The G & G clan spent the past few weeks in University Place, Washington visiting my family. First things first, U.P. really needs to change its name. I know many people are hesitant to change things because change is scary and things from the past always seem better than they were. But University Place is the stupidest name ever for a city containing exactly zero universities. College Station, Texas and State College, Pennsylvania make sense because they are home to two of the largest colleges in the U.S.; University Place, Washington makes no sense. It got its named because the University of Puget Sound once purchased land in the city (then an unincorporated region of Pierce County) and was going to build a campus there, but never did. (The private high school Charles Wright Academy was built on the land instead, but Private High School Place is an even worse name.) So somehow during the period of time after the land was purchased by UPS and before it was sold back to the county, people started calling it University Place, and it stuck. My question: How long was the construction pending? Months? Years? Whatever the case, we are now apparently stuck with an absurd name for an otherwise lovely city.
I've heard rumblings that somebody somewhere tried/is trying/is going to try to change the name to Chambers Bay, but I don't know much about it. Other than Chambers Bay, which would be a fine name, here are a few other suggestions:
The past few times I've been back to U.P., the weather has been immaculate and this trip was no exception. I don't know if it's global warming or luck or some combination thereof, but almost everyday it was clear skies and temps in the 70s and 80s. That makes it SO much better. The worst part about living in the Pacific Northwest (west of the Cascades) is the constant rain and overcast skies. (I heard it was a particularly bad fall and winter. I think my dad said it rained everyday in October.) Absent that, there is no place I would rather be.
But it wasn't all sunshine and moonbeams. My uncle B died a few days before we left. This doesn't evoke a particularly strong response in me, as I barely knew him. My dad's side of the family has always been a bit, let's say, odd, especially so my uncle B. His is a sad story. He came back from the Vietnam War with obvious mental and emotional problems, and it seems as if his life never really got on track because of it. He always seemed to be "searching" for something, and he tried to fill it with things like astrology and Kabbalah and whatever other mystical hocus-pocus was popular at the time. He was a hard guy to like, as he was constantly holding grudges against other family members -- my dad included -- over trivial matters. To me, he was always a harmless weird old guy, whom we would see sometimes when we came to visit and sometimes not, depending on his current mental state. I'm certainly not happy that he died, but I'm not sad either. I didn't know him. I feel about the same way you probably do reading this right now. Maybe it's sad, at a macro level, that I didn't have a stronger relationship with him, but since there was never a relationship there to begin with, it doesn't feel sad that one doesn't exist. It's like getting sad because an imaginary friend is no longer speaking to you.
I actually was more sad when I found out that the my friend JW's uncle M had also died recently. He committed suicide a few months ago. Unlike with my own uncle, I actually hung out with M from time to time. I used to go to their family lake house quite a bit, and it was like a second home for M. He was a good guy. He definitely didn't seem like somebody who would take his own life, but a lot of suicidal people keep that side hidden from even their closest confidants, let alone their nephew's friend whom they see once a quadrennial. M wasn't married and didn't have any kids. And apparently he was in chronic pain because of a bad back injury. I'm certainly not in favor of suicide, especially at a relatively young age (I think M was in his 50s), but if you are in constant pain, and you don't see any relief on the horizon, and you don't have any kids to raise or a spouse to support, then okay, I guess. I mean, not okay. It's still sad. It's still something I would try to talk somebody out of. But it's more okay than it could be, I suppose.
Alright, happier news: I saw my old friend and college roommate TB for the first time in a few years. Since I last saw him, he got divorced, took time off from his job, had something approaching a breakdown, got help, and turned things back around. He seems to be doing genuinely well now. And it was great to see him. He's one of those guys that just makes you feel good to be around. I really wish we lived in the same area. I'm bad at corresponding, and he's worse than me. So it's rare when we get together. (The only reason our meeting happened this time is because I saw he was in the area on Facebook.) But when we do, it's like old times again. That's how you know who your true friends are. When you get together after years apart, how long does it take for the initial air of formality to dissipate? If the answer is instantaneously, then that's a true friend.
