The Doctor is in.

November 2020

The Holidays Begin Early

My last day of Autumn quarter teaching was November 18th. Our term was adjusted so students would not need to return to campus after a Thanksgiving break.

Happily, Annie found milk-free chocolate chips, so now Charis has become my eager baking partner. I began the cookie baking season with a double batch and a later triple batch of my traditional Chocolate Chip cookies. Another double batch was added on the 27th.

Keeping it "In the Family"

Ron and Teresa Hsu moved this month from their large home in southwest Tacoma to a smaller one just a few miles north.

They could not find room for their six piece custom rosewood dining room china cabinet they'd purchased in Hong Kong, (a real China cabinet!) Nobody in their family wanted it, but they did not want it to leave the "family." So they asked Susan and Nancy, their American sponsor family in the 1950's, if we might like it. Nancy said it would fit in a certain spot in our living room, and agreed to take it.

We helped them move their dining room table and other items, then loaded this huge addition into our van and brought it to Bellevue.

It is much bigger than Nancy thought, but will make a nice addition to our living room and dining room when we get the Library floor done someday.

Nancy Visits
the Doctor

I get annual checkups and see my Endocrinologist every three or four months. But Nancy had not seen a doctor in many years, until this month. Some intermittent headaches, which may have been stress related, prompted this visit.

X-rays on the 27th were taken to try to help understand her difficulty walking. It's long past time we learned what has slowed her down in recent years.

Our Family Veteran

It is my plan to nominate Susan for induction into the West Seattle High School Alumni Hall of Fame.

Her long and distinguished military service counts in her favor, as does her academic success and her professional excellence and responsibilities as a doctor.

Everything is New Once

We don't remember our own toddler years, but we will remember those of Charis.

I added some sugar to the last bit of lemonade and Charis and I made lemon popsicles. I enjoyed mine to show her how good they were. But she was skeptical. It took Annie's encouragement, but soon Charis was enjoying her first popsicle.

For a while, she would only eat the whites of hard boiled eggs, but this month she tried the yokes.

She does not eat dairy or anything with peanuts. Thomas and Annie are very vigilant about those likely health hazards. When Charis is older, she will be retested on these foods.

Who is that Masked Man? The Biden-Harris Ticket Wins in 2020

I actually asked God's forgiveness when I cast my meaningless vote for Donald Trump. I dislike him mightily. But many of his conservative decisions had met with my approval, including his appointments to the Supreme Court. The State of Washington was sure to go for the Biden-Harris Democrat ticket no matter what I did.

"Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those who are bitter of heart. Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more." Proverbs 31:6-7. The rum and water represents my take on the evening. I find that rum is useful on election nights, and necessary every October 21st. Hardly any of the ballot measures or candidates I voted for found support by the majority. And the way the Biden surge appeared late in the vote reporting was both surprising and suspicious. The failure of Referendum 90 against the newest round of State-mandated sex education/indoctrination in public schools was especially sad.

After the vote on November 3rd, I've been at least pleased that President-Elect Biden's Cabinet selections have not been significantly "progressive," so far anyway. And the move up in the Stock Market, buoyed by the news on virus vaccines, has been heartening. At least one of my stocks (CHAMPIONX CORP) reached the limit price I had set, and those 1000 shares sold for a profit. I don't expect the current uptick in the market to last for too much longer.

Thanksgiving in the Season of COVID-19

This Thanksgiving, we embraced social distancing while still finding a way to meet with a few friends and family.

The 13.8 pound turkey was well below the 20+ pound bird I usually get at Safeway. Nancy did another fine job with it. Each family brought something to Susan's house to share. We brought the turkey. Randy brought sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and cookies. Susan brought a vegetable dish. Jean made her usual unusual and tasty sausage stuffing. And Julie Adams brought a cherry pie and another festive holiday cake.

We fellowshipped on Susan's driveway. A few folks stayed to dine at Susan's, but the Bellevue contingent returned home with our share of the contributed dishes and had our holiday meal in our five member (soon-to-be-six) family group.

The day before Thanksgiving, Nathanael drove his family to our place. He, Thomas, and I carried long strips of red oak lumber from the van to the gym. These will help provide the spring in our pending sprung wood gym floor. The plywood that will top these boards went into the garage for now. That floor (along with Baby Disher) will be the highlights of December's Journal.

