January 30th, 2025
A light silver rain now steadily melting remaining snow patches around the neighborhood... calls for some smooth winter jazz to transition young children to book work...
But not before Patience emerges from her room wearing her new swim goggles... “I have to wash my face” she explains on her way to the bathroom...
Yali is downstairs, and has been for awhile, preparing tons of bad guys minifigs all over his desk, shoals of sound effects (mostly explosions) as he calls me down to explain the diorama in detail...
Then math and math and math while Mama pulls some leftover crab rangoon from the fridge for her breakfast...
Several hours later during a break, Yali, walking around wearing his green velvet Hobbit's cape, turns on SpongeBob and prepares himself a hot dog with ketchup and mustard, saying... “I swear, if we don't have any ketchup, I'm going to sue Patience!” (again with the suing...) “Yali, do you even know what sue means?” // “SIUUUUUUUUU!” he exclaims in his best Ronaldo impression, then grins... “I don't know”...
In a heavier drizzle later that afternoon, return to Chinese culture with Yali and Patience... explore Ai Weiwei's art installation of 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds...
Puck walks out to discuss more future timelines and slow carb diets before leaving for another four-hour shift at work...
In the even later afternoon, Patience and I drop off some cash to Puck at work... he's loading bananas onto tiered shelving... “Whoa, what's that?” Patience points to a row of packets behind the bananas... chocolate banana smoothie mix... but I didn't bring my wallet... “Tell you what...” Puck says, and unzips his handy belt pouch... gives her a five dollar bill... “Thank you, Puck!”
At home, Patience quickly pulls out paper and a pink magic marker to write a thank you note for Puck which she leaves with his change on his cot next to the cat sleeping inside his blanket...
And back out again into a trickling marshland under creeping cold mist... ground so choked with melting snow, it falls apart walking across it, splitting sleeping grass into swollen mud...
To the studio under some rockin' harpsichord over the radio... ninety minutes of practice... several big feises coming up before spring, and things are getting serious...
Drive home in a heavier mist to find Puck cleaning out and organizing the coat closet for pay, chastising everyone for not being more clean and organized(!)