Happy New Year, Chicken! 

It is 2023 already. A ton of stuff has happened. We’re on Mid-winter break right now laying low and skiing all that we can. Here are three shots from three different days this week. 

with Ty and his family on Mission Ridge.

Martina, Mike, Martin, and Mikayla on an epic powder day.

Evy, Willa, Rebecca and James on a snowbird day today!

The latest 1 Second Everyday Video:

I’m so very proud of this one. It is the 10-year anniversary of capturing seconds. Yes, I’ve recorded nearly 3,650 seconds of my life from February 2013 and smashed them all into a video. Here it is. There are so many of you, kiddo. I have your first minutes-old shot and probably a thousand more of you growing up. 

What you’re doing these days:

I’m going to be quite summative on this to catch up since the last post. Here are some highlights from the past year. 

We all got COVID – me on Memorial Day 2022 and you and Mommy a month later. 

You’re in third grade now. You love to read, you started to unicycle with Stella and Ruby but haven’t lately. You’re really into LEGOs right now and are listening to Harry Potter for the 800th time. You are crushing it on the ski slopes these days. There really isn’t a ski route that you won’t take with Mommy.

Both Mommy and I have brainwashed/shared our love of music with you by listening often. Here is my Spotify Wrapped top songs of 2022. 

Both Mommy and I turned 50 last year. We threw an epic Omicron-COVID garage surprise for Mommy (see January 17 2022 in the above video for the big reveal). 

I overheard you and Mommy talking one evening; you were sharing your life goals. You said you wanted to construct a large LEGO city, travel the world and eat different foods, and make Mommy Happy. The two of you have good talks, usually before you’re about to go to bed or on a walk with Kazoo. 

One afternoon when we were on a walk with Kazoo, you got in a serious tone and said, “Dad, can you help me with something?” I got excited inside, thinking this was going to be a deep conversation about more life goals, love, or relationships where you needed my guidance. You asked, “Can you teach me how to burp on command?” I’m happy to be there for you for anything, kid, so if it is burp on command, I’m on it. The next night when Mommy wasn’t around we had some ginger beer and practiced burping. 

Other things….. people often assume you are a boy and use he/him pronouns. We correct them and it doesn’t bother you too much. You had a great Percy Jackson musical camp last summer and are set for Harry Potter musical camp this summer. Here’s your big piece playing Katie, daughter of Demeter. 

In my life these days:

We spent a week in NYC when I turned 50 which was really fun. I’m teaching Calculus for the first time ever this year which is challenging and fun. I do a cold plunge with school friends every couple of weeks. I’ll try out again for the Great Grand Masters Ultimate team this summer and am working on two piano pieces to present at the Spring Festival in March. 

A recording

In the shower these days you sing the Macarena, except you don’t really know the lyrics and you make them up, “One Maca two maca three macarena maca four maca five maca six macarena…….”  I don’t have audio of it yet, but I will get a clip soon. 

In the news:

I’m going to keep this part short: Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, the seattle public school strike, more mass shootings, Breanna Stewart left the Seattle Storm. Mommy and I are going to see Bruce Springsteen in a few days!

A summary of a book or podcast I liked:

The Boy Who Drew Auschwitz. Cloud Cukoo Land by Anthony Doerr, and A Really Good Day by Ayelet Waldman

Love and Hugs to you!

Dad

Happy Springdizzle, Cool Kid,

It’s been a year, literally, since I’ve updated, so there’s a lot to catch up on. I’ll keep this one brief since I just need to press “publish” to at least get some momentum going. 

I DO have the 1 second everyday video for April 2022. Last year’s and the earlier months are on their way…

Here’s something I read AND something that happened to me combined. 

Over the winter, I listened to All In: the Autobiography of Billie Jean King. I listened to Billie Jean recount her life growing up in LA to being a champion of women’s and LGBTQ+ rights and winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. I remember hearing about her growing up, but never watched her play nor really paid attention to the Battle of the Sexes (TBH I was only 1 in 1973) or how history favors men. Her website has great information and this TED talk also shows BJK talk about how she has fought for social change for her entire life. 

