Life of Wry

… always an artist.

Met my old kindergarten buddy Sarah for lunch today… hoping these meet ups just keep going and going, because damn they’re fun.

One reason we got together today was to transact an art deal.. that is, I expressed interest in one of Sarah’s paintings at an art show last month, she said yes, she’d set it aside (yay!), and today I went to Sac to pick it up.  Here it is (it’s actually two pieces):

Probably too small for the space above the fireplace, but sure looks great against that wall color.

Here it is closer up:

Besides being colorfully rich and appealing, it’s just incredibly charming.

I’m so happy to have this painting! Will love looking at these two folks walking down the road every day.

So here’s an early work by the artist. From 3rd grade.. our unit on the pilgrims, apparently. You can see Sarah had it then, as she does now.. a keen sense of human goodness.

This picture comes from a book our teacher assembled of all of our Thanksgiving art that year.  I had a similar interpretation of that first feast:

I should point out, the rest of the drawings in the collection look nothing like these two.. so I imagine Sarah and I were sitting next to each other. I expect I was an admirer of her art even then, and just plagiarized her entire theme–embellishing with some hills, a tree and, of course, the sun to make it my own. Ha!

I’m really appreciating, and loving, this story:  That there was a pint-size friendship that existed way back in the early sixties, and evidence of a wee artistic “collaboration” between 8-year olds. That then, following graduation from high school, a 40+ year gap happened in which we each lived full, entire lives, becoming people in (or near) our 60s.. only to discover, all this time later, that we live within easy driving distance and can meet up occasionally for lunch. And that one of us is still a great artist, and the other of us can buy her fabulous art and hang it in her very own house.

Is that great or what?

Mrs. Von Mueller would be so pleased.

I remember some weeks back having a vague sense that my quarterly cooking group was soon to meet, but that vague thought just dissipated and I didn’t think about it again. A few days ago I got an email from Rissa, with the entire group cc’d, asking if I was okay and if perhaps I’d forgotten I was hosting the group. Like, in three days.

Yes. I’d forgotten completely, except for that dissipated vague notion of a few weeks back.

This is more than a wee bit problematic because the host usually sets the theme for her dinner well in advance, giving people time to think about their dishes. Often people spend a few weeks or at least days sampling recipes.

On the spur of that moment, and somewhat desperately, I blurted out a theme and confirmed with everyone their assignments. I figured it’s spring, which is all about color, so how about colors of the rainbow as a theme?

Me, main dish: red

Tracy, salad: orange

Rissa, dessert: yellow

Madeline, appetizer: green

Susan, drinks: blue

Carol, side dish: purple

Everyone agreed. Bunch of good sports, they are.

So, today was the day.

I decided to do tandoori chicken, which is usually bright red. Mine didn’t come out bright red. It didn’t even come out recognizably red. Oh well. Served it over basmati rice with a side of cool raita, which was good because the chicken came out very spicy.

Here are a few of the spices that went into it:

Clockwise from top: pepper, salt, smoked Hungarian paprika, tandoori mix, cumin, chili powder, cayenne.

There was also fresh ginger, fresh garlic, onion, orange bell pepper, thai chili paste, tomato paste, chicken broth, fresh cilantro, and butter.

And chicken.

I had a couple recipes I was blending… a traditional version of the marinade and a slow cooker variation. I’m not sure if what I ended up with was 1) authentic, 2) replicable, but it was good. Once assembled, it looked like this:

And was quite a bit spicier than I’d expected. Which, again, is why I’m glad I made raita to go with it:

Raita: yogurt, cucumber, cilantro, green onions, cumin, ground coriander. Served cold.

Here’s Madeline’s green app:

We all agreed THAT was cool: using cabbage leaves as bowls. The spinach dip was exceptional, incredible depth of flavor and made with homemade mayo which made all the difference.

Carol’s roasted beets were fabulous, and deep purple! (She also threw a ratatouille in as purple insurance).

Tracy’s carrot salad… very fresh and crisp, just loved this:

Here’s everything together on a plate… not all that obviously rainbow-y, but at least colorful:

I missed getting a shot of Rissa’s yellow dessert — a lemon bundt cake with lemon glaze, served with raspberries and whipped cream. Fantastic.

