Watching and Waiting

Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

HISTORY AWAITS: Many eyes are on the Space Coast this week, as four astronauts prepare to become the first to fly to the International Space Station in a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

In the photo above, you can see the Dragon atop a Falcon 9 rocket. It's set to launch at 4:49 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday, Nov. 14, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Onboard will be Crew-1 NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, and Mike Hopkins, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi. We here at MPA will *definitely* be watching this historic mission.

                   Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Once they get settled in on the orbiting science laboratory, the astronauts will have a hand in several scientific experiments, including food physiology, neural function in low Earth orbit, tissue chips, and spacesuit technology.

Back in May of this year, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley were aboard a demonstration mission, launching in the first manned SpaceX mission. That was a complete success, laying the groundwork for Saturday's launch to the ISS.  They splashed down in the Dragon Endeavour capsule at 2:48 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 2, off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.

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CLOTHES OUT: In an unexpected twist, some of our clothing will soon be headed to Central America.

A couple of days ago a neighbor (but not someone we know) posted to our local Buy Nothing group asking for clothing donations. She wrote, 'As many of you know Central America has been hit by Hurricane ETA and has left many people homeless and nothing else but their clothes on their back.'

I'm embarrassed to admit we knew nothing of the hurricane. Pretty much it has been nonstop election-related coverage on our TV since November 3.

Anyway, the neighbor was asking for donations of clothing to send to Honduras, where she has family.

According to The Gurardian, "Hurricane Eta making landfall as a category 4 storm to the south of Puerto Cabezas in Nicaragua. The storm weakened as it moved slowly inland towards Honduras through the week. Some areas saw as much as 550mm of rain (22 inches), leading to landslides and flooding. At least 100 people have died as a result."

It just so happened that 'clean closets' was on our to do list the day I saw the neighbor's ask for help, so we were happy to take three large garbage bags worth of men's, women's and children's clothing to them. I was impressed by how much they'd collected already. There were boxes and boxes of goods being loaded into a large shipping container as we arrived. 

Our surplus clothing was likely destined for a nonprofit thrift store before I spied the Buy Nothing post. It's nice to know our our gently-used and happily-donated items will be going right to people in dire need instead.

Weekend Scenes

 

SWEET SKULLS: Saturday afternoon, the kids sat down for a little art session. We had pre-ordered and curbside picked up sugar skull kits from the South Park  branch of King County Library System.

We were impressed with the variety and quantity of the kits' contents! A whole lot of bling and four bottles of paint between the two of them.

The kit also thoughtfully included a black paper plate to place the skull on, and a big ol' doily to fancy things up a bit.

CJ's skull wound up with a butterfly on its chin and what looks like a black leaf for a moustache.

Annabelle's skull is at the top of a the post. 

WINTER IS COMING: We've had a bit of a cold (for us) snap the past couple of days, with temps in the 30s. It almost feels like it could snow. We're trying to balance getting out and getting fresh air with the fact that there's a pandemic in it's third, and likely largest to-date, wave. 

One place we feel safe is an outdoor picnic table with just we four and no one else any closer than about 20 feet. It's on the front sidewalk of a convenience store called Super Deli Mart, in West Seattle. They have lots of soft drinks for the kids, a decent taplist for the adults and lots of snacks and sandwiches if one needs something to nosh on.

When we head there, it's almost like packing for skiing or camping. 

We have masks, hats, gloves, coats, boots, scarves and such.. Here's Annabelle and her freshly-pinked hair braving the elements.

                          

We even have our very own propane heater hidden under the table. That thing is a champ! Really takes the edge off and the propane only costs us about a buck per session (long enough to have a couple of drinks and play a board game or two).

On Sunday we played King of Tokyo. I got to be the Kraken because I had my Seattle Kraken hoody on.

Christian was the King of Tokyo that day, if you're wondering who won.

We have also been playing a lot of High Risk recently. It's a quick, dice-rolling game where you're trying to scale a mountain. 

We've played it a dozen times. I don't think I've won even once. :/ I think I'm too conservative, and not willing to take a high enough risk, as the game's name suggests.

ESCAPISM: An email with a round up of fun things to check out during these pandemic times. One reccomendation was the National Museum of American History's animated series of six computer pioneers, including Kenneth Olson and Grace Hopper. That’s here: https://americanhistory.si.edu/american-enterprise-exhibition/videos/computer-pioneers. 

The email also made mention of a library system that hosts online escape rooms. They have one with a "Stranger Things" theme coming up Fri, Nov 13th, at 1 pm (https://www.esopuslibrary.org/teens). Their page also includes links to Marvel Avengers Escape Room, Wonderland Escape Room, and a Star Wars Escape Room. 

We've done a couple of escape rooms in person and enjoyed them, so we'll have to check this virtual experience out. 

Bright Spots

PRETTY HARDY: Yes, more photos from our yard. Sorry. That whole pandemic thing. ... 

We have been enjoying some pretty and persistent flowers from our yard. Our one and only dahlia still has several pink flowers. 

And we even have a crazy daisy or two in November. That surprised us! 

