The Journal of Dr. Richard L. Sleight

AUGUST 2007 EDITION 

Weight change in August, 200 to 198.5    

 
Busy at Home in August
 
Once again the Blue Angels buzzed the house.  No doubt I'd have great pictures if I braved the crowds along Lake Washington, but I'm not a "crowd person."  I took  the left picture from our second floor deck.  (I shot the eclipse below but not the "shooting star".)

An activity that was much more like the boy of my youth was when I slept out on a cot in the yard and watched the Perseid meteor shower  on three evenings around August 12th.  They streamed across the sky about once a minute.  I also enjoyed surfing AM radio stations from literally around the world while I watched the sky.  Apparently I get another chance this Friday, if it's clear, when the Aurigid shower passes quickly by.  The first pass of that one apparently since about 4 A.D.

And on the morning of August 28th there was a spectacularly clear total lunar eclipse.  I even had Nathanael chop the top off a cherry tree at dusk to ensure my viewing pleasure all night long.  My lunar camera practice last month paid off. I spliced some of my shots together to get this composite.  I also got two hours sleep.  Jeannie Beth and Annie curled up together on my warm cot on the 2nd floor deck and left me to my play. (Click the image to enlarge it or here for an even bigger view.)  I pushed the ISO up to 1600 to get the red tint.  My wish list includes a new big telephoto lens.
 

 

²⁸`And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. ²⁹ Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. ³⁰ I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. ³¹ The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. ³² And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls.     ― Joel 2:28-32 NIV
 

 
The Tempest Rocks with a "Super Hero" Theme
 
Nathanael played Ferdinand and Antonio while Jeannie Beth played the Boatswain and the monster Caliban in the Taproot Theatre Summer Acting Studio production of William Shakespeare's The Tempest.   It was Nate's second time through The Tempest, but with the unique super hero theme, it was quite unique and, well, super!  Jean's Caliban was a hit and Nate played both the villain Antonio (brother of Prospero) and hero Ferdinand (who wins Miranda, the daughter of Prospero).  It's amazing how eight kids can stage a Shakespeare play with only two weeks to learn the lines and blocking.  Jean's long hair fit her Caliban role and Nate's Ferdinand had him mimicking Clark Kent/Superman.
 
I've made multiple DVDs of Nancy's recordings of both the Friday afternoon and Saturday morning performances.

Nancy Turns 52

Ginger and Susan had gotten us the Webber grill for Christmas so we fired it up on August 21st for Nancy's birthday.

Jeannie baked and frosted the cake and Annie wrapped the gift. She seemed to really like the music-box kitten I got her.  

Nate and Jean started regular practice on August 20th. Nathanael ran 311 miles over the summer (500 kilometers) and is again the man to lead the Viking defense of their District 2 title.  The boys team appears to be a shoe-in for a return trip to Pasco with 3 of 7 Emerald City League boys teams going.  Alas, it is reversed for the girls this year, with only the top two advancing to State.

 
Nathanael as Paul Bunyan
 
Nate wore out the cheaper chain saw we bought earlier this summer so we did our homework this time and bought him a Poulan Pro 18"
4 HP electric chainsaw.  He finished taking down the huge Hemlock he started on last month (and which I have begun to split for fire wood).  He also took down the smaller Douglas Fir west of the garage and at the end of August has half it larger neighbor down.  Our neighbor Verlin Frickle will be pleased.

I've tried to tell the kids my August beard must go -- but so far they insist I keep it.  The gray (or as Jeannie says "black and white") is at least interesting -- but it's itchy.

She's busy replacing the entire 40' north-south ridge.  She invested significantly in "fall protection" ropes, anchors, harnesses and related hardware.

I have some hope that she'll get to the floors because she sent me to COSTCO to but five bookcases for the library.  So we are committed now to a library design that does not include built-in bookcases.  We will likely forgo the planned Murphy bed as well.  But it will still be elegant with these cherry bookcases, the stereo center, a cherry colored loveseat under the window and Uncle Jack's dining room set currently stored at Susan's house.

• As my quote for this month betrays that I could not stay away from the British Navy in the Age of Sail.  I picked up a copy of The Guernseyman by C. Northcote Parkinson (1909-1993).  The book is clearly a lesser light in the genre, but I was attracted by the author Cyril Northcote Parkinson ― The Parkinson of "Parkinson's Law" fame ― "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."  His "law" was published in The Economist the year I was born. He had a very colorful life.  He also wrote a biography of a fictional character ― The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower .  (While at the library I also picked up Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini.  I love the films that came from his novels ― The Sea Hawk, Scaramouche, Captain Blood, and to a lesser extent, The Black Swan.)
• Vacation has ended and with September I begin a new year of Bible study and sports photography, but this time with no teaching duties at SPU.  It will be different.