD? What’s up with THAT?”
(I mean, they’re actually all newly built…)
It was such a good day! John was on Cloud Nine. Very different from his extremely competitive racing days which were very stressful. He would be in “race mode,” quite distant and inward leading up to his runs. In this situation he was…joyful! He kept hugging me (which I sure did like!)
We stopped for oysters on the way home. Mmm. And then after we got home…we learned about the heinous massacre of CHILDREN in Texas.
I’ve been taking a breather to tamp down my incandescent rage about the leaked opinion from the five radical far-right Supreme Court justices that points directly to overturning Roe v. Wade. I cannot believe we are at a place when half our country’s population is having our rights shredded, without regard to rape, incest, or human trafficking, let alone our FREEDOM and LIBERTY. It lays the groundwork for the hammer to crash down on contraception, IVF, gay marriage, interracial marriage, and civil rights. And in case you think that might be hyperbolic, those rights were established on the exact same unenumerated basis as Roe was: The 14th Amendment’s admonition that States not deprive any person of life, liberty, privacy, or property without due process of law. Alito’s ridiculous “argument” is that “rights must be deeply rooted in this nation’s history and tradition.” So does that mean that women’s voting rights will be revoked? Because it certainly wasn’t part of this nation’s history and tradition. Slavery was deeply rooted in our history and tradition, so will that now be A-OK? Also, felons can’t vote, so will the women seeking abortions and criminalized with a felony lose that right, too? (A side benefit for the authoritarian republicans?) It’s a fact: our rights hang by a wispy hair that the extreme right-wing SCOTUS can snip or pluck at any time.
And then get this: Alito cites with approval a 17th century witch-burning enthusiast, Sir Matthew Hale, who was the Chief Justice of England in 1671. He considered abortion a “great crime,” insisted that “a husband cannot be guilty of rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife for by their matrimonial consent and contract the wife had given up herself unto the husband which she cannot retract.” He also authorized the execution of two women for being witches. And this is who Alito aligns with?
What. The. Fucking. Fuck.
Forced birth. That’s what our country is facing in 2022. My head is spinning. My gut is gutted. My rage can’t even be measured.
B R E A T H E
Wanna see some flowers?
My Aerogarden is currently planted with “draping Petunias,” and while they aren’t particularly draping at this point, they are thick and colorful and they bring me joy!
For Mother’s Day, John got me two of these. Absolutely love them!
And after all of the wind and torrential rain and MAY HAIL we’ve had, the deck pots are perky and growing:
(Believe me, the sunshine has been a rarity…)
For the last several years (5? 6?) John has been volunteering at the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum up in Kent. At least twice a week (75 miles each way), starting at ground zero in the restoration of the 1979 Miss Squire Shop hydroplane (thunderboat!) The original boat itself was in very poor condition for restoration, so much of it has been completely re-built, but using the design plans from the original that John drew up (and also some useable components). For the last six months or so, he has been the Crew Chief and they are hustling (“thrashing”) to get it ready to run in the water this coming Tuesday at Stan Sayres Pits on Lake Washington for testing. Every day this week he’s been driving to and from the Museum, dealing with dire issues, trouble-shooting them, fixing them, moving on to the next dire issue. Tomorrow they finally fire the motor for the first time (Merlin). What a road this has been, and I can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that it’s so close to COMPLETE. This is the original 1979 boat:
And here we are (sans cockpit windscreen, engine cowling, and wings, which will all be attached in the next day or so):
Today the motor is in and secured.
Here’s John’s Crew Chief uniform:
AND THEN…he may be a driver this coming Tuesday. He and a few others, including Chip Hanauer, will rotate as drivers at the upcoming events—TriCities, SeaFair, etc.). So he has a racing uniform as well, but I’ll wait until he’s wearing it before I take a picture.
And yes! I get to go to Stan Sayres Pits with him and watch! There will be three other Vintage boats there as well, and I’m suspecting a whole bunch of fans (based on the interest on their Facebook page). wOOt!! The downside is that we have to LEAVE THE HOUSE TUESDAY MORNING AT 5:30 A.M. (Help me)
And finally, some Quinn photos! (B R E A T H E . . .)
