Sequestered in Seattle, Day 357

Wednesday was a bright warm meteorological spring day, with a high in the mid-50s. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer, but with rain.

The governor announced yesterday that teachers were eligible for vaccination, so Colin's teacher cancelled one of his classes, and he instead worked with Eric to make lunch for everyone. They cut some green vegetables and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I just had to cut the bread.

Before work this morning, I went outside with Eric to practice riding. By the end of the day he was riding up and down the alley unassisted, sometimes making the turn without stopping, other times starting up again on his own.

I also got outside after lunch to look at the yard and finish a couple crossword puzzles that had been neglected. I had checked out The Calculating Stars without realizing it wasn't available on Kindle, and had to read it through the Libby app on my phone, instead. I finished it last night. It's an alternate history in the 1950s where circumstances have accelerated the space program. Women are included sooner than in our timeline, but with approximately the enthusiasm you'd expect from the era. The main character is a math prodigy computer with a Ph.D. in physics and hundreds of hours of flight time from the WASPs in WWII, but still has to become a celebrity before she's considered begrudgingly for the program. It's a quick read, but interesting.

In the afternoon, one of Rachel's books arrived, so we made a trip to the bookstore. We took the long way home, stopping at Kerry Park to photograph Rainier, then going around the crown counterclockwise, with another stop at the overlook to see Mt. Baker, the Cascades, Lake Union, and sunbathers at Gas Works Park. I didn't think it was that warm, but I did take off my coat and ride the rest of the way home in my t-shirt.

My favorite manzanita was blooming nearby.

I did work today, in spite of appearances, but perhaps not with the same diligence as is typical. Afterwards, I was supervising Eric riding his bike in the alley when Nicole suggested we go to Malena's to pick up a side of rice and beans to accompany her taco dinner. Eric agreed, so I walked and he rode. He did well on the sidewalks, much narrower than the alley. He accidentally went out into the street at an intersection on the way back. We'll have to work on that. Fortunately, no cars were coming. After just one day of practicing, he can already ride much faster than I can walk, especially on the downhill parts.

After dinner, Rachel and I read separate books downstairs, then Nicole came down to watch John Oliver. We had missed a week, so there were two episodes to cover. Then I finished Eric's book with him. It was one we got Colin for Christmas last year. We'll see if we can get him interested in the Magic Treehouse again while we wait for a couple more Nate the Great installments.

I came back downstairs to mix bread dough, and accidentally set off the alarm when I put the lid back on one of my flour buckets. We added glass break detection when we changed the alarm system recently. I'll have to be more careful. Popping the lids back on is loud.

Tomorrow morning is my appointment to retrieve my office goods from work. The forecast looks good for the morning, so I'm planning to take the cargo bike down. I expect everything will fit on the back seat. If not, I have the front basket, too, to work with. I tucked some rope into the pannier in preparation.