I have tons of stories about TB from back in the day, but here's one of my favorites. He was constantly struggling to make ends meet throughout college, and there were times when he literally had no money to his name. Once, he came home with a $10 bill and said that he was getting paid tomorrow, but that this bill was all he had for a meal that night. Back then, $10 in our smallish college city was more than enough to get a decent amount food, so we went to the grocery store, and here's what he bought: a giant bag of tortilla chips, a tub of french onion dip, two Rainier tallboys, and the movie Soap Dish.
I got to see some of my other friends while I was there as well. My aforementioned friend JW just had a baby with his wife Y, so I got see their new little guy. They've had really bad luck with pregnancies, so seeing them with a baby is really something special. I also saw my friend JY and his family. His only child is about to turn 14 (!), so he's a legit teenager. It's such a different parenting world. We went to a Mariners game, and he and his buddy could just go off on their own while the adults hung out among themselves. Everybody says to enjoy your kids being young while you can, but, man, it would be nice to not have to constantly worry about entertaining them at every turn.
Seeing my family was great also, as always. My brother and sister in-law also have a new little baby girl, Lil' A, and she's just as cute as you would imagine. They recently moved from Seattle to U.P., so now my entire immediate family lives there (except us). It makes it easier to see everybody when you come visit. Lil' Q, my bro's oldest, is a few months younger than Lil' S1, and they get along pretty well. Sure occasionally they have incidents -- like when Lil' S1 hit Lil' Q with a map at the zoo or when Lil' Q poked Lil' S1 in the eye during their sleep over ("I forgot I wasn't supposed to do that" was Lil' Q's defense) -- but for the most part they play together pretty well.
Alright, I wanted to write a bit more, but as usual I'm out of time. S is away at the moment with the kids, and if I don't unpack my half of the suitcase before she gets home, it's not going to be pretty. She has been asking me to do it for the last two days after all.
Until next time...
I've heard rumblings that somebody somewhere tried/is trying/is going to try to change the name to Chambers Bay, but I don't know much about it. Other than Chambers Bay, which would be a fine name, here are a few other suggestions:
- Whiter Tacoma
- Roundabout Station
- Younger Fircrest
- Gary Larsonland
- Dead Crab City
The last one is a reference to Titlow Beach, where we spent an afternoon, and Lil' S1 used the occasion to wade into the water and "collect" dead crabs. He got a massive handful and wanted to bring them home with him. It was pretty gross.
[A very hazy view from Chambers Bay. This is before the smoke from the Canadian wild fires had completely dissipated.]
In addition to learning my oldest son has a penchant for deceased crustaceans, I also learned that he is good at swimming and bad at rollerskating. We used the pool of some family friends and Lil' S1 was swimming by himself for relatively long stretches. I really want him to get to the point where if he fell into the deep end of a pool, he could swim to the wall unassisted, without incident. I think he could do it now, but I'm not completely sure.
Rollerskating is a completely different story. I thought he might be good at it, because he has good balance, when it comes to climbing and jumping and stuff like that, but he was a disaster on skates. (My nephew G had a birthday party at the skating rink the night before we flew back to DC.) It was like that scene in Bambi, where he's learning to walk -- legs flailing in every direction at once -- only there was no success at the end. After a few minutes, he started crying and demanding his skates be removed, and that was the end of that. It's fine. I do wish he would have tried a bit longer though. I don't really care if my son is good at rollerskating or not, but I do want him to have some perseverance. He kept saying, "I don't want to rollerskate. I'm not good at it," which makes me a bit nervous, as I don't want him to get in the habit of just giving up on things he isn't instantly good at it. But he's not even five years old yet, so... yeah.
The past few times I've been back to U.P., the weather has been immaculate and this trip was no exception. I don't know if it's global warming or luck or some combination thereof, but almost everyday it was clear skies and temps in the 70s and 80s. That makes it SO much better. The worst part about living in the Pacific Northwest (west of the Cascades) is the constant rain and overcast skies. (I heard it was a particularly bad fall and winter. I think my dad said it rained everyday in October.) Absent that, there is no place I would rather be.
