20 posts from June 2007

After spending so much time away from home the past couple of months, I appreciate the simple pleasures of being at home. Drake talked me into going up to our building's roof deck last night, even though I was feeling somewhat wilted. It was a perfect warm Seattle summer night, with a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier.

Anyone remember the Cryan' Shames version of Up on the Roof?

Right smack dab in the middle of town
I've found a paradise that's trouble proof (up on the roof)
And if this world starts getting you down
There's room enough for two
Up on the roof (up on the roof)
Up on the roo-oo-oof (up on the roof)
Oh, come on, baby (up on the roof)
Oh, come on, honey (up on the roof)

Within the past year, my Uncle took a bad fall (tearing his quadricep muscle), my Dad fell and fractured two ribs, now today word that my Aunt has fallen and broken her wrist and badly injured her knee. My Dad and Aunt are 80; my Uncle 82.

What's odd is that I don't think of any of these folks as "elderly" in terms of risk of falling, but of course that isn't the case. My Dad used to walk 3 miles a day until a few years ago when he took a fall (but was not injured). That drove him inside for exercise because he became fearful about falling...an apparently very common fear after a fall.

I'm worried about my Aunt, though. It seems that both a wrist and a knee injury could be very disabling during the recovery process. She's in the hospital now, where she will be for at least a few days.

Monday is my day off from working out, but I usually get out at least for a walk regardless. This morning, I took my camera along and caught some lovely early-morning light (time was about 5:45am).

There is an old yellowed clipping of these seasons that I am retiring in favor of this post. We are currently in strawberry season and my oh my they are luscious this year.

We have been indulging in strawberries and vanilla ice cream drizzled with the most exquisite Extra-Vecchio balsamic vinegar. We don't talk about the price of this vinegar, other than to acknowledge that Drake did buy it on sale (we call that saving money by spending money).

Strawberry: early June to mid-July

Red raspberry: mid-June to late July. Second crop from mid-August to mid-September (limited quantities)

Gooseberry: late June to mid-July

Black current: end of June to mid-July

Boysenberry: mid-July to mid-August

Loganberry: mid-June to mid-July

Marionberry: mid-July to mid-August

Blueberry: mid-July to September

Cranberry: harvested in October; available fresh through December.

When I was visiting Chicago in early May, I watched The Queen with my Dad's wife Carol. It had just come out on DVD; Carol wanted to see it and I was also curious about it.

Drake and I completely missed the media coverage of Diana's death. At the end of August 1997 we had just started a month-long tour of Italy. We didn't hear about Diana's death until a day or two after it happened. We were in Venice at the time,  seated in an osteria next to some reporters covering the then-in-progress Venice Film Festival. We heard the news from them, but subsequently didn't hear much about it. We weren't around televisions, and didn't seek out any English-language papers or magazine coverage of it. I was sure the reaction in England and the U.S. was huge, but I didn't realize how huge (in England at least) until I saw The Queen.

I was never much of a Diana follower, but honestly, after watching The Queen I was intrigued by the clear impact (at least in death) she had had on the English monarchy. And so, in my recent travels I quite spontaneously bought The Diana Chronicles at the airport. Not a book I would normally pick up, but I had read good reviews of it in both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

Honestly, the dysfunction on both sides (Diana and the Royal Family) was painful to read. Talk about a doomed match (Charles and Diana). He's a 31 man-about-town...and a quirky intellectual type. She's 19, under-educated and with almost no life experience. They had only seen each other 13 times before the wedding. And he as much admitted in a post-engagement interview that he wasn't in love with her. I guess it's an indication of the pull of the monarchy that the wedding went forward despite warning signs all over the place (and family/friends of both Charles and Diana discouraging the match).

It's also clear that whatever the legitimate traumas underlying Diana's self-destructive private behavior, she seemed to be unavoidably marching towards her own early death.

In the end, I had some sympathy for Charles, and I'm not quite sure why given his heartless (and unfaithful) behavior. Maybe he seemed more a victim of circumstance having been born into the Royal Family (rather than pursuing it, naively, as Diana did).

