Good Walking

Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going? -- Paul Gauguin

Sunday, September 23, 2001
One year ago: Prodigal Returns
Two years ago: Space Needle
Three years ago: A Day at Home
Four years ago: Internal Tools

A year ago Jack's daughter A--- returned home to try and make a go of it.

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We woke up this morning, still tired from the fair! We really did a lot of walking. Jack's daughter H--- went to the farmers market with me. Jack was asked, but declined -- he still has a few weeks to go. I bought purple potatoes, salsa, and peppers of various sorts. We drank berry-lavender lemonade, which was very tasty and refreshing. I also got some baby bok choy for a stirfry.

In the afternoon, H--- polished her jungle boots for her Civil Air Patrol meeting tomorrow night. Jungle boots are like combat boots, but with fabric on the ankles instead of leather (cooler in the jungle, I guess). Jack helped her by polishing one (for an example), and using a lighter to melt some of the polish on heels and toes. I hadn't heard of this trick before, had you? This was Jack's Air Force experience coming out.

Jack fell into an online comic that had been recommended to him, while I read Albion's Seed. Fascinating! H--- had found a chocolate-chip cheesecake mix in the cupboard that was near its expiration date. "We really need to make this!" So we'd bought cream cheese on the way back from the farmers market, and she mixed it up and baked it.

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In the late afternoon, I decided to go for a walk on my own, since there was no moving Jack, it seemed. The weather was gorgeous! I walked east, over a few hills, to the Rotary Viewpoint (called so because the Rotary club donated it? developed it?). Some parts of my route were so steep that there wasn't any street there; just stairs denoting a public right-of-way.

From there, I went uphill again. I thought about catching a bus, but I wasn't tired, and the wait would be more trouble than it was worth. I spent time wandering in the fabric store. Simplicity has a volume of patterns for historical costumes that looked very intriguing!

I walked by a row of small houses, all in Spanish Colonial style. This must have been a bunch of model homes for some ill-advised development, way back when. I also stopped at Capers, a home-decor store I've been getting postcards from. It's also a cafe and gifty store. I liked their stuff, but it's too expensive, even when on sale.

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I didn't get home until five o'clock! Jack asked if I was mad at him! No, I'd just felt like getting out and moving around; I wasn't pissed that he didn't feel like going also. I guess he thought I'd just be walking around the block or something; I did stay out a bit later than I planned on.

Jack was ready to work on a project, now. He wanted to get the satellite dish mounted on the house! But -- he needed a level and couldn't find his. I decided to walk with him to the hardware store, where we bought one, along with grounding wire and some clips to fasten down the coax cable. He was patient when I suggested we try some different routes on the way back. I just wanted to see some different houses, even if it's a bit longer.

Back at home, we looked for a ladder in the garage, but apparently that's one piece of equipment our neighbors don't have. Understandable, since their house is one floor only, and small. So Jack decided to attach the dish to the dormer in the back of the main house that serves as an entrance for our upstairs neighbor. Fortunately she didn't mind!

I watched, nervous, as Jack clambered around on the roof, drilling holes for screws and making sure the pole was vertical and level. No accidents happened. Jack needed one more carriage bolt, though, and it was getting dark, so he decided to wait on completing the job.

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I made a good stir-fry for dinner: beef, and the peppers I'd bought at the market this morning. It's not worth buying the purple peppers for anything you intend to cook, by the way. The color fades away! But the ivory colored bell pepper, and the long, sweet, flamingo pepper, looked lovely. We had H---'s cheesecake for dessert.

Jack went downstairs to work on sorting out his workbench and tools and such. He'd been frustrated by not finding his level, fasteners, and other stuff he knows he already has. I applauded and encouraged him.