I loved her book so much I sent her a thank you card and four leaf clover some time in January, I think. In the mail this week (June 2022) I got a letter back from one of her assistants. 

Pretty cool, huh? 

I gotta talk with one of my colleagues about Calculus. More later.

Love, 

Dad

Happy Summer 2021, Sunshine!

The latest 1 Second Everyday Video:

What you’re doing these days:

Your pod created an end-of-year musical that kept you all focused and excited for the month before school ended. Here’s the final cut of “The Forest Strikes Back.”

You cook your own pasta

“You know, Dad, the second cup of coffee never tastes as good as the first.”

For my damn life I can’t remember

Storm Games

Cheetah’s in boxes watching Season 3 of The Cheetah Diaries. 

A recording

In my life these days:

In the last post, my thumb was pregnant and needed to give birth. 

before

Here’s how it looks now. 

after

my 24th year of teaching…how was the year

Vaccine Development Professional’s Day

trip to Bend

The summer ’21 lineup

In the news:

Derek Chauvin

Juneteenth

The olympics

A summary of a book or podcast I liked:

Come As You Are

Material World: A Global Family Portrait

Cosmos: Possible Worlds

Happy Spring, Kid! 

It’s April 2021. I just had my second Pandemic birthday. Last year we had a picnic with cinnamon rolls at the park. This year, I welcomed 49 years with skiing – you and Mommy went downhill and I got to nordic for a few hours. Later that day, we returned your seasonal rentals – so the ski season is pretty much over. 

Right now, Nana and PopPop are visiting us – the first time you’ve seen them in over a year. You’re playing UNO together and have just finished making brownies. You’ve been so excited to have them visit that you have been crossing off days on the calendar since the middle of March. 

The latest 1 Second Everyday Video:

I’m working on the February and March 1SEs, but in the meantime, here are videos you request often. 

And you don’t know what this is about, but you like saying “Zillow” in a steamy voice after I let you watch this one. 

 

What you’re doing these days:

On April 5th, you went to school for the first time, meeting your 1st grade teacher for the second time in person. You go 1/2 days and the other half you’re still in the pod with Marijke. You seem to really like going back to school.

You have a crush on Cole, one of your 1st grade classmates. You’ve been luck to have met him for a playdate three times already this spring. Until…..last week you learned that Evy and Cole were passing notes, and that set you into a paroxysm of fury, coming home sobbing to Mommy with “he’s taken.” You were quite heartbroken, until you learned that your teacher encouraged students to write notes to your “deskmates,” the students who share your desk the other half of the day. When you learned this, your confidence returned and you learned a good lesson to go for what you want AND don’t assume the worst. 

Here are two items you’ve recently made in pottery class….a cheetah and a mug for me. 

Here’s you being brave and visiting the dentist after a long absence due to COVID restrictions. 

Here’s an easter pug picture you made with me. 

And you made this portrait of me on the same day. 

Your latest joke:   Knock knock?  Who’s there? Element. Element who? “BOO:The Element of Surprise!” It is bad, but you made it up and have a lot of fun offering it to people. You have been known to barge into meetings Mommy has in her office to tell jokes and dance around. 

We just finished all seven of the Harry Potter audiobooks! It was a great bonding experience to go through with you – those audiobooks were probably over 117 hours. The narrator, Jim Dale, earned a world record for over 100 different voices in The Order of the Phoenix. We often use Alexa to play Harry Potter trivia – and we do pretty well 🙂 

A recording

In my life these days:

Here’s my 2021 Peabody Planner

And here’s me getting my second COVID shot collection of stickers. 

In the news:

The trial of Derrick Chauvin, the police officer whose knee was on George Floyd for over 8 minutes, is about to wrap up in Minnesota. Several officers have testified that Chauvin’s behavior was unnecessary and cruel, but we will see if he actually gets convicted of murder. If he is acquitted, I can’t imagine the uproar that will happen. If he is convicted, will this open the gates for police reform and a hope for black men in the hands of police officers? 

The state of Georgia recently passed a law that put more restrictions into voter registration – restrictions that limit the time to register, mail in a ballot, reduce the number of drop boxes, and make offering food or water to people standing in line a misdemeanor. Many large corporations, including Major League Baseball, have taken their business out of the state (the All-Star Game was to happen in Atlanta) in protest. 

