Tie dyed family trees are composting in the garage
Another week of the never-ending year of March featured accomplishment and challenge:
“You want to do what?” I asked.
“We need to finish cleaning, clearing and..”
“ … composting the garage?” I interrupted. “And what do you mean by ‘we’?” I thought.
“There are unopened boxes, Dan.”
“There are unresolved mysteries, Nazy.”
“It will be good to clear and classify and..”
“ and crush and crumble.” I noted.
“And we are going to do it.” Nazy asserted.
“That sounds like ‘Nazy commanded’,” I thought.
We found several boxes of VHS video tapes. (Even though we have no VHS tape player, we saved the self-recorded family videos.) We located a couple of boxes of our city cup collection. We liberated the …
“ … broken Cuckoo Clock?” I asked.
“You won it for best talk at a meeting in Montreux, Dan..”
“But it is broken Nazy.”
“We can put it in a box..”
“Excuse me!” I interrupted.
Here in Santa Barbara, things are beginning to open up while Nazy and I still walk along the beach — which we share with hang gliders. Tiger will graduate from Kindergarten next week — a move that, for the summer at least, will remove much of the structure associated with the pandemic response. Using common sense and masks where appropriate will make outdoor excursions generally safe. And for scooter racing..
“…. outdoors is probably best,” I suggested just after a near collision at the one way sign in Melika’s family room. “Be careful Melika.” I shouted. “And Tom.”
When Azelle went for her nap, I took Tiger and Arrow to the Old Mission, which has a vast, car free, paved expanse for a scooter outing.
“Do you know how I steered with my hands up in the air?” Tiger asked.
“No, how?” I asked. “By running into the cactus?” I thought.
“I lean on the …”
“Slow down, Arrow!” I interjected as a scooter whizzed by.
They enjoyed the flowers and the our stop at the Baskin and Robbins Ice Cream store afterwards where Arrow discovered that chocolate melts faster, stickier and messier than rainbow sherbet. (But it tastes really good.)
This week, the country’s attention turned from virus to social justice — almost everywhere. The Bunker Baby in Chief. finally built his wall, an ugly enclosure that isolates this inept, unprepared, semi-literate, insecure frightened little man (and his upside down, unread bible) from humanity. He is, of course, surrounded by GOP senators with a surplus of jellyfish genes. (Jellyfish have survived 65 million years with neither a brain nor a backbone.)
As if cleaning, well ‘sorting’ the garage wasn’t enough..
“I wonder what we will do with these boxes of Darius’ stuff,” I asked.
“What’s in them?” Nazy replied.
“They are all carefully labeled,” I answered. “Labeled ‘miscellaneous’,” I thought.
Nazy has almost completely finished the Safavi Family Tree, a giant watercolor that depicts The Safavi Linage back to the year 601. It is a beautiful painting and was a technical challenge. Nazy had to align different versions of the family tree and she had to find up-to-date information to complete the new tree. (The versions she had were decades old.) She also promised copies of the final work …
“… but the finished product, my dear is too big for my scanner.” I said. “Moreover, it’s too big for Los Angeles Museum of Art,” I thought.
“You’ll find a way,” Nazy replied — exuding confidence and command presence simultaneously.
Nazy also applied her Artistic capability to an Adams Family tie-dyed tee shirt project. I provided helpful context and mood with my ‘Peace Hat’ from the 60’s.
The distributed family helped celebrate Leandra’s birthday with a Zoom call. Darius, Christiane and Auriane arranged a fun party for Leandra.
The virus has been challenging for everyone. Interaction with others is critical for childhood social development. The schools and the teachers (from pre-school to university level) have done remarkably good work to continue academics during the crisis. We’ve all learned a lot and a Zoom meeting is much better than a phone call. But, there is a need for personal interaction. We are social beings. Hopefully, the virus threat has diminished as we become more aware of risks and alter our behavior accordingly.
“You want to do what?” I asked.
“We need to finish cleaning, clearing and..”
“ … composting the garage?” I interrupted. “And what do you mean by ‘we’?” I thought.
“There are unopened boxes, Dan.”
“There are unresolved mysteries, Nazy.”
“It will be good to clear and classify and..”
