Multitasking gizmos

I gave my niece something for graduation that she had wanted for a long time. She sent me this. Now when her mother takes her places she has a new way to miss what is going on.
I sent her this, so she would know that we are to the outdoor swimming season here.
For the most part the trail is dry now, but this little bit is still damp.Sometimes water is in the pool, and sometimes it is under the bike.

The ducks are fine with all the water.Today someone sent me this. Rub one of these noses for good luck.

Graduation was fun

Her alma mater.Processing with a friend.Lots of love.Look who droppped in.Smile while you say that.3B take notes on how to pose.We will be seeing you soon.We might want a picture with you in it.We want you to look like one of us, since you are.Something from the Golden State.

Let the games begin

Today was the famous Evergreen Olympics, celebrated every four years by my son's school. Note the bright sunshine pouring down on the empty field as we await the arrival of buses full of Olympians representing countries far and near.Parents wait for the arrival of their favorite athletes.

Kindergartners represent China, complete with a dragon.
Out there with his hood and his flag is my boy, representing Italy. Other than eating lunch with him, this is about all I saw of him all day.
About a third of the athletes.
I played this game with 11 groups of athletes. It is called Fire Drill. There was no fire, there was no water. They were supposed to balance two basketballs on two hockey sticks and carry them around. Some of them were pretty funny to watch. Teamwork was essential, but lots of them thought that was not important. Silly them.
There were running races too, but I was out playing with hockey sticks when my boy was running. In the afternoon, I watched the running while I held the finish tape. I left my camera in my pocket. It was all I could do to keep track of when to let go of the tape, then run and get it back before they started the next race. At the end of the day, these athletes wait for the bus to take them back to school. Note the umbrellas. We do not get them out without reason in this state. I climbed on my bike and made it home before the streets were wet enough to spray water off the tires and really soak me.

It is now raining steadily. Earlier we had a proper deluge complete with thunder and lightning. Noah would be pleased. Maybe the sun will come out again tomorrow morning so I can go for a longer ride than the two miles to the Pirate stadium. I did take my Shadow for her requisite evening walk. She seems unable to relieve herself in her own yard, so we meandered around the neighborhood searching for the perfect lawn to decorate. Of course I picked it up.

I left my camera home

Just words today, I rode my bike without taking the camera along. I am working on another triathlon, since the first one was so fun. Actually there are two within a couple of weeks of each other at the end of August and the beginning of September. One is here in my backyard and the other one is over by my sister's house. I hope they clean the trails before the one over here. Who knows what the freeway has on it to puncture tires, but the trail here is most interesting.

I picked out what is an ambitious route for me with a big hill in the middle to make me work harder. The hill was long, but I made it to the top just fine. I will do better next time, because, as my brother says, hills are easier when one has seen them before. Going down the other side was lots of fun too, especially the part where I went by the sign that suggested a mile of 7% grade. I am not sure I want to reverse the route, but someday, I know I will.

After the downhill, I turned onto the Centennial Trail, which is actually a street at that point. I followed it until it became a real trail, and rode on the trail until I reached the part where the river had taken over the trail. I had my sandals on today, but not shorts, so I decided to go around that part. Just as I reached the road, I noticed a funny sound under me. I stopped and checked, and I had some pressure, so I decided to see how far I could go. 50 feet later, I was working with my pump on my rear tire. I hopped back on and gave it another try. I made it another 50 feet. I decided it would be better to walk, despite the fact that I was about 7 miles from home. I pulled out my cell phone and called home to ask for assistance. Silly me, I had a pump, but not a patch kit. Most days, I can pump and ride to make it home. Usually I can go a couple of miles before the air leaks out again, but not today.

Shortly after I completed my call I found a cyclist with a patch kit, so I called home and cancelled the emergency assist and we set to work on my bike. I quickly found a hard object in my rear tire. I tried to pick it out, but it was lodged in quite well. We removed the tire, and I reached in carefully to feel for the object. I removed it quite easily. It was a bird bone about a half inch long. Bird bones are hollow, so it was acting like a straw conducting all the air I put into my tire right back out again. After application of a patch and pumping again, I was on the road again, with much thanks to my assistant. Within a couple of blocks, I found a service station with free air (after finding many with air that cost quarters which I did not have.)

What concerns me about the August triathlon is that it takes place on that same section of trail. Of course if I had a flat at that point in my ride, my run would have just started that much sooner. I fixed the flat in the vicinity of the transition area for that one. That event involves a pool swim, but this time it is in a 50 meter pool. Less counting for me, and more swimming. I did my laps there on Friday, and it was nice to swim more and turn less. I do not mind turning when I swim, but I like the swimming part better, and I work more when I swim longer. Later this summer, I can practice open water swimming going around some island where I am going on vacation.

All in a day's work.

Whoever said there was such a thing as a stay at home Mom never tried it. We stay at home Moms have cell phones, because we are never close enough to the home phone to answer it. I prefer the more accurate Full Time Mom, or the simpler yet elegant Domestic Goddess. Yesterday started early with a trip to school by 8:00 (usual start is at 9:15) to catch the bus by 8:15 to visit Cataldo Mission and scenic Wallace, Idaho with the fourth grade class. Our first, unscheduled, stop was here, somewhere in Idaho at the upper end of Lake Coeur D'Alene, which is not usually part of the lake. Note the fence in the water. We stopped here to clean up after a child who had been on the bus too long. I was glad to be in the train of cars following behind.We proceeded to Cataldo Mission, which is the oldest building still standing in Idaho. There might have been older buildings, but they burned down years ago. It is amazing to think of the Jesuits and the local natives erecting those timbers without the use of any equipment. There was a lot of manpower and rope involved, but there is nothing to indicate how the upward lift was provided.After lunch we took off for Wallace. The first stop for our group was the train depot. There were no tracks, no trains, but there was this nice depot.We visited a mining museum, then we visited a real mine. Note my boy in the middle of the group without his hard hat on. This mine never produced anything, but at $10.50 a pop for a tour, I think they may be making money on it now. Other mines in the area produce lots of silver.How to blow up rocks.As if the day's entertainment was not sufficient, the evening provided further fun. The final presentation of the humanities projects went on from 6:00 until around 9:30 last night. My daughter's presentation was a display along with many others in the mall at her school. Several of her fellow students chose to do a stage presentation instead. My daughter and this young man narrated the presentations. To describe each presentation, she time traveled in this fine time machine to the place and time which each student was discussing, from Aboriginal Australia to Beethoven's piano to the future of the class, they told jokes and announced each project. Orientation on stage did not seem to affect the functionality of the time machine.