The Big Blue House Adds an Even Bluer Metal Roof
 
On Tuesday morning the 17th, the new roofing materials and the huge dumpster for the old roof and other construction debris arrived and were deposited on our driveway.  Frank, Tony (left), and Shelby (right) all made careful deliveries.

We appeared to hit a providential (and rare) patch of good weather for the first few days of installation of our new metal roof.

The roofers missed a sunny day on the 18th as the crew chief was not feeling well.  José and his crew began removing the old roof on Thursday the 19th.  They worked into the night, stopping about 7:40 PM.  A surprise overnight rain greeted the crew on Friday with a wet roof. 

On Friday, Nancy had me install a 12 gauge Romex wire that can be used to tap off of one of our Great Room ceiling lights to power a new remote controlled skylight.  The skylight will be solar powered, but she wanted the option to make it wired if needed sometime in the future.  Crawling around on a steep roof on new plywood was exhausting.  We agreed to allow the replacement of the plywood underlayment, an additional cost, when Nancy saw the condition of the old roof once the shingles were removed.  Fortunately, this was only needed on the highest roof. 

Saturday morning found Nancy on the roof working on the new Great Room skylight location.  The four- man Hispanic crew worked a shorter day, as required by code, but still finished reroofing the garage.  Some days, the crew was as large as six men.

On Sunday, Nancy, Annie, and I worked on the new skylight space, especially making sure the ventilating air flow around it would be sufficient.

The roofing crew returned on Monday.  We were pleased to learn that the garage roof and the roof over the first floor (west side of the house) did not need to have it's plywood sheathing replaced.  These two spaces had plenty of ventilation to keep the plywood dry from below.

Rain on Tuesday the 24th meant no progress by the work crew, but Nancy was able to continue her work on the skylight hole.

On Wednesday, the east side of the top floor roof was finished, and work began on the west side.

The crew continued to work through the weekend, including Sunday when they finished installing the last panel of standing seam metal roofing.  They returned on Monday the 30th to clean up around the yard, but the project won't be finished until a custom ridge has been fabricated and installed at the top of the house.

A September-October Birthday Party

Our September party at Susan's was postponed until October 1st.  Thomas and Nathanael were off LARPing, and the Pastrick and Sitte families begged off due to sick kids.  (It seems with ten grandchildren, one or more is always down with something.)  I too picked up a deep cough late in the month.

Julie Adams had just returned from a trip to Ireland and Randy stopped by on his way home from a week at Ocean Shores. Tramoya and Nailani joined us too. 

Annie made a Charis-safe chocolate cake and Julie and Tramoya also brought fancy cakes.  Nailani was delighted when she discovered her unicorn-themed cake.  (My glucose number the next morning after cake even after a baked potato for dinner was an acceptable 133, considering the non-diet.)

With the dads absent, the main job of protecting the kids from each other and making sure the toys got picked up fell to me.  I'm not keen on preparing the meal and cleaning up after it.

Eclipse Weekend in Berrydale

After driving Thomas and the girls to meet Annie at Seattle Christian School on the 13th, I headed on to Jean and Joel's.  I'd promised to dog and cat sit on the weekend of the 14th so that they could visit friends.  The Dishers, for their part, continued down to Dallas, Oregon to visit Grampy and Grammy for the weekend.

Joel bought three 16 oz. ribeye steaks and showed me how to cook them on their high-tech grill.  I love steak but recall that my last one was probably pre-COVID at a business school retirement dinner.  I had one on Friday night and another again on Saturday night.  So good!

Glyph and Verin had been recently neutered and spayed respectively, thus the cones.  But as I fed them, they both let me pet them on this visit.

 Galen and I enjoyed some good playtime.

The highlight of the weekend was the #7 Washington Huskies win over the #8 Oregon Ducks 36-33 at Husky Stadium.  Both teams came into the game undefeated. 
(I had to listen on the radio since the Sittes don't watch TV that's not streamed.)

This was the weekend of the rare annular solar eclipse.  I had initially thought to join the Dishers in Oregon to try to photograph it.  Laurie and Tom drove down to New Mexico so that they could enjoy the event.  Once again, Laurie got amazing pictures.  The Seattle area was only able to see 80% of the eclipse.  Had I stayed in Bellevue, I would have had clear skies, but near Covington I got nothing (left) through the haze shooting at 1/4000th of a second.  But when I turned around,
I could watch the eclipse in the reflection on Jean and Joel's dining room window.  Laurie used special software to create her composite eclipse pictures.

Bob Rutherford, UW Crew Letterman

It's hard to believe that Nancy's much loved dad passed away 33 years ago.  I always remember his 1990 passing.  He was with us to celebrate my doctorate, an effort he strongly encouraged, but passed two months later.

With the forthcoming The Boys in the Boat movie coming out on Christmas Day, I let my siblings know that Bob had also rowed Husky Crew.  I certainly cried watching the movie trailer.  Indeed, it will be an American version of Chariots of Fire, except with hated Nazis.

