The True Story of Saturday, in Haiku, Written in Real Time

 I.

driving toward downtown

KING FM open house now!

Anne's choice adventure

II.

warning lights on dash,

power steering malfunction,

car creeps forward slowly

III. 

power steering out

warning lights come on, uh... no

acceleration

IV.

quick decision time:

empty asphalt on corner

arms tug steering wheel

V. 

adults discuss what

steps should be taken right now.

speedy decisions

VI.

end of adventure

Anne's preplanned trip won't happen.

change experience...

VII.

sunny afternoon

stuck near an intersection

car is broken down

VIII.

kids and I in car

Jared takes off walking home:

four and a half miles

IX.

the kids are quite bored

tablet and smartphone handy

patience is restored

X.

I get bored.  Thinking...

How to occupy my mind?

...blank book on the seat...

XI.

count and classify

automobiles by color?

by make?  by model?

XII.

that seems untidy.

timing samples is awkward.

I might miss some cars.

XIII.

inspiration hits!

writing haiku fits the bill.

creativity...

XIV.

neighborhood: not home

two cannabis dens in view

gas stations busy

XV.

cars, cars on the road

combustion engines burn fuel

raping the planet

XVI.

bouncer at the weed shop

it's twenty-one and older.

he's checking IDs

XVII.

watch occasional pedestrians

is this spot home?  or are they

merely passing through?

XVIII.

Native man walks by

knapsack, sleep bag, umbrella

here, ancestral home?

XIX.

he waits for the bus.

did his folks await salmon

down hill for ages?

XX.

boredom strikes again

the offspring shift to the trunk

change of scenery

XXI.

Jared calls my phone

no house key on his person

retrace walk to car

XXII.

I kick myself for

forgetting.  I have house key.

knew he needed it.

XXIII.

a car at the light

what is life like for its driver?

rap music blasting.

XXIV.

is rap a vital

sensory experience?

get into the groove?

XXV.

does rap connect him

to the experiences

of his home culture?

XXVI.

does loud music dull

the pain of generations

dragged by oppression?

XXVII.

does the rap pump up

his heart rate and give him

the feel of power?

XXVIII.

Jared has returned.

I hand him the house key now.

again walking home.

XXIX.

again, restlessness

two devices for three kids

taking turns is hard

XXX.

sipping from my jar

Tiger Tea I brought from home

assuages my thirst

XXXI.

extra snacks in back

I'm not always this prepared

thank Divinity

XXXII.

the tea fills me up

can I wait 'til Jared's back

to pee behind shrubs?

XXXIII.

he'll drive his car here

we'll install the kids' car seats

aggravating, hot!

XXXIV.

women in costume

are they going to smoke pot?

convenience store trip?

XXXV.

fit woman jogging

baby in jogging stroller

green belt down the hill

XXXVI.

grown man on skateboard

skating here regularly?

fun mode of transport

XXXVII.

hill in front of us

modular homes on the crest

their view: gravel mine

XXXVIII.

on Earlington Hill

old forest is mostly gone

bland architecture

XXXVIX.

airplanes fly by low

south approach to Boeing Field

causing excitement

XL.

kids talking to me,

electronics, traffic noise:

auditory fog

XLI.

Jared calls from home

tow companies and car shops

how can we decide?

XLII.

time to call tow truck

what shop can fix a Volvo?

car is new to us

XLIII.

brain fog decisions

I politely end the call

we made our best guess

XLIV.

Laurel feels left out

she wants to engage but I 

can't pull my mind out

XLV.

crow on cement blocks

strutting and searching for food

it's a survivor

XLVI.

cars keep streaming past

where is everyone headed?

where were we going?

XLVII.

phone rings - action time

tow truck is on the way now

time to unload the car

XLVIII.

bladder full of tea

abandoned lot had campfires

others have peed here

IL.

was this once a house

set in a large, quiet yard?

now overgrown, loud.

L.

man watching us now

we look out of place right here

minds his own business

LI.

loud honk!  tow truck's here.

we step aside.  traffic waits.

big red truck backs in.

LII.

friendly driver asks

can I turn the car around?

steering shakes mighty!

LIII.

Jared is back now.

parked in an apartment lot

starts transferring stuff

LIV.

hydraulic bed tips

clattering of chains.  hook up.

diesel engine throbs

LV.

watching in bright sun

he pulls our car up the ramp

Laurel wants his job

LVI.

driving through Skyway

houses with views of Rainier

quiet place to live

LVII.

downtown Renton drive

GPS led us astray

at last, the car shop

LVIII.

closed, it's after hours

tow truck driver helps Jared

get our car dropped off

LIX.

eldest is anxious

nothing is working out right

needs recreation!