We missed Susan and her blue drink, for reasons I’ll explain another time. If you’re reading this, please send healing vibes into the universe, thanks.

Glad to be sharing the planet with artists.

So.. I might not hang any of this in my house, and I can’t say the subject matter thrills me, but I did smile when we came upon these chalk portraits this afternoon (along Third Street, on the sidewalk just outside of Newsbeat).

And, oh, okay, this one, too…

Here’s the whole piece:

Don’t know who Tom is, but I think he did a pretty good job.

We won another game today, this one against Vintage, a team from Napa (what else would a wine country team be called?). (And we.. that’s a whole bunch of taking credit where credit is not due!) The winning streak continues!

This is all great, of course, but I’m still reveling in last night’s game at Raley Field. So, if you don’t mind, I’m posting another couple of pictures from that game…

The first was taken by Wes, my absolute favorite baseball photographer, who has a knack for catching unique images of the players in their habitat. To wit, four Blue Devil pitchers hanging out in the dugout.

Peter, looking particularly smug, Bell, Ray and Eton.

And this is one Wayne Tilcock of the Enterprise took, and is the one that accompanied the article in today’s paper:

~~

At a team party tonight, Dan (coach Ariola) showed me an email he received earlier today from one of the Davis Little League administrators. The email had been sent out to a bunch of other Little League parent/coach guys, with an article attached from today’s Enterprise. His email reads:

In case you missed it — and want to share it with your boys (especially those who love pitching) — today’s Enterprise has a nice piece on the Blue Devils’ win last night.

The two boys pictured in the article — pitcher Peter Frame and outfielder Solomon Biers-Ariel — are two of the three boys who were kind enough to help us out at practice the other night.

It made me so happy 1) to think an article that features a few column inches about Peter Frame is being not only read, but circulated locally, and 2) that Peter helped at some kids’ practice. I did not know this.

Makes me smile.

And I guess since I’m referencing the article, I may as well post it here:

Frame’s gem is Blue Devils’ fourth-straight win

By Bruce Gallaudet

WEST SACRAMENTO — You don’t have to tell these Blue Devils that all it takes is a little Frame Work to build a solid foundation.

With senior right-hander Peter Frame pitching five innings of one-hit ball and Davis High taking advantage of opportunities, DHS rolled to a 7-0 nonleague victory over Rocklin (1-2) on Thursday at Raley Field.

In 14 1/3 innings, Frame (2-0) has yet to allow an earned run. Along the way he’s fanned 10 batters and allowed only four hits.

“It was another great performance by Peter,” said longtime DHS coach Dan Ariola after he saw his charges go to 4-0 on this young season.

“(Frame) throws a lot of strikes. He pounds the strike zone with his fastball, then throws in the change-up. Peter also holds runners well and fields his position.”

But these Devils are by no means a one-trick pony.

Even Frame recognizes where this team has especially excelled:

“I think we’ve got the best team we’ve had in a while,” Frame told The Enterprise.

When asked where the strength was, the pitcher’s answer was surprising:

“Our bats. One through nine … We’re one of those teams where everyone has power.”

While it wasn’t the overwhelming offensive display that saw DHS hitting .389 through three games, the six Devil hits came at opportune times.

For instance, after Nick Jury doubled to put runners at second and third in the second inning, Gabe Gutierrez thought he had loaded the bases when a

Shane Gustafson pitch plunked him in the leg.

However, the home plate umpire didn’t allow the advance, explaining to Ariola that his right-fielder didn’t try to avoid the incident.

Remember, we’re talking about timely hitting?

On the next pitch, Gutierrez drilled the ball to the Safe Credit Union sign on the left-field wall. Tyler Gibson (who had walked) and Jury came home on the play, and Davis was off and running.

It was Jury’s two-out single in his next at-bat that plated Ryan Kreidler, making things 4-0.

The whole-package aspect of these Blue Devils was clear in the late innings.

Reed Hessl’s infield hit, a walk (to Solomon Biers-Ariel), a Kreidler single, a wild pitch, an error and pinch-hitter Griffin Duisenberg’s sacrifice fly got Davis its last two runs in the fifth.

Then in the top of the sixth, with Frame retired, Ray Young walked a couple of batters before Dan Henrickson came in in relief.

