Bree and her friend Mack decide that, if they were to ever form a band, they could call it “Mac and Cheese”.
Jan: I get the Mac part, but why Cheese?
Bree: You know… Brie?
We’re getting ready to drive Liya to the train station for her return trip to Vancouver — and discover that a large puddle is growing in our driveway and coming into the garage. Our Magnolia tree is up to its usual tricks blocking our outgoing sewer pipe that runs underneath it.
After many years of trouble with that tree (which cannot be removed due to city regulations), we have in place a number of defenses to prevent a pipe blockage from flooding our basement. We have a water sensor which goes off just as we’re walking into the garage. We have a sump pump on hand that we bought after the last blockage. And we have the number of the company to call to deal with exactly this problem.
Since this is the first time we’re using the sump pump, it takes a few minutes to set it up. We finally get it hooked up and placed inside the trough below some grates in our driveway, from where the pump happily begins pumping water out into the street.
There’s a bit of comedy when we notice that the street end of the garden hose still has a sprinkler attachment on it — so sewer-contaminated graywater is now spraying into the air. It takes some doing to get the sprinkler attachment off without getting showered in graywater.
A repair crew eventually confirms and clears a blockage in the pipe.
Evan returns from a short trip to the D.C. area, where he met up with friends and stayed with his grandparents in McLean, VA. Back in Seattle, Evan’s Stanford friend Yayo flies up from L.A. to stay with us for a weekend.
Evan and Yayo make a day trip to Vancouver to see Liya. Liya shows them around UBC and Granville Island. She also takes them to a class for a new activity of hers: capoeria, a Brazilian art that’s part dance, part martial art.
Angela’s oldest uncle passes away at the age of 94. His given name was 陳震東, which in Mandarin would be Chén Zhèndōng, but we only ever knew him by his Taiwanese title, A-pei: “father’s oldest brother”. It’s been a number of years since we were able to see him, but he was always a gracious host.
We won’t be able to attend the memorial service but Evan may try to go.
Moxie has developed an addiction to fish food. When we feed the fish each evening, Moxie hops up on the top of the tank cover. He gets agitated when he sees the fish flakes being dropped through a hole in the cover into the water, and he’ll meow for some. If we put a small pinch of flakes on top of the tank, he’ll consume it instantly. In his excitement he’ll sometimes breathe out and send the fish flakes flying.
Our fish tank is also home to a small snail. The snail gets special food of its own: little algae tablets. The two tiny catfish we have also like the pellets.
The problem with feeding the snail is that we have to lift the tank cover.
A couple of times it has happened that Moxie hears the activity by the tank and comes rushing to get fish food. He’ll leap up to the tank cover — which is open. His front paws will plunge into the water and he’ll end up hanging over the edge of the tank. He’ll jump back, sending water into the air, then retreat to hide under the dining room table.
We try an intro pottery class at a studio a short drive away in Madison Valley. Eight other people joins us for the class, which presents an introduction to throwing a bowl on a pottery wheel.
As we work on our first, the instructor warns us that, as we add water to the clay while we’re working it, the clay will gradually become softer, weaker, and more likely to tear. Sure enough, as Angela’s trying to pull the walls of her bowl out, the clay rips. She’s left with a small lump of clay on her wheel — but she decides to keep working it. She eventually manages to salvage the clay as a tiny little teacup. The instructor is amused by her persistence, and everyone thinks the cup is cute.
Our landscapers assemble a collection of balls found in our backyard. There are young kids living in the houses to either side of us, and a high schooler who plays lacrosse on the other side of the back fence, so we get a lot of balls.
Utility workers have been working on the line in front of our house on and off for the past few days. There have been multiple outages for the blocks south of us, but luckily we’ve had power the whole time.
Choate has a rare snow day. A massive snowstorm across the East Coast brings snow all day yesterday and today. Classes are cancelled and there is much rejoicing. Bree (bottom right, in hat) and her friends have fun playing in the snow.