Eighteen

The kids with a photo of Kyle Lewis, the 2020 American League rookie of the year. Lewis  had been injured, and made his first start of 2021 on CJ's birthday.

BIRTHDAY BOY: And suddenly, CJ is an adult. Well, at least on paper. On April 20, he turned 18. That means he's old enough to vote, and that he has to register for the 'selective service.'

We planned a day of fun for him. (Well, as much fun as you can have during a pandemic.) Fortunately, the Mariners had a matinee game, and we were able to get tickets.  In order to allow for social distancing, attendance is limited to 9,000 for each game, a fraction of stadium's capacity. 

If you're wondering why CJ is wearing a Dodgers' jersey instead of one for the home team, it's because the Ms were playing the Dodgers, and the jersey is a Jackie Robinson jersey. And the way we figured it, any or every day is a good day to rep Mr. Robinson. 

It was a beautiful day at the ballpark - about 70 degrees and clear blue skies. It was a pitchers' duel. Only three hits total were given up in the game, which took only about 2.5 hours to play. The Ms came out on the short end, losing 0-1 to the 2020 World Series champs, but they split the series and are still tied for first in the American League West as of right now.

The balance of CJ's day involved a sundae from Full Tilt, takeout dinner from Thai You Up and presents back home. All in all a memorable 18th birthday. 

VERDICT: While at the ballpark, just about as the first pitch was thrown, we learned that the verdict in the case against former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd Jr. was in. Kennedy began monitoring news via his phone, with earbuds attached. Initially, the verdict was supposed to be announced at about 1:30. At that time, between innings, the Mariners played a video skit on the big screen called "Justus Served." It features pitcher Justus Sheffield 

I think this verdict will become one of those "Where were you?" moments, as in "Where were you when you heard Chauvin was convicted on all counts?"

I mean, sure, you would HOPE that a guy who knelt on the neck of handcuffed, prone man and brutally choked the life out of him over the course of nine minutes, all the while being exhorted to get off the poor guy by several frantically concerned onlookers, would be found guilty. It was a brutal killing in broad daylight with multiple witnesses, video recorded from several angles.

BUT ... it was a cop doing the killing, and the victim was a black man. History has shown us that deed all-too-often goes unpunished. 

Fortunately, this case was an exception, and the jury returned a guilty-on-all-counts verdict in less than 24 hours of deliberation.

There was a little buzz in the ballpark when people began learning about the verdict. 

CJ reports being in the bathroom and hearing a guy in a stall yell, "Guilty on all counts!" and the men in the bathroom erupting in cheers.
 

Of course, there's nothing to really celebrate here. George Floyd Jr. is dead. But it would be great to think that perhaps this case might be a turning point and lead to some meaningful,  sweeping police reform. Time will tell.

NASA NEWS: You've likely heard already, but the tiny helicopter on Mars has made its maiden flight! After a delay due to software issues, Ingenuity took off for a successful test flight on .

It was an amazing feat - the first time a flight has taken place on another planet.

Per NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, "The rover [Perseverance] was parked at Van Zyl Overlook, about 211 feet (64.3 meters) away in Mars' Jezero Crater and chronicled the flight operations with its cameras. These images from the rover’s Mastcam-Z cameras show the helicopter hovering above the Red Planet's surface. During this first flight, the helicopter climbed to an altitude of 10 feet (3 meters), hovered, and then touched back down on the surface of Mars. Ingenuity is a technology demonstration. The 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) rotorcraft will help determine whether future explorations on Mars could include an aerial perspective."

The milestone has been compared to the Wright Brothers' triumph at Kitty Hawk back in 1903. On board Ingenuity was a postage-sized stamp piece of fabric from the wing of the Wright Flyer. Pretty cool!

We're also monitoring the latest with Crew-2, the joint venture between NASA and SpaceX to deliver supplies and four astronauts to the International Space Station. It is just the second manned flight for SpaceX to the ISS. Predictions of unfavorable weather meant a scrub for the original launch date (Thursday, April 22). The launch now is targeted for 5:49 a.m. EDT Friday, April 23 (2:49 a.m. Seattle time).

Crew-2 will carry NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Crew-2 mission, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

On the Hunt

DRAGON PURSUIT: This past week, CJ started his latest and final quarter at South Seattle College. The first week of the quarter is always a bit much. It's learning the expectations of the new professor, figuring out what's due when, and so on. So that has kept CJ busy, along with those of us who are trying to help him navigate it all. 

