Happy Birthday Dad

On Sunday afternoon I zoomed south. This time really was a zoom; I covered over 400 miles in only six hours. It was a very hot, but very clear day. For the first time in all my visits to my dad I could see all the way to Palomar Mountain. The dome of the 5 meter telescope shone white in the eastern saddle of the mountain top. It has been over a quarter century since I was in the domes on that mountain.

I entered my Dad's room before visiting hours closed. He recognized me and I took him on another wheelchair tour of the facility. Alas, there is no view of the mountain top without going out to the parking lot, but my Dad has lived there long enough to know what I would have shown him. I wished my dad a happy day before his birthday and departed for the night.

On the way back to Dad's place I grabbed all the requisite supplies for a birthday cake (and food to sustain me as well). Upon arrival I started baking, and I looked through the household. Every indication is that my dad will never return to his place. There were little treasure troves of ancestral history, including a genealogy of my dad's family dating back to the Revolutionary War. That puts my roots pretty deep on this continent on both sides of my family. I whipped up the buttercream frosting, slathered the cake, and slept.

Monday I brought the cake and candles into my dad's room as he dozed. I got permission to make fire in a room which did not have oxygen flowing. amd the staff added balloons to the party ambiance. After my dad ate lunch I lit the candles, brought over the cake, sang, and recorded digital imagery for transmission to the rest of the family. My dad blew out both of the candles and ate cake with relish.

I was all of the party who was physically present, but I called other family members and handed the phone to my dad. He said ``hello'' to everyone. As they spoke he replied in a conversational tone. Everyone was amazed at the conversation they had with Dad.

Artemis, Athena, you both deserve thanks, for without you I would not have practice baking up a cake on a totally impromptu basis. I can barely begin to say how good of an effect that little party had on my dad.
Athena, thanks for the pot/kettle discussion later that day, and thanks for Rutabegorz, an old family favorite.

Dad, happy birthday in one more medium.

contesting on Jeopardy!

Yes, Athena is now on the Jeopardy! Hometown Howdies web page. I saw that with her and her dad on Monday after the birthday party. I love her delivery of the lines.

When we saw Athena take up her position behind the challenger's podium F and I were barely able to contain our energy. I think I was a bit more restrained than F, for he made a request to which I could not easily reply. F turned to me and said that I might have to restrain him. I said that might cause some sort of cascade effect. Upon reflection I think the request produced a certain cognitive dissonance. I had met F barely two hours before, and he was asking me to restrain him. It evoked connections with certain folks I've encountered in the context of the White Rat's Morris.

Anyhow, Athena started her contest. At the first break when Alex interviewed everyone she gave a nice insight into her self. As the contest came up against Final Jeopardy! Athena's score was less than that of the Canadian champion. F and I exchanged a disappointed glance when the final category was about Canada. The clue was a trivial one. Athena had the correct response, but all seemed lost as the champion was approached for his response.

No, it's not too early to tell this. My mom's local station has already broadcast the episode.

The champion gave the wrong response about his native country.

On today's Jeopardy! contest Athena wins!

F and I had smiles that would not stop.

That was the third episode of the day, and it was time to vacate the studio for lunch. F and I crossed the street to a local deli. We got into a bit of male one-upmanship after I said that I could now claim to have kissed a Jeopardy! champion. I said that would be kissing and telling. Yes, I'm telling. Sometime after that we were discussing the celebrity of Trebek and I said that I had reached the pinnacle of celebrity worship when I realized that I had just peed alongside a Nobel Prize winner in physics.

We spent too much time eating and we had to rush back to the studio in time for the fourth episode. The story of that one is even better.