LX.

large trees at Boein

Renton campus is quiet

breezy parking lot

LXI.

driver is so kind

he was born far, far away

what brought him here?

LXII.

he has a story

a whole long life of his own

now he drives a truck

LXIII.

lonely SUV

left for the weekend alone

they'll call us Monday

LXIV.

back in our own hood

stopped at our park to play some

visit with our friends

LXV.

it could have been worse:

no snacks, no electronics,

stuck on the freeway

LXVI.

what if it had rained?

and we were far, far from home?

best of a bad deal.

Late Summer Adventures

I get messages from time to time from my parents documenting my grandmother's health.  She lives with them and is almost 106.  So of course, she is not as spry as she once was.  One message sent to me in late June seemed dramatic enough that it was time to overcome all the hurdles and visit as soon as possible.  So in very short order, without even time to consult with Jared, I was in the process of booking a flight for the kids and me in late August.  Things fell into place.  My sister offered us a place to stay so we would not breathe any airplane germs on the elders while unmasked or disrupt the cat rescue colony, judiciously and carefully housed in apartments through my parents' living spaces.  The weather dropped from the 100s to the 90s, making our outdoors anti-covid visiting style more feasible.  My parents ordered a wading pool, making it pleasant....  It was good to see them all again after a three-year hiatus! 

...That was the first adventure we prepared for logistically during Staycation/PreparationWeek, and it had a month-and-a-half lead time. 

(Side observation - my mother and sister both live in House Beautiful,  filled with antiques and vintage pieces with meaning, custom built-ins created by the people who live in those houses for specific thought-out uses, organizational systems that work, and colorful artistic expression.  By contrast, I live in an episode of Hoarders, disorganized to the max, and extremely not clean at all times.  One could blame this on my children, but it is not too different from my bedroom growing up, or in my apartment before Jared and I married.)

The second adventure we prepped for zipped in unexpectedly a week before the school was to start.  Which is to say, I had quietly put Anne's name in the lottery for a charter school back in February,  and she was seventh on the wait list for fourth grade, so I pretty much forgot all about it. And then on a recent Friday afternoon while I was out on some errands, I got a text message that Anne had been admitted and we had until 4 pm Monday to fill out all the paperwork if she wanted to attend.  She was in Oregon with grandparents at the time, and there was a lot of phone calling and discussion and more discussion, and then some more.  She was very enthusiastic to try it, and after we retrieved her from out of state, I filled out paper work and more paper work, and we tracked down uniform clothes.  And she missed the first five days due to the Texas trip.  I hope this school is a good fit for her, and I met her teacher ahead of time to to to let her know about Anne's strengths and possible extra needs.  We did leave Anne a much needed out - if we try for a while and it doesn't do, she can enroll at the neighborhood school instead or return to homeschool.  There are some unfortunate changes to her beloved after-school program, due to the end of a grant, so that is less of a cushion for her...

And, in that same week, Jared was offered an opportunity to backpack the Wonderland Trail at Mt. Rainier, by some strangers on the internet.  I say that last bit, because it sounds funny and mysterious,  but actually Jared has long dreamed of hiking it and is part of an online group dedicated to sharing photos and advice for the trip.  He spent Staycation/Preparation Week researching and purchasing gear, figuring out how to pack/cook vegan-whole-foods meals for a very hungry hiker (himself), sorting out how all the equipment works, and adding a hiking pack to his daily exercise for practice.  The trail is around 92 miles, and the group of six was permitted for a 10-day outing.   This is all at elevation, of course, with something resembling 4000-foot ascents and descents daily.  He had a tiny bit of cell reception at the wilderness camp last night on the east side, so he sent some stunning pictures.  He returns home late Saturday night.

Our new school year schedule is much denser and trickier than what has gone before, and I am glad it will phase in stages.  During the Texas trip, I adjusted the kids' and my sleep schedules from night owl mode to early-to-bed-early-to-rise (NOT my natural way of being!).  We get two school days for Anne without any teaching here, and I am trying to work into our new eating and food-prep and chore schedule.  Then we get a long weekend.  After that comes a four-day week where Jared and I phase in the first three days of the new teaching schedule (I am teaching MORE hours.)  The week after that is a five-day with our full teaching schedule, and Lazarus will start school (his is twice a week in Bellevue, and Anne's is in Tukwila).  If Anne does the after school program which literally saved our family this year, it won't phase in until mid-October....  At that point, it will just be survival until next summer.

I am trying to work out a few systems to make some things happen more easily.  I am a more out-of-the-box, impulse-driven person whose systems are somewhat internal, and I don't like being trapped by schedules and imposed routine. But survival requires some things to be easier, more accessible, and more predictable.   Ask me in a few months how that is going.  Or don't...