Sweepstakes. volcanic ravioli, India Ink and Family Tree
It’s now pretty clear that March will last well into May and perhaps even through June. So, with time on my hands, I decided to peruse some of the junk mail that I usually simply toss out. I’m sure you’ll share the thrill I felt as I opened the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes envelope with the claim:
“$5000 a week for life!”, I thought. Wow!”
And then, when I read the details, I found out that ‘my entry was in ‘winning cohort’. Thrilled, I described my joy to Nazy…
“Wow!” She replied — with less enthusiasm than me.
“Well, we are in the midst of the COVID virus so ‘life’ may not mean..”
“Dan!” Nazy interrupted. “Do you know the odds of winning one of those sweepstakes?”
“Of course! 50-50.” I replied.
“What?”
“Either I win,” I said holding out my left hand. “Or I lose,” I continued holding out my right hand.
Because I had time on my hand, I looked at the official ‘sweepstakes facts’:
“A one in 6 billion, two hundred million chance of winning,” I thought before looking up the population of the planet.
In addition to helping them with construction projects (this is a marble maze), Nazy and I have been helping with Tiger and Arrow’s education during the school shutdown. Nazy is teaching Persian and Art to the boys —
“ … clearly topics that are not in my wheelhouse, my dear,” I noted.
I’ve been helping Tiger with his work from home packets. He’s learning to read, so one of the worksheets asked him to draw a line to the picture matching the sentence: “Jon takes a nap”. After eliminating the pictures with cows, bells and stars, Tiger confidently drew a line to …… >
Tiger looked at me expectantly. “Well?” He asked.
“How do you know that’s Jon?” I asked. “Maybe it’s Mike.”
Unfortunately, a lot of the work from home tasks involve cutting out pictures and pasting them under words. Tiger likes to scissor very close to the boundaries of the pictures and, in the process, he generates …
“… little pieces of paper, Tiger. I don’t like little pieces of paper all over my study.”
“Oh,” Tiger replied. “I don’t think you’re kindergarten teaching material,” Tiger thought.
I’ve also been answering Arrow’s endless questions about volcanos. He like to watch lava flow from Kilauea on Hawaii. He is particular fond of watching lava engulf a can of Chef Boyardee Ravoli. I showed him photos of volcanos on Io (a moon of Jupiter) and Mars and then a cutout drawing demonstrating how a volcano works. He had lots of questions..
“Why is it hot under the earth? Why does that lava go up? How does it smash through that whole mountain?” And, of course: “Are there any volcanos close to my house?”
We also have some time with Azelle. This week, I took her to The Mission for a walk in the park while Nazy helped prepare dinner with Tiger and Arrow. We had a grand time.
Meanwhile, in Bellingham, Washington, Christiane has graduated from the ‘scooter’ that she used to move around the house (crutchless). She’s able to walk on her heel now, so things are really improving.
Here in Santa Barbara, Nazy has resumed her painting artistry. Using a heirloom foundation, she’s working on a Safavi Family Tree. I was enthusiastic until..
“… your last name is not ‘Safavi’, Dan.” Nazy commented.
“So, I’m not going to be..”
“Maybe I’ll make an exception.. and put you in (parenthesis).” Nazy replied. “Or something,” Nazy thought.
This painting is huge. It traces the family all the way back to Mohammad. it took some time to get complete information about the newest additions — and for Nazy to design the tree in a way that made it easier to see the various generations. She is trying to stay true to the history and her Dad..
“As a middle child, he was very happy to be at the top and middle of the tree, Dan.” Nazy explained.
“That won’t work anymore if you add all his children.”
“Now I’m a middle (ish) child.” Nazy noted.
“At least you get a branch,” I mumbled.
Nazy has completed the painting — but now she has to add, in India Ink, the names. And there is little room for mistakes…
“No room for mistakes, Dan.” Nazy interjects.
“Wow,”I replied. “I couldn’t write my name in India Ink without a mistake,” I thought.
We are waiting for our order — several gallons of India Ink — to arrive before resuming the effort.
“We are waiting?” Nazy asks.
“It’s a pandemic, Nazy. All we can do is wait.”
“The ‘president’ wants to open the economy.”
“The ‘president’ thought it would go away in summer.”
“A friend that watches Fox ‘news’ says it’s all a hoax.”
