April Fools Day
It’s over, well almost, just a bit of winter like storm with a bit of lightning and thunder, never got the hail that they predicted but that’s ok. It is spring;
I love all the daffodils and flowering trees. If you want to see more color, you can take a day trip up to the Skagit valley and see the fields of daffodils and soon acres of beautiful tulips.
A bit closer to home, the cherry blossom trees are in full bloom at the Quad at the U of WA.
Quad (Spring)
Where did the trees come from?
It’s a bit of a mystery! The Quad’s signature Yoshino cherry trees have multiple origin stories. The leading theory has been that they were purchased for $1.25 each in 1939 for the Washington Park Arboretum, where they were originally planted. But Yuki Shiotani, who studied at the UW in 2016–17 on an exchange from Waseda University in Tokyo, debunked this in an extensive paper on the cherry trees, citing evidence that the Quad’s trees were planted on or before 1936 by the Works Progress Administration as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, and it was different trees that were planted in the Arboretum in ’39.
Due to the lack of records, it remains unclear whether the Quad’s trees were originally donated or purchased. What we do know is that the UW has received donated cherry trees from Japan and Japanese American organizations on other occasions, including 18 trees gifted by the Japan Commerce Association of Washington, D.C., in 2014, now planted at Rainier Vista. The Signature Yoshimo cherry trees are said to be about 90 years old. There are 29 Yoshimo trees in the quad, total of 570 different species of cherry trees . Jerry took me over to see them a few years ago, what a beautiful site, a great way to spend a couple of hours.
Book club was held at Venita’s home, we talked about a delightful book named Slipsworth by Simon Van Booy. The book was very enjoyable and entertaining. Venita did a great job, she had a surprise on our dessert plates, a little rubber mouse to remind us of the star of the book. Very apropos.
April book club will be on April 14, we will be discussing Out of the Cold Dark Sea by Jeffery Briggs. We will be meeting at Edy’s home, unit 311. Edy has arranged something special for our group, it seems Jeffery, the author, lives near us and will be joining us with our discussion. It should be interesting. Let Edy know if you are going to come.
Entertainment -TV
I hope you all have a chance to see the recovery of the space capsule bring home our astronauts. What a fantastic display of American technology. They predicted they were going to splash down at 6:57 PM and sure enough that is when they hit the water. Shortly after that happened, they were greeted by a pod of dolphins cavorting and circling around the capsule welcoming them back home, it was as if someone gave them a cue to start circling. We were thrilled.
All you dog lovers will enjoy a program we just watched on Netflix named Inside the Mind of a Dog. Very interesting and insightful about Man’s best friend.
The Ridge Report
MY SECOND CHILDHOOD
Story #1
So, there I was, minding my own business, when I was suddenly pressed into service watching TV with the grandkids. I was expecting them to choose something with puffins, koalas, or kittens, but no….it was “Alien TV” on Netflix. I found myself sniggering at some of the activities during the show and then had an outright laugh.
I grew up in the “Looney Tunes” age of cartoons. I loved Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, Wiley Coyote and the roadrunner, and Yosemite Sam. So much so that I would opt to see a really bad western with Lash Larue just to catch the Looney Tunes cartoon.
“Alien TV” reminds me of those days. The story line if about an interstellar news agency attempting to report on, and interpret items and culture of earthlings. The News boss sends three reporters to investigate and report on what they find and then interpret it for their audience. They have a 100% record of never getting any of it right. And, they have to deal with a competitive news outfit.
The series is much like Looney Tunes, but with advancements of the last 75 years. The stories are well done. The reporters themselves have all sorts of advanced technology tools, but they don’t do them much good in the long run.
I admit it. I’ve watched two seasons of “Alien TV”. I’m retired. I have spare time. If you happen to have time to waste and liked the old cartoons, give it a try. If it’s too childish, if it’s not your cup of tea, blame it on me and my second childhood.
Story #2
After writing about the movies and cartoons of my youth, I got to thinking about how I filled my days as a WWII kid. Gas was rationed, but we didn’t have a car anyway. Our travel circle was pretty much constrained to our neighborhood, maybe a half-mile radius. It didn’t hamper my activities because there were probably 50 kids I knew from school within two blocks.
My Dad would take me to our local drugstore once a week and buy me a comic book. (This was done under the pretense of encouraging me to read…but he always bought the latest “True Detective” magazine for himself.) I think I probably had the third “Superman” comic and the first “Batman”. I wish I still had them. They accumulated, along with “Archie”, “The Green Hornet”, “Wonder Woman”, Disney, “Dick Tracy”, “Classic Comics”, etc. (I got my first taste of Dickens and Dumas from “Classic Comics.) A comic book collection was like legal tender for a kid, tradeable for other comics or toys.
