Yellow flowers, late hours

Thursday was my last work day for the week. Google has a global day off tomorrow, one of the quarterly extra holidays they have added during the pandemic. I'm planning to use it to do my taxes and make more muesli. The contractor is also planning to come tomorrow to work on the rock wall. He dropped off some materials today while I was in meetings, leaving them in the back yard.

Nicole took a two-day position at a middle school in a reading and writing class, so she will be absent again tomorrow. The kids came home from school instead of walking straight to Spanish, maybe because I forgot to send a snack with them, or maybe because Lydia needed to use the bathroom. I decided to take them on the bike again. Most of Rainier was visible from Kerry Park, but the peak was shrouded in mystery. There was no change to the big pink-flowered magnolia, but the smaller white-flowered ones (maybe M. stellata?) on the other side of the street are blooming. Much of what's blossoming this time of year is yellow—Forsythia, Cornelian cherry, witch hazel. I noticed all three along the ride, as well.

After dinner, I read from my library book, and then switched over to Mada Trek. It went more smoothly today. The first couple pages were more about malaria treatment with Artemisia annua—last night's paragraph wasn't a mention in passing, but the start of a longer connection. The author saw it there in the Madagascar highlands growing on the land once traded to Gaddafi for oil, but also had seeds of it in his wagon that he intended to distribute to people on the coast so they could grow it as a treatment. He apparently is associated with an organization that is trying to promote its use, because it's inexpensive and effective at treating the disease. He had used it himself on two occasions during their previous Africa Trek. The word of the day, though, is épopée, epic. I'm resurrecting context: «‹Ecce homo› sont les derniers mots de notre livre, Africa Trek, relatant notre précédente épopée finissant à Jerusalem et je les retrouve le premier soir de notre nouvelle aventure...» They just finished the first day of the trek, not having planned any waypoints, and found their way to the grounds of a Catholic church for the night.

I prepared a loaf of bread with sunflower seeds today. I used the last of this week's first loaf this morning to make grilled cheese for the girls' lunches, since it was getting too dry for their usual bread & cheese. I didn't get today's into the oven until late, though, so I sat at the kitchen computer and downloaded tax documents in preparation for tomorrow's fun. The loaf is out of the oven, now, and the sunflower seeds have been crackling occasionally. At least, I assume it's them. My bread doesn't usually make loud noises as it cools. Now that it can go into its bag, I can go to sleep.