In Orbit

Livin' out in California
Seems to suit you well
But my news is all second hand

So it's hard for me to tell

--Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Forty-eight days is a long, long time. Forty-eights days ago we left Ketchikan.

We had envisioned standing on the back deck of the ferry watching the town and project fade into the sunset and fjords, buuut…Lachlan was having a hard evening. I caught a glimpse of the town passing by while waiting in line for cheeseburger since Michele and I had to eat in shifts. Michele missed the experience altogether. It’s only a seven hour ferry ride from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert, B.C. which is the nearest point to access the North America road grid. After four and a half hours the ferry crosses the mouth of the Portland Canal and the border of Alaska and Canada. It may have been my imagination but the color of the world changed there. Behind us the monotone, daunting beauty of SE Alaska. Ahead the sun was coming out; as if the asphalt strip of civilization stretching toward this point on the northern B.C. coastline had even domesticated the weather. A sigh of relief or of acceptance.

We did enjoy the rest of the trip to Seattle. Northern British Columbia was absolutely stunning. Not in the same way as Alaska. Rolling, forested hills and river valleys with green, green farms scattered few and far between.

“Michele look, GRASS! Can we stop? Can we stay?”
“No,” she said.

Lachlan did great. We didn’t get a good chance to test drive him before the big road trip since Ketchikan only has 20 miles of continuous road but for the most part he seemed to enjoy the time in the car.

Once we hit Bellingham there came a sense of closure for both of us. That place was the starting point for this whole endeavour.

Our two weeks in Seattle went by much too quickly. It was great see friends and family. Most of my time was spent working on the house. Michele and I are truly grateful for all the help we received around the place. After the whole experience I have now spent a total of 17 days/nights in the house we bought a year ago. Does that qualify as a permanent address?

On September 13th my parents convoyed with us from Seattle to Palo Alto. Again, Lachlan did great. We got down here a week before my classes started but mostly spent the time unpacking. We did make a trip to San Francisco and took Lachlan to the ocean beach for the first time. We happened to pick a day when the area was experiencing some pretty high winds off of the water. If he remembers the experience, he’ll think of the beach as the place where his face gets sandblasted and daddy can’t see.

So now I’ve been in class for three weeks now. With five classes it feels a bit like a drink from the fire hose. I’m painfully reminded that I forgot most of my mathematics beyond algebra and elementary trig approximately 20 minutes after taking my last final as an undergraduate. I’m taking engineering economics, project finance, advanced structural steel design, structural dynamics, and construction seminar. For my mental health I’m also taking a golf class. Once when I was younger I was kicked off a golf course for wearing jeans and vowed to boycott the “sport”. So far my game more closely resembles lawn mowing so I guess that means my vow still stands.

Michele is settling into life on-campus. She’s enjoying the weather and chances to get out around campus and meet other new moms in the grad student neighborhood. She has also had more time to catch up with her sister, Christie, and her family who live just down the road from campus.

Lachlan is now 2 months and 3 weeks old. At last check (last week) he measured 14-lbs 3 ounces and 25-in: a good size boy according to his doctor. He's still a pretty happy camper and is enjoying living in one place for more than two weeks. He likes walking around campus with Michele in his stroller. He likes bath time but most of all he likes his star. The star I speak of hangs above his floor mat, lights up, and plays really annoying music. Three months ago I would have immediately thrown such a device into the garbage or out the window of a moving vehicle. Now the little diddy is a fair trade for a smiling Lachlan even if I'm sitting there trying to find a non-homogeneous solution to a differential equation for harmonic loading on a moment-frame structure.

Maybe that's progress.

Now for the Photos!!

Lachlan loves bath time

Play time with dad

Study break