Happy Birthday RantMom

 HAPPY 83rd BIRTHDAY RantMom!

RantMom says her brother called her yesterday. Also, there is a choir that serenaded her at her retirement community. RantWoman is not sure what RantMom said about masks but definitely remembers RantMom saying everyone was social distanced. Retirement community is back on quarantine while contact tracing happens first among staff and according to the most recent email possibly among a small number of residents. It sounds like RantMom is not the only person feeling restive about the situation. RantMom said some of her neighbors also called her to wish her Happy Birthday so RantMom feels generally well feted.

Forget the time stamp. The RantFamily gathered by Zoom around suppertime. We celebrated great strides forward in RantMom's confidence with Zoom, though cheerleading by the only grandchild should never be underestimated.

Food is a crucial part of all RantFamily gatherings, even the virtual ones. Little Sister said she had visions of delivering pizza to everyone. In the end. Little Sister dispatched Irrepressible Nephew to deliver a Safeway cake and candles to RantMom's retirement community. The cake had lovely-looking fruit but the daunting technology of the day was a lighter for candles.: the cake will be enthusiastically consumed regardless. RantWoman did not even think to ask others what real food they dined on. 

RantWoman braved the sound environment and universal masking at her neighborhood Starbucks: time for the first eggnog latte of the season and a "southwest veggie wrap." The veggie wrap, scrambled eggs, black beans and potatoes in a whole wheat tortilla would have benefited from even mild salsa or a few compatible veggies. Wraps reheated in the microwave are difficult to get just right, piping hot and heated uniformly enough not to scorch diners' palates. Anyway the wrap definitely passed muster in the more or less nutritionally responsible category. A slice of pumpkin bread saved for another was RantWoman's choice in the cake department.

Conversation topics: we barely touched on the election results. Irrepressible Nephew reported that recent plans for a road trip to see a school buddy in MT had to be aborted: school buddy is now doing okay but he tested positive for COVID the day before Nephew and buddies were to arrive. So instead the road trip went as far as a different friend in Spokane. Good Nephew. Sensible Nephew. Then last night there was a trip up to snow and a trail off Snoqualmie Pass.

Then conversation turned to RantMom and growing up, heating and baking with wood and coal, wading in ditches in the summertime. The best moment of family lore: bathing the rest of the year. RantMom had two brothers and two sisters. Saturday night was bath night. Some kind of tub was put behind the stove. First RantMom's youngest sister sister, then younger brother, then next younger sister with more water added after each kid. Typical of girl growth patterns, RantMom spent most of high school taller than her (now deceased) older brother. Now RantWoman is wondering who had to bathe last. It made RantWoman smile to learn that RantMom did not start getting to take showers until gym class in high school! RantWoman assumes there was plenty of physical exercise on the farm; RantWoman can also definitely see how the nome bathing situation can make gym class showers more of an attraction that RantWoman would ever assume.

Ignacio CO Homepage Ignacio is where RantMom went to high school and became a passionate football fan.

There are equivalent co.gov pages for

Durango, where RantMom was born in the hospital

Allison, even tinier than Ignacio but near where RantMom's paternal grandparents homesteaded

Gunnison, where the RantFamily, the RantParents and all 3 RantSiblings lived for 10 years

Also check out the Ute Agency where RantMom's maternal grandfather worked.

Happy Birthday RantMom and THANKS for incentive finally for RantWoman to upgrade her Zoom account!