This weekend, we worked hard, Hard, HARD around the house and yard. So many projects. Come Saturday afternoon, we were ready for a break. Going on a dragon hunt seemed like a nice diversion.

Renton, the city just a few blocks to our southeast, is the home of Dungeons & Dragons, a wildly popular game, first published by Wizards of the West Coast. 

Three years ago, a big ol' dragon was installed atop a building downtown to mark the city's tie to dragon lore. This weekend marked the three-year anniversary of that installation, and the city hosted a dragon spotting hunt in conjunction with that anniversary. 

We parked in the city's parking garage and followed dragon footprints painted on downtown sidewalks in hopes of spying at least 10 dragons.  It didn't take us long to spot our first. 

We had scorecards upon which to write down dragon's names. We were a bit surprised (and, frankly, disappointed) that the dragon's names weren't creative or cutesy. They were just a couple of letters and numbers. Oh well. It didn't interfere with the hunting fun. 

Some dragons were hidden among foliage. Others were saddled up to public art.

Some were on street signs, and others were in business windows. 

We found a dozen dragons within about a half hour. (Ten were needed to enter a drawing for fabulous dragon prizes.)

We made sure to go say "Hi" to Erasmus, the rooftop dragon.

We noticed a number of other people on the hunt, so I'd guess the event was a success. It drew a number of people to downtown Renton who wouldn't have otherwise been there on Saturday afternoon.

SPRINGY: Our springtime campus beautification efforts continue. Some of the beauty comes easy, like these tulips that offer themselves up every spring. 

Other projects take a LOT more work, like planting three dozen or so tomato and tomatillo starts around the yard today, which included loading in 32 cubic feet of soil to help our efforts. 

Most all of the starts went into pots all over the property. We'll see what blooms and grows. ... 

RESTOCKED:  Last weekend we finished our kitchen/pantry floor. After Christian and Annabelle took off for Bend, I spent a couple of days putting our pantry back together. It was a *lot* of work, but it was well worth it. 

Now, we're working on getting the south cabinets reconfigured and that countertop finished. It's starting to feel like the longest kitchen remodel in the history of the world. Hopefully it will be worth it!

Cooking with a Cat

KITCHEN CHALLENGE: A couple of weeks back, an email from Food Network Magazine contained notice about a cooking contest for kids. It asked for recipes using King’s Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls. 

So, we picked up a pack at the store a few days ago, and Annabelle mulled over ideas. She decided to make Loco Moco Mini sliders, a twist on a Hawaiian favorite food featuring a hamburger patty, gravy, and a fried egg that's usually served over rice. The Hawaiian rolls were the stand in for the starch.

She had to submit the recipe, a photo of the finished product and a portrait of the chef. 

Medium eggs were fried low and slow, in little cookie cutters so they'd fit on the little buns. 

She seasoned and fried up a pound of ground beef into six little patties, chopped up a pineapple, and made some brown gravy.

She split and toasted the Hawaiian rolls, put Japanese mayo on them, some broiled pineapple, the patty, the gravy and then topped it with the top bun. She sprinkled a little furikake on for fun and to spice things up.

It's a national contest and unlikely we'll hear anything about her entry, but it was a fun project and the kids and Christian got a nice lunch out of the endeavor.

IN THE WEEDS: We spent some time yesterday cleaning out our numerous deck planters to help get them ready for some of our vegetable starts. 

I was happy to see our rosemary is going gangbusters. Lots of blossoms and new growth.

PURRFECT GUEST: We have an extra critter on campus for a couple days this week. Kennedy went down to visit the Vegas family, so his cat Bexley is hanging out in our basement suite.

Bex is very photogenic.

I think I've taken more photos of him in the past two days than I have of our two dogs in the past two years.

GROUNDED: We've been waiting and watching for Ingenuity, the helicopter that hitched a ride with rover Perseverance, to make its first flight on Mars. Unfortunately, the maiden, historic voyage keeps getting delayed by NASA, which is a bit worrisome.

 

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter unlocked its rotor blades, allowing them to spin freely, on April 7, 2021, the 47th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. 

The latest update from NASA contained this news. ...