Our Japanese maple is stunning right about now - the colors are so vibrant. This photo doesn't do it justice.

APPLIED: Yesterday morning, I was disappointed when I awoke at 6:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. I was so tired from the 14-hour work day on the day before, I was hoping I could sleep in and relax some. Oh well, my brain had other ideas, I guess.

So, laying there wide awake, for whatever reason, I thought to check the King County animal shelter's site for any volunteer opportunity for CJ. Sadly, they had nothing due to COVID-19. However, I saw a link to other county volunteer opportunities and clicked on it.  Within seconds I saw something called "South for Parks Winter Workshop Series." It was described as follows ... 

This virtual program is an opportunity for young people in grades 9-12 to participate in a series of Zoom sessions on various environmental topics related to parks and green space. This one-time opportunity will involve a co-design process where participating youth work with Parks staff on our new summer internship program for high school students.

We firmly believe that youth programs should be informed by young people like you, so apply and be part of this process! Participants will receive a stipend for doing the workshop.

I clicked the link to look at the application and found that it was pretty short, and I also discovered that the deadline for applying was yesterday by 5 p.m.! 

When they got up, I showed the kids the page and asked if they were interested in applying. They each said they were, so our "to do" list for yesterday changed. We'll see if either one of them gets accepted into the program. It's hard to know if 2 or 200 teens will apply, and the post didn't say how big the group would be. 

ELECTION REFLECTION: What an experience working for King County Elections was this cycle! Turnout was phenomenal, and I got a chance to meet so many voters, many of whom I'll never forget. One gentleman who came to my station was absolutely beaming - I could see that even behind his mask. He placed his voter registration on my table and right next to it he placed this ornate certificate. It was mid-afternoon on the final voting day, and I was trying to work as fast as possible. In fact, I was in such a hurry, I'll admit I didn't even read the document, but I just instinctively said, "That is beautiful."

The gentleman pointed to the paper and told me he had just received his citizenship. He rushed straight from that office to the Renton vote center.

Through misty eyes, I registered the new voter and issued his first ballot as an American citizen.

Though 2020 has dished out more than its fair share of ugly, that moment was a moving reminder to me of how beautiful America can be and still is. 

Tacos and Ballots

BOXING: We're just a couple of days away from the election, and votes continue to pour in early here in King County. As of Halloween night at 6 p.m., of the county's 1,409,017 registered voters, 1,014,55, or 72 percent, had returned their ballots. That's fantastic! We spied this ballot box at the White Center library a couple of nights ago. It looked lonely in the moment, but it, like other ballot box drops, has been plenty busy. 

As of noon on November 4, King County Elections was reporting 1,209,255 of King County's 1,425,772 registered voters had returned their ballots - that's 84.81 percent! 

STOLEN TACOS: One fun thing we look forward to each year for the past couple of years is stealing tacos. 

Never fear, we are not robbing Taco Bells, rather, they have been doing a promotion where if a player steals a base during the World Series, every American is eligible to 'steal' a taco.

We have Mookie Betts of the Dodgers to thank for our free tacos. During my lunch break, we tore down to the Taco Bell in Renton. Surprisingly, there was only one other car in line. Don't people like free tacos?!

CJ sure does. :) We may or may not have passed another Taco Bell several hours later. ... 

TREAT TOSS: Friday afternoon we were able to participate in a gathering with about 50 or so, I think. It was the first time we've done anything like that in, like, FOREVER.

The occasion was a Halloween costume parade and candy toss at a park by the kids' former school. To keep it safe, social distancing was strictly enforced, there were gloves and hand sanitizer, masks everywhere and it was only a half hour long. 

We know a lot of the students at CJ and Annabelle's former school have food allergies, so we opted to bring some Dollar Store prizes instead, along with a few packs of nori (seaweed), which were surprisingly popular.

Unicorn Annabelle tossed them into kids' bags. 

Meanwhile, CJ, as Buddy the Elf, tossed some fruit leather for a parent, so that he could walk around the circle with his kids. 

The kids didn't go trick or treating this year, and I had to work all day on Halloween, but I did order them some treats online, which they and Christian went to pick up in the late afternoon at Cupcake Royale. 

Pretty cool, and tasty, too, I'm told.

Short Stuff

SCARY HAIRY: I don't post photos of our dogs very often. But Kirby's bad fur day yesterday was epic, and I just have to share. 

CERTIFIED: Yesterday's mail brought a nice surprise for CJ and Annabelle. They each got McDonalds gift cards from the Allied Arts of Renton Creative Kids Contest for their COVID-inspired art.  (The art is on this previous blog post: https://magnoliaprep.blogspot.com/2020/10/signs-of-times.html

BOO! NASA's picture of the day is perfect for this spooky season. Check out The Ghoul of IC 2118 

Here's what NASA has to say about the eerie image: "Inspired by the Halloween season, this telescopic portrait captures a cosmic cloud with a scary visage. The interstellar scene lies within the dusty expanse of reflection nebula IC 2118 in the constellation Orion. IC 2118 is about 800 light-years from your neighborhood, close to bright bluish star Rigel at the foot of Orion. Often identified as the Witch Head nebula for its appearance in a wider field of view it now rises before the witching hour though. With spiky stars for eyes, the ghoulish apparition identified here seems to extend an arm toward Orion's hot supergiant star. The source of illumination for IC 2118, Rigel is just beyond this frame at the upper left."