“ and crush and crumble.” I noted.
“And we are going to do it.” Nazy asserted.
“That sounds like ‘Nazy commanded’,” I thought.
We found several boxes of VHS video tapes. (Even though we have no VHS tape player, we saved the self-recorded family videos.) We located a couple of boxes of our city cup collection. We liberated the …
“ … broken Cuckoo Clock?” I asked.
“You won it for best talk at a meeting in Montreux, Dan..”
“But it is broken Nazy.”
“We can put it in a box..”
“Excuse me!” I interrupted.
Here in Santa Barbara, things are beginning to open up while Nazy and I still walk along the beach — which we share with hang gliders. Tiger will graduate from Kindergarten next week — a move that, for the summer at least, will remove much of the structure associated with the pandemic response. Using common sense and masks where appropriate will make outdoor excursions generally safe. And for scooter racing..
“…. outdoors is probably best,” I suggested just after a near collision at the one way sign in Melika’s family room. “Be careful Melika.” I shouted. “And Tom.”
When Azelle went for her nap, I took Tiger and Arrow to the Old Mission, which has a vast, car free, paved expanse for a scooter outing.
“Do you know how I steered with my hands up in the air?” Tiger asked.
“No, how?” I asked. “By running into the cactus?” I thought.
“I lean on the …”
“Slow down, Arrow!” I interjected as a scooter whizzed by.
The boys and I also had time to enjoy the rose garden at Mission Park. In fact the ‘walk across the street was the most challenging part of the visit. There is a slight, but lengthy downward slope from the Mission to the Park. The last time we tried, Arrow began zooming. Tiger stopped him with a collision. This time, I kept a very firm hand on the scooter.
The boys were very careful to stay clear of other people — although naturally congenial Arrow couldn’t resist talking to people. E.g.
“… and we played scooters over there. Tiger found some old confetti. Do you want to see Tiger’s confetti? Be careful of the Corona Virus. Dan is playing with us…”
They enjoyed the flowers and the our stop at the Baskin and Robbins Ice Cream store afterwards where Arrow discovered that chocolate melts faster, stickier and messier than rainbow sherbet. (But it tastes really good.)
This week, the country’s attention turned from virus to social justice — almost everywhere. The Bunker Baby in Chief. finally built his wall, an ugly enclosure that isolates this inept, unprepared, semi-literate, insecure frightened little man (and his upside down, unread bible) from humanity. He is, of course, surrounded by GOP senators with a surplus of jellyfish genes. (Jellyfish have survived 65 million years with neither a brain nor a backbone.)
As if cleaning, well ‘sorting’ the garage wasn’t enough..
“I wonder what we will do with these boxes of Darius’ stuff,” I asked.
“What’s in them?” Nazy replied.
“They are all carefully labeled,” I answered. “Labeled ‘miscellaneous’,” I thought.
Nazy has almost completely finished the Safavi Family Tree, a giant watercolor that depicts The Safavi Linage back to the year 601. It is a beautiful painting and was a technical challenge. Nazy had to align different versions of the family tree and she had to find up-to-date information to complete the new tree. (The versions she had were decades old.) She also promised copies of the final work …
“… but the finished product, my dear is too big for my scanner.” I said. “Moreover, it’s too big for Los Angeles Museum of Art,” I thought.
“You’ll find a way,” Nazy replied — exuding confidence and command presence simultaneously.
Nazy also applied her Artistic capability to an Adams Family tie-dyed tee shirt project. I provided helpful context and mood with my ‘Peace Hat’ from the 60’s.
The distributed family helped celebrate Leandra’s birthday with a Zoom call. Darius, Christiane and Auriane arranged a fun party for Leandra.
The virus has been challenging for everyone. Interaction with others is critical for childhood social development. The schools and the teachers (from pre-school to university level) have done remarkably good work to continue academics during the crisis. We’ve all learned a lot and a Zoom meeting is much better than a phone call. But, there is a need for personal interaction. We are social beings. Hopefully, the virus threat has diminished as we become more aware of risks and alter our behavior accordingly.
For last week's letter, please click here.
A few more photos follow:
Leandra on her birthday
The Martin Family … Bellingham
Tiger and Arrow
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