What did you do on your second-to-last day off for your new baby? This morning at 9:00 I drove Laurel and Nutmeg and Feathers to the vet and wrangled us all inside. Afterward I ran a short errand which involved hauling Laurel's seat back and forth. We came home for an hour and dropped off the cats. After I listened to my sister manage Anne's cello practice (I want to put her on our business payroll!) I took all three kids to drop Anne off at school. This involves a 1/4 mile hike each way in the hills carrying both the newborn and the two-year-old. I came home and handed Lazarus off to Jared for their run, and got right back in the car with Black Bean. Headed to the vet with the third cat and the baby again. I made it home just in time to let one of my students who was pulling up know that there was no lesson today. After a little while stabilizing Lazarus post-nap, off we went to get Anne at school. Same hike/carry story as above. Drove down the hill to the store for cat food and litter. And finally home around 5:15 for the evening. Four hours in the car wrangling lots of small dependents. Maybe not the best scheduling choice of my life...
But I promised amazing musicians. In the last couple years we have heard three young female conductors leading the Seattle Symphony. I wrote about the first some time ago. The other two we have seen this year - Karina Canellakis and Ruth Reinhardt. Both of these women were easily some of the best conductors we have ever heard. They brought out inner structures in the music and found the depth of the composers' emotions, while creating great clarity in voicing and rhythmic flow. It occurs to me that since conducting has been such a male dominated field for so long, for women to make it to the top, they must be better than good - truly stunning, in fact. I'd love to hear them again any day.
This past weekend we witnessed a violinist whom I'd never heard of before. Alina Ibragimova played the dark and complex Second Concerto of Shostakovich. The sounds she created with her bow from the first note were rich, creative, and compelling. She used such a palate of articulations to make the music speak. She interacted with the orchestra like a chamber musician. Her intonation was pure and piercing, and her choice to play some fifths perfectly!!!! in tune without vibrato was haunting. She captured the thoughts and feelings of a composer who experienced hell on earth and kept going with aplomb. She was possibly the most technically flawless violinist I have ever heard in my life, but it was all in service to communicating an incredible and abstract story.
Makes you wonder what you're doing with your life, but moreso it's a chance to truly appreciate the intersection of intelligence, emotion, education, love, dedication, and hard work.
Showing posts with label Cats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cats. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Friday, March 2, 2018
Cat Siege
For a couple of weeks there, we were under siege with Black Bean. It was the proverbial straw breaking the camel's back, but I think we are under control again.
Black Bean, just to clarify, is our almost 11-year-old cat. Who. Hates. Change. Like moving. He's moved five separate times. And he doesn't like a change of routine. He was doing OK with our move to Renton. Not great, but ok. In addition to being in the new place, we weren't able to do our nightly separate-and-feed routine since we don't have any closing doors in the house. And we reduced the number of litter boxes due to less closet space. But he was hanging in there.
There is a slope to our bathroom floor. The cats swipe litter out of their box in the corner. It's gross. But it gets grosser, because the kids splash bathwater out of the tub, and despite all our efforts, it runs into that same corner. And then we have wet cat litter mash which turns into incorrigible cat litter crust. So my brilliant idea a couple of weeks ago was to switch over to a top-entry litter box. It would keep Lazarus out AND the litter in. I spent some time digging through our plastic storage containers in the garage and found the perfect specimen in a Rubbermaid box. I traced a circle on the lid at one end and carefully cut it out and sanded the edges. I filled it with clean litter and replaced our icky box. Voila, perfect. I tried to do a few things to help Black Bean make the transition.
All I can say is, he must have held it for two days. And then he let us know what he thought. He peed and pooped the sleeper sofa within an inch of its life in the night. And also the clean laundry waiting to be folded. And also the throw pillows. And also the rug and the closet curtain in the same room. So on Valentines day, Jared and I hauled that horrible, odoriferous, and heavy sofa out to the garage before teaching. After teaching we hauled that horrible thing back into the laundry room. I rented a Rug Doctor and the kids and I cleaned it within an inch of its life. And we did it again the next morning before teaching.
