November 2021
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Baby Galen kept his parents guessing as to the date of his official arrival. Between Thursday night on the 11th and Sunday afternoon on the 14th, Jean and Joel made four trips from Kent to Kirkland in their Tesla. While Galen's delivery was preceded by days of labor, once Jean was admitted to the Evergreen Medical Center, the actual birth came relatively swiftly. A big little guy at 9 lbs. 9 oz. and 20.25" long, he came into the world at 8:21 PM which is "2021" in 24-hour time! The name Galen is Greek and means calm or tranquil. Ezra means help in Hebrew. Immediate family members were told to get on a family Zoom call at 10:00 PM that evening to hear the birth details. When that hour arrived, Galen was having a late supper. My five days of vacation in Kent ended when Galen came home. That evening, Grandma Nancy replaced me in Berrydale.
I installed more ceiling lights and Luna and I played together and watched movies while Jean and Joel tried to anticipate the right time to drive to Kirkland. In all, I spent five days at their house. I watched Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the whole first season of Picard, and especially enjoyed The Tomorrow War. This was a week of heavy rains and widespread flooding in Western Washington. Jenkins Creek seemed to graduate from creek to river status. |
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At 66, I was the youngest emeriti faculty member in attendance at the 2021 SPU Emeriti Faculty luncheon. That distinction won me one of the nice centerpiece flower arrangements to take home to Nancy. She had a P.E.O. meeting at the same time or would have attended as my plus one. Apparently, I fit in fine with my senior colleagues. I sat with Dr. Jon Deming (below left), former Economics professor, and his wife. Dr. Al Erisman was the other former SBGE faculty member in attendance. We heard from interim President Dr. Pete Menjares and Provost Dr. Laura Hartley. Dr. Mike Macdonald (middle-left) was named Emeriti Faculty Historian and Futurist and spoke briefly. John Glancy spoke about the new book chronicling SPU athletics, Go Birds! (I bought a copy from Amazon for the family. Nancy and Nathanael are in it.) Dr. George Scranton served as MC for the luncheon. I caught this photograph of George with Nancy's honors advisor Dr. Dick Wood. |
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My mornings now involve playing with Charis and Valerie between breakfast and lunch. We've decided that Thomas does better with the kids in the afternoon after getting other things done in the mornings. Valerie has a much more varied diet than Charis. She is not reluctant to try new foods. As an 11-month-old, Valerie is amazingly expressive. And while it may not count as talking, she does waive and say "bye bye." Valerie is upbeat most of the time. Like her mom and grandmother, her only cranky moments tell us she is tired or, more likely, hungry. Charis on the other hand is more mercurial, being upset and happy sometimes seemingly in the same sentence.
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Thanksgiving in Berrydale On the 25th, most of the usual suspects met at Jean and Joel's for Thanksgiving. It was the traditional meal but organized as a potluck. I picked up a used table and six chairs that Jean had found online through "Buy Nothing" so that Jean and Joel could sit the crowd. I bought the 20 pound turkey at COSTCO on my Wednesday trip the week before for 99 cents per pound. Nancy has the overnight slow cooking down to an art. Jean's stuffing, however, was once again the most tasty part of the meal. Randy's garlic mashed potatoes also got many positive comments. Rick Sitte had flown in from Massachusetts soon after the birth of Galen and was there to enjoy the holiday with us. Nathanael's family stayed home because they reported some mild illness there. |
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“I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of the land... I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels. Never was there a clearer case of 'stealing the livery of the court of heaven to serve the devil in.' I am filled with unutterable loathing when I contemplate the religious pomp and show, together with the horrible inconsistencies, which every where surround me. We have men-stealers for ministers, women-whippers for missionaries, and cradle-plunderers for church members. The man who wields the blood-clotted cowskin during the week fills the pulpit on Sunday, and claims to be a minister of the meek and lowly Jesus. . . . The slave auctioneer’s bell and the church-going bell chime in with each other, and the bitter cries of the heart-broken slave are drowned in the religious shouts of his pious master. Revivals of religion and revivals in the slave-trade go hand in hand together. The slave prison and the church stand near each other. The clanking of fetters and the rattling of chains in the prison, and the pious psalm and solemn prayer in the church, may be heard at the same time. The dealers in the bodies of men erect their stand in the presence of the pulpit, and they mutually help each other. The dealer gives his blood-stained gold to support the pulpit, and the pulpit, in return, covers his infernal business with the garb of Christianity. Here we have religion and robbery the allies of each other—devils dressed in angels’ robes, and hell presenting the semblance of paradise.” ― Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass |
< BACK >
My A1c rose from 7.3
only to 7.4. Since I know when and how much I cheated on my diet,
I have hope for the next measurement in three months.