[My dad watering the shrubs with Lil' S1]
But it wasn't all sunshine and moonbeams. My uncle B died a few days before we left. This doesn't evoke a particularly strong response in me, as I barely knew him. My dad's side of the family has always been a bit, let's say, odd, especially so my uncle B. His is a sad story. He came back from the Vietnam War with obvious mental and emotional problems, and it seems as if his life never really got on track because of it. He always seemed to be "searching" for something, and he tried to fill it with things like astrology and Kabbalah and whatever other mystical hocus-pocus was popular at the time. He was a hard guy to like, as he was constantly holding grudges against other family members -- my dad included -- over trivial matters. To me, he was always a harmless weird old guy, whom we would see sometimes when we came to visit and sometimes not, depending on his current mental state. I'm certainly not happy that he died, but I'm not sad either. I didn't know him. I feel about the same way you probably do reading this right now. Maybe it's sad, at a macro level, that I didn't have a stronger relationship with him, but since there was never a relationship there to begin with, it doesn't feel sad that one doesn't exist. It's like getting sad because an imaginary friend is no longer speaking to you.
I actually was more sad when I found out that the my friend JW's uncle M had also died recently. He committed suicide a few months ago. Unlike with my own uncle, I actually hung out with M from time to time. I used to go to their family lake house quite a bit, and it was like a second home for M. He was a good guy. He definitely didn't seem like somebody who would take his own life, but a lot of suicidal people keep that side hidden from even their closest confidants, let alone their nephew's friend whom they see once a quadrennial. M wasn't married and didn't have any kids. And apparently he was in chronic pain because of a bad back injury. I'm certainly not in favor of suicide, especially at a relatively young age (I think M was in his 50s), but if you are in constant pain, and you don't see any relief on the horizon, and you don't have any kids to raise or a spouse to support, then okay, I guess. I mean, not okay. It's still sad. It's still something I would try to talk somebody out of. But it's more okay than it could be, I suppose.
Alright, happier news: I saw my old friend and college roommate TB for the first time in a few years. Since I last saw him, he got divorced, took time off from his job, had something approaching a breakdown, got help, and turned things back around. He seems to be doing genuinely well now. And it was great to see him. He's one of those guys that just makes you feel good to be around. I really wish we lived in the same area. I'm bad at corresponding, and he's worse than me. So it's rare when we get together. (The only reason our meeting happened this time is because I saw he was in the area on Facebook.) But when we do, it's like old times again. That's how you know who your true friends are. When you get together after years apart, how long does it take for the initial air of formality to dissipate? If the answer is instantaneously, then that's a true friend.
I have tons of stories about TB from back in the day, but here's one of my favorites. He was constantly struggling to make ends meet throughout college, and there were times when he literally had no money to his name. Once, he came home with a $10 bill and said that he was getting paid tomorrow, but that this bill was all he had for a meal that night. Back then, $10 in our smallish college city was more than enough to get a decent amount food, so we went to the grocery store, and here's what he bought: a giant bag of tortilla chips, a tub of french onion dip, two Rainier tallboys, and the movie Soap Dish.
[We saw Edgar Martinez's number 11 retired by the Mariners. If you look carefully, you can see the image of Edgar in his batting stance cut into the outfield grass.]
Seeing my family was great also, as always. My brother and sister in-law also have a new little baby girl, Lil' A, and she's just as cute as you would imagine. They recently moved from Seattle to U.P., so now my entire immediate family lives there (except us). It makes it easier to see everybody when you come visit. Lil' Q, my bro's oldest, is a few months younger than Lil' S1, and they get along pretty well. Sure occasionally they have incidents -- like when Lil' S1 hit Lil' Q with a map at the zoo or when Lil' Q poked Lil' S1 in the eye during their sleep over ("I forgot I wasn't supposed to do that" was Lil' Q's defense) -- but for the most part they play together pretty well.
Alright, I wanted to write a bit more, but as usual I'm out of time. S is away at the moment with the kids, and if I don't unpack my half of the suitcase before she gets home, it's not going to be pretty. She has been asking me to do it for the last two days after all.
Until next time...
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