If pole climbing were an Olympic sport (or a career)...

 

All the deltas

 noun: delta; plural noun: deltas

1. 1.

   the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet ( Δ, δ ), transliterated as ‘d’.

   • the fourth in a series of items, categories, etc.

     modifier noun: delta
     ASTRONOMY

     the fourth (usually fourth brightest) star in a constellation.

     noun: Delta ("Delta Cephei")
2. 2.

   a code word representing the letter D, used in radio communication.
3. 3.

   a difference between two things or values.

   "there's a delta between perception and reality"

It was definitely a summer of Delta around here.

There is of course Delta, the variant of the Coronavirus (which is raging locally. One of my FM patients died in the ICU this week and some vaccinated medical staff have tested positive). There is also the fact that the ongoing pandemic forced (for us; many are not acting this way) to scale back and still be cautious surrounding the things we looked forward to being fully open/available once we were vaccinated, which is our more meaningful delta (the stark difference between our expectations and reality).  We did have a brief glimpse of "normal summer"-- a vacation in SoCal and to New Mexico, and one birthday party with friends. It feels like a distant memory(/dream).

Iver just went back to school for the school year a week ago in first grade. He is given marks daily on (+) for "good job" on a skill (like respecting our and others' bodies, doing our best work, following directions, listening, etc.).  The less favorable "mark" is a "delta," which means "something that needs needs changing/improvement" (he's quite the rule-follower and has only gotten pluses so far). 

It's definitely feeling like fall around here-- cooler nights, foggier and cooler mornings, even though I still haven't seen rain.  I feel a change in the area. 

 Good bye, summer (of Delta and watermelon)... 

... and here's to fall Deltas (involving a change in a season... to, with hope, take us out of this Delta wave. A Delta from Delta?!).

Oh, Danny Boy

Kelvin's great childhood friend Danny (a groomsman in our wedding and of course vaccinated and tested) came up to visit us this Labor Day weekend.  He was last here exactly four years ago with another friend, Tina (who just had her twins!) and likes the cooler weather we have, compared to Orange County.  

It was great to have him here for many reasons! The kids (who are quite starved for new people in our lives since we're so socially COVID-cautious) were so excited to have a new adult to which they could show off their tricks, costumes, and with whom they could play games. Danny is used to small children as he has a young niece and nephew and was a great sport as he got schooled with the card game "13" (Iver's favorite) and outside playing "soccer" in the yard.  I was also on a brutal 96-hour OB call weekend during which I got about twelve total hours of sleep and spent close to sixty at the hospital with various labor and ER patients so I was so glad the kids had some extra adult attention/distractions. 

They played dress-up

Farmers' Market & Park time

Beach time (Pepper had another recent seizure so was taken along to her happy place, the beach, even though Kelvin was a bit short-handed with the kids because I couldn't go anywhere with them.)

The Dunes

 I got to see Danny a little bit during some meals and other short amounts of time at home ("Do you have to go back in AGAIN?!" he asked. “How many hours is that of work?! Do you ever want a different job?!").  Kelvin and he watched the movies/shows I'd never watch in a million years after the kids were in bed and had some male old-friend bonding time which was good especially as I was so physically absent and too exhausted to really be much fun!  Nevertheless I hope that, the next time he visits, I can be more socially present.  

Li'l Dapper Dudes

Niall (3.5) has been looking (and acting) like such a "big boy" lately! He found these suspenders that Co Kat had given Iver around age 3 and put them on. 

Here's a side-by-side Kat made of my dapper dudes, with both photos taken at around age three and a half!

A Devastating Blow for Women Everywhere

Texas just (as of 9/1) has effectively banned abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy.

This remarkable (yet unsurprising) move is ludicrous for so many reasons. It reverses a half-century of precedent for legal abortion in the United States, which the solid majority (~60%) of Americans support, at a gestational age when many women don't even know they're pregnant. I care for women facing tough life choices every day, all day long, and am devastated for the women unlucky enough to live in the "(obviously not so) Great State of Texas" and for the doctors and other providers who might be deemed "complicit" (and sued or prosecuted) in supporting their basic human right and very personal (and often excruciating) healthcare decisions.  The longer I have lived on this earth as a human and the longer I have worked in medicine (and the more I have studied faith, like pastor John Pavlovitz), the more firmly pro-choice I have become, and I am currently livid at every Trump voter (or non-voter in 2016), every "pro-life" (really "pro-forced-birth but you're on your own after that") Christian, every "freedom"-loving libertarian, “don’t regulate my guns but uteruses are fair game” second amendment lover, and every woman who was complicit in allowing the cruel white men in power to make this horror a reality in the twenty-first century in the United States or who think this is remotely okay.  I am quite sure that Florida and several other deep red states in the south will follow in nauseating unconstitutional copycat suit, as the uber-conservative Supreme Court stays silent.

(and when Supreme Court seats were stolen and Trump was elected).

 (Very "PRO-LIFE" indeed, Texas!)

I've been to Texas exactly once in my life. While I know there are many nice sights to see there, and many good Texans (many of them friends of mine) fighting the good fight to elect responsible, humane leaders there (BETO!), a state ("Taliban Texas") which slides backwards into the dark age in this way will be added to my boycott list for the near future, although I will continue to donate to Planned Parenthood and seek out other opportunities to donate to reproductive justice efforts in that state. What a horrifying time to be an American--this is a country I don't recognize with millions of cruel people I wish weren’t my neighbors (or in charge of making Draconian laws). 

(Thank God I live in California, which is still reasonable except for the also ludicrous Governor recall election on our hands because, in a populous state, we have a lot of irrational, sick Republicans, too).

"Starfish" (what little ears hear)

These little kids remember everything.  

Last weekend, the kids went to Luffenholtz beach in Trinidad with Kelvin and found a lot of these echinoderms (unfortunately, I'm not sure that they were all still alive).

When they showed me the pictures (from K's phone), I said "Oh! Starfish!" (even though we've read enough books about marine life and other creatures in this house that I know that the correct term is actually "Sea Stars" as they are not fish).

Niall did not hesitate to correct me ("They're NOT starfish, mama! They're sea stars!)

Kelvin then told the boys (who at these ages three and six of course love all things potty-related/potty humor) that, while watching a show, he learned that "starfish" is a slang word for "butthole" (you can look it up if you want but apparently it [and more specifically the term "chocolate starfish" due to the coloring around the anus] is quite true.

Can you guess what the kids' favorite phrase now is?

"Look at my 'starfish'! BAHAHAHAHA!" 

 Sigh. Be careful what you tell small boys.

I should reply, "IT'S CALLED A SEA STAR!! AND NO, THANK YOU!!"

Roadside trash/treasures

Iver last (and first) tried rollerskates as an almost-four-year-old, when we took him to the rink in Blue Lake (I wish we'd brought a helmet). 

On one of our neighborhood walks lately, we came across a "free" pile with some random roller skates, which happened to be close in size to my kids' actual foot sizes. While using random roadside athletic equipment involving other kids' feet may weird or gross some parents out, this used-things lover and salvaging mom is not ashamed to benefit from recycling and reusing! 

 

Rollerskating (or rollerblading) is pretty tricky. I did quite a lot of it as a kid and can stay on my feet fairly decently, but we don't see it much any more. We do live in a neighborhood with quite a lot of driveway/pavement/sidewalk space and I can see the kids getting some good practice at skating...

... that is, until their feet grow and outgrow these roadside trash-treasures.  We'll have to look for a new free pile, or, if they really like it, get the next size(s) up!