“A vote for Democrats is a vote to save democracy and women’s reproductive rights. It’s that simple and that obvious.” Steven Beschloss
Quinn and Mama Sandra came to visit us Sunday for a couple of days, and what bliss!! The weather cooperated “enough” that we were able to spend a little time on the deck, with a fire one night, and then potting flowers the next day (although I did get rained on as I put the pedal to the metal to get ‘r done). I gave Quinn a super soft plush Red Panda, and he LOVED it. He carried that thing around just about everywhere.
It was chilly, but so nice to finally spend some time outside. Ahhhhh!
Sandra helped me deliver flowers to the pots, which I like to do in order to get an idea of the color combos. I didn’t get enough (any?) “thrillers,” so I will keep my eye out to pick some up if I see anything I like. But everything will grow (fast) and it may not be necessary. (Plus, those flowers were expensive!)
Quinn helped Papa haul down extra bags of potting soil. (The two big ‘uns I bought weren’t enough for all of the extra pots!) Notice he’s also carrying his Red Panda (named “Red”).
Did I mention “bliss?”
THEN, today I got a delivery! Flowers from Nate for Mother’s Day! The note says, “Happy Mother’s Day! I miss you! I’m sending these while leaving [edited to say: a scary country in the mid-east] Crazy, huh? –Nate-Man”
My heart is full.
”Stop calling it ‘culture wars.’ It’s religious tyranny.”
Helen left this morning after a two-day, whirlwind visit! What a great time. Monday night (the day she arrived) we had a warm cheese & simmering broth fondue dinner! Oh. Yum.
I also had plans for chocolate fondue dessert, but we were all so full that we decided to have it the next night! We dipped strawberries, fresh pineapple chunks, sliced bananas, pretzel chips, and Nilla Wafers. The chocolate had a little bit of Kahlua in it. Mmmm.
Yesterday, Helen and I went out for lunch and then headed to Olympia to our favorite nursery. It was a wet drive (off and on), but by the time we got there, the rain stopped and it was very comfortable inside that often humid/stuffy nursery. We. Had. A. Blast. We filled the back of her Highlander with flowers and potting soil.
(We look a little pleased with ourselves, don’t we?)
Here’s my haul. We’re waiting on the delivery of a few new deck pots, plus for the #$!&*! weather to calm down and dry up so I get them planted. Might be a while…
I may have to keep my eye out for a few “thrillers,” as I mostly zeroed in on the “fillers” and “spillers.”
We had a pleasant little “Easter,” in that I bought a little ham and we had a nummy little ham dinner that evening. I’d gone grocery shopping for Helen’s visit the day before, and it was a freaking ZOO. And of course, as I lugged my overflowing grocery cart to the back forty to load my car, I got caught in a graupel storm. The windy roads on the island were COVERED in the stuff and it was spookily slick! This has been the coldest and yuckiest April I can recall in a very long time.
Speaking of Easter, here’s Quinn and his dimple and a bunny:
And eggs!
And a goat!
Here’s my latest little bowl! (It was a shallow mold so in between a bowl and a plate)
I’ll be hitting the studio/kiln again tomorrow. (More experiments to come).
Finally, if you have Netflix, I HIGHLY recommend you kick back and watch the documentary series “Our National Parks.” It is astounding. The cinematography is gobsmacking. There is humor, (some) tension, and so many surprising facts about Earth’s creatures of which I certainly had no idea before. Hippos surfing? Yup. It was so pleasurable (and mostly very relaxing).
Every time I saw one of those majestic creatures, I couldn’t get it out of mind how much Don Jr. would want to kill it.
Getting ready for company and doing a bit of cleaning in between spending time in the glass studio. It’s a decent balance! Playing with the glass is a reward for accomplishing chores. Things will heat up (not so much the glass) this weekend as I get down to the nitty gritty, but for now it’s all good.
It’s been a busy week all around. I’d mentioned that John and I got our 2nd Covid boosters— I had some unpleasant “digestive” issues the following day, which could be attributed to the shot. Or not. At any rate, it’s a relief to feel as protected as possible. We have eased up quite a bit on mask-wearing, though. I’m keeping my eyes on cases here in our area and it’s the lowest it’s been since the pandemic started. When/if it starts to climb, we’ll adjust.