Susan tracked down the 1942 Tyee, his UW senior yearbook.  He earned his two varsity letters in 1941 and 1942.  He rowed on the lightweight eight, a team of those under 150 pounds.  He is fourth from the left in the team photo.  Due to the war, his crew only got to race once in 1942, easily defeating Oregon State.

He volunteered for the Marine Corps when he was assured they would allow him to remain at the UW to graduate six months after December 7, 1941.  Other services were likely to draft him outright.  With his B.S. in Geology, he was placed on the officer track and ended the war as a Marine Major.  During his service in the Pacific, he was in charge of the motor pool on the same island that Marine Corps fighter ace Gregory "Pappy" Boyington flew from.

Toward the end of the war, Bob was transferred to Washington D.C. to help improve the whole Marine Corps motor vehicle area.  Before he returned to Seattle, he won Lieutenant Grace Virginia "Ginger" Uhthoff.  Rev. Peter Marshall, then Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, performed their wedding in the Lincoln Chapel of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in December 1945.  Ginger was also a varsity athlete.  That's the ultimate understatement since she was the 1944 US Women’s Collegiate National Fencing Champion.  

FYI -- The Huskies won their 19th national men's rowing championship in 2021.  They were 2nd this year.

Grandkids Corner

I've gotten to spend more time with Irene this month, her ninth.  While the roofing crew was pounding on the roof on the 20th, she fell asleep on my chest in her play area in the Great Room.

"Trunk of Treat" at Bellevue Presbyterian Church was held on Saturday the 21st.  Charis and Valerie dressed as their favorite Disney characters, Elsa and Anna from the Frozen movie.  Irene went as a pumpkin.  I went as a Husky fan.  We met Tramoya and Nailani, a little unicorn, there as planned.  I mentioned to Tramoya that since all the kids call me "Grandpa," if Nailani starts doing that too, I'm good with that.  Tramoya, a single mom, liked hearing that.

I was helping Annie keep track of the girls since this was a second weekend this month that Thomas and Nathanael went LARPing.

Bits and Pieces 

Seahawks rookie Devon Witherspoon #21 was a star in prime time on Monday Night Football against the NY Giants on the 2nd.  Along with two sacks, Witherspoon ran back an interception 97 yard for a touchdown.  The team as a whole had 11 sacks which tied a franchise record.  The Seahawks won 24-3 to go 3-1 on the young season.  Nancy drove me down to Don and Judy's house to watch the game on ESPN and to enjoy Don's halftime dinner. By the end of the month, Seattle led the NFC West as San Francisco lost three consecutive games.

While stopping by West Seattle High School, I decided to shoot some photos of the school.  I noticed this potluck  gathering of students and parents and correctly guessed its purpose.  The body types of the athletes gave it away.  I confirmed my guess by talking with one of the dads present.  It was the team dinner for the Cross Country teams, both boys and girls.  I couldn't help but share that I was the team captain fifty years ago!  Perhaps they should not have partied the evening before the Metro Championships.  The boys finished 10th out of 15 teams.  (At least Chief Sealth finished last.)  The girls finished 7th out of 12 schools. 

At a Trafalgar Night banquet or dinner, a speech is usually made by a guest of honor who ends it with a toast to "The Immortal Memory ..." (The rest of the wording of the toast varies depending on what is said in the speech). On October 21, 2005 (the 200th anniversary), at such a dinner the traditional toast was given by Queen Elizabeth II:
"The Immortal Memory of Lord Nelson and those who fell with him." 

          He took a swallow. This was not issue three-water grog, but neat spirit, and its burning progress to his stomach
          took his breath away. He surfaced with a grin. “A right true drop!”   

I too enjoyed "a right true drop" as Thomas Kydd called it, in honor of Admiral Lord Nelson on the 21st, the 218th anniversary of his death.

I had the great good fortune to choose Dr. David Madsen as my doctoral advisor when I pursued that last degree between 1983 and 1989.  Indeed, it would be hard to imagine having a better advisor and mentor.  Not only had he been the Registrar at the University of Chicago where he earned his own Ph.D. in Education, but he also published a book that was my guide to completing my own degree.  I owe him much for helping me win the Gordon C. Lee Award (along with Nancy's priceless editorial help). He wrote the book on how to write the dissertation.  Successful Dissertations and Theses: A Guide to Graduate Student Research from Proposal to Completion. 

Dr. Madsen's own dissertation was on the history of the proposed founding of a National University for the U.S.A.  I had two history of education classes from him, one on the history of education as a Masters student and the second on the history of the university as a Doctoral student.

My Quote from October

“For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.” ― Plato

“What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do.” ― Aristotle

“You have power over your mind, not outside events.

Realize this, and you will find strength.” ― Marcus Aurelius

“Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.” ― Seneca

(Apparently, these philosophers had never heard of Total Depravity.)

¹⁷ "Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
¹⁸ For he wounds, but he also binds up;
he injures, but his hands also heal.

Job 5:17-18 NIV