Dave Ross Survives Hurricane

I talked to David this morning. Hurricane Rita weakened overnight and veered to the east, sparing Houston a direct blow. David reports very little rain and some wind. "I might have to run the sprinklers tomorrow."

Houston, however, is a ghost town he reports. No stores open, the roads empty, no newspaper delivery. Electricity is on; I assume the water and gas are all still running. Looks like "Space City: dodged a bullet.

Hurricane Hits (Former) Home

With Hurricane Rita leaning in towards the Gulf Coast, scheduled to make landfall near Houston in the next 24 hours, I got in touch with my friend David Ross who still lives there. He had gotten his wife and daughter on a flight to NYC and he was planning to ride out the storm in a closet under the stairs. Looking at news reports on the web, I certainly understand why he wouldn't want to try to drive out of town. Sheesh.

Roxane's Birthday

Today, Roxane turned 33 again. We celebrated with the usual breakfast in bed: Cheese eggs, toast, tea and bacon. Chef August microwaved the bacon himself.

Breakfast was followed by present openings (Earrings, books, and a set of handtools to put into her toolbox. Her red toolbox has been depleted of supplies over the years).

We have lunch plans for today, with dinner out Saturday night while the kids are at Open Gym.

Miranda is running for Student Council

Miranda came home last night and said she was interested in both the school paper and running for Student Council at Nova (her middle school). Speeches for the election are today; it's possible that voting is also today. There's some confusion over that. Hmmm....already there's voting irregularities....

If I can get permission, I will post her speech here since I thought it was pretty good.

A Political Thought

Readers of the Olympia Report know that it is intended as a chronicle of our lives in Olympia, but something just occurred to me. As I am right now watching (kidsitting) four kids aged 8-11, I am at a loss for a conversational partner.

Anyhow, the thought is this. I read in the online papers today that Pres. Bush has named Karl Rove to lead the federal $200B reconstruction efforts in New Orleans. For some reason, I was reminded of the summer of 2000 when Bush was running the first time and he asked Cheney to lead the effort to pick a Vice President; and -- voila, Cheney was the eventual choice.

Now, if it is true that the Katrina aftermath is the biggest thing facing the President politically (it sure has pushed the Iraq war off the stage), then naming his number one guy to deal with the mess in the Gulf region makes me think this guy is out of ideas.

And, it makes me think that Cheney's health is actually not very good.

We had a great time travelling this summer, but we are glad to be back home, too. The month of August is really one of the best times of the year here in the Great Northwest. Still, it was great to see all the sites, and sights, and visit with our families.

I'll be posting more pictures of the trip somewhere soon.

Meanwhile, here is a pic of August working the SoDuKu puzzle in Rehoboth. Anybody else notice any family resemblences?

August's New Teacher

So August started 3rd grade this year. We were a little anxious because he had the same teacher two years in a row and we got to really know and love Paul. Now, August is in Michi's class. We thought that he would think she was strict, but it turns out that they two are hitting it off well. He has already been in a class with over half of the kids in this year's class, so it turns out to be a smooth transition for him. And us.

Miranda's "Cool Drink of Water"

On most nights, I get a chance to check in with Miranda at bedtime. I sit with her in the dark as she settles in and we talk about the day. Last night, she told me about her math class at middle school.

They split into small groups to work on word problems, which a particular bugaboo for her. She told me, though, that she insisted that her two teammates explain the problem to her so she would understand it. She said that she felt it incumbent upon her to to understand the problem and not just agree with the other as to the answer. I was deeply impressed by this.

She went on, however, to describe to me "how it feels, on a hot day, when you get a cool drink of water on your throat, how nice that feels? That's how my brain felt when I understood the word problem." I was floored.

I am far and away the luckiest dad in the word to be able to share moments like this with my daughter.

BOOK REPORT

Recent

• Big Fish
  by Daniel Wallace
  Pretty Good. Even better than the movie version, I thought.
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  by J.K. Rowling
  In keeping with tradition, we read this one aloud to the kids on our epic trip to California and back East. How can you not read it?
  
  
• The Summer Guest
  by Justin Cronin
  A hand-me-over from Roxane. Interesting story. Very poignant at times. Shifting first person narration, but done well.
  

Current

• Peter and the Star Catchers
  by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
  Family read-aloud book. Seems to be a Wicked-meets-Peter-Pan kind of thing. Boy, those pirates sure are mean.
  

Up Next

• Two Years Before the Mast
  by Richard Henry Dana
  A Gift from Roxane.
  
  
• Yes Man
  by Danny Wallace
  Could not pass up the premise
  

Miranda started middle school last week. I had a nervous time dropping her off. Her friend in the seventh grade was waiting by the door and gave her a hug. I was standing like Hagrid amongst the tiny sixth graders, watching them wend their way into the school.
For the record, Miranda's first day went very well. She came home at 2:30 and proceeded into her homework. Each student was assigned a buddy to interview and to create a poster about that person to put up in the school hallways.
The school does a good job of integrating the new students; each seventh and eighth grader is required to know all the sixth graders by name by the end of September.

Autumn Arrives

Despite the absence of the Vernal Equinox, Autumn has arrived in Olympia. The weather has cooled, the kids have returned to school, the salmon are running and the local football teams are getting their butts kicked.