On our walks with Kazoo, we often head to Safeway to pick up items. The number of tents there has increased, mirroring what has been happening all over Seattle. This person was covered in a blanket in the middle of the day – Kazoo and I walked past him. 

We had my friend Nichole over for garage dinner a few weeks ago. She and I used to carpool to school with you in the backseat. She’s going through a recurrence of cancer, unfortunately, but just started immunotherapy to try to rid her body of the bad cells. She was impressed with our caprese salad 🙂

A summary of a book or podcast I liked:

I recently finished Spaceman by Mike Massamino, after he came and spoke at my school. 

We’re on our spring break 2021 right now, kiddo, and it is perfect weather. Time to get outside before you enjoy the brownies you baked with Nana.

Love, Dad

Happy 2021, 1st Grader, 

I really thought when I titled these Pandemic posts that it would only last for a few months. I remember a colleague posting on facebook, “So all we need to do is stay inside, watch Netflix, and wait this out. We can do this, people!” Oh how wrong we were. 

The Pandemic has now reached the year mark, and nearly half a million people dead from COVID in the US. As of now (February 20th) new cases have sharply declined as well as hospitalizations, which is great, but 28 million americans have had coronavirus. The US is by far the leading country in cases and one-fifth of the current deaths – not something to be proud of. 

Your school has published that Pre-K through 1st students will be going back to school in some capacity by March 1st, but that date has been pushed back and with the negotiations with the teacher’s union, nothing is clear. 

But we keep going, having some driveway dinners, working from home, going to the pod, and doing what we can to stay active, outside, and social. 

The latest 1 Second Everyday Video: Here’s the 2020 full year video in 1 second every day. 

What you’re doing these days:

We’re re-listening to Harry Potter. We took a year off but now have plowed through The Goblet of Fire and are now on The Order of the Phoenix – they make car rides go so smoothly – as long as there is an audio book and treats, you can motor on. 

You’ve lost three teeth in the last couple of months. You still buy into the Tooth Fairy, but your have your doubts. The last time we were talking about it, you went to Alexa and asked, “Alexa is the Tooth Fairy your parents?” Thankfully, she said she didn’t understand your request. 🙂

We continue to play Puppy in a Box – nowadays it is Cheetah in a Box – which gives you joy because you get to play a cheetah, boss me around, and allows us to roughhouse. It isn’t my favorite – I wish you’d want to play chess or draw or shoot baskets with me, but I try to say yes. someday Cheetah in a Box will be gone – I choose to participate now. 

We’re doing a lot of skiing on weekends. You just completed your fourth lesson out of five today and you’re making tremendous progress – and loving it. Mommy says you’re going to outski me in the next year or two. 

A recording

I am Thrilled that you and Marijke in the pod are singing Hamilton. I would play Cheetah in a box over and over to be able to capture you singing like I did with this ……you know it better than I do! 

In my life these days:

I’m teaching more in-person these days, biking in to work for the afternoon session when I have class. Pretty soon, we should be back to all-day half capacity teaching, though many teachers are resisting it, not for the safety factor but also because they have home/kid situations that require them to be home with their kids. It is a tough issue right now. 

I’m keeping active with biking, lifting in the garage, date nights on Thursdays with Mommy, and nordic skiing when time allows. Today I was in my first nordic race of the year….it was a self-timed 9k hilly course in Plain. After your ski lessons, we came down off the mountain. You and Mommy left me off at the start. I jumped out of my downhill clothes and into my nordic gear and broke into the top ten! 

Here are some shots of the goings on in our lives lately. 

this has been your 1st grade classroom for most of the year. It is home – we are so thankful that you’ve got a pod of learning going on and that you’re thriving with it.

This is Kazoo’s good friend, Theo, another sheepadoodle.

I taught your 1st grade class how to juggle scarves in two back to back drop in lessons in January.

we went to Zoo Lights at Woodland Park Zoo – this was a walk-in kaleidoscope you did with Mommy

my Valentine’s card to Mommy this year was a flip book – the librarian at school helped 🙂

this started happening to my right thumb back in April – I don’t know what the hell it is.

