Feeding Teens

HELL'S KITCHEN: Last Saturday night's Teen Feed was one to remember. 

It was 101 F when Christian and I each parked next to the Teen Feed kitchen in the U-District. "Why two cars?" you wonder. Because we needed all that space to transport all of the food and water needed for that night's service. 

Usually several people bring their donations to the kitchen and drop them off. But this month the vast majority of people on our team were out of town, so we ended up bring most everyone's food for them. 

In addition to the volume of food we had to haul, we had SIX coolers full of sparkling water on ice. A couple of days before Teen Feed, one of the volunteers called me and suggested that we double up on the water this weekend because of the temperatures. What a wonderful thought she had, so we bought LOTS (about 3x the usual amount), and thanks to another bonus donation, we bought plenty of ice to make it super chilly for the teens. (In fact, we bought the last 8 bags of ice to be had at any store in our neighborhood.) 

Speaking of water, shortly after we pulled up, a huge truck parked behind us and the driver said he had some water for Teen Feed. He was by himself and asked if we could help unload it and another truck that arrived just after. "Of course!" we said. Tonight I actually did the math.  We helped move about TWO THOUSAND POUNDS of water in that heat. (By the way, that water was hot, so it was really great we had the super chilled water for our service.) So, that was the work before the work in the kitchen. (And I don't mean to complain - that unexpected water donation for Teen Feed was kind and significant, it just wasn't on our planned 'to do' list yesterday!)

Back to our business! Saturday night's main entree was Seattle dogs: Huge Costco-food-court sized dogs on over-sized buns slathered in copious amounts of cream cheese, generously topped with caramelized onions.  I am here to tell you - because no less than four Teen Feed folks told me -  that entrée is crowd favorite. CJ spent pretty much the whole shift slathering cream cheese onto the buns. An important job, I think. :)

Beans are the perfect side for Seattle Dogs. Kennedy cooked up a couple of big, bacony batches. I made about 20 cups of mega meaty pork and beans, as well. (By the way, we always have vegan versions available for folks if they request that.) 

We also had dill pickle spears for everyone, and dessert was extra special! Volunteers cooked up beautiful cobblers, which Annabelle cut up and topped with whipped cream. 

The bonus treat was frozen ice cream cups and yogurt bars.  Kennedy was kind enough to hunt down the last frozen delights to be had at a Safeway on his way to Teen Feed. 

We thought turn out might be slow due to the heat, but we were wrong. Between Teen Feed to go and making meals for the overnight Roots shelter, we served up 108 hot dogs Saturday night, plus the great sides and desserts! This comfort and sustenance was made possible by many generous donations and sponsorships. Thank you to all who helped!

This laminated sign gave us a chuckle. There are actually two of them in the kitchen.

I have to add that we had a little 'excitement' when loading the car. It was SO hot out, that I suggested that we employ a bucket brigade method of loading, so that we weren't all running up and down the stairs repeatedly. I was at the top of the stairs, Annabelle was a couple steps down, and CJ was down farther. Everything was going great, until the condiment hand off, when there was a 'little' miscue between CJ and Annabelle.

Have you ever wondered what it sounds like when 80 little plastic ramekins you've filled with jalapeno pepper rings tumbles down a flight of stairs? I don't have to wonder any more, unfortunately.  :/

Fortunately, that was the worst thing that happened related to that meal service.

Sweltering in Place

HOT STUFF: We've been in the throes of a record setting heat wave. We are sooooo pleased that one of our pandemic projects last summer was installing a heat pump here on 'campus.' (And by "we", I mean Christian. He really did it all by himself, and says it was the most challenging home improvement project he's ever undertaken.)

Here's a graphic from the National Weather Service regarding the recent heat.

On Sunday, we checked out a new ice cream place not too far from our house, and then decided to swing by a couple of nearby waterfront parks we'd never visited before.

These ducks were enjoying the cool waters of southwest Lake Washington, at Beer Sheva Park. (Beer Sheva Park was named for Beer Sheva, Israel, one of Seattle's International Sister Cities).

And then just a few block to the north, there were hundreds of people trying to beat the heat at Pritchard Island Beach.

PRESIDENTIAL: The latest Dean's and President's list honorees are out from South Seattle College. CJ is still in the president's column, which represents students who have achieved a 3.8 or higher cumulative GPA and have accumulated 30 or more credits at South Seattle College.

Well done, CJ! He worked very hard to earn that distinction.

Just today I dropped CJ's official high school transcript into the mail to UW Tacoma. Bet it's the only one they get sealed with colorful ice cream bars printed on washi tape, ha ha.

THE OLD BALL GAME: I never did get around to posting any pictures from the fantastic Father's Day game at the ballpark.

T-Mobile park is inching back toward a full open (that happens July 2).  On Father's Day, we sat in a vaccinated fans only section, which meant there wasn't social distancing or seats in 'pods.'

Even given that, we still didn't have anyone RIGHT next to us, which was nice.

The weather was perfect, we had fantastic seats, and the Mariners won in extra innings. You really couldn't have asked for a better day.

Before the game, we did the obligatory mitt photo. Once upon a time, CJ and Annabelle could fit in it at the same time.

Speaking of T-Mobile Stadium, back on June 19, it was lighted up for Juneteenth, as was Lumen Field (formerly CenturyLink). We thought that was pretty cool.

Graduation Day

CELEBRATING CJ: On Friday, June 18, CJ (and the rest of the MPA crew) attended his graduation from South Seattle College. 

"Thanks" to COVID, it was far from a traditional ceremony. There was no pomp and circumstance - instead there was a DJ playing pop music. There was no stage to cross or hands to shake - instead there was just a space to stand and meet a few local dignitaries. There were no long-winded speeches  by a series of strangers - hooray! And there were dogs. Lots of dogs. 

Honestly, all things considered, it might be the most enjoyable graduation 'ceremony' I've ever been to. :)

In preparation, we had to iron his graduation gown. It was a tricky proposition given that it was made out of 100 percent recycled plastic. I was a little leery of melting it, and there were no ironing instructions.

So I took it low and slow. It turned out mostly OK.

Donning the gown took place in the parking lot.

CJ wore his fancy Fluevog shoes for the ceremony. His college mascot was the Otters.

Cap and gown in place, CJ was ready to go get his (fake, for now) diploma.

It took us about 10 minutes to get to the 'stage,' where the college president, , and the mayor of Seattle, Jenny Durkan, were among the dignitaries waiting.

I felt sorry for the folks on stage. They were all staring into the sun. That must have been hard for those poor people who had to do that for three hours while the graduates shuffled through in a socially distanced manner.

Posing next to a sign in the parking lot. South Seattle really needs to order some new staff parking signs.

And posing next to a sign of the times. It lives in our front yard now (the sign, not CJ).

I found this family photo on South Seattle's Facebook page. 

We were going to go to CJ's favorite food truck for a celebratory dinner, but they were missing in action on graduation night! 

Plan B: Wing Dome on the Seattle waterfront. Given it was a Friday night during graduation and tourism season, it was kind of a miracle we got a table, but we did!

Here's the college grad in the big city. 

I also took a couple of photos of CeeJ with Puget Sound behind him. Don't ask me why he didn't take his mask off and I didn't notice. Derp. Oh well, they're definitely going to be recognized as 2020 or 2021 grad photos.

Well done, CJ. Now the Otter is on his way to becoming a Husky in September!