Cereals offered some neat things. The boxes were printed with various items like cars and planes that could be cut out and folded into a semblance of the real article. Some would have comic book stories on the back. Ovaltine sponsored a lot of “Little Orphan Annie” things. My mom ordered a genuine “Spy Ring” for me. It was mostly over my head at the time. It had a code device that I couldn’t use because I couldn’t write. There was a magnifying glass and a secret compartment to hold your poison or drug of choice. These rings, in good condition, are worth some money these days.
Toys were somewhat limited in WWII. I had some toy cars, trucks, and balls. Typical for a six-year-old. Then WWII was recognized. I got a toy submarine which could shoot torpedoes, along with a blow-apart ship that was primed with a mouse-trap spring and a target on the side. That ship was sunk many times. About that time a spring-operated cannon with a foot long barrel showed up. It had a clip that held 2” long and ¼” diameter “shells”. It was neat and would fire shells all the way across the room. I discovered that a standard #2 pencil could also be fired, and the sharp point would stick in cardboard targets. Oh, happy day.
My sisters were 4 and 7 years younger than me. They had their toys too, but I didn’t pay any attention to them. Raggedy Ann and “Moma” dolls, doll houses, doll beds…that sort of stuff. I had a “wind-up” train with a caboose and a 4’ diameter circular track. The fun ran out fairly quickly, so I willed it to them.
“Lincoln Logs” came about next and were built into many a frontier log cabin. This was followed soon by an “Erector Set” and “Tinker Toys”. I tinkered with the latter a bit but was more intrigued by the first two. My Logs and Erector Sets weren’t too large but after a few years I had traded my comics for probably the largest grouping in the neighborhood. This activity undoubtedly decided my future as an engineer…
Dad got a deal on a portable, 78 rpm, hand-wind up, spring-operated record player. It came with an 8 record set, playable on both sides, of classical music. We played the records over and over, never got another record of any sort, and never put a new needle into the player.
My uncle John went into the Army about this time. He gave me his first-base baseball mitt. It was monstrous and ill-fit my 4th grade hand. I played outfield on the school softball team. They were uncertain if I could use the mitt in the outfield, but it was either that are play gloveless as we all did before. The rules weren’t too rigid, and it was determined to be okay. I got an actual softball shortly after. I used it for years. After it got soft. After the stitches broke and I had resewn them. A Ralph Kiner “Louisville Slugger” bat was soon added.
Christmas brought me a football! A basketball would have been useless as we had no basketball courts or hoops anywhere around. But a football! We had a regular game in a nearby street every day. I managed to wreck both of my knees before 12 years old kicking the damn thing. First the right knee. Disappointed me so much, I taught myself to kick left footed. Then ruined it. Both knees are metal now.
Lead Soldiers. I somehow got a lead casting set that would allow me to make WWI lead soldiers. Dad showed me how it worked and left me to it. Nowadays we think lead is super poisonous but in 1944 it was perfectly fine. There was an electric hot plate that would get the lead to its 500 degree melting temperature. There was a mold that you could use to cast three soldiers. I set up this seemingly dangerous operation on the living room hardwood floor. Dad would bring me more little lead ingots when I ran out of material. Oddly enough, I never burned anything, set fire to anything, didn’t die from the lead, and wound up with a sizeable army.
Fireworks. My same-age cousin’s dad ran a country store that carried fireworks for holiday events. I don’t know why we were able to get them during the war years, but it didn’t seem to be any problem. The store would be closed on the actual holiday and my cousin was free to take any leftover fireworks. He would bring grocery bags full to our home, mostly fire crackers. We would install our lead soldiers in earth works at the empty lot across the street and use the crackers to demolish them. My hearing is not so good anymore, probably from those days.
My parents thought I was old and responsible enough to have a BB gun. I wasn’t. My pride and joy was my Daisy pump BB gun. I probably fired off 100 BBs a day, mostly at the local sparrow population. After 3 or 4 years I still hadn’t hit one. It seemed like they would fly close and laugh at me. I never put anyone’s eye out. The BB gun was still in use years later after I had left home. We had a “live bait” shop a block away that attracted cats. And the old woman two doors down from our house fed the feral cats…maybe 20 to 30. Our home was built on short piers off the ground. The cats would often gather under there at night and do what cats do, with a lot of caterwauling. The old BB gun was so worn it wouldn’t stay cocked but would fire when the slide went forward again. Given enough loud provocation, Dad would use the gun like a machine gun, moving the slide back and forth as fast as possible, spraying under the house. Usually quieted things for a bit.
A big game was rubber gun wars. The rubbers were hoops cut from auto inner tubes. Do you remember inner tubes? We made wooden guns to stretch and hold them, usually with a clothes pin for instant release. The hoops were often looped together to add stretch and weight. The participants were usually divided into two teams…get hit and you’re out. We also used the hoops to make slingshots. It worked but wasn’t as good as surgical tubing would be. The sparrows laughed at them too.