The Ingenuity team has identified a software solution for the command sequence issue identified on Sol 49 (April 9) during a planned high-speed spin-up test of the helicopter’s rotors. Over the weekend, the team considered and tested multiple potential solutions to this issue, concluding that minor modification and reinstallation of Ingenuity’s flight control software is the most robust path forward. This software update will modify the process by which the two flight controllers boot up, allowing the hardware and software to safely transition to the flight state. Modifications to the flight software are being independently reviewed and validated today and tomorrow in testbeds at JPL.

While the development of the new software change is straightforward, the process of validating it and completing its uplink to Ingenuity will take some time. A detailed timeline for rescheduling the high-speed spin-up test and first flight is still in process. 

Hopefully the fix works and Ingenuity will be flying high soon. 

Of Parks and Barks

BACK AT THE BALLPARK: We missed baseball so much during the no-fans pandemic season of last year, we're going early and often to games this year. 

Game number two was on a chilly Wednesday afternoon a couple of days back. It was under 40 degrees, so we bundled up to a point it felt more like we were going to a football game in December.

Before the game, we checked out the new boardwalk section on the southwest corner of the 300 level.

There are built in binoculars offering views of the city and the sound. 

There are spaces to sit and stand around, but many of them are sporting 'closed' signs at the moment, as people are supposed to socially distance and only eat and drink in their seats under COVID-driven protocols.

There are some fun, over-sized postcard murals on the wall that make great photo opps.

The game itself was kind of a weird one. We got to see the Mariners' starting pitcher, Justin Dunn, walk EIGHT batters in 4 2/3 innings. Ugh. The good news is, he only gave up one hit. The bad news is, the other team (the White Sox) wasn't hitting because there weren't strikes to swing at.

The Ms dug themselves a hole, but rallied in the sixth inning, batting around in the order and scoring 7 runs along the way. Fortunately, that was enough to earn a win that afternoon.

FURRY VISITOR: Thursday morning, our plans didn't go as scheduled thanks to a surprise guest. 

This is Cassie. She is a good girl. She was having a big adventure today when she ran away from home. Bold move for an almost-blind dog.

I first saw her out my bedroom window. I yelled at the kids that there was a stray in our yard and grabbed a leash.

We went out to find her, but she was already out of sight. However,

Annabelle Kisky

has ears much better than mine and she said she heard a jangle. We ran to the south and saw her. She barked aggressively at us - but also came toward us. We said hello and petted her and followed her around for a bit. She's aged and arthritic, but was on a mission, walking swiftly. We managed to get our little 10-pound leash on an 80-pound dog. She didn't resist, and seemed happy for friendly company.

We corralled her into our basement, gave her water and treats and worked the phone numbers on her multiple tags while she had a sit. None of those numbers worked, but one dog tag had her last name on it. I ran upstairs to grab our neighborhood watch master list and found a matching last name.

We spend several comical moments trying to wrangle big ol', dear old Cassie into our tiny Honda Fit. First attempt she posted up in the driver's seat and would not budge! Second attempt, Annabelle had to hoist Cassie's sizable hindquarters up into the car as she couldn't manage on her arthritic own.

We drove to where we hoped her home to be. As we approached, two elderly women were standing in the road in front of their house. Honestly, they looked like they were in shock. One of them spied Cassie in our car and a sense of relief set in. Then they told us that Cassie had escaped while they were loading their other elderly, infirm dog into the car to take her to the vet to cross the Rainbow Bridge. My gosh. They thought they had lost both furry friends on the same day.

We were so happy Cassie happened into our yard. She is such a sweetie.

Tearing it Up

FLOORED: We continue our never-ending kitchen remodel. Lately, our attention has been on replacing the (horrible, terrible, awful) old flooring. The ugly vinyl was glued down to the substrate like it would be there forever, so we had to take the substrate out, as well.

In the photo below you can see how part of the floor is down to the original 1962 framing.

Once the subfloor was all out, it was time to glue and screw new 3/4-inch plywood down.

Honestly, the floor looks better with just good ol' plywood than it did with the vinyl. 

Then, we did a dry fit of the new tile. Believe me, I realize the irony that most people would find this flooring unappealing. But that's OK. The next owners can tear it out and question our poor taste. ;)

We put the glue down for the new stuff at about 11:30 a.m. It took four hours to cure to a point we could start sticking the new tiles down.

