First Zoo Visit

Watching the sea lion

Looking at one of the chimps with Grampa

All four of the zoo's chimps are older than I am.

Female mandrill eating some greens

Peering at the male mandrill

This chimp was drinking out of a cup, climbing, and eating a turnip.

Amazonian lizard

This elephant kept using its trunk to dump dirt on its back.  Anne wanted it to brush the dirt off.

Four lions who looked utterly at home.

A wild cat from Africa with amazing ears

Wild African dog

Look at its beautiful fur!

A very close encounter with a cheetah - only glass between them

Busy building a nest in a tree overhead

"Tiger.  Naptime.  Shh."

Polar bear

Cougar grooming its enormous paws

The river otters were Anne's favorites - they were incredibly active!

Native Northwest fish

Mosaic of the salmon's life cycle

Sleeping black bear

1st Thanksgiving

Yesterday, whether by accident or design, and I'm not sure which, Jared and I gave each other the day off.  Jared did several loads of laundry, which is normally my job, and I cooked, which is normally what he does.  To be fair, I do often make breakfast on Sunday, because I'm somewhat addicted to my Sunday morning pancakes.  But I also made dinner, and this is virtually unheard of in the last couple of years.  However, that was due to the fact that dinner preparation was part of the party.

We had planned to have Thanksgiving with Jeffrey and Linda this weekend while we were all available in the same location, but my brother didn't make it back from his business trip as early as he hoped he would.  So Linda showed up yesterday at 4:00-ish, and we made the first Thanksgiving dinner of the season.  This involved a trip for the two of us to Target, because I had not made it over the farm stand for the sweet potatoes.  Target isn't quite as romantic, of course, but it is closer.  Oh well.

So... Linda provided the chips and dip for snacking while cooking (a very necessary contribution).

And she also made a lovely butternut squash soup, using an immersion blender.  This is an extremely useful device which I do not possess, but if I feel like going out and buying a gadget some day, it will be this one.  We have enough soups around here which are supposed to be pureed, but aren't because neither of us feels like dumping out the pot in batches into the food processor and then back again without burning off our fingers and making an enormous mess.

I made cornbread-pecan stuffing, although Jared had made the batch of cornbread the previous day, so I can't claim complete authorship on this one.  I also made the sweet potato casserole (no marshmallows, but it had pineapple, which I would argue is much yummier), heated up the canned green beans from Jared's parents' garden, and mixed up the frozen fruit dessert.

Linda and I tag-teamed on the pumpkin bars.  The name doesn't do them justice.  Imagine a nice, chewy chocolate brownie with chopped walnuts.  Then switch out the chocolate for warm, sweet pumpkin flavor, still with the little walnut crunches.  Then you'll get the idea.

We forgot to do anything with cranberries.  Boo.  Otherwise, I'd say it was a success.  Oh, and Anne was sleeping for most of the dinner prep, so I had actual adult-friend time with another female.  Anne was quite pleased to see Linda after her nap and happily dug through her purse to find her smart phone so she could look at her pictures.

Star Wars

I had a vivid dream last night.

I was sitting with my family around the kitchen table in the home I grew up in.  It was night time, maybe after dinner.  We started hearing explosions and looked out the window.  NASA was launching rockets that even my brother (who is in real life a rocket engineer) didn't know they had.  We turned on the news.  There was an enormous story on.  Astronomers had detected some sort of dangerously large star-like object on a collision course with earth, and the US President was doing everything possible to prevent impact; impact would mean utter devastation and destruction and extinction.  People were going wild - either aligning in panic with different factions who had scientific hopes of averting disaster, or joining crazed religious cults which were springing up out of nowhere and gaining popularity by the minute.  Everyone was wild with fear; the world had gone absolutely and completely nuts.

However, I and some others had an inkling about that star, and we were not worried at all.  NASA wasn't going to put a dent in it, and although it was clear to us, too,  that mass destruction was imminent, it wasn't in quite the way our alarmist friends were imagining...

Flash back with me a little over two-thousand years to a scene described in Ellen White's five-volume set called The Great Controversy series.  In the book called The Desire of Ages, there's a passage which says:

The wise men had seen a mysterious light in the heavens upon that night when the glory of God flooded the hills of Bethlehem.  As the light faded, a luminous star appeared, and lingered in the sky.  It was not a fixed star or planet, and the phenomenon excited the keenest interest.  That star was a distant company of shining angels, but of this the wise men were ignorant.  Yet they were impressed that the star was of special import to them.  They consulted priests and philosophers, and searched the scrolls of the ancient records.  The prophecy of Balaam had declared, "A Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel."  Num. 24:17.  Could this strange star have been sent as a harbinger of the Promised One?  The magi had welcomed the light of heaven-sent truth; now it was shed upon them in brighter rays.  Through dreams they were instructed to go in search of the newborn Prince.