At 12 years old the boy next door went off to college, and we bought his Western Auto bicycle. In the next 6 years I put 1,000,000 miles on it along with many different tires. At one time or another everything broke or gave up. My coaster brake quit working once. Knowing absolutely nothing about brakes, I dismantled it and wound up pouring 2” of very thin washers into my hand. I gave up on trying to reassemble it and talked Dad into buying a new brake. He fortunately knew how to remove and replace all the spokes, tighten them properly, and then realign the wheel so it wasn’t all warped. I even repainted the bike in a most ugly fashion once.
And then I grew up….
Recipe Du Jour
I made my version of this recipe Sunday night for a few friends, it was great.
Creamy Mushroom Chicken
4 (5-6 oz) chicken cutlets
¾ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
1/3 c all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided.
1 (8 oz) sliced mushrooms
1 large shallot, finely chopped (about 1/3 c)
2 cloves of garlic minced.
¾ C chicken broth
½ c heavy whipping cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard’
¼ c finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 T minced fresh chives or parsley.
Directions
- Sprinkle the chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish; dredge chicken lightly in flour, shaking off excess.
- Heat two tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through, if needed, brown the chicken in two batches.
- Transfer the chicken to a plate and lightly tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.
- Melt two tablespoons of butter in pan over medium heat; add mushrooms and shallot. Cook until mushrooms are browned and have released their liquid, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes longer, until fragrant.
- Stir in chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and cook until liquid has reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook for 5-6 minutes until thickened slightly.
- Reduce heat to low and whisk in mustard. Stir in cheese until it melts and is smooth. Add chicken back to sauce and cook for 3-5 minutes until chicken is coated and warmed through.
- Sprinkle chives or parsley and serve immediately.
Serves 4
Recipe from Southern Living
Restaurant Review
Aurora Borealis
Restaurant, Comedy Club, Music Event Center
16708 N Aurora N.
206-629-5744
Hours
Monday 4 PM-9PM
Tues-Sunday 9:00 AM-9:00 PM
Jerry and I stopped into Aurora Borealis for breakfast a couple of weeks ago. I’m not fond of eating breakfast out so when we can go someplace that serves both breakfast and lunch it is ideal. Of course, Jerry had breakfast, and I had a great salad, both were happy campers. We were there about 11:00 so the place was quiet it filled up later, but good service and food was good, pretty basic stuff but what can you do to 2 eggs over easy and toast and a Cobb salad??
Neighbors Milestones
Chuck and Venita will celebrate their 64th wedding anniversary on May 12th, (They must have been married when they were in junior high).
Chuck had his 88th birthday on March 15th.
Neighbor News
Luis will be coming back to his NW home on June 5th, he will stay until July 22. It will be great to get to see him again.
Vivian Steel moved onto another home, we will miss her, although she will be coming back to join the Maj Jong group She will not be far away, she just moved to Edmonds. We wish her the best of luck.
Traveling Neighbors
Cheri is off on a European adventure; she is taking a small ship cruise to the Mediterranean and Turkey. That is a beautiful part of the world, hope she enjoys Istanbul as much as Edy and I did. I hope she gets a chance to tell Charlie, the pelican who hangs out on the dock in Mykonos hello.
Edy took her family to Disneyland for a quick vacation, I’m sure they had a good time. .
Carole is off to LA to hang out with her grandchildren.
Andi and Drake are going down to Southern California for a couple of weeks
I am off on a Taulk cruise down the Rhine and Danube River. I start in Amsterdam and end up in Budapest. Lots of cities along the route that I have never been to so a new adventure for me. I am leaving Jerry home alone; I hope he does not get into any trouble.
A couple of travel bits that are new, the UK is now requiring you to get a visa, called ETA, a simple process, you do it all online, a $20 bill will get you the visa that is good for 2 years. My travel agent even advised me to get it even if I was only passing through Heathrow and not staying at all, I understand the rest of Europe is planning on something similar, but it will not go into effect until later.
Most airlines are now requiring you to buy your seat, I have not picked mine yet so not sure of the process. Guess they must pay for the high price of fuel some way.
I use a travel tool named Tripit it is something that you enter your itinerary and then you can send it to family and friends so they can keep track of your travel.
Neighborhood News
Don’t be surprised when you go to the Alderwood Mall to do a bit of shopping at REI and find the REI store has closed their doors at that location after two decades. They have moved to a new location, 196th St SW and Alderwood Parkway They opened their doors at the new location on March 28th. They have doubled the size of the store to 39.480 Sq Ft.
Trader Joe’s
Trader Joe’s is one of my favorite grocery store venues, they have all kinds of fun things available, great service and quality products.
They have a few products that manage to show up in my kitchen.
- Red Argentinian shrimp, great to have in the freezer for a quick dinner, quick pasta meal or in a salad, just remember to cook them.
- We aren’t great bread eaters in our house but love the little individual baguettes in the frozen food dept, just take one out, stick in your oven and your all set.
- They have a little chocolate cake, enough for six small servings, tasty, like you just took it out of the oven.
Of course, you probably have you own favorite T Joes products. Let me know and I will include them next time.
Everyone have a great Easter.