In the news:

I’m feeling much better now that there is a new administration. Just when I thought 45 was gone, the storming of the Capitol happened and we saw a new domestic terror that was unthinkable. I’m hoping to hear less of Proud Boys, QAnon, and the conspiracy theories as we move forward into 2020, along with a unified message to quell the virus and get the US back to normal. 

A summary of a book or podcast I liked:

I just finished listening to Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime. I read it a few years ago but to have him tell it is fantastic. Growing under the shadow of apartheid in South Africa, it really helps you see how poverty, domestic abuse, racism, and religion, but in a comedic way. 

I don’t know why this one was in my stack, but I finished The Secret History by Donna Tartt. 

I also laughed out loud many times listening to David Sedaris’ The Best of Me. 

Both Trevor Noah and David Sedaris have Poop stories that are two of the funniest I’ve heard. Here is David’s . For Trevors, go to the chapter, “Trevor, pray.”

Our MidWinter Break is over, little Cheetah, but we had a good long week of skiing, reading, watching, and lounging. 

Happy Thanksgiving, 7 year old!

It got to be so long, I had to just publish the last post and not try to finish it. It’s time to start fresh. Here’s the scoop. 

Thanksgiving 2020, we had three Zoom calls with loved ones. Alexandra and Coulter stayed with us, we sledded and hiked, 

The latest 1 Second Everyday Video:

Here’s our August/September 2020 

And here’s October 2020

What you’re doing these days:

You’ve lost two teeth in the last month, still like puppy in a box, 1st grade, pottery, piano, How to Train Your Dragon on video, we watched Back to the Future, you’re singing Hamilton, 

You love Titanic and have read or watched nearly everything on it. 

can cook salami with eggs on the stove. You’re getting close to being able to boil your own water for pasta. 

you and mommy fight over what you eat often, we call everything chicken

A recording

In my life these days:

I hosted our Halloween Piano Recital 2020 on my Zoom account, teaching, doing workouts, making the bumper plate holder, driveway dinners, we watched Away about the Martian Mission

In the news:

RBG has died and now Amy Coney Barret is on the Supreme Court, tipping the balance to the conservative side. 

The Hallmark Channel aired its first LGBTQ movie this year called, “The Christmas House.”

The election 2020

A summary of a book or podcast I liked:

A Long Petal to the Sea by Isabel Allende.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds

It’s September already, Cosmic Kid,

Actually nearly the end of September. Summer is over. 2020 is limping along. You’ve started first grade (virtually) and just last night you were reading Calvin and Hobbes TO ME! I know you have most of them memorized from the dozens of times we’ve read the comics, but still, you’re putting words together and laughing out loud as you make the meaning yourself. I was thrilled to be there with you. 

I was in the room with you mostly because you’re in a “scared of the dark,” phase, and you’ve asked that I stay in the room with you until you fall asleep. Then, I can sneak away. It’s better than it used to be…..there was a few days last week when you had to stay in our room. I made you a set of notecards with affirmative mantras on them to help you gain confidence and talk you out of the slippery slope of fear of the dark. 

The latest 1 Second Everyday Video:

What you’re doing these days:

Over the summer you pretended to be Katscha the esthetician, who painted my nails. 

Adventure Camp and Bike Camp, neighbor drama with masks and playtime and meanness

You LOVE all things Titanic these days. I can’t remember how it started….maybe it was a library book. We’ve asked Alexa dozens of questions about the Titanic, watched the 1997 epic film, and have spent many walks with you just asking more questions about icebergs, the class system, drowning, the Atlantic ocean, and shipbuilding. You just finished this documentary where you learned about the Irish/English conflict in the building of the ship prior to it’s 1912 fateful maiden voyage.  

Back in August I got you up at 11:30 on a Wednesday to watch the Perseid meteor shower. Alexandra and I saw several, but you were eating popcorn and drinking hot chocolate and weren’t able to focus for long enough on the sky to see a shooting star, unfortunately. We were able to see comet NEOWISE faintly a few times this summer as well to add to our stargazing experience. 

you made a carrots and cheese and whip cream and grapes snack for Mommy

We made a video for Gaga and Grandpa’s September birthdays – it combined several of your talents. 