Needless to say, that despite our efforts, Black Bean was not done pooping on the sofa and the rug. Not for nearly two more weeks. We used at least half a gallon of ensyme cleaner. And then we had a new routine at night. Cover the sofa with our old shower curtain. Run a box fan under it to create a wind tunnel. Roll up the rug and lean it against the wall. Feed the cats in that room to remind them it was a dinner spot, not a toilet...
In the mean time we brought back the litter box which produces the crust and stuck it in its old spot. And added another litter box by the hot water heater in the laundry room. And Jared has been feeding Black Bean canned snacks throughout the day and night. A pain? Yes, but it's better than cleaning upholstery!
Anyway, the odor is gone. Last weekend, the kids and I deep treated the rug and the sofa with vinegar water and baking soda. Messy. And magical.
Last night I had the courage to leave the sofa uncovered and rug unrolled. So far so good. Things are looking up.
Black Bean, just to clarify, is our almost 11-year-old cat. Who. Hates. Change. Like moving. He's moved five separate times. And he doesn't like a change of routine. He was doing OK with our move to Renton. Not great, but ok. In addition to being in the new place, we weren't able to do our nightly separate-and-feed routine since we don't have any closing doors in the house. And we reduced the number of litter boxes due to less closet space. But he was hanging in there.
There is a slope to our bathroom floor. The cats swipe litter out of their box in the corner. It's gross. But it gets grosser, because the kids splash bathwater out of the tub, and despite all our efforts, it runs into that same corner. And then we have wet cat litter mash which turns into incorrigible cat litter crust. So my brilliant idea a couple of weeks ago was to switch over to a top-entry litter box. It would keep Lazarus out AND the litter in. I spent some time digging through our plastic storage containers in the garage and found the perfect specimen in a Rubbermaid box. I traced a circle on the lid at one end and carefully cut it out and sanded the edges. I filled it with clean litter and replaced our icky box. Voila, perfect. I tried to do a few things to help Black Bean make the transition.
All I can say is, he must have held it for two days. And then he let us know what he thought. He peed and pooped the sleeper sofa within an inch of its life in the night. And also the clean laundry waiting to be folded. And also the throw pillows. And also the rug and the closet curtain in the same room. So on Valentines day, Jared and I hauled that horrible, odoriferous, and heavy sofa out to the garage before teaching. After teaching we hauled that horrible thing back into the laundry room. I rented a Rug Doctor and the kids and I cleaned it within an inch of its life. And we did it again the next morning before teaching.
Needless to say, that despite our efforts, Black Bean was not done pooping on the sofa and the rug. Not for nearly two more weeks. We used at least half a gallon of ensyme cleaner. And then we had a new routine at night. Cover the sofa with our old shower curtain. Run a box fan under it to create a wind tunnel. Roll up the rug and lean it against the wall. Feed the cats in that room to remind them it was a dinner spot, not a toilet...
In the mean time we brought back the litter box which produces the crust and stuck it in its old spot. And added another litter box by the hot water heater in the laundry room. And Jared has been feeding Black Bean canned snacks throughout the day and night. A pain? Yes, but it's better than cleaning upholstery!
Anyway, the odor is gone. Last weekend, the kids and I deep treated the rug and the sofa with vinegar water and baking soda. Messy. And magical.
Last night I had the courage to leave the sofa uncovered and rug unrolled. So far so good. Things are looking up.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Three Seasons in Three Days...
We tried, at least.
Friday, I unexpectedly ended up with no teaching, so I took a long walk and played with the kids on the playground (along with doing some cleaning I'd put off.) It was almost 70 and sunny, so we'll just call that Summer. Oh, and I ate a popsicle.