That was the background of an ancient and important star - a sign of hope and healing and fulfilled promises.  However, our alarmist friends were right to be alarmed.  There's this passage from The Great Controversy (the final book in the Ellen White series) about a future star:

Said the prophets of old, as they beheld in holy vision the day of God: "Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty."  Isaiah 13:6.  "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty.  The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.  For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low."  "In that day a man shall cast the idols of his silver, and the idols of his gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the earth."  Isaiah 2:10-12, 20, 21 margin.
Through a rift in the clouds there beams a star whose brilliancy is increased fourfold in contrast with the darkness.  It speaks hope and joy to the faithful, but severity and wrath to the transgressors of God's law.

And there's also this verse in Paul's Second Letter to the Thessalonians:

And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 

Flashing back again to a time thirty-something years after that first star, there's this bit from Luke's book The Acts of the Apostles:

After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.  As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them.  "Men of Galilee," they said, "why are you standing here staring into heaven?  Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!"

And flashing forward once more to the ending of The Great Controversy:

Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of a man's hand.  It is the cloud which surrounds the Savior and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness.  The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man.  In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant.  Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror.  Not now a "Man of Sorrows," to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe, He comes, victor in heaven and earth, to judge the living and the dead.  "Faithful and True," "in righteousness He doth judge and make war."  And "the armies which were in heaven" (Revelation 19:11, 14) follow Him.  With anthems of celestial melody the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, attend Him on His way.  The firmament seems filled with radiant forms - "ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands."  No human pen can portray the scene; no mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor.  "His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise.  And His brightness was the light."  Habakkuk 3:3, 4.  As the living cloud comes still nearer, every eye beholds the Prince of life.  No crown of thorns now mars that sacred head; but a diadem of glory rests on His holy brow.  His countenance outshines the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun.  "And he Has on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords."  Revelation 19:16.  

In my dream I knew there was going to be a lot of inconceivable terror and insanity while the star was on its way in the next days and weeks, but it was our beacon of hope, and soon we would see our King, our Lord, our Prince of Peace, our Counselor, our Father, our Comforter, and our Friend face to face.  That hope would sustain us.

Dissecting the bug

So, as I mentioned last week, all three of us fell prey to food poisoning between Thursday and Friday.  Linda and Jeffrey came and helped me out while I was down Thursday evening.  We cleaned out the fridge big time after we recovered.   End of story.

Or not.

Linda called on Saturday to say she was in bed with a horrible stomach bug and couldn't go with us to the Seattle Symphony Concert that night.  Hmmm....  Two days after exposure and she was down.  Was it really a virus?

I hypothesized it was, and that meant with a two-day turn around time, someone we'd seen last Tuesday was sick.  Tuesday morning I'd been to Bible study.  And then all three of us went to Gig Harbor for our seaside teaching day.

Suspicions confirmed when we returned to Gig Harbor yesterday for our next seaside teaching day.  The S. family's oldest son got sick on Wednesday, and both parents and two of the three other brothers got sick on Thursday.  And the B. family's youngest daughter got sick first, and then the other three kids and the mother all got it in the next days.  This thing was quick and gruesome and knocked out almost everyone who was exposed.  So I was thinking about, who brought it to Lesson Day and why didn't other families get it?

A little more hypothesizing, and I think I have a pretty good scenario worked out.  The oldest S. boy brought it home from school on Monday, where many of his classmates had been ill.  He spread it to all of the other members of his family, and they were all contagious immediately without realizing it.  They came to lessons on Tuesday early afternoon, and Anne played with all four of their kids and their mom, becoming contagious immediately and spreading it to me.  And later in the evening, the B. family came, and Anne played with their two youngest kids, also spreading it to them.  Good work, Anne!  Fortunately, she was napping during the lessons of the L. kids, and didn't play with Q.'s baby brother, so I think those two families were spared.  As was the family whose home we were in, and the other two families who came to our Under Construction Studio Recital that evening.  One more family I wonder about, and I'll probably never know.  That was the family of my pageant consult student.  She and her mom and her two aunts came to her lesson, and Anne happily sat on the laps of the three adults and played with them just after infecting family B.  However, it was Pageant Consult's last lesson as her pageant was scheduled for Saturday, so I doubt I'll ever hear from her again.  I sure hope that she and her entourage weren't all lying on the floor moaning instead of participating in her competition....

Anyway, as you can see from my amazing sleuthing abilities, I am almost ready to apply for a prestigious position at the CDC in Atlanta.  ;-)  And I'm wondering about how I can possibly get my child to wash her hands in a way that would actually involve enough soap and scrub time to rid her of germs and also prevent her from touching her face or putting her hands in her mouth.  As a breast-fed toddler, she was the least sick of any of the people who got this, but she sure did a good job of sharing germs.  Arghhh.

The day I broke my practice (16+ months, every day) and running (3+ months, every day) streaks

This was Wednesday:

It has been sunny and chilly the last couple of days. Starting yesterday morning it was shockingly windy. We lost power for 14 hours overnight here. We saw a 50-foot tree lose its top half on our walk last night (we were bundled up in our ski attired). And this morning Anne got to stomp on the ice in the parking lot. Not quite the winter fun of our Rochester days, but I think we have to get Anne broken into the idea of snowshoeing in the cold gradually. She's decided she LIKES wearing a hat and mittens now.

