The Journal of Dr. Richard L. Sleight

NOVEMBER 2006 EDITION 

Weight change in September, 196 to 199


Brother, (March 29, 1999 ― November 17, 2006)

We all loved this oft aloof fellow.  He was a great hunter of rats, mice, and birds of all kinds including at least one crow.  He was known to prowl all night and come home to nap in the daytime. He was not a lap cat.  And he had more than his share of vet bills for injuries received, probably from the local feline competition. I'm glad I indulged him with a good dose of catnip the week before he died.

One time we went looking for him and found him looking out from our neighbor friend's window.  Except our friends the Smith's were gone on vacation!  At other times we would get "lost cat" calls from a few blocks away.  "Do you have a cat named Brother?" or "We found a collar with the name Brother on it.  Is he your cat?"  He apparently was friends with many other families in the larger neighborhood.

On Friday after school, at the start of the week-long Thanksgiving break for BCS, Nathanael was running to the Bellevue Downtown Park with his wrestling team.  There, next to the sidewalk by the house just east of us, was Brother's body, stiff but with no signs of injury.  Nate dashed  home to tell Nancy and she retrieved the body while he rejoined his team. He was Nathanael's cat.   It's amazing that Nathanael found his Brother.  Nate had picked him from the litter and named him. [ Annie drove me home that evening, (I'd left the van at SPU on Thursday for her to use), and the girls went to see the BCS production of Our Town. ]  We are thankful that we are not left to grieve a missing cat.  Yet we do grieve all the same.    


BCS Boys Finish 6th of 16 at State, Nathanael Takes 14th
 
In one sense the State Championships were anticlimactic. BCS beat Bush (again) and Nathanael finished 2nd (again) out of the runners from District 2 who he's raced all season.  The BCS boys had a good shot at 4th place if they'd all run their best races.  But it's a team sport and 6th out of 16 is actually an improvement over 4th out of 8 last year. The reorganization that moved many 2A schools down to the 1A level did increase the level of competition.  But still, Nathanael had a great race.  His name was in the Seattle Times, the King County Journal and the Bellevue Reporter.

Nathanael's start was slow, and with only a mile to go he was still in 30th place out of the 147 runners, yet he managed to finish 14th.  He had another truly amazing finishing kick. Caleb Unema, a senior from Lynden Christian in this picture, tried unsuccessfully to match Nate's closing sprint as the two of them passed others on the home stretch. Nathanael's kick was awesome.  

This was a breakthrough season for Nate.  He was just two places away from getting on the podium.   Maybe next year he and Jeannie Beth will both run in Pasco ― just as Annie and Nathanael did in 2004. 

 

For my part, I greatly enjoyed traveling to Pasco on the team bus the day before the race.  BCS paid for my meals and hotel room and Coach Ed Sloan got me in free with a pass like one of the coaches.  I road home in the van with Annie, Jeannie, Nancy and brother Randy.  Our video and PowerPoint presentations at the awards banquet were much appreciated.  I got credit for all my photo work, but Nancy works even harder with the video camera, chasing the runners all over the race courses.  I have a great crew of sports photographers. 


Teaching in January
 
In mid-November my boss Jeff came to my office and said, "I have bad news."  I knew exactly what he was about to say. The Math department could not find someone to teach Business Statistics winter quarter, so I was once again drafted to teach a section.   I had seen this coming.  I've selected a new textbook and that in itself will keep me busy updating the homework assignments and in-class problems. 

A bigger surprise came toward the end of the month when he said it was likely that much of my teaching of BUS 1700 Spreadsheets  would be taken over by Computer Science faculty in 2007-08.  He sees this as good news for me and the business school.  But it is a blow to a quality education for our students. The CSC faculty can teach computer programming but they are not experts in Microsoft Excel.  We shall see how the Time Schedule develops in January.


Leading the Saturday Men through Exodus
 
We are through Exodus 15.  I asked the men if there was a pillar of fire and a pillar of smoke, that is two pillars or just one?  I think I convinced them that there was only one. Since, "where there's smoke there's fire."  I was impressed that before the "Ten Commandments" of Exodus 20, there was a first law which God delivered at the outset of the exodus.
He said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you."  Ex 15:26 
None of the later ordinances will mean anything if the people will not obey.

This seemed the key verse to me.  The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Ex 14:14 NIV
Salvation is the exclusive work of God.  It's what He does. We only cheer, or watch in silent awe, from the sidelines.
 
Thanksgiving 2006
 
Again the Sleights and Rutherfords celebrated Thanksgiving at Susan's house.  Brother Randy joined us as well as a friend of Susan's from UPC.  Aunt Ellie moved slowly and was quiet, no longer the authoritative fount of all things politically progressive.  At 97, she's finally acting her age.

On Sunday the 26th, we devoted our morning to helping at the BCS-staffed water/aid station on the south side of Seward Park for the Seattle Marathon.  Rain and snow was in the forecast so we stopped at school to load the Track & Field tents into our van.  Coach  Sloan knew who to call.  We were close to school and ready to help.   Here are the lead runners just coming by.  Thousands followed.

 


My October Quote

Open

 

Doubt padlocked one door and

Memory put her back to the other.
Still the damp draught seeped in

though Fear chinked all the cracks and

Blindness boarded up the window.

In the darkness that was left

Defeat crouched in his cold corner.

 

Then Jesus came

(all the doors being shut)

and stood among them.

 

    ― Lucy Shaw

 
BCS Wrestling Gets Underway
 
In the "Black and Blue Dual" (intersquad match) that marked the first match of the season, Nathanael (in black) took on Skylar Jewett (in blue).  Nathanael intentionally allowed the heavier Skylar to escape and take a 7-6 lead, breaking a 6-6 tie.  But Nathanael promptly got a take down and put Skylar in a "cradle," winning the match 7-11.
I have nine vacation days scheduled for December and plan to follow the team to its many matches, most of which are on Saturdays. The snow and ice at the end of November caused BCS to drop out of its first match due to too few official practices for the wrestlers.  SPU even shut down on Tuesday this week and my students missed a class.  But it was not crucial to preparing for the exam December 7th.  We have a final class December 5th.

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