The Doctor is in.

February 2014

Seattle Seahawks Demolish the Denver Broncos
in Super Bowl XLVIII, 43-8

It was billed as the best defense of the year against the best offence of all time.
But when it ended, the Seahawks had annihilated the Broncos 43-8. And the Seattle defense scored nine of those points. From the first play (a Denver safety), it was a celebration of scoring for Seattle. It was a magical game to cap a 13-3 season.

14:48   Safety                           Seattle 2 Denver 0
10:25   Field Goal, Houschka     31 yd. Seattle 5 Denver 0
2:21    Field Goal, Houschka     33 yd. Seattle 8 Denver 0

12:08 Touchdown, Lynch 1 yd. run. Seattle 15 Denver 0
3:36 Interception, Smith 37 td. Seattle 22 Denver 0

14:48   Kick-off return, Harvin 87 yd. Seattle 29 Denver 0
3:11    Pass, Wilson to Kearse   23 yd. Seattle 36 Denver 0
0:03    Pass, Manning to Thomas 14 yd. Seattle 36 Denver 8

11:55 Pass, Wilson to Baldwin 10 yd. Seattle 43 Denver 8

Game day on February 2nd did double duty as my birthday party, thus the cake below.

#4 Steven Hauschka scored 11 points as our kicker. I wear his number now.

And #53 Malcolm Smith was named the Super bowl MVP. That made Randy's jersey especially special! Before the game, I predicted that Steven Hauschka, #11 Percy Harvin, and #31 Kam Chancellor would have great games. I was 3 for 3 in my picks to click.

On my birthday, Wednesday, February 5th, all of Seattle stopped to celebrate with a parade and party at Century Link field. I had two classes to teach, but two-thirds of my students skipped class to go to the celebration. They're out there somewhere.

Below left, the Legion of Boom, the Safetys and Cornerbacks, rode by in the parade. I got these photos off of the live streaming video hosted at Seahawks.com.

On the right are two very happy Seahawks fans. Randy and I got our jerseys that I had ordered after the game, but we wore them all during Celebration Week. I think Randy sleeps in his.

The game was an embarrassment for Denver as nearly everything that could go wrong for them did. And for Seattle, wait for a commercial to grab that pizza from the oven, because you would surely miss a great play on offense or defense.

"We" had shut out Peyton Manning's younger brother, Eli Manning and his New York Giants 23-0 on December 15th in this same stadium. Superstar big brother Peyton had an even worse day with his 43-8 loss in the big game.

A safety on the first play. A kick off return for a touchdown at the start of the second half. We scored at will. After a season of high anxiety and higher hopes, this game unwound all of us in the Pacific Northwest. It was about time.

Winter Break Puts Nathanael to the Test

Bellevue schools took their winter break the week of February 17th. But it was no vacation for Nathanael. At the beginning of the month, I had helped Nate finish his essay for his application to the Master in Teaching Mathematics and Science (MTMS) program at SPU which he hopes to begin this coming summer. But a battery of tests were still needed. He aced them all. Four tests on four consecutive mornings produced impressive results. And his MAT test score qualifies him to apply for admission to Mensa! (Although the $70 annual membership fee seems prohibitive.)

Tuesday, February 18	WEST-B	Reading, Mathematics, Writing	Passed
Wednesday, February 19	MAT	Miller Analogies Test	456 (99th percentile!)
Thursday, February 20	WEST	Physics	Passed (with top marks in each category)
Friday, February 21	WEST	Chemistry	Passed

Snow Days!

Our few snow days this year have come on weekends. 1307 99th is still coming along nicely.

I stayed home from church for three weeks, not wanting to share a cold with Jean during her performances, and at least one week, just being exhausted.

I love these noisy, furry neighbors at the yellow house down our street.

Psalm 119:169-176

¹⁶⁹ Let my cry come before You, O LORD;
Give me understanding according to Your word.
¹⁷⁰ Let my supplication come before You;
Deliver me according to Your word.
¹⁷¹ Let my lips utter praise,
For You teach me Your statutes.
¹⁷² Let my tongue sing of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteousness.
¹⁷³ Let Your hand be ready to help me,
For I have chosen Your precepts.
¹⁷⁴ I long for Your salvation, O LORD,
And Your law is my delight.
¹⁷⁵ Let my soul live that it may praise You,
And let Your ordinances help me.
¹⁷⁶ I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments.

This month, the Saturday Morning Men's Bible Study group I facilitate read through the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119. Four or five eight verse stanzas of this 22 stanza song were studied each week.

