The Doctor is in.

July 2020

The Dishers Come Home

Regular visits became permanent residence on Saturday, July 18th. The Disher family has come to stay.

It was such a busy day that Charis fell asleep and was carried to her own bottom bunk bed and she slept through the whole night, her first in her new home at the 99th Avenue Academy, the name we gave the Big Blue House for our home school. Jean played with Charis on Saturday so Joel could help us move my heavy "art desk" in from the garage. Then Thomas and Joel moved sheetrock out of the southeast corner of the basement to make more room in my new art studio.

Like Jonathan earlier in the month, Charis and I toured and watered the garden. Charis "helped" me transplant more of the green onions and the green bell pepper starts. And we planted some watermelon seeds to see what would happen. We watered everything and inspected the progress on Pumpkin Hill. Even the new little willow tree in the southwest corner of the yard got its regularly watering. In the big house cleanout underway this summer, Annie had been about to dispose of four huge plastic containers, but these that once held kitty litter are now my watering cans. They work much better than the hose.

Jean and Joel Make Their Move to Sue's

On Saturday the 25th, Jean and Joel moved to Susan's house, a move just three miles north.

Annie, Thomas, and I helped with the move while Nancy watched Charis and repaired furniture.

Jean and Joel provided lunch and thanked us with chocolate cake.

Annie mentioned how Thomas would miss the deer, coyotes, bobcats, and other critters at Susan's. Then, later in the afternoon, this young doe stopped by to enjoy the sun (and salad) in Susan's yard.

A Modest 4th of July

Out of an abundance of COVID-19 caution, this year we split our traditional Fourth of July cookout between Bellevue and Lake Stevens. The Dishers, Uncle Randy, and Julie Adams joined the Pastricks at their new house in Lake Stevens. Jean and Joel brought Luna, and Nathanael and Cynthia brought Jonathan and Reuben to our house.

I remarked how I was more happy to see Luna than Joel. But that was only because Joel was expected and Luna was not. Both are always welcome, and I can't imagine leaving Luna home when she can visit her personal dog park here. Jonathan was surprisingly shy around Luna, even though he could see her gently nuzzle Reuben.

While Luna, in her normal timid way, parked herself under Joel and Jean, Jonathan provided most of the entertainment, "playing" multiple musical instruments.

Jean and Joel brought cake and tomatoes for the burgers, and Cynthia brought homemade hotdog buns. I prepared everything else while Nancy worked on the "air lock" door in the entry. The burgers and sausages over charcoal turned out especially well, but in my mind the event was incomplete. I'd left the potato salad in the refrigerator!

The following Tuesday, all the kids joined us for another BBQ lunch. That morning, Nancy and I disposed of a van-load of cardboard from the garage and transported two sofas from Susan's to our house for a future home in our "exercise room." I think we should begin calling it what it will become, the Great Room or the upper living room.

Jonathan and I explored the garage attic and he learned the dump truck makes a fine wagon if he sits back far enough.

Mid-Month, Jonathan is Grandpa's Buddy

Reuben doesn't know what he's missing. On Tuesday the 14th, the Auburn Sleight's spent the day. Nathanael was put to work cleaning the garage roof and helping Nancy with house cleaning. Cynthia cared for Reuben. And I cooked lunch and dinner and played with Jonathan.

After some initial misgivings, Jonathan decided rides in the wheelbarrow were great fun. He enjoyed the rainbow slinky that Charis played with the day before. And he helped me water all the plants in the garden. When one is Jonathan sized, the tomato garden seems almost a forest.

The story of the "Jonathan's Tomato" is worth telling. Jonathan climbed to the top of the ten-foot ladder (with grandpa right behind), and we cleaned out the north gutter by the kitchen. Jonathan enjoyed throwing moss and pine cones down from that height. Above the front door, we found a little tomato growing in the gutter! With over 40 tomato plants already well along, we didn't need another, but we decided this brave little volunteer deserved a chance. I hope it produces fruit so we can see what kind of tomato it might be.

At two years one month, Jonathan is proving to be very talkative, energetic, and adventuresome. He's getting the hang of being the prime subject of Grandpa's photography.

The Summer of COVID-19

What a great time to have nowhere to go! And what a blessing to have a big house and yard that holds a growing family.

June and July have been months of house cleaning. But as is typically the case, there is a point in the midst of the effort when the house looks messier than ever. But each week the big blue recycle bin is stuffed full, trips are made to the local transfer station to dump cardboard, and strangers stop by to claim free furniture, exercise equipment, and other bulky household items.