 

A recording

In my life these days:

My GOA Geometry class, podcasting

What I’m thankful for:

RBG is back from the hospital, time with YOU watching Super Cats or trampoline, picking you up on the bike, a job that is safe and predictable, healthy family, 

yelling Crosby dinner while you’re out with neighbor friends on our block

In the news:

The election, 

President’s tweets have been taken down due to their misinformation

I’m scared

A summary of a book or podcast I liked:

Born to Run, The Great Alone, 

A Long Petal of the Sea

Happy July, 6.75 year old, 

We thought the Coronavirus was going to run its course and we’d be able to enjoy the summer like we anticipated – oh how wrong we were. The US has been the leading country with the most number of cases and deaths for a while. It is embarrassing and frightening because 23 states cases are still on the rise. The rising cases now are coming with fewer deaths, most likely because it is younger people who were out over the holidays and at bars and restaurants in the states that have reopened establishments. 

I feel absolutely horrible when I read or listen to the news – especially because much of this limping along as a country with the virus could have been preventable. Since last post, the country has erupted, in some ways good and most ways not. School ended, you graduated from Kindergarten and we had just moved into Phase 2 of Washington’s Approach to escaping the COVID-19 epidemic. 

George Floyd was killed in police custody on May 25th. This set a maelstrom of outrage over police brutality and the disproportionate killing of black people by law enforcement….which has been happening for decades but hasn’t really taken a national stage and outrage. You and I watched protests in Minneapolis and Chicago and all over the USA, then you, me, Mommy, and Alexandra participated in a silent protest in Seattle on June 12th. It was very powerful….Mommy and I were glad we all participated – we all kept our distance (the umbrellas helped) and everyone’s mouths were shut – the silence was incredibly palatable. During the march, you started to complain, so I put you on my shoulders – you gasped when we made it up a hill and I turned around to show you how many people were participating,  

Since that protest, there’s been quite a movement around the country to defund police departments, rethink policing, change the names of professional sports teams whose mascots are derogatory to Native Americans, and tear down confederate monuments that stand for the oppression, killing, and ideology of racism and vestiges of slavery. Some Kansas State University athletes have threatened to refuse to perform in their sports if the university doesn’t take tougher action on a student who tweeted an insensitive comment about George Floyd. 

Even Colin Kaepernick, whose activist kneeling in 2017 drew a split outrage/support, has been apologized to by the NFL, players, and political players. 

The latest 1 Second Everyday Video:

What you’re doing these days:

In the middle of the night, you came into our bedroom, and asked me to help you “put your balls away.” I played along with your sleepwalking a little, then scooped you up and put you back in bed. You were already asleep by the time we got to your room, but in the morning you got a kick out of the story and asked me to retell it to you. 

We’ve spent hours of time on the neighbor’s trampoline…..which is a perfect fit because Kazoo plays with Sadie and we can chaperone and jump around. We play Marco Polo a lot, and now you like to pretend we are Jim and Tim, two brothers who take martial arts lessons. Most of the time, Jim (you) are five years old and I, Tim, are your older teenage brother. Our parents make us go to Oom Yung Do practice and make us practice fighting. After playing “Cheetah” or “Puppy in a Box” for several years, I’ll take this new pretending. 

You lost your third tooth last month, and you just had a dentist visit which was a great success. You admitted that you were nervous going to it because the previous one was not fun.

You make your own salami-egg dish as well as fruit smoothies, you can tie your own shoes, and you just graduated to a 24-inch bike. Like a kid, you get caught up in things so deeply that you still need to be reminded that you’re doing the pee pee dance and you should go to the bathroom…it’s adorable!

A recording

Here’s a tantrum you had on a Sunday night in May when you were overtired and really wanted to finish a movie that we had started earlier but it was bedtime. 

