February 28th, 2025
Before Oxbear attends his first video call of a short work day, he's already printing a variety of flutes on the 3D printer... including the kind that might feature on a vaguely native-inspired album from the 90s found in a second-hand shop...
Meanwhile in the kitchen, there are already two plates covered in chocolate cake crumbs...
...Puck is meandering around hunting for the air compressor to clean out his keyboard because he's run out of canned compressed air... a downside of living with a cat... every season is shedding season...
...and Patience has already packed all her bags for the roadtrip, cleaned her bedroom, and painted her nails turquoise with a shimmer of gold glitter all to match her solo dress... Miss-9-going-on-39... she and Oxbear are leaving for a weekend feis in Nashville...
Shortly after they drive off around noon... Yali and I hit the library for a 1957 reprint of “The Story of the Amulet” with a cracked spine... a work that inspired C.S. Lewis in his younger days...
...and a few “fun items” since Yali and I would be “stranded” through tomorrow... including a stack of Lunchables and a fruit punch Snapple for Yali... and of course I allow him a $1.49 red Maserati Hot Wheels matchbox car because I seem to do that every time we're at a grocery store...
It's near tropical out... low 70s... Yali and I walk the neighborhood while he holds my hand – not too old for it yet! – and tells me about his future plans including working at the Minifig Shop and animal rescue...
Back home Puck is preparing to leave for the gym out in O'Fallon with friends...
More sun and wind as evening pushes in blends of cooler oranges and pinks... while Yali waits for his dinner meatballs to cool and copies the likeness of Voldemort on a couple of clementines with a Sharpie...
Power out as far as can be seen for only a few minutes just before seven o'clock... maybe the wind under a bright night sky... only briefly interrupts Yali loudly practicing on his drum pad with the drumsticks Oxbear whittled for him while we watch “Bridge to Terabithia” together...
Later Oxbear and Patience video chat from Nashville over plates of sushi and fried chicken...
For grins : Googling record of February...
- Origin of the term “milquetoast”
- What is oud?
- Does the U.S. still print $2 bills?
- What is a bánh mì sandwich?
- What is treacle tart?
- Who were the Block Island Indians?
- How much is $10 in 1904 worth today?
- What is Welsh rarebit?
- When was the word “tornado” first used?
- Does wild rice still grow in the United States? (Minnesota, California)
- What do stink bugs eat?
- When were domesticated cats introduced to the Americas?
- Why is Ralph sometimes pronounced “Rafe”?
- What are the different kinds of camels?
- Which states do not have Indian reservations?
- Did influenza exist in the Americas prior to European explorers?
- Is “castle law” not enforced in Scotland?
- When was ice cream invented?
- Why is there a book on Mozambique's flag?
- What is Saba Island like?
- Are roses poisonous to cats?
- Do the Amish not use buttons?
- Average temperatures by month in Johannesburg, South Africa
- When was salsa invented? (Azteca/Incans/Maya)
- Are tapeworms found in the U.S.?
- What are tchotchkes?
- Literacy rates in the United States around 1800
- Name of stringed instrument from Western Africa
- How big is one hectare?
- Are there tornadoes in South Africa?
- What temperature to cook lamb
- Origin of the name “blue jeans”
- What year was the moon landing?