Then, after months of John making repairs and replacing the flooring and tons of other big and small matters, his folks’ mobile home sold. (There was even a bidding war). We are quite shocked at how much it sold for. Mind-blowing. It closed today and holy moly what a relief it is to have that DONE.
Wanna see some more glass stuff? (heh). Remember how wonky this turned out? I cut out a clear glass circle a little larger than the wonky piece and fused them together. The excess glass made the final result quite a bit bigger (and a bit diluted), but the good news is that it’s now ROUND! No more wonky!
It’s currently in the kiln being slowly slumped into a bowl mold. Meanwhile, all day yesterday this baby cooked. I showed the “before” picture earlier (here it is again):
And here is how it turned out!! This was my view when I opened the kiln lid:
Yup, I’m doing the happy dance! Woohoo! The possibilities for this technique are just about endless. My brain is busy coming up with ideas! And I haven’t come close to doing all the suggestions in the e-book. (What a find!)
I’ve done the pre-work on a few new projects and it’s getting frustrating to have to wait for my kiln to cook the project ahead of it. I have another Really Big kiln, but since I hadn’t been working on glass for so long, it has become a catch-all for John’s folks’ keepable stuff from their trailer.
{Clears throat}
When the sailors at sea decide to have a barbecue, they call it a “Steel Beach Picnic.” (Get it? steel ships) The USS Gridley posted this! (Nate’s 2nd from left).
Those are some nice coals!
And finally, another streaming show to recommend. We just finished watching “Severance,” and boy was it GOOOOOD. I don’t know how many times throughout the 9 episodes that I said, “OH MY GOD!!!” It’s just so well done. The other thing I will say about it is that it’s a perfect allegory of every corporate place I’ve ever worked in so many ways.
lib’er-al, I.a 1. Possessing or manifesting a free and generous heart; bountiful. 2. Appropriate and/or fitting for a broad and enlightened mind. 3. Free from narrowness, bigotry, or bondage to authority or creed. II.n 1. Any person who advocates liberty of thought, speech, or action.
I was frustrated with how thick it is, but other than that it turned out quite pretty, I think. So I decided to try another one just like it, but using a little less clear glass (to hopefully reduce the thickness).
I’m not sure why, but it didn’t turn out right. I’ve been trying to figure out what happened so it doesn’t happen again, and we did discover that my kiln wasn’t completely level. It wasn’t off much, but John did wedge several thin shims under the kiln feet. I’m a little nervous, though, to try again! It’s a lot of time (and, honestly, expense) to get to that final firing and have it fail.
You can see it didn’t stay round, and it looked like it sluffed to one side, likely because the kiln wasn’t level. (It’s the only explanation we can come up with). I hope that’s it and that it’s been remedied!
I did start another (similar) project, but I haven’t gotten very far with it since I had a lot of household chores to do. Working on these projects takes quite a block of time. But I’m curious to see how this one will turn out. I’m using glass “stringer,” which is very thin glass sticks, and sometimes curlies. This is just the first step:
I tac-fused them and need to snip the ends. Then I’ll place them on top of clear stacks of glass like I did before and let ‘r rip. This is from that glass artist’s e-book tutorial and how his ultimately turned out:
It’s like those “sticks” drip! I love it! Or, at least, I love his! I’m still motivated, but that wonky result sure has me scratching my head and feeling some trepidation.
John and I got our 2nd boosters today and that is a relief. Afterward we went to our favorite diner for lunch, so we made an outing of it. It was SO WINDY and therefore SO COLD. I think it would have been rather pleasant without that awful wind since the sun was out most of the time. And my eyes—both of them—are back to watering profusely. (…string of cuss words…)
We went to our neighbor’s Celebration of Life service yesterday, and while it was nice to see so many people there (lots of extended family, employees, friends, and a few of us neighbors), it was also very sad. So many tears. And my heart keeps breaking all over again for his wife, Mary. And then there was THIS: We didn’t realize that our neighbor had an identical twin. He was there, apparently up from Arizona, and it was DISCONCERTING. They look exactly alike, and they also have the exact same unique voice and inflections! Oh my!