It struck me that this final stanza put a bow on the whole. In recognition of our utter weakness and God's perfection, expressed in His word, statutes, commandments, precepts, law, and ordinances (the theme of this entire psalm), this final section amounts to our signing the consent form for the Great Physician to operate. Our condition is otherwise incurable. As lost sheep we need a faithful Shepherd.

I was reminded of a summer day 51 years ago. Dad was taking his three youngest on a hike up Mt. Rainier. Laurie and I were only eight years old, and Randy was ten. We were nearing Camp Muir at the 10,000 foot level. The weather turned cold and the clouds lowered. Dad told us to wait under an outcropping of rock with a huge snow field below and around us. He went off to scout the way ahead. We waited.

It seemed a long wait but our father had promised to return. It was a scary time. Had we given up and tried to find our own way, we could likely have headed down not up. It would have led to tragedy. We had to rely on one promise. "I'll be back." Of course, Dad returned. And we soon learned that we were very near the high camp.

It is the same promise today, and the same calling. Our Shepherd has promised to return. The end of our journey is surprisingly close, but as yet hidden from us. Our Father orders us to wait. We dare not choose our own broad path. It would lead only downward.

Bits and Pieces

♦ The Saturday Morning men have asked to study Romans next. If the Gospels and Acts answer the "what" questions, Romans answers the "so what" ones. We start on March 1.

♦ My A1C number, measured on the 24th, was up again. All my other numbers were fine. So I have yet another three months to learn to control my appetite. My weight was at 187. That, at least, was a welcome surprise, considering the holiday/football/birthday season I have just come through. I've begun having oatmeal for breakfast at my desk at SPU.

♦ At 59, I have few wants that money can buy. But I still find ways to indulge myself during my birthday month. I am something of a cowboy at heart. Last Labor Day, I stopped in at West Coast Armory looking for a cleaning tool to help clean the guns we shot on vacation in August. Of course, they were having a rare sale. And there in the case was the only gun on my wish list, a 4" Smith & Wesson 686+ in satin stainless steel. This 7-shot .357 Magnum promptly became the jewel of my collection. For my birthday, I ordered some Rosewood grips for it on eBay from Thailand. At $44, they were half the price of similar grips from U.S. sellers. I was able to get just the shape I wanted in an elegant wood. Also pictured here are a pair of speed loaders from Amazon.com and an eBay purchase of a Stetson "Riverton" style hat. This replaced the same style hat I'd bought in Cody, Wyoming in 2001, but had since lost. It is a style no longer made, but this one was said to be in perfect condition and priced below what I'd originally paid. I know I have at least seven other cowboy hats -- but at least I haven't kept up my camera and lens buying spree.

♦ Property taxes on 1228 99th Ave NE for 2014 are up to $9,494. What takes years to decline takes only a single year to shoot back up again.

♦ I agreed to teach an extra section of BUS 1700 again in spring quarter. Half my weekends are taken up with grading assignments and quizzes.

♦ Jean's run in The Miracle Worker ended in February. I continued to receive reflected praise for the performance of my talented daughter (not to say the other one isn't equally talented!) The Falcon newspaper ran a story about alumna Leona Spurling Nelson, who fifty years earlier had played Annie Sullivan in SPU's only prior production of the play. She had this to say in that article, “I was so impressed with this production and with the professional quality of the work you do,” Nelson said to the actress who played Annie [junior Jean Sleight]. “I remember how hard it is. She did a great job.”

My Quotes from February

“Expecting life to treat you fairly because you're a nice person is like expecting a bull not to charge you because you're a vegetarian. Good luck.”

— A comment to a Dibert comic strip.

“It wasn’t my fault and I’ll never do it again.”

— P. J. O’Rourke (paraphrase)

The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

— My kids heard this one long before I did.

The shinbone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room.

Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

	It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness . . . Last year, the University of Washington demolished Lander Hall and replaced it with an elegant smaller edition of that old dorm. This year, Terry Hall, Lander's twin, will take it's turn. From autumn 1973 to spring 1977, this was my college home. It's where I spent a four year "psychosocial moratorium," as we learned to call 'college' in graduate school. That refers to the period when a person takes a break from 'real life', in order to actively search for their identity, or sometimes just to get a clearer perspective on things (from Ask.com). In my case it took about eight years. Pieces of our lives fall away one after another. In time we become a hybrid of ourselves. We can't escape what we once were, but we can augment that with what we learn and grow into.


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