A little something to keep Ivi in touch …
At the gate, Charlie awaits my return from work whereupon he insists on six or seven high-speed encirclements of the yard and chases after his red floppy thing. Then he rests for a couple of seconds, perhaps having a drink of water, then takes off again. I am exhausted by the time I finally get through the door.
Earlier this year Kim planted some sunflowers among the rows of corn. Now they tower over her and have stalks too large to get a hand completely around. Nobody saw this coming.
In the previous post, we didn’t mention that our return trip was stalled by about an hour, when I-84 traffic came to a halt about around 110th Street, headed out of Portland. The time was about 10 or 10:30am. We were positioned at the dividing strip between the freeway and an off-ramp when a police car came alongside after 15 or 20 minutes. We overheard the policewoman tell the occupants of the car just ahead of us that the freeway would likely be closed for hours, and that anyone who could should get off. So we crossed the triangle and were just able to get to the off-ramp. We searched for an appropriate through street somewhat parallel to the freeway, rejoining I-84 in about three or four miles. We found virtually no eastbound traffic, but the westbound lane was stacked up at a standstill for several more miles. It was not until today that Kim’s research disclosed the reason for the delay:
This weekend we set off to return Ivi to her senior year at L&C. Ivi, now our driver of choice for Portland wanderings, checks into her 5th floor room. (She’s lived here before when the building was brand new, but now has a preferred top-floor private room in the LEED-certified forest-surrounded — as is the whole L&C campus — structure.) Then it is on to our hotel, where Dad naps while Kim and Ivi find provisions at a nearby Trader Joe’s. The next morning we help Ivi unpack, then head east to see how Charlie and Nik made out in our absence.
Here Kim and Nik take a break at the end of the day, while Charlie (out of view) chases his tail and who knows what else. And Ivi (more to be reported) continues to pursue her massive fruit canning project.
Ivi brought home yards and yards of fabric from her stint in Ghana. Here, she uses some to fashion a pillow for Grandma Janet.
Some sweet corn this year …
Suddenly, the sunflowers planted amidst the sweet corn have zoomed to 8 and 9 feet in height, and are almost entirely masking the corn patch. While Charlie looks on from a shaded vantage point, I attempt to reach as high as I can.
By the way, the first sweet corn harvest was cooked up and consumed last night, with high praise to Kim and Ivi for their efforts.
After seemingly-weeks of negotiation, Ivi has relented enough to allow publication of a few photos that show her visage. These photo examples — beach, soccer match, national parks, weekend trips — were made by some of her fellow students and friends at the University of Ghana between January – May 2014. Consult with Ivi for details.