Weekend Scenes

DROPPED OFF: Today, we voted early, depositing our ballots in one of King County's 70 or so handy drop boxes well ahead of election day on Nov. 3. Since I let CJ help me fill in my ballot, I figured Annabelle should have the deposit duties. 

Last time she dropped a presidential election ballot in the box for me, polls predicted we'd have our first female president. They were wrong.

This time polls predict we'll have our first female vice president. Time will tell if that pans out. Next presidential election, Annabelle will be able to mark her own ballot.

FEEDING TEENS: I was so happy to find out that I didn't have to work on Saturday, because we had Teen Feed that day, and that's a whole lot of work.

Back in the day, our volunteer group would meet at the shelter and prepare the meal together, enjoying each other's company and serving the guests cafeteria style. It was great hearing their feedback and being able to make each meal to order. 

Well, the pandemic crushed all of that. Now, we still have to provide the meals, but they're to go. And that's actually more work than serving them on site, because we need boxes and baggies and ramekins, etc. 

After every service, I write up a recap. I think it's good to help us keep track of what worked and what didn't, and it's a great way to thank the volunteers. I'm pasting the text of that email below changing names to protect the awesome volunteers. :) 

Another Teen Feed in the books, and it was an excellent example of how we're still getting it done in these interesting times. 

Since we can't all cook and serve on site together any more, it's all about rounding up or delivering donations in a way that works for everyone. For instance, last Sunday, Tina and I met in West Seattle so she could give me her goods. Jana and Donna PayPal-ed dollars for their donations, and my family shopped and prepped for them along with our donations. Katie was kind enough to set up a donation station at her place on Queen Anne, where Aida dropped her hot dogs and water, which we picked up along with Katies's chili on the way north to the shelter on Saturday. Meanwhile, Linda's goods went to Anna, whose son Saul came with Nancy Anderson and family to do the dinner service. The Andersons also brought the BIG dog donation from new team Teen Feed member Kasey Louden, and Inga's beautiful shortbread sugar cookies were handed off in the alley from her husband to mine. 

All of this careful choreography resulted in another amazing dinner for our guests!  

During service, a very busy Nancy managed to send a text reporting, "All of the teens are loving the food! Chili dogs are a very nice welcome to the cold weather in their bellies." 

We had a MOUNTAIN of big buns, thanks to Jana, Darci, and Katie. There was an abundance of chili (thanks Katie and Jana) to top the big dogs, as well as ton o' shredded cheddar (thanks, Jana!). Diners could dress up their dogs with Fritos (they loved those, Tina!) and ramekins of onions and jalapenos on the side (CJ and Annabelle filled dozens of them).  Diners also got some big dill pickle spears (kudos to Darci), and sweet desserts (thanks to Annabelle, Jana and Inga). 

Alice, Donna, Linda and Tina put the sparkle in the service with their water donations. 

One great thing about our group: Not only do people provide what they sign up for, they often throw in a little extra. When a number add a bit more, it becomes a significant increase. So not only did we meet our 80 meal goal, we crushed it. "One hundred and twenty five meals! Five vegan," Nancy summed up. "We got a thumbs up from the teens as we walked out!" she reports. 

Pics of our stellar service crew, some yummy meals ready to go, a BUNCH of buns, and some steaming vegan chili

We try to cater to all of our diners' palates, and that includes a few vegans. I have to say, the pot of vegan chili I made was pretty darn good. :)               

Below is a before-dog box and chili shot. The toasted bun has chopped onions, jalapenos, mustard, ketchup and Fritos on the side. 

CJ helped get the chili going. Chili for 80 chili dogs is a LOT of chili let me tell you.

We had a mountain of oversized buns before service.

And below is a cart loaded with many to go meals. 

 

Growing

 

DONE DEAL: Tonight, we finally got around to voting our ballots. Working for King County Elections, I know that it's really helpful if people turn in their ballots sooner rather than later. Ours will go into a drop box tomorrow. 

The good news is, a whole lot of people are into the early vote action this year. The graphic below was posted by Washington state Governor Jay Inslee yesterday. ...

Speaking of King County Elections, if you want to be in the room where it happens (to borrow a "Hamilton" quote), check out this site:

There, you can watch ballots being opened, registrations being taken, and more. Check it out! https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/elections/about-us/security-and-accountability/watch-us-in-action.aspx

THERE IS ANOTHER: If you're a regular reader, perhaps you remember our not-too-long ago RIP pumpkin post. Our one and only separated from the vine when it was smaller than a walnut.

Yesterday evening, Christian was taking the dogs out and checked our pumpkin vine and lo and behold, there is a new squash growing!

It's already the size of a golf ball (so huge! haha). We're very excited. This could be the Great Pumpkin. :)