As solid as the senior righty has been, he needed a little help when Rocklin designated hitter Mitchell Secondo slapped a roller toward left field.

Shortstop Kreidler made a nifty backhand play and nipped Alec Beingessener on a force at third. Henrickson got Adam Caron on a slow roller to second and the threat was over.

The Devil reliever sent the Thunder packing, 1-2-3, in the final frame, er, inning.

“Kreidler made that unbelievable play there in the sixth inning, backhanding it in the hole,” Ariola recalled. “That would have been bases loaded, one out and it could have been them getting a big inning going.”

Not on this night.

In addition to Kreidler’s lovely leather, DHS centerfielder Biers-Ariel made two hit-the-ground snags of Thunder fly balls.

Hitting, starting and relief pitching, defense? Through four games it’s all been evident — and it sounds good to Dan Ariola:

“If we throw strikes, with our defense, we’re pretty solid. I’ve been happy with the way we’ve been playing.”

Next up for DHS is a 4 p.m. home game with Vintage, a Monticello Empire League title contender.

“Our opponents are starting to get good. We’ll know more during the Boras Tournament next week, too.”

Davis plays Heritage High on Tuesday in the weeklong event.

Notes: Frame says he “got more mentally ready” during fall ball and preseason scrimmages. He says he started throwing harder … “warming my arm up better.” Asked about his out pitch on a perfect baseball evening before a crowd estimated at 300, Frame said: “I varied it a little bit. It had been the changeup, but tonight I got a few guys out on the fastball and one on a curve. But my best (pitch) is still the changeup.”

Once a year, the Davis High Baseball program (actually the parents) pay a lot of money for the opportunity to play at Raley Field. Raley is where the Giants’ AAA farm team (the River Cats) plays. It’s a real major league baseball venue, and a beautiful stadium right on the Sacramento River, adjacent to historic Old Sac and a few long blocks from the State Capitol. The field is immaculately groomed. Suffice to say, it’s a treat.

It’s such a unique opportunity that Dan makes sure all seniors, playing their last year of high school ball, get a chance to play. It’s why Peter didn’t play last year, but got the nod tonight as starting pitcher.

And what a perfect night for baseball. After a couple weeks of rain–and numerous rained out games–this week has been clear and fairly warm. So tonight was warmish and breeze free, which brought out a good crowd, too.

Peter was told that if he pitched well, he might go long. He did, and he did. Five innings. That’s very long for a seven-inning game, especially this early in the season.

But damn, he pitched well!

Non baseball people, feel free to skip this braggy, basebally paragraph:

As I said, he went 5 innings. The first three innings were all 3-up, 3-down, with a total of four strike outs. He was in great control and throwing a ton of strikes. He gave up his first (and only) hit in the fourth–a line drive into left–but got three fly outs for another quick (only 8 pitches quick) and dirty inning. I thought for sure he was done at that point, but Dan sent him out for a fifth. He retired the first on a fly out and added another strike out, but then Hunter dropped one of those sky-high fly balls, which probably got lost in the lights as he ran in circles in front of the plate (those are very difficult catches), for an error. Peter then gave up his first (and only) walk (on a B-S-S-B-B full count), which suddenly gave him two base runners to contend with, which seemed like a lot of action in an otherwise efficient outing.  Parents fidget. Ah, but then…he drew a routine fly ball to the ever-reliable Solly in center to end that inning. Actually, the photo in the paper suggests that it was anything but a routine fly ball; Solly caught it on a dead run toward the dreaded no-man’s land (average outfielders will let that one bounce for a frustrating hit, but never Solly), following which he rolled forward, as he does. Parents breathe sigh of relief (and glance back to Solly’s parents a few rows back and mouth a grateful, “thank you”). And that was that! He faced 18 batters in 5 innings, struck out 5, walked 1, gave up 1 hit, and no runs. He threw 61 pitches, 75% of which were strikes (that was my favorite stat). The whole thing was just GREAT.  Hey, ya wanna see what the scoresheet looked like? Here it is:

And here’s what it looked like out there, on a mild, glowy, still night:

At this point, Davis was up 4-0 and we just had to hold them for two more innings. Ray came out in the 6th and faced three batters. He struck out their number two batter, but wasn’t his sharpest, so Danny came in and got the two outs necessary to end that inning. Danny came back in the top of the final inning. He was also throwing well; he drew easy-to-field responses from the first two Rocklin batters, then decisively struck out the next, and final, batter to end the game.

