Waiting, Waiting

So, I'm waiting for Porkchop to return from a trip to Columbia. She and her brothers are there visiting their dad in the burn treatment center. You see, their dad had an encounter with some propane last night, and the result is second degree burns on his head and arms, along with a smattering of third degree burns. These are bad burns, but it could have been much, much worse.

It will take some time, but it seems like he will be okay. He might even go home tomorrow! Which seems crazy after looking at the photo Porkchop sent me of his bandaged head.

Poor guy. A bypass, a kidney transplant, stents around his heart, and now this. He can't catch a break.

Other Waiting
To me, spring is all about waiting...waiting to realize the potential of carefully laid plans.

First, we were waiting to go to Chicago with Porkchop's niece. We hit the Art Institute, the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, Mitsuwa Marketplace, and IKEA.

This was my first trip to the Field Museum, and I would like to go back. SO MUCH STUFF! My favorite section was the Plants of the World, especially after reading about how the glass and wax specimens were made. Amazing!

We saw Sue, of course:


And we saw the artists-in-residence...two brothers exploring their theory of a new optical reality. Which meant tracing things on curved paper. Like this:


Actually, it's a lot more complicated than just tracing. It's about splitting the focus of your eyes and capturing the "ghost image" on paper. It's pretty neat - there's an article and clip here.

Porkchop and I agreed the brothers strike one as being from the late 1800s/early 1900s. "We've got this new-fangled easel contraption..."

So, after Chicago, we were waiting on sprouts. And guess who peeked out of the ground late last week?

Spinach or lettuce (I can't tell at this stage).


And onions.

Then we were waiting on the Blues to clinch the playoffs. And guess what happened Friday night at the last home game? That's right! They won!

Porkchop and her younger brother were the happiest, especially after we got to shoot pucks down on the ice after the game.

Now I'm waiting to plant tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, and basil. And for our trip to Portland to see Kathy before she moves to Peru! So many things to await!

I also look forward to baking more fun cookies this weekend. Monday night, I made these chewy amaretti cookies:


Quite tasty, although the almond paste makes me feel weird, as in allergic weird.

Hope your week is going well...Keetah says hello to her friends!