Four Years Old!

A happy fourth birthday to Mandu the tux and Chingu the cream-and-gray, the two kitties who make my life a whole lot better than it should be.  They were adopted all the way across the county when I was working at an animal shelter and taking care of my dad in Bellingham, Washington.  Here we are in Frederick, Maryland, and soon we'll be in Sunset Beach, North Carolina.  Technically Mandu is a few days older than Chingu, but that's about all we know for precise dates.

They are my buddies and they shed way too much.

Where Ya Been, James?

Mandu and Chingu both turn four in October.

I'll keep it short -- I put an offer on a house down in North Carolina last month.  Inspection turned up some major issues, including the roof and drainage / standing water.  North Carolina gets a lot of rain, not to mention wind and even hurricanes, so I walked.

I drove down again last weekend and now have another offer out.  It's a nicer house in a nicer neighborhood, and now I'm waiting for another inspection.  If it gets a relatively clean bill of health (roof was supposedly redone in 2019) I'm going to buy it and ideally getting out of Maryland by the end of 2026.

I'm ready to live near, not on, the beach and start a new adventure with these two non-rent-payers above.

Adulting, man.

Mushroom Trail

Seen on a recent walk around my neighborhood.  I can only guess I'm being lured into a cooking pot.  It's been a surprisingly wet summer here in Frederick -- last two summers I swear everything turned brown by the end of July and stopped growing.

Beach Life

Sunset Beach, North Carolina.

I spent the weekend in North Carolina looking at houses.  I found one I like.  If all goes well, I'll be living down here by the end of the year.

Five Years

Chingu seems to really like diet soda.

This is as good a time as any to recap the last five years of my life, no?

In 2021 I returned to America from my job teaching English in South Korea.  I moved in with my Dad in Bellingham, Washington.  He was 88 at the time and dealing with, well, age, as well as a very bad romantic relationship that had just ended.  Basically, he needed full-time care, and he couldn't drive any more, and he lived in the middle of the woods.  Neither of us were thrilled by all of this, but it was necessary short of putting him in a home.

I worked a weekend / part-time job with the Whatcom County Humane Society which changed my life, in no small part because I adopted the tuxedo terror (pictured above) and his sister -- Chingu and Mandu (Korean names for "friend" and "dumpling.")

In 2022 my Dad was finally diagnosed with vascular dementia.  It was a secret to nobody, especially his doctor, who seemed strangely reluctant to actually give him the test that would allow for the dementia diagnosis.  These were, understandably, very difficult times for everyone.  I cried when the doctor asked my Dad some simple questions -- Date? Location? Where are you, basically.  It wasn't just that he was "wrong" in his answers, but that he couldn't fathom the concepts of test, date, location, and, well, reality.

My Only Sunshine

This is the Tuscorora Crepe Myrtle blooming in front of my house.  I'll miss it!

Orioles Magic

My sister and her family took me to a ball game for my 52nd birthday.  Orioles won with a walk-off single in the ninth, which was great.

That's right, I'm 52!

The Wisdom of Crowds

Noticed a lot of these guys around my neighborhood recently.  They're crape myrtles, and the red color is really striking.

I went to Reddit to find out more.  Half the comments swore they were a horrible invasive species for Maryland.  The other half said they were a reliable, low-maintenance tree that gets planted all over the place.  They definitely weren't growing wild.

Take your pick!

Sunny Side Up

This is Mandu a.k.a. Mandurita, Mandoodle, Mandu the Huntress, Princess Mandu.  Even with all that fur she will never let a patch of sunshine go to waste.

Summer

Chingu in Attack Pattern Bookcase.

It's July!  It's hot as hell outside as we move into July 4th weekend!

1)  I'm pet-sitting for the fist half of July for somebody who owns an actual pool.  Yay!

2)  The US has made it into the Round of 16 with a tough game against Belgium ahead.  Did Balogun deserve that red card?  Well, he did step on the guy's ankle pretty hard.

3)  Trump's 250th Birthday for America has been and will continue to be a shit-show.  Never start a land war in Asia, and never plan outdoor events for D.C. in the middle of summer.  Seriously, wouldn't be surprised if people die of heat stroke.