I'm now back to my regularly-scheduled reading, Empire by Niall Ferguson. Drake got this for me, after he listened to it on audio. It's a fascinating account of the rise and fall of the British empire. And definitely though-provoking given the role the U.S. plays in the world today.

I think I hit the cicadas at or near their peak. It was somewhat like being in a science-fiction flick, given their absolutely incessant, pulsing hum. Their dead and dying bodies were all over my Dad's patio (where this pic was taken).

My first day in Northbrook, I went over to Little Louie's Red Hots for lunch and took my order across to the Village Green Park.

Hmmm. Saturday. Noon. Not a soul there. Nobody.  Just me, and as it turned out the cicadas. One landed on my shoulder and gave out its mating call, all within about 6 inches of my ear. Yow that was loud.

Each cicada creates noise equal to 90-decibels

I was beginning to understand why the park was empty, but I stuck it out regardless. Really, it wasn't too bad--aside from the visitor on my shoulder I wasn't really hassled much by them. But I could understand the aversion.

Finally, here's a good recording of cicadas en masse. To get the full effect, turn the volume up LOUD.

 

I've been to Austin once before, with Drake, driving down from Dallas through the beautiful Texas Hill Country. This trip, though, I didn't have much time for activities outside the conference and keeping things moving with my project back in Seattle. It worked out well to catch an early dinner and then be back at my hotel by 7:00 (5:00 Seattle time) to wrap up any final business.

Day 1 my goal for dinner was barbecue. Tucked away on one side of the Austin Convention Center is Iron Works Barbecue. I could have probably eaten here every night. Damn it was good.

Day 2 I decided to go for more "upscale Texas" cuisine. I chose the Roaring Fork, right on Congress Ave. Once again, this proved to be a perfect choice. Rather than ordering an entree, I ordered two appetizers: the made-to-order guacamole and "Texas Tempura" Gulf Shrimp (in a light cornmeal batter). When I went into the restaurant, it was blazing hot, but by the time I finished my meal, a storm was moving in and the temperature had dropped maybe 15-20 degrees. I took this opportunity to walk up Congress to the capital, which was still open, but almost completely devoid of tourists. During the walk back to the hotel the storm started to close in. I got back just as the clouds opened up.

The next night, I was up for some Tex-Mex, and wound up just a block from my hotel at the Rio Grande. Tired of being in air-conditioned "comfort" all day, I chose to sit out on their patio. The heat was somewhat tempered by shades that were pulled down and also by fans generating a light mist of water. This was another amazing meal, particularly the house-made flour tortillas.

On my last day (Friday) I got out for lunch to Las Manitas Avenue Cafe. Apparently, this place is normally packed for lunch, but I was having a late lunch (around 2:30) and so I had no problem getting a table. After I finished my meal, I walked out the door to see a color guard and police escort marching down Congress Ave.

And right behind, a series of high-school marching bands:

Nobody was quite sure what the parade was for... I learned later it was an early Juneteeth celebration. It was the heat of the day and these kids were really sweating!

So, aside from the conference, I was at least able to squeeze in some good food and a little bit of fun.

It's always so great to see the Seattle skyline coming into town from the airport.

• Austin was hot (no surprise), the conference was better than I expected, and I was happy with how my presentation went.
• The first couple of days I was in Chicago, my Dad was really zapped by his latest round of chemotherapy, but seemed to pick up the last day in particular. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will end treatment at this point... they want to look at his numbers before making a final decision.
• The cicadas in Chicago - they were everywhere and they were loud!
  
• Research in San Francisco went well.

I've got lots to catch up on here at home this weekend.

...on my Google Reader. Should have done so sooner perhaps. All my feeds have disappeared. Hope they come back soon...

Last night, I finished the right front; sleeves are up next:

I hope to get one sleeve done in July, one in August, then I'll use September to sew it together and add the crochet trim. With any luck, it will look (something) like this.

Meanwhile, I've got a good "traveling" project I'll pick up for my upcoming travels: a seeded rib stitch scarf (and matching hat):

It's a gift and I anguished on the yarn choice. If I had it to do over, I probably would have gone with light to medium  solid rather than melange, just because it would make the stitch pattern come out more clearly. But, it will still be soft, cozy, and I think enjoyed by the recipient. I love knitting with Aurora 8!