The new look is big fun. :)

UP TO SNUFF: On Saturday, Annabelle took a math placement test to determine if she's up to snuff for college math classes. We're happy to report she placed well above math 101 level, so she's good to go in that respect for Running Start. (She'd already been qualified for college-level English.)

Next step for her is meeting with a counselor to plan classes to take this fall. Exciting times!

Meanwhile, CJ started his final quarter at South Seattle this morning. He's taking a Northwest history class, a nutrition class, and a world film class. We're all looking forward to learning more about those subjects. This morning, when he was putting in his application for graduation, CJ checked his transcript and saw that he was 4.0 last quarter (English, film studies and crazy math), and is on the President's list again. Way to go, CeeJ!

SIGNS OF LIFE: Things are sprouting 'round here at MPA. I love this poppy that appeared from a crack in the concrete near our front door. (When the kids and I cleaned up the garden last fall, we shook the poppies really hard, hoping seeds would sprout this spring.)

Our sunflowers are impressing already. They emerged just a couple of days after planting them.

And look at how much bigger they are just two days later!

Meanwhile, our first tomato plant has made an appearance.

A couple hours later, it was joined by a couple more. Hooray!

MORE MEMORIES: A couple of other mementos from our first visit to the ballpark in over a year.  This view was the bottom of the ninth inning.

And here's a little video taken right before the 2021 season started.

The Old Ballgame

HOME AGAIN: On Friday night, we took a long-awaited field trip to T-Mobile Park to root, root, root for the home team, the Seattle Mariners.

In a normal year, we probably go to a dozen or two baseball games. Last year was anything but normal. We went to exactly zero games, as fans were banned from the stands due to the ongoing global pandemic.

Fast forward to 2021. COVID isn't gone, but about 30 percent of Washingtonians are vaccinated, and we are learning to live with COVID safety protocols. So the ballpark is back open, with limited seating (9,000 per game instead of packed-to-the rafters with 40,000 or so), and social distancing. 

Because attendance was so low, we were able to park for free on the street, just a couple of blocks from the stadium. On our walk to the park, we passed a couple of new, huge murals. This one of Edgar towered about 20 feet tall.

 

The artist was still working on one, a portrait of arguably the Seattle Sonics' number one fan, Kris Brannon. Unfortunately, he died earlier this year, and never got to see his team return to Seattle. 

We made our way through the gates - with a little drama, given their new system. I'll spare you the blow-by-blow details about me arguing over taking in an empty water bottle, which was stated as allowed on the Mariners' website. I was told to throw it away by three escalating levels of people. The fourth guy (armed) finally cleared me. I wasn't going to let it go, because I knew I was right, and they were being ridiculous. 

Anyway, inside the part, we found many a hand sanitizer station. There are over 300 of them, apparently. 

We stood behind home plate for a few moments, admiring the green, green grass of home. 

We made our way around the main concourse. We had to stop by and say 'hi' to the longtime voice of the Mariners, Dave Niehaus. It has now been ten seasons without his voice filling the airwaves. He is missed. 

Down in the 'Bullpen' area of the stadium, there were some new attractions. The one below is apparently something that lets you turn yourself into a bobblehead, but it was closed because of COVID.

This graffiti-like mural features one of Dave Niehaus' most famous lines.

We stopped by the Moose's Den, but nobody was home. 

The kids' play park was closed, another COVID casualty.

We eventually made our way to our 300-level seats. I appreciated the BLM sign across the field from us.

Not long after we sat down, a fire erupted a few blocks away. I suspected it was a homeless camp, because they line the freeway in this part of town. Turns out my suspicion was correct. The fire snarled traffic for hours, apparently. There were no injuries, fortunately.

The field was absolutely beautiful! Oh, how we've missed this view!

The Mariners lost, of course. We had the 'pleasure' of watching a 30-year-old middle reliever's ERA go from 0.00 to 40.5 in one inning. That said, it was great to be back, and we can't wait to go back.

TODAY WE LEARNED: Thanks to a Facebook post by "Goodwill Librarian" we learned an interesting factoid today.

I did not know that. Now the question is, why did I not know that? Why have I, for five-plus decades, never wondered why they're called upper case and lower case? I think maybe it is because I wasn't taking it so literally. I thought of a 'case' as an example or type (no pun intended), and upper were the bigger ones and lower were the smaller ones.