The Doctor is in.

February 2022

Turning 67

On the 5th, I shared my birthday party with Nathanael's at the Sleight/Eby home in Auburn.

Again for me it was a fun few hours with my grandchildren. Reuben showed the most change in his obedient and newly warm disposition. And Galen is growing so fast.

Jean's cake was again amazing.

The truth for me about turning 67 is that I am slowing down. I typically have to get up at night a few times. And getting back to sleep after 4:00 AM has been difficult recently. I take the stairs slowly. Muscle aches are common. Much of that may be due to the meager temporary bed I sleep on in the basement. It could also be from the fact that I don't recuperate quickly after a few hours of strenuous yard work.

I have developed a "trigger finger," the middle finger of my right hand. From the Mayo clinic, "Trigger finger is also known as stenosing tenosynovitis. It occurs when inflammation narrows the space within the sheath that surrounds the tendon in the affected finger. If trigger finger is severe, your finger may become locked in a bent position." This month, I discovered that it was physically uncomfortable writing checks.

Brain fog may be due to poor sleep habits since I wake up tired instead of refreshed. If Nancy gives me two jobs to do, I often do the second and forget the first until reminded.
Example: At 2:00 PM on Monday the 7th, I suddenly remembered that I had scheduled my Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot for 3:00 PM at the local CVS. Fortunately, I got there in time.

But there are benefits to aging that outweigh the onset of ailments; like holding a sleeping one-year-old (Valerie) in my arms for an hour in my rocking chair. At those moments, life is all good.

Speaking of Valerie, Annie and I have decided that she looks like Jeannie Beth at that age. Charis looks more like Annie did.

Studies in Acts 20-28

Getting started on my studies has been difficult.
I begin by preparing the PowerPoint slides which serve as the outlines for my lectures. With only March and April before my first lesson on May 5th,
I need to buckle down.

I have great resources to rely on. I only lack motivation. I expect I'll give over 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM most evenings to my studies.

Q: Why did the Christians in Troas in Acts 20 stay up until dawn listening to the Apostle Paul teach?

A: He had just recently written and sent his most important letter, the book of Romans.

The Library Nears Completion

Nancy has been inching her way toward the south wall of the library as she carefully installs the oak flooring. At month's end, she has only two rows to go to reach that wall. That's when I get to sand and put three coats of finish on that second-to-last section.

That will leave only the north end of the room to reach our immediate goal. That last section is only 10'-4" by 2'-4" or 24 square feet. A rose colored paint is envisioned, followed by some moulding and a window sill. Then we'll move in our five big bookcases from the living room and dining room and the Uncle Jack dining set Susan is storing for us.

Thirty years ago it was this room, above all the others, that sold me on Nancy's floor plan design. I've been longing for this room ever since.

Weekdays with Charis and Valerie

Our regular schedule for weekdays has proven successful.

Thomas gets the girls up and gets them their breakfast. Then, usually around 9:45 AM, I take charge of Charis and Valerie. My phone alarm goes off at 11:50 AM to remind me to take a pill before lunch. Then I feed the girls and make lunch for Thomas, Nancy, and myself. Around 12:45 PM, I call Thomas and Nancy to lunch and then Thomas takes charge of his girls until Annie gets home from work. The afternoons are often when I get my garden prep work done. Around 3:00 PM, I sometimes have Charis as a helper while Valerie takes a nap. Either Annie or I, or both, make dinner and then I have time for other tasks in the evening after 7:00 PM.

On the 25th, the girls and I baked cookies for Annie to take to Seattle Christian School on her birthday. I was challenged to put my Toll House chocolate chip cookies up against those of a colleague at her school, but this batch was not my best work. Too much flour. However, Annie said they were greatly appreciated by the teachers and staff.

Visits to the Pastricks

On the 19th, Annie and I took the girls to visit the Pastricks in Lake Stevens. Annie helped clean their house while I played with the kids. I learned from a book I read to Charis and Rowan that a "grandpa hug" involved turning the grandchild upside down. Indeed, that's how I've been "hugging" my grandkids all along.

We returned for a few hours the next Saturday. I got my first chance to hold Vivienne. I helped Corvin with his lunch as he ate it with his fingers, his impaired vision making it hard for him to find his food. And I played with the kids while Annie again helped them clean their home. Caring for their three special-needs kids has taken a toll on this couple.

Before I left, I had a chance to give my take on their questions related to the Genesis creation story and evolution. I explained that God's story to Moses gave the best true account He could, with the understanding that they completely lacked any basic scientific knowledge or vocabulary. God gave Moses the children's sermon on creation.

The 2022 Garden Expands

"Fort Mountain" was removed one shovel-full at a time. I have more than doubled my garden size and have gotten more exercise than in recent years. I built a berm out of scrap wood covered with dirt at the south end of the new garden space.

Charis is pictured standing in the new section of garden (right). I need to dig down another foot or so, and also save some of the soil to mix with compost for the many pots I intend to fill.

Tomatoes, peppers, parsley, basil, and oregano are growing indoors. Onions and leeks moved outdoors mid-month. The first bell pepper came up on Valentine's Day. By the 19th, all my peppers and cherry tomatoes were up and the Early Girl tomatoes were just beginning to come up. That evening, I planted over four dozen Russell Lupine seeds which are just now coming up at month's end. A few days later I started my Marigolds and they are also just coming up. Zinnias will follow in March.

Even a Horseradish root will get planted soon outside in one of my bigger pots. It needs to be in a pot since it is invasive and will grow quite large with broad, decorative (and apparently edible) leaves. As a perennial, one small starter root should produce new pungent roots year after year.