“Yes, I think that Fox has rotated back to that story after spending a week or so claiming that they had never ‘down played the pandemic. (Now they're back touting over-reaction.) If it is is a hoax, why did the Republican Senate spend two trillion dollars on something other than their rich supporters?”
“You don’t have to convince me, Dan.”
“$5000 a week for life!”, I thought. Wow!”
And then, when I read the details, I found out that ‘my entry was in ‘winning cohort’. Thrilled, I described my joy to Nazy…
“Wow!” She replied — with less enthusiasm than me.
“Well, we are in the midst of the COVID virus so ‘life’ may not mean..”
“Dan!” Nazy interrupted. “Do you know the odds of winning one of those sweepstakes?”
“Of course! 50-50.” I replied.
“What?”
“Either I win,” I said holding out my left hand. “Or I lose,” I continued holding out my right hand.
Because I had time on my hand, I looked at the official ‘sweepstakes facts’:
“A one in 6 billion, two hundred million chance of winning,” I thought before looking up the population of the planet.
In addition to helping them with construction projects (this is a marble maze), Nazy and I have been helping with Tiger and Arrow’s education during the school shutdown. Nazy is teaching Persian and Art to the boys —
“ … clearly topics that are not in my wheelhouse, my dear,” I noted.
Tiger looked at me expectantly. “Well?” He asked.
“How do you know that’s Jon?” I asked. “Maybe it’s Mike.”
Unfortunately, a lot of the work from home tasks involve cutting out pictures and pasting them under words. Tiger likes to scissor very close to the boundaries of the pictures and, in the process, he generates …
“… little pieces of paper, Tiger. I don’t like little pieces of paper all over my study.”
“Oh,” Tiger replied. “I don’t think you’re kindergarten teaching material,” Tiger thought.
I’ve also been answering Arrow’s endless questions about volcanos. He like to watch lava flow from Kilauea on Hawaii. He is particular fond of watching lava engulf a can of Chef Boyardee Ravoli. I showed him photos of volcanos on Io (a moon of Jupiter) and Mars and then a cutout drawing demonstrating how a volcano works. He had lots of questions..
“Why is it hot under the earth? Why does that lava go up? How does it smash through that whole mountain?” And, of course: “Are there any volcanos close to my house?”
We also have some time with Azelle. This week, I took her to The Mission for a walk in the park while Nazy helped prepare dinner with Tiger and Arrow. We had a grand time.
Meanwhile, in Bellingham, Washington, Christiane has graduated from the ‘scooter’ that she used to move around the house (crutchless). She’s able to walk on her heel now, so things are really improving.
Here in Santa Barbara, Nazy has resumed her painting artistry. Using a heirloom foundation, she’s working on a Safavi Family Tree. I was enthusiastic until..
“… your last name is not ‘Safavi’, Dan.” Nazy commented.
“So, I’m not going to be..”
“Maybe I’ll make an exception.. and put you in (parenthesis).” Nazy replied. “Or something,” Nazy thought.
This painting is huge. It traces the family all the way back to Mohammad. it took some time to get complete information about the newest additions — and for Nazy to design the tree in a way that made it easier to see the various generations. She is trying to stay true to the history and her Dad..
“As a middle child, he was very happy to be at the top and middle of the tree, Dan.” Nazy explained.
“That won’t work anymore if you add all his children.”
“Now I’m a middle (ish) child.” Nazy noted.
“At least you get a branch,” I mumbled.
Nazy has completed the painting — but now she has to add, in India Ink, the names. And there is little room for mistakes…
“No room for mistakes, Dan.” Nazy interjects.
“Wow,”I replied. “I couldn’t write my name in India Ink without a mistake,” I thought.
We are waiting for our order — several gallons of India Ink — to arrive before resuming the effort.
“We are waiting?” Nazy asks.
“It’s a pandemic, Nazy. All we can do is wait.”
“The ‘president’ wants to open the economy.”
“The ‘president’ thought it would go away in summer.”
“A friend that watches Fox ‘news’ says it’s all a hoax.”
“Yes, I think that Fox has rotated back to that story after spending a week or so claiming that they had never ‘down played the pandemic. (Now they're back touting over-reaction.) If it is is a hoax, why did the Republican Senate spend two trillion dollars on something other than their rich supporters?”
“You don’t have to convince me, Dan.”
For last week's letter, please click here
Nazy and the Family Tree
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