Loose Ends

Two turtledoves spotted at the Dollar Store today. One, looked a little worse for the wear. We could relate. ...

THE MORNING AFTER:  None of us were exactly springing out of bed this morning. We were all pretty tired from yesterday's events.

Once we got our acts together, we headed over to do a little post-event follow up and clean up.  First we had to find some items we left behind in yesterday's hubbub. Fortunately, that didn't take long.

Then, we set about stuffing handmade cards into care packages of toiletries which will be distributed to neighbors in need.

Next up, it was time for the kids' math lesson for the day - computing how many pounds of food had been collected in a school food drive.

We sorted through the boxes, noting the ounces listed on packaging and keeping a tally as we went. CJ used a calculator, Annabelle used crayon on paper. Fortunately, their numbers matched in the end. 

With 79 pounds of food in tow, we set out to find the Queen Anne Food Bank. The magic of Google let us know it was housed at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. We knew that was immediately west of Seattle Center, and just south of Key Arena. We've been by the church there lots of times, but none of us recalled ever seeing a food bank there before. Today, we actually went into the parking lot between church buildings and the kids spied the food bank sign straight off.

We parked and approached the entrance. It sported a big CLOSED sign, and another sign said they weren't open on Fridays, specifically. Bummer. We were about to head away in (temporary) defeat, when a woman came up the walkway carrying a box of food. She showed us a bell (in the center of the door on its lower half), and she twisted it. Almost instantaneously, a gentleman popped out of the building and greeted her by name. Lucky for us, we were able to slide on in with our 79 pounds of stuff right behind her. Mission accomplished! And it was only 10:30 a.m.!

Here are a couple of 'leftover' photos from yesterday. 

Look at Annabelle multi-task! Grabbing a snack while cleaning up post-luncheon. (We covered the tables in brown/kraft paper, and used different sized paper bags to hold items (cutlery, bread, art materials and more). It was inexpensive and worked well.  

Here's a purposely blurry shot of a very crowded room, with people enjoying nearly 20 different kinds of amazing soups, stews, and chilis while students took turn on the stage sharing what they'd learned about homeless and hungry over the past several weeks. 

At the moment, Annabelle was sharing information about the book her art class is reading, "A Single Shard," about an orphan in 12-century Korea facing homelessness and hunger.

CJ shared information about a display he'd made about the documentary, "Dive!" It follows filmmaker Jeremy Seifert and his friends as they Dumpster dive in at Los Angeles’ supermarkets. (If you want to view it, check with your local library. For instance, the Seattle Public Library has multiple copies of the DVD, and it can be watched online for free at https://seattle.bibliocommons.com/item/show/2725965030_dive (all you need is a library card). “Dive!” can be purchased on Amazon Instant video, iTunes, and the film’s Web site for $7.99 (divethefilm.com).

Everything is Awesome

BOWLED OVER: So today was the event we've been working on for days/weeks now. Billed as "Empty Bowls," it was a luncheon to educate about hunger and homelessness, celebrate students' efforts to learn about and help combat those problems, and donate to help the causes.

Where to start? It's a 'first annual' event, which means it's inherently fraught with a fair amount of worry and question marks. 

But I have to say, wow, did the community at the kids' learning center turn out in a BIG way. There were multiple people (kids and parents and grandparents) there early to help set up, and they worked nonstop for hours, finishing one task and then asking what else they could take on. Awesome!

We asked people to bring in pots of soup for the event. Oh my gosh, the pots just kept coming and coming and coming. It was amazing. Overwhelming - in the good way! There were at least 20 different, huge pots of home-cooked soups on hand. We had more than twice the number we were expecting. Awesome!

From Thai coconut to savory goat meat to loaded baked potato soup, for one glorious hour, I can say without a doubt we had the best smelling school cafeteria in America. It was an international smorgasbord. Awesome!

While people were enjoying the smorgasbord, CJ and Annabelle and many other kids took turns at the microphone sharing thing they've learned about homelessness and the hunger in America and around the globe. 

There were over 100 hungry guests, but we had leftovers nonetheless. Dedicated to a no-waste event, the generous and talented people bringing soup donated their leftovers to those in need. They were carefully bagged up into Ziplocs and the kids and I had the privilege of delivering them to "Tent City 5," at the foot of the hill where we live. 

We swung by the encampment on our way home and found the site manager. We told him about our event today, and let him know that we had some homemade soup we’d love to share. I was honestly just expecting our stop to be an exploratory mission - testing the waters to see if they'd accept homemade soup and if we needed to deliver it hot, cold or ??? However, the manager was absolutely THRILLED at the prospect and wanted it all right then and there. 

In all, the community's talented and generous chefs donated about 12 gallons of soup and a big box full of rolls and loaves of bread.  When we left him, Tent City’s manager was beaming, a toothless grin, holding a heavy box full of amazing soups and saying, “It smells so good!”

Awesome!

