A New Hip
for Nancy

I have a picture of Nancy from July 2019 where she was walking with a cane.  Her hips were giving her pain well before that.  It's likely that her troubles are in great part genetic as he mother Ginger had hip replacements as well.

Before the surgery on her left hip, Nancy moved to Susan's house.  Our shower temperatures are still iffy and Susan's home is seriously cleaner than ours.  To limit the chance of infection, Nancy will stay at Susan's for a few weeks after her surgery.

Just after the surgery on Wednesday morning the 29th we got this text from Susan, "Just got a phone call from the surgeon and everything went perfectly and the hip is solid. She'll be able to do full weight-bearing and so he is very pleased and so am I.  She is likely to be in the recovery room for up to two hours because she had a spinal and it depends on how long it will take to wear off."

In the afternoon, I spoke with Nancy on the phone.  She said that she saw Dr. Stickney come in when she was being prepared for surgery but did not see her anesthesiologist. 
At that point, she apparently fell asleep.  Two hours later she woke up and was told the operation was already complete and had gone very well.  God is very good.

◄ Dr. Jeff Stickney signed her hip!

March Birthdays

Joel's birthday on the 15th and Reuben's birthday on the 22nd were celebrated on Sunday the 26th in Auburn.

The Sleight, Disher, and Sitte grandkids always enjoy a party/playtime.  The grownups enjoy passing the smallest family members around.  It's always a surprise to see the rapid growth in whichever child we haven't seen recently.

Reuben was quick to blow out his candles, so quick that I had Nathanael light them again so I could get the shot.  I baked the cake this time.

Nancy stayed home to avoid any potential germs before her surgery.  Cynthia loaned me her small heat mat so I could use it to germinate more pepper seeds, and Nathanael sawed two pallets in half so I could fit them in the car.  They've become foundations for my many garden containers.

Jeremiah: God's Man in Faithless Times at Emerald Heights

I was unable to show my PowerPoint on the big screen at Emerald Heights on March 2nd.  Like once last year, the class had to watch on my larger laptop.  Then the March 9th and 16th class were cancelled because they began work on the audio/visual system in the large room where I teach. 
I was still working on lesson #5 of 8 when I presented lesson #2 on the 23rd.  They had a portable projector and a portable PA system ready for me. On the up side, attendance doubled after the two week break.

I noticed the sign (right) that had been made to promote my class.  I told the folks that, truth in advertising,
I was from the SPU Business school, not the religion department.

Garden Preparations

Valerie picked the first two Centiflor tomatoes from my plant under the basement stairs.  I extracted the seeds and prepared them so they could be planted.  Valerie ate the rest of the tomatoes.  Charis helped me plant 16 of these seeds in cups, my most successful method.  Only about half of the 30 other tomatoes seeds I planted a few weeks earlier appear to have come up.  But all but one of the Centiflor seeds from my own tomatoes came up.  All of these will need to be repotted before they go outside.

Charis and Valerie helped me plant 36 Yukon Gold seed potatoes in eight 7-gallon grow bags.  They helped mix the old soil with fertilizer and Earthgro Steer Manure Blend.  They also gathered mulch from below our big Redwood tree.  It was so much fun harvesting the potatoes from the three 5-gallon buckets used last year.  We will more than double our yield this year.  Also, the garlic growing in my raised bed looks great.  

I plan on concentrating on Jalapeño peppers this year.  Their starts are just coming up in the basement. 
I have eleven 5-gallon buckets waiting for peppers in May.  But, I may have started my pepper seeds a month late.  On the 25th, I sowed more Jalapeño seeds and a few of my own Serrano and Habanero seeds saved from last season.

For an experiment, the girls and I planted many Marigold and Zinnia seeds we'd saved in the spot just north of our property in the public right-of-way outside our main gate.

I moved the big tomato plant from its little basement grow room next to the hot water tank under the stairs to the top of the wood stove in the living room.  That little grow room is now set up for starting pepper seeds.  They should go into the garden a month after the tomatoes.

Study Shows Number One Cause of Depression in Men is Not Being
Allowed to Dress as a Ship's Captain From the Napoleonic Era

(Folks in our family will understand why this item from the Babylon Bee is especially of interest.)