So, Book Club is postponed at our house this coming week, until Mary feels more up to it. But I’m getting ready for Helen to visit! I’m planning on doing fondue! We will also go to our favorite nursery and load up on deck pot/landscaping plants. I certainly hope it’s not too early to do so because our weather has been schizophrenic! Thunder, lightning, hail, wind. And I’m even seeing snowflakes in the forecast on my weather app. It had BEST be wrong!
“The worst thing about Trump’s presidency isn’t what we learned about him. It’s what we’ve learned about our families and friends.”
It’s been two whole years since I’ve worked on a fused glass project, or even spent more than a moment in the studio. Literally ever since Covid hit, I’ve stayed away. You would think it would have been a good escape, an excellent way to fill the isolation, but for whatever reason, it wasn’t. I just had no desire.
In the past few months I’ve tried to spark some inspiration by perusing ideas online, but nothing struck my fancy until I became aware of an e-book tutorial by a glass artist I follow. And suddenly, I was curious.
But first, I had to CLEAN THE STUDIO. It took a while because everything was as I’d last left it, two years ago. What a mess. Cut glass everywhere, shards everywhere, tools everywhere. Also: cat hair everywhere. (Snoozing grounds). Ugh. But I did it. And then I got to work.
And I’m still in the midst of it. It’s a multi-fired project, and I can currently hear my kiln relays clicking the 2nd major firing. I woke up this morning knowing that I could finally see the results of the first major firing, and I was so nervous! I opened the kiln lid with both excitement and anxiety, because either it would be A-OK, or else a disaster. Whew. It was A-OK.
I started out covering a couple of glass strips with “confetti,” which is basically shaved glass pieces, ultra-thin. I’d bought a couple of jars some time ago and figured this was an excellent way to utilize it.
After fusing them, I cut up the strips into shorter strips and set them on top of stacks of clear glass, inside a stainless steel “dam” to maintain the flow of the melting glass within the dam circle:
This dam is only 6” diameter, so it’s much smaller than it looks here. It also created some havoc because the tutorial starts at an 8” dam and I wanted 6”! So I had to do MATH. And I may not have done it quite RIGHT. (As is my experience with…MATH).
The first major firing was a l-o-n-g one. I started it about 2:00pm yesterday and I couldn’t open the kiln until about noon today! (Hence, anxiety!) This is what I saw:
A-OK. I think.
I removed the slab of glass from the dam and cleaned it up, nipped off the spikes around the edge, and then put it back in the kiln without the dam for another s-l-o-w fuse, which it is doing now. You go very slow, gradually increasing the heat, to prevent thermal shock, and then “holding” the temperature at different times to let it soak and stabilize those wiggly molecules. Then you do the same on the way down, holding at the annealing temperature for a couple of hours, and then gradually stepping down from there. The slab is quite thick, and this current fuse will spread it out, thin it out, and hopefully spread out the colors to fill in more. (It’s supposed to, anyway!) We’ll see. My poor math ability may bite me in the butt yet. I’m hoping I didn’t get the ratio of confetti-to-clear wrong. Gulp. At any rate, I won’t know until around noon tomorrow…
It’s sad around these parts because our beloved neighbor lost his battle with an extremely rare cancer this week. He was only a year older than John. It breaks my heart and I know his wife is shattered. It’s just the worst.
A couple of things to mention—have you seen the commercials for “Vuity,” which is a prescription eyedrop that allows you to see up close without reading glasses?! I am gobsmacked! Oh man, would that be great or what! I read up on it, and of course there are some caveats. My reading glass correction is 1.5, and it sounds like that’s the sweet spot for these eyedrops to work the best. John’s is something like 2.75! So, they may not work so well for him. Also, the effect only lasts for about 6-8 hours. (I’m not sure if you can then add another drop; I’m thinking not). And then from what I’ve read, those who have extremely poor distance sight (near-sightedness) also may not benefit as well. It’s also expensive ($80/month), and insurance doesn’t cover it. I’m about due for an eye exam, so I may ask for a prescription and try it out. Maybe. Hmm.
