Out and About

T-TOWN BOUND: Last Friday, we made a midday trip down to Tacoma for a tour of CJ's future campus. We'd strolled the grounds before, but had never been inside any of the buildings and didn't have a tour guide.

This time we did have an official guide with access to some of the buildings. We met at the Mattress Factory at noon.

It was nice to learn where offices are that CJ will likely have to visit (advising, the registrar, etc.)

We spied numerous spots on campus where students can hang out.

One bulletin board that caught CJ's eye was the study abroad board. He asked lots of questions. Makes sense a history major might want to check out another country or two.

The architecture is interesting on campus. Lots of old buildings repurposed over the years.

The grounds were beautiful, with so many things in bloom.

One of the things we learned on the tour is that Tacoma's W statue is the biggest out of any UW locations, and it's not just about bragging rights. We were told the statue is a safety barrier of sorts, as once upon a time a city bus hit black ice and slid all the way downhill through the middle of campus. The big ol W would stop a repeat of that. 

BACK IN BEES-NESS: Sadly, our bees did not winter over, despite doing all the right things (making sure they had plenty of food, treating them for mites and insulating the hives).

I couldn't imagine a season without bees, so I found a "nuc" (a nucleus colony) on Craigslist. A trip to Federal Way and $200 later, and we're back in business.

While Christian was loading up the nuc, I watched bees land on our sunroof and pluck pollen off of wisteria blossoms.

After a little jaunt up Interstate 5, the bees have a new home.

As you can see, they have plenty of blossoms at the new place.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES: We had company over for dinner last night.

That might not sound like such a remarkable thing, but 14 months into a worldwide pandemic, with so much isolation during the lockdowns, it was a huge departure.

I kept the menu simple. Rib eye steaks from Costco, garlic and Parmesan fingerling potatoes cooked in a cast iron pan and prosciutto wrapped organic asparagus.

CJ did a great job helping prepare the beautiful asparagus.

First, the spears were washed and trimmed. Next, prosciutto was laid out on the cutting board, and cut in half lengthwise. Atop that was a sprinkle of Parm, black pepper, and since lemon zest.

The spears were wrapped with the prosciutto and popped under the broiler for about 2.5 minutes per side (5 total).

They were absolutely delicious!!!

Here's a super short video showing the prep process.