The website Truthout runs an op-ed piece, The Asian American Reply to Pandemic-Era Racism Must Be Cross-Racial Solidarity, that starts off with with a photograph of Angela and Liya marching in a 2017 Black Lives Matter protest.
We discover that Liya’s drawn faces on all the eggs.
This makes cracking open an egg to cook it into a slightly traumatic experience.
Jan, Angela, and Lyn walk from our home all the way up to Capitol Hill to visit the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), the temporary home of a sustained Black Lives Matter protest. A fairly large number of people are there, some gathering to listen to speeches or plans, others (like us) just coming to take a look. There are food stands, volunteer sign-up sheets, street musicians, and a guy dressed like Jesus.
By far the most interesting and beautiful sight is the enormous “BLACK LIVES MATTER” mural painted down East Pine Street. Each letter is done in a different style. This picture was taken at the big “B” at the start of the mural.
Our whole household heads out of town for a long weekend at an AirBnB on the Kitsap Peninsula. We’d originally had plans for a family trip overseas — but that’s now indefinitely postponed, and we wanted to at least do something.
The house sits right on the Colvos Passage between the Kitsap Peninsula and Vashon Island, so we have a nice view of the water. There are enough bedrooms for everyone to have a room to themselves.
Kitsap house rental, Day 2. We go for a walk south along the beach at low tide. Our destination is a small market called Al’s that sits by a bridge over an inlet. The walk is pleasant enough, although Al’s Market is closed because of the pandemic.
Liya wants to go for a run at nearby Banner Forest, so Jan and Lyn drive her over, then walk around for about an hour while Liya gets her running in.
In the afternoon, Jan takes out one of the house’s kayaks and paddles across the wide strait to Vashon Island and back. There’s no wind or current, so the paddling is easy enough, but it’s a long trip. After he’s done, Liya takes the kayak out for a spin herself.
Kitsap house rental, Day 3. Every day we end up going for a walk at low tide. There’s plenty to see: eagles, jumping fish, occasional seals, and a cute sea otter.
In the afternoon, we drive to the town of Gig Harbor. Kitsap County is more open, pandemic-wise, than King County is, so we get to do things like visit bookstores and go inside an ice cream parlor.
Kitsap house rental, Day 4. We have some nice weather, and decide to go back into Gig Harbor for a Father’s Day picnic lunch at The Gourmet Burger Shop. The burgers are pretty good, and it’s nice to eat outside at a park across the street.
After lunch we do more bookstore shopping, then hang out at a waterfront park.
A sunny morning as we’re packing up to head back to Seattle.
One of Anya’s international friends from Choate, Evrim, needs a place to stay for the summer — the pandemic made it impossible for her to spend the summer in her native country of Turkey. We agree to host her for the summer!
That makes seven people in our house right now. Anya and Lyn swap rooms so that Anya ends up in the larger guest room, which she’ll share with Evrim.