Mar 30, 2023 · BabylonBee.com

U.S. — A new study from Stanford University has revealed the number one cause of depression in males aged 18-65 is not being allowed to dress as a ship's captain from the time of the Napoleonic Wars.

"The results of this study, while shocking to many women, came as no surprise to the men on the research team," said Dr. Brian Peasley, who headed a survey of 5,000 men in the age group in question. "Dressing as the fearless Captain Jack Aubrey of the HMS Surprise is what most men are thinking about at all times, including me."

"Instead, I'm wearing an Old Navy t-shirt and lab coat." Peasley then turned his face away and cried quietly to himself.

The study found that 82% of men feel depressed because they yearn to sail the high seas chasing down the French in an awesome blue naval frock with gold-laced buttons. The other 18% reported feeling depressed because they were hungry.

At publishing time, Stanford released another study showing the number one cause of depression in women is not wearing a Victorian regency dress while kissing Mr. Darcy.

Bits and Pieces 

Little signs of maturing are so fun to spot. On the 9th, Valerie said, "Thank you, Grandpa."  She still can't say "Grandma."  And a few days earlier, Irene rolled over three times!  On Friday the 10th, Charis went to Seattle Christian School to get a taste of Kindergarten.  And on the 11th, I accompanied Annie and the three girls to Northwest Aerials for an hour of open gym playtime.  Annie and I traded off between taking care of Irene and keeping Valerie safe on all of the gymnastics equipment.  On Fridays when Annie teaches, I have taken Charis to her gymnastics class.

Getting the registration process set up for the West Seattle High School 50th reunion in August took some work.  But with that behind me, sister Laurie, the event registrar, is handling the load. 
I also made Debra Westwood my co-chair for the event.  She has been doing more planning work for our most recent reunion committee Zoom meetings.

I love my new little chain saw.  It is so easy to adjust. I used it to take down and saw up the Cottonwood trees that were growing outside the master bedroom just north of my tomato patch.  I timed the small battery and it lasts about 13 minutes with normal use.  I can charge it between uses and saw with it twice in a day.  It's a kind of brief daily exercise which over time may allow me to turn the many piles of branches around the yard into next winter's firewood.

Nancy and I acknowledged our 42nd wedding anniversary, but she insisted I not buy her a gift. (She got me up at 1:00 AM on the 14th to track down Shadow the cat.)   I was sure I could find something she'd appreciate from Home Depot.  Instead, I bought myself ten bags of Earthgro Steer Manure Blend.  Maybe not a romantic gift, but her two big cold packs for her hip replacement post-surgery needs arrived!  She used them before the surgery because she was often in pain.  We did learn that our anniversary on "Pi Day," 3/14, is also Albert Einstein's birthday!  Wahoo!

Ivy the French Bulldog from 14th Street NE made another unscheduled visit and I was able to meet her owner Jeff Jones.  He has teenage sons and has lived in Clyde Hill for fourteen years.  He was surprised that we'd been here nearly forty-two years.

YouTube videos of the month: Konstantin Kisin speaking at the Oxford Union for the motion, This House Believes Wokeness Has Gone Too Far.   But as bad as things seem to get, There is a balm in Gilead, referenced in my fourth lesson on Jeremiah from Jeremiah 8:22.

These are the YouTube pundits I tend to follow.  Scott Adams, Hoover Institution, Jordan B. Peterson, PragerU, The Republic, Ben Shapiro, Thomas Sowell, John Stossel, Peter Zeihan  YouTube can entertain, but it can also educate, and I learn from these content providers.  Then, of course, there are all of the "how to grow" videos on potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, zinnias, onions, strawberries, cucumbers, etc., etc., etc.!

  Grandkids Bring Me Joy

I slept over in Berrydale on the 3rd, watching over Galen so Jean and Joel could go to Taproot Theatre and then go shopping for a new bed frame the next day.  He misses his parents dearly when he sees them leave, but in time, I find ways to cheer him up.  The truth is, Luna is the happiest one to see me arrive for each visit.