Thursday was Stomach Bug Day.  It may have been food poisoning.  Anne barfed a couple of times in the morning and then took a rather long nap on the sofa, after which she seemed fine.  Jared was ok-ish all day until the middle of the night.  I was pretty well incapacitated all day, and neither adult feels too great today.  I've been able to keep down some water and diluted apple juice, so that's pretty much a victory.  It's been a few years since I have been so sick.  Anyway, enough of the gory details.  

Here were the good bits:  Normally on Thursdays I teach two lessons and group class, and those had already been cancelled and/or rescheduled, so I was off the hook - I had a paid sick day!  Except I was supposed to be accompanying our studio recital.  Fortunately, it was the easier one as far as piano parts go, so Jared was able to practice the parts and accompany everyone while I lay in bed comatose.  Also, while Jared was gone for five hours for work, including the recital, Jeff and Linda were able to come by after they got off work to help us out a bit.  They got Anne some snacks and water, they got me some water, they changed Anne's diaper, and they fed the cat - all things I was not capable of doing myself.  Anne was a real trooper, and she spent several hours happily playing on the bed next to me, although she had a melt-down when I told her I couldn't get her any blueberries or take her outside to play.  At some point she took her big bear into the bathroom, and I have no idea what they were doing in there, but I heard the toilet flush several times.  No one drowned and there were no floods, so I didn't sweat it.  The best moment of the admittedly not-so-good day was when Anne climbed up next to me on the bed, carefully dug through the bedclothes, drew out the drawstring from my pants, and with great intention and joy pronounced, "Snake!"  I think the child is a humorist.

A few quick highlights

...of the week...

Friday and Saturday we had sunny, clear skies.
Here are a couple of photo from our little walk at Soos Creek Trail just a couple miles east of our apartment:

And this was last night's sunset, snapped from a stop light on the way home.  It didn't look quite like this  in real life - actually it was more amazing, but this is still worth the view:

Anne is 19 months old now.  Here's a silly picture from church:

I've been thinking about a little opinion piece that my friend in Huntsville posted on facebook about going to church looking to bless others rather than to be blessed.  Lots of practical ideas about how to greet and welcome people (even if you're introverted!).  I made a point to greet some people I didn't know at church yesterday, and I have to say church was a better experience than often.  I grew up being part of the family who always left church last, because we were making a point to meet all the visitors and make them feel welcome and were chatting with the other family friends.  I've gotten away from that and more into the show up slightly late and leave as soon as possible mode, and I don't like it.

I was in a fender bender on Wednesday on the way to Gig Harbor.  I was so grateful that Anne wasn't with me, that neither I or the other driver were hurt, and that my first student was able to wait for me to arrive and we still had a full lesson.  I'm going to have to have my two right side doors repaired, and I had to order a new driver's license since I managed to lose mine between when the police came and took down all my information and when I got to work...  Mainly I felt grateful for the aforementioned items, and I felt so badly for the other driver whose boss had just sent her out to the corner store to get him a beverage, when she hit me.  She was borrowing a car and was uninsured, and she got a ticket for failure to yield.  It was not a good afternoon for her.  I kind of wanted to go give her a hug, but for better or for worse, I restrained myself.  Her boss showed up and gave her a hug, so at least someone was on the ball.

Last night Anne stayed with a babysitter, and Jared and I went to hear the Seattle Symphony for the first time.  Highlights included hearing Jennifer Koh play Esa-Pekka Salonen's 2009 Violin Concerto and going back during the intermission to visit with a former classmate of ours we hadn't seen in ten years.  Also, I spotted next weekend's soloist in the audience, and I was thinking it was probably a real treat for him to just go and enjoy a concert, because I imagine he's always running and doesn't usually have that luxury.  Next weekend I'm slated to go with Linda and Jeffrey to hear him.

This is studio recital week: one today, one Tuesday, and one Thursday.  Also, this evening we have the strings-only rehearsal for the Christmas Messiah we're playing November 30th.  Looking forward to it!

Also, in nerdy tidbits, remember how I found a ludicrous text I'd written at the age of thirteen-ish of what should be required for a child to be confirmed in the church?  Well, I've still been using the same notebook, and I flipped to the next page to continue my note taking and found this:

This must date from the same era.  I don't know if this is an actual Runic text I copied or if I made it up myself.  Either way, it's fun to look at, and I assume it says something if I could break the code.  Too bad I didn't leave myself a Rosetta Stone!

Autumn in the Willamette Valley

(It's pronounced will-AM-ett.)

The front circle drive

Trotting down the road with Grampa.  She marched at least half a mile.  Made for a good nap later!

Tree out the living room window

The blueberry bushes are turning.

The clover is just sprouting.

Looking at sheep with Grampa

Helping pick apples and kiwis

We spent another lovely weekend with Jared's parents.  The ground is turning so green now that the rainy season is on in this very fertile valley between mountain ranges.  The leaves are particularly colorful this year.  A little drizzle never slowed Oregonians down.