7-zip, Davis.

A one-hitter.

And a shut out.

And with that, Davis’ record extends to an official 4-0 on the season. (8-0 if you include the pre-season scrimmages, which nobody but me, it seems, does.)

The rest of the season will hopefully include some more good Peter-pitching-outings, and will undoubtedly include some not so good outings. But this one is one to savor.

And speaking of savor…after the game, a handful headed over to In ‘n Out for a very late dinner…

(Reed, Griffin, Peter and Ray, all with mouths full.)

Came home from an unexpectedly long day at work to find a lovely gift on my front porch from an even lovelier friend.

She crocheted this silk and cotton scarf in blues and browns, with tiny buddhist medallions dangling from the edges, herself. And as she did, she imagined I might like it, so she just gave it to me. It had an incredibly nice card attached and was wrapped in tissue and packaged in a manilla envelope. And there it was when I got home. It’s fun coming home to a package on the porch not from Amazon (though sometimes those are nice, too).

I could just not be more pleased.

It’s a good time to remember that life is sweet. That there is a ton of goodness out there. That humans, at their core, are kind and loving and generous of spirit.

When in doubt about that fact, just reach out to a friend.

Yesterday’s pies in pictures: a pair of chicken pot pies and a marion berry pie. (Both courtesy of Ikeda’s.)

Before:

Look nice and appetizing, no?

And during:

Not my nor Jim’s plate.

Welp. Another March 14, another Pi Day. Our last to celebrate with Peter. It’s not that we won’t carry on the tradition of eating pies on Pi Day when Peter’s out of the house, but it just won’t be the same when he’s not here.

And here, I didn’t even bake a pie for his last Pi Day at home. I bought them. I texted Peter at school today and asked what kind of pies he’d like and, based on his choices, concluded the best solution was Ikeda’s, mostly cuz I hadda work all afternoon.

So, for dinner tonight, though I’m a particular fan of my own chicken pot pie, I picked up Ikeda’s famous homemade version, and for dessert, their other famous pie–the Marionberry.

Easy as pie.

~~

In other Peter Pi Day news:

Peter started memorizing Pi when he was nine.  In March of his 4th grade year, he was up to 193 digits.  Teachers generally made a fuss about Pi, and maybe he knew he was among the best of the memorizers, but it was largely just a personal endeavor (obsession).

Junior high competitions started to spice things up a bit. In eighth grade he entered the school-wide contest at Holmes, sponsored, as it were, by the math department. He went in cold and remembers he got “probably around 80,” which was not so competitively impressive. (Though being a person who’s memorized exactly 5 digits: 3.1415, I’m in awe.) The next year, he worked a bit harder and ended up finishing third place overall. And won a pie! So proud was he, that it became the top entry in the awards, prizes and recognitions category of his college applications. (It was actually the only entry in this category.)

Not sure what admissions officers are thinking about that one.

But hey, he memorized Pi to 213 digits that year! If I were a college, I’d want him!

I was party to something last night that I found remarkable. I’d just finished a game of chess with Peter–a game I’d actually, miraculously, won… first win in years, but certainly in this particular phase of chess obsession. He asked if I’d indulge him in a blind game.. just a few moves.. to see what it’s like. I agreed.

Basically, in a blind game of chess, one player covers his eyes. The other person moves the pieces–his own, and, at the blind player’s direction, his opponent’s. Peter was the blind guy.

We begin.

He’s white, and opens. “E4.” I move his piece, then mine in response, and announce E5. You probably know, the chess board is a grid, all squares identified by their placement in the A-H, 1-8 configuration. It’s not hard to figure out the name of each square… but if you’re on the upside-down side, as I was, you have to think backwards. I had to carefully count squares each time before moving pieces. I’m sure it’s something you adjust to quickly. I didn’t. But that’s beside the point.

It’s also besides the point that, were I the blind guy, after two moves, I’d be done. I’d no longer know where anything was and I’d react in total frustration by sweeping my arm dramatically across the whole board, sending pieces flying in every direction. But that’s me.

