Untying Ribbons

“Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.” Ruth Ann Schabacker

Sometimes I think I will go crazy from one more cloudy day, one more summer day that starts out in the 50s and reaches the balmy 60s. Sometimes I would give any number of things for one spectacular Nevada sunset viewed from my parents' front porch.

Yesterday was not one of those days. Yesterday was a day that made me glad for Seattle. Glad that Seattle is my home.

First we went to Qwest Field to watch the Seahawks scrimmage. Can you guess this wasn't my idea? It really wasn't. I have to admit though that it was exciting to walk with the converging crowd...the crowd filled with people wearing #8 Matt Hasselback and #12 "Fan" football jerseys. The crowd that had people fairly dancing with excitement as they stood in the line to give their tickets and have their bags checked and persons frisked. The Blue Thunder was beating out a rhythm on their drums that added charge to the air. What is it about drums that so entices us? It could be a relic of our ancestors, dancing around fires to drum beats like you see in National Geographic but my ancestors were Scandinavian and I'm not sure they did that. I still liked the drums.

The smell of garlic fries filled the air and we found our remarkably good seats and settled in for excitement.

These are the family members that were remotely interested.

Mark and I were not as enthralled. At one point when the players ran around on the field, people started inexplicably clapping and cheering. Mark asked me why. I didn't know. Mark asked me if we were going for white or blue. I told him either one. (No matter what happened the Seahawks either had great defense or great offense.) He decided blue. Mark asked me who was winning. I asked him if he wanted to take a walk.

It turns out Emma is just as smart as I always suspected.

She brought drawing material...

And reading material...

I aspire to such foresight.

About the time I wondered how long it would last, I glanced at Braeden's glowing face and remembered how I made him sit still for two hours in St. Paul's Cathedral in London for a concert. Surely I could show him the same consideration.

Especially since garlic fries were involved.

At the end of the scrimmage, Mark asked me who won. I told him the blue team had and he was thrilled.

Braeden's joy was fullest though. At the end, people crowded to the fence at the bottom of the stands, the team walked around giving high fives and autographs. Braeden squeezed his way down and Adam yelled down for him to go all the way to the fence. I was encouraged to see that Braeden's politeness prevailed and he didn't push his way in front of people. One kind man stepped aside though and let Braeden slide in front of him. Braeden got to greet every player. You could warm up a lot of Seattle days with his ensuing smile.

Our next stop was the ninth floor of Amazon.com headquarters. It turns out that a perk of working for Amazon is excellent seats for the Blue Angels that perform the first weekend in August in Seattle. We sat out on a balcony and watched this:

You can barely see but they're out there...

Then out of nowhere they were thundering right above us.

It was thrilling, just like always.

We were unstoppable yesterday so next we went to a swim meet. I tried to take pictures. I wish I had pictures. But my camera...

Earlier it was not getting along with the computer--they weren't recognizing each other. Yesterday at the swim meet it thought it was connected to the computer and wouldn't take a picture. I think it's either haunted or doesn't like me. Adam thinks we need a new camera.

It was typical swim meet fare. Cheering on and hugging congratulations to wet chlorine perfumed children. We discovered Braeden's currency though. In his last event, a relay, Adam told him that if he made his leg in under a minute, it would mean something "really big" at McDonald's. I told Adam he needed to lower the goal, there was no WAY Braeden could swim in that time. Adam shrugged and smiled his knowing smile. I would rather have something "really big" at IKEA or Coldwater Creek, but McDonald's worked for Braeden. He swam it in 56 seconds, shaving 26 seconds off his time at the beginning of the season.

An elated Braeden thought it was a great day. I had to agree. Any time you can unabashedly cheer on the home team, look to the sky in awe with the rest of the city, then see improvement in your children, it's a good day.

The icing on the cake? Braeden's McDonald's visit had to take a rain check. Adam's dad called as we were leaving the pool and asked us to stop by and eat the leftover salmon and dessert from their annual High Priest Barbecue.

And nothing says perfect Seattle day like ending it over some fresh Northwest salmon, grilled perfectly with fresh Northwest blackberries.