If it somehow slipped past you, today is Valentine’s Day. Usually on this day we celebrate by enjoying a nice dinner and a bottle of wine. But, this V-day is different. You are several thousand miles away. There will be no fancy dinner or bottle of wine. No dorky Valentine’s cards or token box of chocolates. But, I can’t say that it really matters. Expressions of love occur every day—not just one day out of the year. The nice dinner and box of chocolates don’t count as much as the daily pep talks (Yes, there are daily pep talks). They don’t count as much as believing in my dreams even when I begin to doubt them. And, they certainly don’t count as much as the way you make me feel.
Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetie. I love you.
Trapped indoors
When I first arrived in Baltimore, numerous people told me to prepare for a harsh winter. This was back in August when the sweltering heat and sticky humidity made me want to pack my bags and head home. At that time, a harsh winter sounded absolutely delightful. I like winter, I thought. I mean c’mon I’m from the Northwest after all. It’s practically winter there all year long, right?
Uh no, I’m hear to tell you it’s not. We might think we have winter all year long, but it’s nothing like what I’ve seen during my short time in Baltimore. The first inkling of a storm hit last Friday.
I sort of thought people were overreacting. People rushed the supermarkets stocking up on all sorts of emergency reserves. The lines snaked all they way from the registers to the back of the store. Holding my basket filled with cereal and milk, I bided my time debating the necessity of such items and observing what others found to fill their carts. I imagine you can tell a lot about someone based on what they have in their cart. This is how I spent my two hours. Seriously, two hours. I should have left in the first five, but after 30 minutes devoted, I couldn’t leave. That would have meant those 30 minutes were wasted time, which I can’t abide. So, I swayed side to side and observed people’s carts. One guy in particular caught my attention. Apparently, ding dongs rank high in his life. I counted eight boxes.
But, I digress. I thought people were overreacting just a tad. I mean, those meteorologists get the weather wrong all the time. Three feet of snow, bunk! That is, until I woke the next morning to find ourselves trapped inside the house with four foot snow drifts blocking our doorways.
Since last Friday, we’ve remained trapped indoors as storm after storm rolled through dumping nearly six feet of snow. The record accumulations caused snow-imposed study sessions but after a week of no classes, I’m ready to head back. Wouldn’t you know it though – more snow is predicted for Monday.
Yesterday we bid a final farewell to Chris’ grandpa, Carl. The youngest member of a family of seven, Carl was 96-years-old when he passed away last Monday. His body may have finally gave way, but his mind never did. I only knew Carl in his later years, but he continually amazed me with his depth of knowledge. He could easily recall Cambodia’s troubled political past just as well as the latest Seahawk game. During our visits, he’d get me caught up on the Mariner’s and Seahawks standings. He’d fill me in on the latest news events. Heck, I think he may have well been the first person to know Trader Joe’s was coming to Ballard. Some people get their news from Brian Williams or Katie Couric, but I liked getting mine from Carl. He will be missed.
35. 3-5, supposedly lucky numbers for a Sagittarius mark my age this year. A week ago, I predicted a midlife crisis of sorts might hit today. How did I get this old, I pondered. And, when will I ever grow up?
Ten years ago, I started down a path that led me to where I am today. I began working at a international public health organization. And, ten years ago today they hired me. At the time, I was lost and disillusioned. I left marine biology behind in search of some place where I could make a difference. But, here’s the problem. That was ten years ago, and I don’t feel like I have it any more together than I did then.
Sure, sure … much of this can be chalked up to being back in school surrounded by 22-year-old dreamers but it begs the question—when do you grow up? My sister recently said that one grows up when they can afford furniture that doesn’t come with Swedish directions. Hmmm … at the rate I’m going that might never happen.
We started out this Thanksgiving by remembering exactly where we were last year. It seems like forever ago but I do recall our time spent in Bariloche, Argentina. We had grandiose plans to search the internet and find ex pats celebrating Thanksgiving. Although the streets of Bariloche offered up plenty of chocolate, our search for a Thanksgiving feast ended in a complete dead end. Still in the mood for a special holiday dinner, we asked around and ended up at one of the “fanciest” restaurants in town. This turned out to be a very interesting place indeed, picture Frodo Baggins’ house from the Lord of the Rings. There was a large round wooden front door, numerous plants, rustic furniture and plenty of living trees inside that grew up through the roof. Known for its steaks, big slabs of meat adorned the grill. Unfortunately, we hadn’t crossed into meat eating territory yet (that didn’t come until Buenos Aires, and oh—it was good). Anyway, we enjoyed a nice dinner just the same and chatted up another American sitting nearby. It was a very memorable dinner but we are both happy to be back in the states for this American holiday.
Since Jodi could only spare a few days off, it made more sense for me to come out to Baltimore for Thanksgiving. My dad and his wife, Alice, live on a farm in nearby Virginia so we spent Thanksgiving with them. My dad’s main crop are llamas. There are several llamas, but without a doubt Christopher Columbus and Jodi Ann are our favorites, go figure. But there are also cats, ducks, and a dog. Visiting the animals and hanging out in front of the cozy fireplace is one of our favorite things about being home. Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch. Friends and family came over, and we had an amazing meal and conversation.
But life on the farm is not all fireplaces and sleeping in, there are always chores that need to be done. Jodi was tasked with finishing up a few take home mid-terms while I did some manual labor outside. Task one was to help set up a portable garage which consisted of a aluminum frame covered with a thick plastic canvas. What should have taken two hours, according to the directions, took us about six. Overall the setup went pretty smooth, so I’m not sure why we were so off on the time line. Task two was to attempt the removal and replacement of a valve for an oil sensor on my dad’s latest car project. His latest purchase of a 1963 Studebaker Avanti R2 is his current renovation project. While trying to unscrew a brass oil pressure fitting it snapped in half. We tried to pull out the half of the fitting that chose to stay in the engine block and screw in a new fitting. We toiled for hours unscrewing, drilling and prying out tiny pieces of brass all without success. In the end, it was figured out that we had the wrong tap (a tool that creates new threads for the new fitting). While defeated it was a good effort and we didn’t do any damage, so I will have to leave this task in the hands of my dad. He should be able to finish it without my further “help”. You can keep track of his progress from his forum on the restoration.