The remarkable thing about this game was it went on and on. At one point, maybe seven or eight moves in, I, the sighted person, the one carefully counting squares, made an error in announcing a move. Peter questions it: “Knight to C 6, are you sure?” “Oh… oops… you’re right, D6, my bad, sorry, honey.”

We didn’t finish the game, but I’m going to guess we each moved about eight or nine times. Each. That’s about 16-18 moves to hold in your head. When he removed the scarf (actually a cloth napkin) from his eyes and swiveled around he recognized the board, but admitted he’d lost track of a couple of the pieces.

Still.

I know kids have amazing brains. They have amazing capacities for memorization. But chess is, on its face, complex, in that pieces move so differently up and down the board–some at right angles, some not. This is NOT checkers. One bishop’s zipping back and forth diagonally on white squares, while the other’s on black. AND you have the added dimension of remembering the grid’s naming system.  AND your opponent’s pieces. AND strategy for god’s sake.

I almost cried.

A little for the brittleness of my own brain and a LOT for the power of his. Mostly what gets me is his eagerness to master things and the intensity with which he pursues that mastery. (Not ALL things, mind you, but many things.) It was sweet and amazing to witness.

I’m so in awe.

I think I need to teach Peter bridge, where card counters and rememberers thrive. Then make sure he’s always my partner.

I was dubious. Here we have the quintessentially perfect Saturday: nothing on the calendar, a few minor at-home things to accomplish (or not) and stormy weather. Brew some coffee, poke around on the interwebs, pull out that new Jonathan Franzen book. I’ve never taken a nap in my life, but this would be the perfect day for it.

But Jim wanted to go to a city council candidates’ debate.

I didn’t need to go, he said. And that was true. He’s super involved. Prospective candidates like to meet with him for his input. He knows the issues: Mace innovation park, Nishi, water, city budget, fiber… he follows all of it.  But me.. not so much. Since leaving DCTV, I’ve been a wee bit out of the loop–mostly by design. I do get a lot of info and stories from Jim, though, so I kinda sorta know what’s going on. But for someone who used to be in the dead center of community life, know every issue, every player and was a frequent attendee at council meetings…my community detachment has been kind of weird.

So.. I didn’t need to go, but a sense of civic guilt sort of got me. Just a little. Nothing scary about stepping in again, I’d just gotten way out of the habit. So I said okay.  Jim suggested we go to an early lunch, then head over.

As we approached the Davis Community Church, where the debate was held, I said, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard any of these guys speak in public.”

Seriously. That is remarkable.

Walking in, it was a very familiar sight… a who’s who of current and former electeds, core activists and the usual community suspects. Hell, I even saw two former colleagues working the debate coverage. (I did not know it was sponsored by Davis Media Access.)

Anyway, it was mostly this:

Host David, incumbents Lucas and Brett, and aspiring council members Will, Paul and Matt (I couldn’t get my camera in good position, sorry).

And that was that. Two hours of Davis issues. I was totally engaged and have pretty strong opinions about each of the candidates. Instantly up to speed. Voila.

Very glad I went.

~~

As a nice parallel universe kind of thing, lunch conversation was all about the national election. More, really, about the state of our republic. Jim and I talked about last night’s chaos in Chicago at the Trump rally-that-wasn’t and the bigger picture of a society increasingly divided along class and race lines. Shudder. I feel like I need to do a little reading on political movements and the history of fascism. It’s getting weird out there… outside the Davis bubble.

Speaking of my beloved Davis bubble, I got a nice robo-text from Brandi a little while ago about “an awesome organizing rally happening at UC Davis” for Bernie on Monday. I can’t tell you how pleasing that is. And how nice to know there won’t be an ugly man with big hands (terrific hands, the biggest, no doubt) on stage shouting down anyone with an opposing viewpoint.  Shudder.

One final note. Our young college applicant received his first rejection yesterday… from none other than UC Davis. While he had no intention of attending UCD, he is deeply disappointed to have been rejected by the home school. He actually feels somewhat insulted (hurt, more like it). I’m sure it will not be his last rejection. I’m also sure, as Jim said, there is plenty to learn in managing rejection and disappointment. But I feel pretty bad for him. I am glad that he went out this afternoon to hit golf balls with a friend who did get accepted. Good sign that he is keeping his head up.