In my life these days:

I just finished my 23rd year of teaching, my advisee Otsile finally returned home to Botswana after being in limbo with her host family for months, I’ve been my Grandmaster frisbee team’s workout coordinator and have now sent out 18 weeks of workouts (you’ve actually helped film this intro one and the Townsend Circuit), I’m bummed that there will be no frisbee in Sardinia this summer, our garden is taking off with kale and carrots and a zuchinni, I replaced another toilet in our house, you and I made a how to cut a Pineapple the Mathematical way video. Here are some more pics of us. 

An ice cream cake for Alexandra’s birthday.

You were a champ at the dentist.

The zoo reopened this week with restrictions – but it was good to see the jaguar out and playing.

This furry family member is living her best life with us around all the time.

Mommy is finally a Seatllite with the three requirements – a dog, a kayak, and a Suburu

I took you on a tough hike – you were not amused but a root beer helped.

In the news:

Here are some other noteworthy items I haven’t mentioned yet. The SEC refuses to play Mississippi until it changes it’s state flag (it did on June 20, 2020).

Producers of the Simpsons cartoon has stated that, from now on, voiceover actors will now not have white people impersonating non-white characters.

Pepsico has announced the removal of the Aunt Jemima image on it’s syrup and pledges to replace it in an effort to strive for racial equality. 

The supreme court ruled that LGBTQ+ rights are protected by the constitution on June 16th of this year. 

Now the US is 4% of the world’s population and now has 25% of the COVID cases as of July 6. Florida is 6% of the US population but now has 23% of the new US COVID cases. 

Trump is sliding in early presidential polls, most of which have Joe Biden 6 or more percentage points above him in June. There are rumors that 45 is thinking of picking a new running mate over Mike Pence as a Hail Mary shot at winning. We can’t wait until November! 

A summary of a book or podcast I liked:

I’m running low on juice right now, so I’ll just say that my audiobook diet has increased since Coronavirus – mostly because of long dog walks and more frequent runs. I’ve finished A Gentleman in Moscow, Things That Make White People Uncomfortable, Talking to Strangers, and Just Mercy.  

That’s all for now, sweet one. I’ve got to get to bed because I have 6am office hours tomorrow for a class I’m teaching for Global Online Academy this summer – keeps me fresh with all the new online techniques. 

Love,  Daddy

Welcome to Episode 3, Little Monster, 

This week was fairly routine – one difference was a big standoff mid-week when the words “I’ll kill you, Mommy,” came out of your mouth. Fortunately, you were both cuddling thirty minutes later, but it was tense. Hard to imagine that just days before you had gone all out to make Mother’s Day 2020 special for Mommy 🙂

The latest 1 Second Everyday Video:

It’s mid-month for us, so I don’t have a new 1SE video, but here’s a project I’ve wanted to do for several years. I saw the men outside my school in Santo Domingo cut a pineapple in this curious way, so I wanted to share it. 

In the filming of it, I asked Alexandra to do a backup video in case something happened to the phone you were holding to film. It didn’t happen, you were a rockstar filmer, keeping it steady and adding priceless color commentary. I was so pleased. 

What you’re doing these days:

You and I are learning chess together, kinda. I bought Storytime Chess, a product that comes with a kid-friendly story for each character that enables one to learn how the pieces move. You are really into the stories – we’ve read the book several times – but you’re not into the game yet. I’ll try to be patient. 

We’ve also started two new card games – Crazy 8s and Cheat, both of which give us some good together time

A recording

You and I took the yuba bike to school to pick up some items. I got you to come along because you knew you could get some Milk Duds from Robyn’s desk next to mine. This is me pedaling you’re 50 lb mass up Phinney Ridge!

In my life these days:

We’ve been doing Zoom classes for nearly ten weeks now – sadly, I haven’t worn my backpack or long pants for that long. 

I’ve been making the running workout for my ultimate team since we haven’t been able to get together for practices for 10 weeks. Yesterday you filmed me making this video. 