4)  I'm offically looking at houses in North Carolina.  In August I'll actually drive down and look at a few, then buy one.  I am so ready to leave Maryland and Frederick behind.  As the kids say, the vibes are no good.

5)  I turn 52 at the end of July.

6)  I finished the Gene Wolf Book of the New Sun tetralogy.  I might have more to say other than I enjoyed it, and, I'm pretty sure a lot of it flew over my head.  I have the fifth book too but am taking a little needed break.

Enjoy summer!  Drink lots of water, or adult beverages of your choosing!

Brotherly Love, City of

Greetings from Philadelphia, in particular the lovely and bougie Manayunk neighborhood!

Why am I in the lovely and bougie Manayunk neighborhood, your might ask?  It's a long story!

My Dad, who passed almost three years ago, was a scientist with the Department of Agriculture.  He got sent around the world (Africa and Asia mostly) to help local farmers and scientists grow more food using advanced (or in some cases, quite primitive but effective) agricultural techniques.  He met many fellow scientists along the way, and developed many friendships.

So in the 1980's, he helped with getting visa sponsorship for an Indian colleague and his wife (a medical doctor).  It's a complicated story, and one that almost didn't work out, but in the end my Dad helped these two very accomplished people and their daughter settle in the United States.  They had been reaching out to my Dad for years, but due to his hearing being shot and his dementia, he wasn't great about keeping in touch with friends.

In any event me and my sister and my nephew drove up to Philly yesterday for lunch with these very wonderful people (and their daughter and her husband, and assorted grandchildren).

So that's how I ended up outside of an organic Italian restaurant crying, when these folks told me and my sister how the memory of my dad was a blessing for their entire family.

People are complicated.  My dad could be so stern and withdrawn on meeting him, and you might never realize how damn funny he was after a beer and getting to know somebody, anybody, a little bit.

I miss you Dad.  We had such a great time celebrating you yesterday but I have a feeling you already knew that.

Sleepytime Chingu

Even this magnificent beast needs his beauty rest.

Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Frederick Maryland

This is the grave of Francis Scott Key, a Maryland born guy who went on to compose the most difficult-to-sing national anthem of all time.

Even cooler to my mind, in the same cemetery this is the grave of a cranky old German lady named Barbara Fritchie.  In 1862 when the Confederates captured Frederick (led by Stonewall Jackson no less) Ms. Fritchie waved the U.S. flag and basically told the secessionists to go fuck themselves.  James Greenleaf Whittier wrote a horrible poem about it.

Anyhow, now that I'm leaving Maryland in a few months I actually do have a bit of a bucket list.  Frederick is pretty damn boring, but the location isn't bad.  In any event, I'd say Mt. Olivet Cemetery is a definite must-visit if you ever come by this way.

Don't Ever Change

Frederick, MD.

Maryland Diners: Bonnie's at the Red Byrd, Keedysville Maryland

So this one's a little bit of a culinary curveball (baseball season has started!).  I was driving to visit Antietam Battlefield when I spotted this place just outside of Sharpsburg.  I decided I would heartily nosh there after my battlefield visit.  It was good, but weird, as have been most of my Maryland diner visits so far!

Saturday Caturday

Chingu in the sun.

Skully

Frederick, Maryland.

Maryland Diners: Kountry Kitchen, Thurmont Maryland

So, I'm noticing a few things as I continue to review Maryland Diners.  (As a reminder, I once reviewed every diner in Whatcom County, Washington.)  Eggs Benedict, my go-to choice for seeing if a kitchen can handle simple but significant orders, are not nearly as popular here in Maryland as they were back in Bellingham.  So my second go-to, the club sandwich (the exhibitionist of sandwiches) has often become my choice since I moved back east a few years ago.  Second, Maryland diners don't play music.  Or at least the ones I've visited don't.  Seems a shame, really.  Anyhow, let's see how things went at the Kountry Kitchen!

Antietam Battlefield

Some pictures from a recent trip to Antietam Battlefield about 20 minutes west of Frederick.  At top is the infamous Cornfield, where the day's fighting started for the most part.  Next is a monument dedicated to Clara Barton who worked to help the wounded and dying throughout the day (and later to found the Red Cross).

Reluctant Spring

The first blossoms are out, but It's supposed to be 40 degrees tomorrow.

Guess we need to take what we can get.  The birds are out too though.