I have a couple of photos on my camera, but its battery is dead, and so is mine, so until tomorrow, I leave you with this song - one of the tunes we played today at the event.

https://youtu.be/jQY_QL_wvQU

Short Report

SLOGGING THROUGH: This is going to be a short post. We're in the homestretch of preparing for a community event we're helping organize. It will be a luncheon on Thursday, with proceeds to benefit the homeless and hungry.  It's a 'first annual' type of event, and we're not sure if there will be 40 or 200+ guests, so we have to be prepare for anything.

I've been working away on tabletop items and logistics, Annabelle has been churning out artwork, and CJ has been doing whatever is asked of him.

As part of the program, we're going to leave blank cards on the tables for guests to write positive messages or draw little pick-me-up pictures that we'll include with the items donated to a local food bank and shelter. 

Bee has been producing some things to help others get their creative juices flowing.

Tomorrow, we'll be making multiple pots of soup. Can't wait to have those lovely smells in the house!

SAD ANNIVERSARY:  All over the Internet, people are making mention of today being the 35th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon. Dec. 10, 1980, was definitely a 'day-the-music-died' date.

When we were in New York City a couple years back, we went by Lennon's longtime former residence, the Dakota building, and across the street to Central Park, where part of it is named Strawberry Fields and there is a Lennon memorial.

We were there on a random weekday afternoon, and there were dozens of others paying their respects. Lennon is too-long gone, but he is definitely not forgotten.

YESTERDAY ONCE MORE:  On Monday, we took a cool tour of the Theo Chocolate factory in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. Today, the kids took a moment or two to share three things they learned yesterday.

Here's CJ's summary ... 

Theo Chocolate is a local company that makes chocolate bars and other chocolate candies. According to their website, they are "dedicated to making our world a better place. And we’re finding ways to do it through our passion—bringing out the best of the cocoa bean." Recently, I went on a tour at the Theo factory. Here are three things I learned about chocolate: 1: Theo Chocolate's name comes from a tree scientifically known as Theobroma cacao. Theobroma cacao grows in multiple places, 3 of which Theo specializes in: the Congo, Peru, and Panama. It can take a long time for a Theobroma tree to start producing pods, and the substance that is inside the pods can be eaten by itself (although it apparently doesn't taste like chocolate.) 2: Theo Chocolate also buys and sells cacao nibs from the three areas I listed before. Cacao nibs can be called the "base" ingredient in chocolate, andthey can be eaten on their own. However, with no vanilla or sugar they taste bitter, and there was flavor diversity in nibs, too (for example: the nibs from the Congo had more fat, and the nibs from Peru were more acidic and even more bitter.) 3: I also learned that there is an important difference between what is legally classified as "chocolate" and what is just classified as "candy". As far as I know, if it is made of less than 20% cacao, than it is just candy and not chocolate. Although it could still be called "chocolatey!" or say that it "tastes like chocolate!", but they could not call it chocolate.

Annabelle's report was exceptionally brief ...  

1.       Cocoa beans cannot be turned straight into chocolate; they have to be washed, roasted, and many other things before they are liquefied.2.       Cocoa beans are not naturally sweet; you need to add sugar, and if it’s milk chocolate you also add milk powder.3.       Dark chocolate (or any chocolate with 70% cocoa or above) is actually considered a health food.

Monday Funday

CHOCO-LOTTA: This morning, we headed to Fremont, a neighborhood just northeast of our place, and to one of the most interesting places in Seattle, the Theo Chocolate factory.

 First step of the tour: Donning a super fashionable hairnet!!!!

Theo Chocolate is unique. They're not just chocolate melters or molders. Every aspect of the chocolate manufacturing used in Theo's products is carefully controlled by them. From far away farms in the chocolate belt to fabricating and wrapping the bars in Fremont, they use rigorous third-party certifications, to ensure their organic, fair-trade certified chocolate is top notch. Their dedication to quality is discernible in the amazing flavor of the chocolate they produce.

This picture of cocoa beans in buckets does not convey that fact very well. ;)

I will have the kids write a synopsis about all they learned today. In the meantime, you'll have to settle for this pretty bad photo of the chocolate making process.  

Their production facility is in a 100+ year old building. In former incarnations, it was HQ for the Seattle Trolley Company, and Redhook brewing's first beer making plant.

REINDEER GAMES:  After the chocolate stop, we headed to Swanson's, a nursery near Crown Hill, and a 'must see' holiday destination for us ever since moving to Seattle.

Two big draws: They have a pair of live reindeer!

This one looked like it  a) Was intent on removing the rest of the velvet from its antlers or b) Really, REALLY doesn't like Christmas trees.

 We also had to see if the kids could squeeze into the ol' red sleigh for a photo opp!

 As you can see, they've been red sleigh riders for a few years running, now!  (The photo below being heavily Photoshopped.)

There's always a miniature train set up at Swanson's. This year's display had a Rankin-Bass theme. Hooray!

SOUPER: We continue to prepare for the fundraiser we're helping organize. It's going down (or up, hopefully) on Thursday. People can take home an original work of art (a pottery bowl) andenjoy a bowl of soup for a donation to help the homeless and hungry. We've been cooking up a storm, testing soup recipes. Annabelle chose a lasagna soup to try.

 It was a good choice. :)