I am trying three methods to germinate French Provence Lavender. I have started the process with about 200 seeds and hope to get a few dozen plants. Lavender grows very slowly, needs very well drained soil, and doesn't need to be watered much once it's in the ground. I plan to make the southeast corner of the yard the lavender zone. I hope that I can share some of my Lavender starts with others in the family.

The official "last freeze date" for Seattle is listed as April 6th. But I'll check the ten day forecast before I plant tomatoes outdoors. I don't want to lose plants to a late frost like last year. I bought 25 3-gallon pots for the herbs and flowers that will follow the tomatoes, and for the cucumbers and Serrano (smaller) peppers and who knows what else. Oregano can be especially invasive and needs to be grown in pots instead of in the ground. I also ordered 50 half-gallon pots in which to transplant many starts until they are ready to go into the large pots or in the ground. Twenty-four feet of steel fencing and other items from around the yard will be re-tasked to form new trellises for tomatoes and cucumbers.

I find myself watching many YouTube videos on each vegetable, herb, and flower I plant. Until this pandemic, I never wanted to do much gardening. Now I don't seem to want to do much of anything else. Outdoor planting in April means lots of preparation work now.

I've settled on Kellogg Organic Plus (4-6-3) fertilizer from Home Depot. This is something I overlooked last year.

The Aquarium/Garden Connection

"Basic aquarium care includes periodically changing portions of the fish tank's water. Depending on the tank's size, contents, filter and other factors, water changes may be needed monthly, weekly or several times a week. In many cases the water removed from the tank can be applied to house or garden plants rather than poured down the drain. Water changes are done to a fish tank to remove excess chemicals and other materials that could harm the fish if allowed to build up. Those very materials are beneficial to plants.

Aquarium water accumulates nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and ammonia, plus beneficial micro-organisms that process these materials. You may recognize these as ingredients in plant fertilizer and soil amendments. While it's important to follow the timing and dosage instructions on packaged plant food, if you're changing your fish-tank water regularly, it will be dilute enough to apply to your plants every time you water them." [link]

A Brief Cold Snap

Tuesday morning following the President's Day holiday, I was surprised to wake up to a light dusting of snow. This put garden work on hold. Night-time temperatures were not above freezing all that week. I'm pleased that I've built up my firewood supply during my recent yard cleanup with chainsaw and axe. There's something about a fire in the woodstove that lifts my recently low spirits. Rain, and a long stretch of it, returned on the 26th.

A Big Birthday Party for Annie and Georgia

The clan descended on our house on Sunday the 27th for Annie's and church friend Georgia Kumar's birthday party. They both share the 28th as their birthdate.

This could be called our first post-COVID gathering of the clan since COVID mask restrictions are being lifted widely. Susan and Julie joined all our kids and grandkids, and Randy even joined via Zoom just after the cake was served.

Annie baked a Charis-approved pink heart shaped layer cake and Jean brought one from COSTCO. Julie's cherry pie was intended as one of the gifts for Annie.

As with any family gathering, the grandkids turned it into a three ring play date. I sat with Reuben, Jonny, and Charis at the little kids table, and played with them in the Great Room.

I remarked that by Easter we should be able to sit everyone more easily by adding a second dining table and extending the dining room into the soon-to-be-finished library.

Before the party, Nancy and I made major progress on cleaning the living room. And before they left, Nathanael and Joel helped move the big teak bookcase from the library to the closet of the Great Room.

Bits and Pieces

Randy visited on Super Bowl Sunday and enjoyed his birthday cake before he had to return to Everett for the evening church service on the day before his 69th Valentine's Day birthday. Annie and I stopped by his place on the 19th and I gave him the next installment of Julian Stockwin's Thomas Kydd book Thunderer, the 24th novel in that series, which he read in a week.

Our annual visit to a Everett Silvertips hockey game got moved from January to February 4th due to players from the Kelowna Rockets testing positive for COVID. I attended with Randy while Don stayed home this time to care for Judy. The Silvertips ended the Rockets nine game win streak with a great 6-2 victory.

On the 16th, Nancy and I drove to the Sitte home. Nancy went along to retrieve the van which Jean had borrowed to move a sofa. I stayed through to the 18th to take care of Luna. How could I turn down Jean's request so that they could spend their 2nd anniversary with Galen in Leavenworth, especially since Jean called Luna my "grandpup!?" Luna is the family dog for the whole extended family, just as Shadow is the family cat for the whole clan.

After many years of processing all my digital images with my very old Micrografx Picture Publisher software, which was bought by Corel and integrated into Paintshop Pro, I have finally switched to Adobe Photoshop Elements.

As the class rep with the West Seattle High School Alumni Association for the Class of '73, it fell to me to establish a committee to plan and lead toward our 50th reunion. Late this month I kicked off this effort, building to an event next summer. Since nobody was willing to serve as chair for the event, at least for now that position is mine.

All eyes, this last week in February, are on the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine. We are all getting a crash course on Russia, Putin, Ukraine, NATO, and the real-time conduct of a 21st century war between 1st World nations. God help us all.

As I watched the start of the war in Ukraine, I'm thinking more and more of my farming efforts as a Victory garden.

On the 28th, Annie and Thomas gave Bluey to Charis and Bingo to Valerie.

Bluey is an Australian cartoon series that we all enjoy on Disney+.

This cartoon is about a family of Blue Heeler dogs (Austrailian Cattle dogs), but they live and behave like normal people. Bandit and Chilli are the parents of daughters Bluey and her little sister Bingo. We love this happy cartoon family.

My Quote from February

Irish Wisdom:

Do not resent growing old, many are denied the privilege.

Sometimes one day changes everything; sometimes years change nothing.

Don't marry the one you love, but marry the one who loves you.

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