In the news:

We have had some creative developments since the shelter-in-place order. Once a week, there’s a bagpiper who strolls along our streets and belts out with his pipes. The Seattle Quarantine Parade is a truck that rolls through the streets hissing smoke and sending dance tunes to the neighborhoods – you and I were lucky enough to see it go past the park when we were flying a kite, so we followed it on the bike for a while.  Then there’s The Seattle Pandemic Opera Singer. When I was out juggling one afternoon, I struck up a conversation with a couple pushing a stroller – I found out that this guy was a bike ride away. You, me, and Mommy biked over on May Day to see him. This was the first time we’d been around that many people, so it was a little freaky – not everyone was staying the appropriate distance away. But we stayed long enough to experience him do this piece from Turandot. 

As of now, more than 1 million people have been tested positive for the Coronavirus in the US and over 78,000 people have died. Our country hasn’t come together to defeat the spread as a team. I feel for those who have lost jobs and loved ones 🙁 Here’s hoping our return to normal can be safe and swift. 

A summary of a book or podcast I liked:

I’m almost done listening to A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Count Alexander Rostov is condemned to house arrest in a posh Moscow hotel for the rest of his life. I enjoyed the characters and learning how the count mastered his reality for decades. I listened to it in double time during dog walks and indoor bike rides so it went fast. 

I’ll put more news on the virus in next episode, my dear. Until next time, love, Daddy

Happy May, 

Today you’ve playing Jim, the fix it man, going around the house with one of my toolboxes, fixing our appliances and saving me from drowning in my kitchen. Mommy and I assembled another stay-at-home-retail-therapy purchase of an outdoor basketball hoop. The friendly neighbors down the street have one that we can shoot at, but their girls are older and can use the 10foot hoop. This one will stay at 8 feet where you’re able to make more baskets. 

The latest 1 Second Everyday Video:

Here’s one of my projects since the stay at home order began….I’ve been sidewalk chalking a thank you a day to all the people who need support during this tough time – especially the essential workers. 

What you’re doing these days:

In our home now, we continue to live, work, and learn like most people during this soft lockdown. Just this week, we had a driveway happy hour with the neighbor Mom who spent a lot of time with before everyone went inside. You played with them for a while (at a distance) which was encouraging. Real School has been canceled for the year, but you have Zoom Wednesday lessons with your teacher and started a small group session on Fridays. 

Mommy and you ran (you scooted) to Sunset Hill Park and still had energy to do cartwheels on the grass.

you can tie your own shoes now

I found this drone in the trees at the place where I like to run. We put up a sign and returned it to the man who lost it.

We spend a lot of time on the neighbor’s trampoline while Kazoo and new bestie Sadie play. We play a lot of Marco Polo and you enjoy getting the “Peabody Bump” from me when my bounces propel you higher. One episode a week ago, you were a super hero girl who defeated the strongest 20 men in the world, played by me. 

A recording

Here’s the latest in another one of my projects…..a Sonatina by Clementi. Here’s the opening allegro movement. 

This is my best in the Vivace movement so far. 

I’ve been at them for a couple of months….I’d like to get them perfected by the time we’re out of this coronavirus mess. 

In my life these days:

On Friday, we went to see the renowned Coronavirus Opera Singer of Ballard. It ends up he lives less than a mile from us. We’re trying to get out and do something everyday, even if it is draw with chalk or ride or run around the block. 

School continues to roll on. We’ve just finished our 7th week of Zoomed classes. The routine is tough, but I’m grateful that I have a job and my family is safe and healthy and our needs are met. That isn’t the case for a lot of people these days, unfortunately.

In the news:

Our governor just outlined a 4-Phase move to gradually lift the restrictions that have lasted two months. Yet, I just saw this article last night which doesn’t paint an optimistic future. In the paper, there are still bleak pictures of overloaded  pictures of hospital beds and and rotting bodies in trucks in NYC. 

Our country is divided on the severity and seriousness of the stay-at-home and social distancing recommendations as they have been politically these past few years. There seem to be more protests to recommendations by health officials – people not wearing masks, and Governors lifting orders early on contrast to the medical community. It really is a hard time – so many people are suffering in many ways. 

A summary of a book or podcast I liked:

I just finished The Will to Change by bel hooks. It was recommended by the keynote speaker at our Young Men’s conference we hosted at my school in November. This book is a call to dismantle the patriarchy and redefine how men fit in the constellation of human relationships. 

It’s time to go outside and shoot some baskets!

Love, Daddy