Jonathan (now going by "Jonny") counts his numbers with excellent pronunciation. Reuben is crawling, and is quickly catching up in weight with his little big brother. I need to get down to Auburn more often so I can enjoy their growing up.

On Thursday, everyone signed Susan's Guest Book, including Charis with an outlined hand.

Luna made a late appearance. It turns out that Susan is in some way allergic to her, so Joel and Jean have begun house hunting a few years earlier than planned. Who knows how the pandemic will impact home sales in the next six months?

No Apple Cup, but a Classic Game

Saturday night the 28th, two nights short of the full moon, the UW Huskies turned a first-half nightmare into a victory for the record books. They were down 21-0 to Utah at halftime at Husky Stadium. But the sleeping Dawgs woke up and shut out the Utes in the second half, scoring their own 24 unanswered points.

SEATTLE (AP) — Dylan Morris hit Cade Otton on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 36 seconds left and Washington rallied from a 21-point halftime deficit to beat Utah 24-21 on Saturday night. Morris was brilliant on Washington’s final drive, taking the Huskies 88 yards in less than four minutes, capping the winning drive by rolling to his left and throwing across his body to find his big tight end. Otton had eight catches for 108 yards and a pair of second-half TD receptions. It was the fifth time in school history Washington rallied from a deficit of 21 or more points to win, and the first since 1989 when the Huskies trailed UCLA 21-0 and rallied for a 28-27 win.

Randy drove me down, after we picked up burgers at Wendy's. We masked up while watching the game. And I got some quality dog time with Amber!

Bits and Pieces

Evergreen Tree Care stopped by this month and greatly reduced the large Box Elder Maple that dominates the west side of our cul-de-sac. It was good that they waited until the leaves had fallen.

Teaching BUS 1700 via Zoom was stressful but eventually successful. Once again, 85% of the class passed, this has been my average since 2015. Alas, this does not include the 11 of 66 students who did not even attempt the exam. Such is the state of education in this pandemic year.

From the New York Post (Saturday, November 28th.) "Sarah Fuller is officially the first. She made history Saturday afternoon in Missouri, becoming the first woman to play in a power-conference college football game. The Vanderbilt place-kicker kicked off to start the second half of Vanderbilt’s game against Missouri, writing her name into the record books. The winless Commodores had yet to give her a chance at a field goal or extra point after being shut out in the first half by mediocre Missouri. The goaltender on the school’s women’s soccer team, Fuller was given a shot on the football team this week after several players were unavailable because they tested positive for COVID-19." (I cried. I have daughters and a granddaughter.)

It's a sign of house building progress that after many years, I've been able to use my whole-house stereo system again. We are listening to FM 106.9 playing Christmas music 24/7 all over the house. I have a control that sends the music to any of five pairs of speakers. "A" Speakers 1. Master bedroom; 2. Family room; 3. 2nd floor exercise room; 4. Basement office; 5. Living room; "B" Speakers, the unfinished Library where the stereo resides near the middle of the first floor.

My Quote from November

"Whatever we believe the goal of life to be, says Aristotle, that is the goal we will want to pursue with our friends. And true friends, friends who love each other for their own sake, see in each other a shared conception of the goal of life. To love my friend’s character is not merely to love certain personality traits, but to love—and to share—that person’s understanding of what the goal of life is. True friends love each other for their own sake, but implicit in that love is a unity of purpose. They are united by a common goal."

Angela McKay Knobel, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Catholic University of America

¹² "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. ¹³ "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ "You are My friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ "No longer o I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. ¹⁷ "This I command you, that you love one another." John 15:12-17 NASB

It Begins! Nancy's Dream Dance Floor

We began building this big house in 1992. Now, 28 years later, we have begun to execute Nancy's dream of a sprung wood floor suitable for practicing ballet.

I've often said that most folks would have put their master suite in this prime south-facing room. As our kids were growing up, we put a 14' trampoline in this room.

This big second floor room (15'x31') has been called the "gym" and the "exercise room." It will become the all-purpose room for the Disher family. No doubt it will soon become a mine field of toddler toys.

Nancy is taking the lead, but my month at home will allow me to help. Once the foundation lattice is complete, plywood will be added. Then professionals will be hired to install the maple hardwood, sand it, and finish it.

Watch for the construction pictures in December.

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