October 2021
  Waiting for Baby Sitte Baby Sitte faked us out on the 21st. Jean began having regular contractions so she and Joel headed north to see her doctor, and they fully expected to begin the birthing experience. That was my cue to pack my clothes, laptop, food, and books for my much anticipated dog watching gig (mini-vacation) down in Berrydale. I only spent one night, and binge watched five episodes of Foundation on Joel's Apple TV+ account. In my 40+ years of marriage I have only gone to
bed with two ladies that weren't my wife. Luna was a sound sleeper for the most part. A few of her snorts woke me up, but all in all I appreciated this BIG warm friend in the guestroom. She barked just once when I first arrived, but from then on hung out with me the whole time. Being the only member of the Sitte clan present, Luna gave me a lot more attention than I usually get from her. I'll keep cats for their low maintenance, but I remain a dog lover. |
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On Saturday morning, October 16th, I read this brief email. Dick, Not sure this will
reach you but it's the only contact information I have for you. I just
wanted to let you know that Jeff and I had Covid back in August. I
fell into a 45-day coma and when I woke up I learned that my husband,
Jeff, had died. I am now in a rehab facility to gain back muscle and
learn how to walk again. We called him Uncle Jeff. He was one of my best friends ever. Family responsibilities and careers meant that we did not see each other much after 2000. He was in our wedding in 1981 and I was in theirs in 2000. He credited me in their wedding program as the one who led him to Christ. His wife Carrie had a 10-year-old daughter from a prior marriage. But soon, they had five boys together! The oldest boy would be about 20. Jeff was two years behind me at the UW. He and I were friends since 1976 when we met at Terry Hall. He was one of my assistants in ENGR 123 Engineering Graphics when I jumped from student to faculty member. Later, Jeff was my running partner while I was still living in the University District. Jeff earned his Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering and was an expert in machining at Boeing. He was also a teacher and leader in his church. His untimely death mirrors my worst nightmare, to pass on near retirement, about to enjoy such important years with his family. Such tragedies are tests of faith. Jeff's trust in our resurrection, guaranteed by that of Jesus our forerunner, was strong. |
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Cynthia's 28th birthday on October 2nd was celebrated at the Sitte home. As with other gatherings, grandparents were assigned the supervision of the grandchildren, while the Sleight, Disher, and Sitte young adults played Before There Were Stars, a myth-building game. Charis and Jonny "sailed" milk cartons in Jenkins Creek tethered with strings. Jonny and I both managed to get soaked when Jonny let go of his string and jumped in to chase his "boat." I managed to fish it out from where it had hung up down stream. Nancy and I harvested some Asian Pears, Jean baked the cake and put together a great dinner, and I figured out how to connect the "smart" TV in the basement to the Wi-Fi so the kids could watch cartoons on YouTube. |
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On the 16th, Annie and I took the girls to the Bellevue Downtown Park and then to the Library. The park play area had added a number of new toys and features since my last visit with Bob and Kim Disher. Charis explored nearly every toy, and she climbed the climbing wall. Valerie enjoyed the swings and slides too. During the pandemic closure, the Bellevue Downtown Library moved its children's books to the third floor. Earlier in the month, Thomas and I took the girls to the Library, Thomas pushing the double stroller. When it would not fit through the doors to the Library, I stayed outside with Valerie while Charis and Thomas hunted for books. |
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On most days, I trade off with Thomas to play with the girls so that Nancy can keep installing oak flooring in the library and master bedroom. From the "everything old is new again" department, Charis seems to gain new toys every day as we discover those of the prior generation, mostly stored in the basement. Here she is enjoying the jet airplane that circles and does flips and Nathanael's armor. Valerie is so mobile that we've begun putting locks on the lower kitchen cabinets. As shown, she's likely to pull all the contents from these spaces out onto the kitchen floor. And what should we make of the fact that her favorite item seems to be the TV remote? As pictured, often the only non-optional clothing for these young ladies are their diapers. And as I've increased the hours I am with the girls, I've also increased my diaper changing duties. | ||||
Happy in Their New House I took the opportunity of the baby arrival false alarm to visit south Auburn. I needed to reconnect the ceiling light in an upstairs bedroom. Reuben was noticeably more engaging. This Snoopy dog was his first stuffed animal since it was the one he brought home with him from the hospital. It certainly looks like it brings him joy. I had to be a patient photographer to get these great shots of Jonny. He's quick. he likes to see the pictures I've taken but he also looks away when I point my Nikon at him. He made me happy when he came to me for hugs, something he has often done. | ||||
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  In the Aquariums
Two Assassin snails were bought at Denny's Pet World and were added to the 10-gallon tank that's been infested with a variety of fast-breeding snails. I assume they are doing their job at night. First, three large Mystery Snails got moved on to the 20-gallon tank to work on its algae. Slices of cucumber from my garden also attracted snails for removal. Last month, I bred White Clouds in a 5-gallon bucket. When I moved them from the bucket to the small 2.5-gallon tank on the east end of my four tanks, I counted twenty-eight White Cloud Mountain Minnow fry. Not all of them will survive to adulthood. My first effort produced only three fry. Now I have quite enough "stock" for my tanks. Each tank has a different set of small community fish. Now that it's likely the basement will cool a few degrees in the Fall, I've added heaters to two of the tanks. These are set to only 72 degrees since I've been careful to not acquire fish that need warmer water. The most common temperature for tropical fish is 78 degrees. The fish I've chosen are mostly considered sub-tropical.
Click on this image to see the current setup. | ||||
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Our shy half-acre is the only park-like yard in our area. Because of this, we get a variety of visiting critters. On Tuesday morning the 19th, a cacophony of crows and jays outside our front door prompted me to look for whatever they were fussing about. I saw that they had surrounded this large owl in the big Douglas Fir next to the ramp that comes up to our front door. This fellow is a Barred Owl, so I named him Bard. Charis and I watched YouTube videos about these owls and learned that they prefer forests, hunt at night, and have great eyesight and hearing but a poor sense of smell. They will even hunt skunks! Their ears are offset on the sides of their heads, one higher than the other so they can judge not only direction horizontally, but also vertically. Their natural enemies are eagles and crows. In the evening, we again saw Bard, this time in the large pear tree. Charis was able to point him out to Annie when she got home from teaching. I hope Bard will stick around. They are great rat catchers. One would think that our yard could provide a smörgåsbord of furry delicacies. We do worry about Shadow with Bard hanging around. |
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My Quote from October |
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“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.” – Robert A. Heinlein Robert Heinlein and Patrick O'Brian remain my two favorite authors. |
< BACK >
On October 5th, there
were three offers on Nathanael and Cynthia's house in east Auburn.
They selected the one they liked and the Closing Date has been set for
November 5th.