From the Fourth Forward

We have had some eventful times over the past 10 days….

Brian and Sheila and Nolan and Warren arrived Friday evening and it took the boys about 5 minutes to check out the tree house and move in. They slept up there all five nights they were here. Grandpa had a new flashlight for each and they utilized the basket/pulley system to haul their belongings up and down. I don’t know who gets more joy out of all of this, the boys or Grandpa and I.

Curt, Cinda, Linea, and her friend Jamie arrived midday on Monday. The girls pitched a tent in the front yard and moved in with their air mattresses and books. Cinda lamented that she and Curt had moved into the “elder” group so were afforded the luxury of a real bed in the guest room.

Craig, Cassie and Greta joined us on Saturday and Monday evenings. Greta is 5 ½ and is very cute and precocious. She was quite the epicurean as she made her way through fresh cherries, clams, and mussels, and most anything else we were serving. She does not have typical preschoolers’ tastes.

I think we ate and drank our way through three days. Brian is a master with the grill and he smoked ribs, a tri-tip roast and two whole chickens for the 4th. Cinda and Sheila were the queens of the salads, breads, and fruits and veggies, and I offered appetizers with a Spanish theme: cured ham and honeydew melon, manchego cheese (if you have not tasted it, be sure to do so), and roasted red bell peppers (recipe to follow). Brian and Sheila store some of their yummy German white wine in our cellar, so that, along with some of our Washington selections and lots of beer kept us in fine fettle.

We all walked downtown on the Fourth to watch the parade which consists of old cars, politicians with campaign signs, kids on bikes and in strollers, the Ft. Lewis Army band, and even some Strykers. After careful scrutiny, we determined that the little old lady in the beige Taurus had simply taken a wrong turn and accidentally became part of the parade so someone proffered a flag for her to wave as she made her way down the street.

From the street fair, Brian and Sheila gifted us with a metal sculpture; a wine glass fitted with a piece of red glass and a plaque reading “wine garden”. It is charming and looks right at home on our property.

The boys had two outings at the beach here in Steilacoom. They can squat for hours digging furiously to get to? And then only to be defeated by hitting water or having the tide come in. Brian, Ken, and the boys went to a Tacoma Rainiers game and the home team won! Sheila and I did a bit of shopping since her time and resources are so limited when she is home.

All the fun was a good diversion for us as we face a bump in the road. Ken had a prostate biopsy come back with some cancer cells present. He has been participating in a study for the past two years, and we feel fortunate that the study called for a biopsy at the two-year point. He had had one two years ago as a result of an elevated PSA, but it showed nothing. From all indications now, it appears to be early and small. We know many men who have gone through this, and Ken has talked to several to be better prepared to make a decision for a course of action. We will meet with a radiation therapist on July 12 to talk it through and decide what comes next. We plan to have all of this behind us a soon as possible to be ready for travel, Christmas and heading south after the first of the year.

This is a heads up for you– pay attention to your prostate and get examined.

We had some glorious weather up until the Fourth. Since then it has been cloudy and cool with a few sprinkles, and we even have the furnace on! Typical Puget Sound weather.

Here is the easy way to prepare roasted peppers:

Several whole red bell peppers
Two or three cloves fresh minced garlic
2 tsp kosher salt
olive oil

Place peppers on a hot outdoor grill, turning as they char, until the entire outside skin is blackened and blistered. Remove to a covered container and let steam for 20 or 30 minutes, and then halve, remove seeds and ribs and remove outer skin. Slice lengthwise into ½” strips. Combine pepper strips and salt and minced garlic mixture. Drizzle with olive oil and let rest for an hour or so. Can be refrigerated, but should be brought back to room temp to serve.

The key to the ease of this is to roast the peppers on the outside gas grill. It is hot and easy to turn the peppers. I’ve tried using the gas flame on my inside range or the oven broiler but with limited success.

Ciao