Saturday after church, we went up the Mowich Lake road at Mt. Rainier in search of snow shoeing. We came to the road-closed gate before we reached anything remotely snow shoe-able, so we went for a hike from that location which we'd never taken before. It was lovely. Sort of. The adults got some excellent visual nature therapy... to the sound track of screaming, whining, crying, and incessant requests. I think we only had 5 minutes of pleasantness from children at a time, sometimes only 30 seconds. In their defense, it was raining/snowing/schnerschting quite a bit and it was in the 40s and they were tired (but at least well fed). "Take your family out on a nature walk," they said. "It'll be a Sabbath blessing," they said. Ha. The sort of hike that makes you never want to set foot outside with children again. But we'll just call it a win. The parents got to view beautiful things. No one died. We made it back to the car before dark. We didn't wreck our car in the Mexican-style pot holes. And we tromped through snow banks down in a valley by a little rushing river, and the snow was coming down hard in huge, melty flakes just as we made it back to the parking lot. Winter found. Mission accomplished.
Sunday after the kids and I dropped off the recycling at our secret drop-off location (the new management got rid of the recycling bins on the property - boo!) we dropped over to the Rhododendron Species Garden in Federal Way, where we are now members. Did you know that said flowers originated in China and spread across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America? This place is home to THE group in the world which collects native, rare, and endangered rhodys from around the world and grows them on a 24-acre tract for people to come see. It's lush and wonderful. As it was raining today, we spent our time mostly in the conservatory where they grow the warmer climate specimens. More nature therapy, but minus Jared (sadly!) and minus the wailing of small children (they loved being warm and dry!) It felt delicious to go off and do something so fun and "irresponsible" on a Sunday right before a busy work week. We'll call that outing Spring.
Friday, I unexpectedly ended up with no teaching, so I took a long walk and played with the kids on the playground (along with doing some cleaning I'd put off.) It was almost 70 and sunny, so we'll just call that Summer. Oh, and I ate a popsicle.
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| The hat was for sun protection on the playground. |
Saturday after church, we went up the Mowich Lake road at Mt. Rainier in search of snow shoeing. We came to the road-closed gate before we reached anything remotely snow shoe-able, so we went for a hike from that location which we'd never taken before. It was lovely. Sort of. The adults got some excellent visual nature therapy... to the sound track of screaming, whining, crying, and incessant requests. I think we only had 5 minutes of pleasantness from children at a time, sometimes only 30 seconds. In their defense, it was raining/snowing/schnerschting quite a bit and it was in the 40s and they were tired (but at least well fed). "Take your family out on a nature walk," they said. "It'll be a Sabbath blessing," they said. Ha. The sort of hike that makes you never want to set foot outside with children again. But we'll just call it a win. The parents got to view beautiful things. No one died. We made it back to the car before dark. We didn't wreck our car in the Mexican-style pot holes. And we tromped through snow banks down in a valley by a little rushing river, and the snow was coming down hard in huge, melty flakes just as we made it back to the parking lot. Winter found. Mission accomplished.
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| Little hiker boy riding with Mama |
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| Riding on Daddy's back |
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| The snow was coming down hard and fast. |
Sunday after the kids and I dropped off the recycling at our secret drop-off location (the new management got rid of the recycling bins on the property - boo!) we dropped over to the Rhododendron Species Garden in Federal Way, where we are now members. Did you know that said flowers originated in China and spread across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America? This place is home to THE group in the world which collects native, rare, and endangered rhodys from around the world and grows them on a 24-acre tract for people to come see. It's lush and wonderful. As it was raining today, we spent our time mostly in the conservatory where they grow the warmer climate specimens. More nature therapy, but minus Jared (sadly!) and minus the wailing of small children (they loved being warm and dry!) It felt delicious to go off and do something so fun and "irresponsible" on a Sunday right before a busy work week. We'll call that outing Spring.
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| Largest fern I have seen in my life. Look at the size of the fiddlehead! |
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