Plot Twist

I was in charge of the last-minute task of buying a birthday cake for a visitor from Panama. She said she liked dulce de leche cake at home, which I was not sure I could find. I decided to track down a tres leches cake instead.

photo credit
I decided the best idea was to head to the bakery section
of an enormous grocery store, which says it has
a wide selection of, "international and local foods."

I wish I had taken a picture of what was there
now instead of the bakery. It was a bit like
this liquor section. I was so disappointed!

I didn't have much time left and thought about baking a cake but decided to try another store. They had one cake available and the decorator had already left. 

No problem, I just bought the cake and a tube of icing.

The visitors were not so keen on the blue frosting!
And no one is going to hire me to decorate cakes.
I did have the good idea to put the candle on the
outside so it could be blown out without getting
cooties all over the rest of the cake.

I am going to plan ahead for our farewell event and have a tres leches cake. Maybe I'll even post a picture.

Flash Mob Art

My parents-in-law were on the front page of the
New York Times. You can see their double
shadow in the very center of this picture.

 

Elizabeth Turk, Scripps College '83, worked with the retirement community to create art during the first year of the pandemic. People may also know her art from her Shoreline Project. She had been trying create a project through ArtStart, the group A. was part of in high school, but could not make it happen. Instead she was able to work with the local colleges. 

I received an email about "an immersive pop-up art event" available to students, faculty, and staff. Because of my temporary job I was eligible! I wasn't sure what to expect but was happy to take part (and happy to get a beautiful umbrella and mask!).

We found the prettiest parking spot on campus!

I chose to join the orange umbrella group.

It was not a choreographed event, but we were encouraged to think of ourselves as pixels in a piece of art while we created movement with our bodies and umbrellas.

Sometimes we were dancing while the Taiko group played

and at the end there was more of a performance. I love it!

It was over faster than I expected, but I have no complaints. I was happy to read about it in the student paper and to see the videos. If you click on this link and watch the video marked Look UP Sept 2021 JW FINAL you will see D. at 1:09 and me at 1:31.

I am look forward to a rainy day!

Another Floor Covering

Except for the carpeting in the playroom, the house has hardwood floors. The expert in town took a look at the floor in the dining room and encouraged us to get a rug to protect it because it could be sanded and refinished only once more before causing damage. We finally did it!!

Not we, really. I had been thinking about it and looking at estate sales. I figured a used rug would be cheaper and maybe already stained so I would not worry about damaging it. D. was the one to find a rug because someone working at the store sent him to the wrong aisle and he ended up doing some wandering around.

I don't think it will stay looking brand new forever so instead of wasting time trying to keep it in perfect condition I will learn how to clean it and spend time enjoying meals at the table. 

I am guessing this is the last floor covering post for a while!

The Kids Are Older Now

 

This stain has been here since we bought the house 21 years ago.

We added our own with spilled coffee

and over in the area where both kids used the desk.

When we bought the house we figured it was ok that it was stained since R. was little and then there was A. "We'll replace it one day when they are older." That day has arrived.

We chose the one in the middle.

The old carpet was removed

and the new carpet was installed.

We did not decide to leave the room empty and just look at the beautiful carpeting. Not everything is put back yet so a complete after picture will have to wait.

BE-LEAF fundraiser

 

On the first day of school parents were not allowed into the
classroom and had to watch their kids from the edge of campus.

Some parents left the fence and
headed to the park for a social event.

From the fence I could see new signs 
BE-LEAF in friendship
BE-LEAF in equity
BE-LEAF in kindness
BE-LEAF in yourself

I didn't think about it until last night when I
was upstairs and could see a car outside our house.

I could hear voices and as they walked into our yard I asked what they were doing. It turned out that a friend had supported the school's fundraiser and had our house BE-LEAFed, meaning about ten signs were placed all over our yard, which were supposed to be a surprise in the morning. Too bad our windows were open to catch an evening breeze.

Home

Yes, where I live is home and I love going to the library and the grocery store and everywhere else and running into people from different parts of my life here, but I also call where I grew up home. 

I love swimming at the old community pool.

I love running by the little lake near home.
Yes, it was very humid.

It was a treat to be chaperoned to a new-to-me all-purpose
trail by my friend, neighbor, and former math teacher.

I really wasn't going to go to the library book
sale and when I did go I was just going
to look, not actually buy anything.

I sorted my mom's playing card collection.

We escaped the heat by taking an air-conditioned tour of places in my parents' life (where they were married, their first apartment) and drove by my grandmother's house. Not shown - the missing golf course behind the house!

If I could twitch my nose and show up at home for a long weekend every month or two I would definitely do it!

Sight Unseen

 Virtual tours aren't quite like being on campus.

I don't know if anyone still uses this pedestrian entrance.

You might be able to see the duck pond in the background.

We had fun moving things around the dorm room.

Here's the view from the bed

and the view out the window.

After saying good-bye 

we checked out the maker space

and this cool 3-D printed Klein Bottle.

We were supplied with rubberbands to
deal with a wardrobe malfunction.

We checked out the town, including this 115-year-old fire station.

We are looking forward to hearing about A.'s adventures (and classes!).

Animals in August

I was looking for a few pictures for my monthly leftovers post and so many had animals. Here they are, along with a couple bonus pictures.

It was cuter on my shoulder than when it went toward
the back of my neck and I could not see it.

Saying good-bye to Maggie before leaving.

An injured gopher snake, but maybe it survived
after it was removed from the road.

spider

This made me laugh and reminds me of my mom's uncle.

You will just have to imagine that this is a
bee rolling around like a cat in catnip.

Family of four dining outside

Monday night concerts returned for the month of August

including the Night Bloomin' Jazzmen and their cornet
player in the center, 96-year-old Chet Jaeger, whose 
childhood house we live in now.