A highlight for Grandpa came on the 21st. He watched Charis chase Jonathan round and round the kitchen table. Where else can toddlers run laps in a big kitchen? I took both on rides in the wheelbarrow together, and then I pushed them high in the swing set.

I was content to learn that, beginning in August, I would return to an 80% work schedule from a 60% one that started may 11th. I have three main jobs: preparing my BUS 1700 class; updating the business school web site; and onboarding new faculty and staff.

Cleaning on the 28th uncovered bins full of toys beneath "Box Mountain" in the basement. Charis now loves the same big baby doll that Nancy played with as a little girl. And in our effort to remove cardboard, Box Mountain is no more.

How Did My Garden Grow in July?

The first crop Charis enjoyed eating are the native blackberries that grow near the deck (and all over). We've also had Romaine from re-planted COSTCO lettuce and a constant supply of green onions.

Two of the three plantings of bush beans are nearly ready to harvest. Critters demolished the beans at the east end of the tomato patch. Flowers are blooming, and many of the rose cuttings are putting out shoots.

The four pumpkin plants on Pumpkin Hill are taking off, and one last pumpkin plant came up and got planted in a bucket. I am using rocks to train the pumpkin vines to trail south.

Hundreds of small green tomatoes are already appearing.

Charis enjoys helping me water the growing garden, at least every other day. She and Jonathan seem to think throwing dirt on the big pumpkin leaves is great fun. On the last day of the month, she helped me plant strawberries, red peppers, and more bell peppers, all from seeds we did not have to purchase.

My 2020 COVID-19 garden is a test drive for my retirement garden. I think beans are out, but bulb onions, strawberries, peppers, and perhaps watermelon are in for 2021.

Hot peppers returned on this perennial plant. I will plant more of these seeds.	Two of three bush bean patches are nearly ready to harvest.	Hundreds of tomatoes are well on their way.	I'm training the pumpkin vines to grow to the south.	It's fun to watch the pole beans grow.

Green onions and bell peppers are growing well.	It's a surprise to me to see each kind of flower that blooms.	Rose cuttings look forward to a larger rose garden in years to come.	Having this little Strawberry to play with is sometimes exhausing, but, camera at the ready, I can't miss these shots.

Bits and Pieces

With Thomas and Annie in the house, it was time to update our slow home Internet speed. After one-time hardware and installation fees ($250), we will only pay $8 more per month to increase our internet speed from 5MB/sec. to near 80MB/sec. CenturyLink was supposed to make the upgrade on the 24th, but has not rescheduled the service visit they postponed.

Thomas, Joel, and I made a road trip to a rural spot just south of Monroe to try to see the Neowise comet. Thomas brought his amazing telescope he had not used since 2007. We saw the International Space Station orbit. We had great views of the moon, Jupiter and its moons, and Saturn, but the comet could barely be picked out in the haze to the northwest. It was a fun outing — especially for the mosquitoes.

My 0.6 FTE work schedule which began on May 11th, will end on July 31st. I'll return to a 0.8 FTE schedule. Frankly, it was like a paid vacation. At the end of this month, I finally reveieved an Washington State unemployment payment of $5,472 for eight weekly payments of $684, with two more weekly payments to come.

All this time at home has me making plans to reshape the southwest corner of our yard — the forest. Removing four or five trees in the middle of it will make this dark no man's land a new and special sunlit glen.

I would have prefered a different name than Kraken, but I love the logo of the new Seattle NHL team. The name will grow on me.
I suspect I will become a fan.

My Quotes from July

"As a country, we’re unprepared not just logistically but mentally for this next [COVID-19] phase....The way you prepare people for a sprint and marathon are very different. As a country, we are utterly unprepared for the marathon ahead."

— Washington Post, April 22, 2020

"There is a large body of data right now showing how easily this is transmitted just in the air by breathing. You can literally just walk into a room, where someone with the virus is breathing, and their virus will be floating in the air....
It doesn't mean wherever I walk I'm going to get infected. But if you're close to someone who is infected, you have a good chance of getting infected yourself."

— WCCO, April 29, 2020

"Well, we have to understand that we're riding this tiger; we are not directing it. This virus [SARS-CoV-2] is going to do what it's going to do. What we can do is only nibble at the edges. And I think it’s not a good message to send to the public that we can control this virus in a meaningful way."

— Meet the Press, May 10, 2020

"At most, perhaps 5% of people have been infected (with SARS-CoV-2)....If all that pain, suffering and economic destruction got us to 5%, what will it take to get us to 60%? That's a sobering thought. All of that suffering and death is just getting started. People haven't quite got that yet.”

— The Guardian, June 10, 2020

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