I also want to mention my incandescent rage at the vile, despicable, craven behavior of the republican senators during Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings. What dregs of humanity. Absolute rock bottom.
We recently finished watching the series “Normal People” on Hulu, and it was very, very good. It may not be for everybody, but we honestly enjoyed it. It’s very sexy! Also well-acted and unique, plus the show’s music is right up there with how good Grey’s Anatomy’s at least used to be (remember that?) And, my current book is John Scalzi’s “The Kaiju Preservation Society” and I’m loving it! I would say it’s in the same vein as “The Martian” and “The Hail Mary Project,” both of which I highly recommend. You won’t go wrong. And laughing is good for us in these rock bottom times.
And now, here’s Quinn asking his mom to buy him a “cooooool” car. “When I get a little bigger, OK?”
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true. The other is to refuse to accept what is true.” -Soren Kierkegaard
Kind of an interesting experiment! According to the date on the picture of me on a neighbor boy’s bike, I’m about the same age as Quinn is now—4-1/2 to 5. I think I see a bit of a family resemblance! (I set his photo to B&W for comparison). After seeing this picture of me numerous times throughout my life, I JUST NOW noticed the cat at the front tire. I remember that her name was Muffin. Huh.
I sure hope he doesn’t have to deal with the “Miller Nose” as I have, once puberty hits.
Nate actually got an onshore port-of-call! They were in Bahrain for a few days and I even got to Facetime with him! (I still find it remarkable that we can do that with a 13-hour time difference). He and some sailor buddies all chipped in together for a very nice hotel suite and had a great time (and no sleeping in the bathtub—they have definitely matured). He said they had a wonderful dinner one night with Wagyu steaks (to die for).
He also said he (and possibly they?) got pedi-manicures and massages. I think that’s so cool! A much-needed break for the sailors. (And getting to wear their civvies!)
My boy.
Nate said he hadn’t yet received the deployment box I’d sent him a few weeks ago, but he knew that a huge mail delivery had been made on the ship while they were ashore so I assume he finally got it once he was back on the ship. I think it’s time to send him another one! Especially since it apparently takes about a month to receive it.
The rain continues, the godawful Putin war in Ukraine continues, and there are signs that Covid is on the rise AGAIN. Sigh.
Because St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, I’ll leave you with this cutie from four years ago:
“Every person in the media should introduce any Republican elected official as from the "party of Putin." The GOP is the Party of Putin.” -Matthew Dowd
Because the world is a sad, scary place these days, I’ll start with a couple photos of a happy, laughing kiddo, because we all need that.
Even though little kids like Quinn are too young yet to be vaccinated, and 1,700 people are still dying from Covid every day (including my cousin’s husband I mentioned in my previous post), I guess it’s been decided that the pandemic is over. Right.
Sandra sent me these pictures of Nate participating in training exercises for accosting and subduing bad guys (pirates?) I would imagine he wasn’t particularly enjoying himself! Notice all the people standing around laughing in the first pic. I’ll bet Nate made a wisecrack:
Ouch. I feel for him. He has a sore body (back issues, shoulder issues…)
I know that over a week ago they were in the vicinity of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. I follow his ship (USS Gridley, DDG 101) on Facebook, and they’re pretty good about reporting after the fact of where they’ve been and posting photos like this. Obviously we can’t know where they are in real time, and they have extremely limited communication until they’re in port somewhere. I’m pretty sure they still are not allowed to disembark and explore ports-of-call. Maybe that will eventually change? They still have six months to go.
John gave me a set of prints/paintings for Christmas to hang on a wall, and today he finally hung them! (Some things just take a while). I am so delighted!
Here it is with the lamp turned off. Pictures always seem to blow out the lights which doesn’t look that way with the naked eye. Maybe time for a new iPhone with a better camera?
Here’s a close-up. It’s so very much Pacific Northwest!
“I’m not a praying man, but if I were, I would be on my hands and knees thanking the Almighty that during the worst crisis in Europe since 1945, the United States is led by Joe Biden, not Donald Trump.” -Max Boot
