Ahead of me is a busy-but-fun week and a half! I’m very much looking forward to it!
POINT DEFIANCE ZOO AND AQUARIUM
Today my niece and grandnephew (both of whom refer to me as Uncle Kris, the only people in my family who do, bless their hearts!) are coming up to experience the Tacoma (Point Defiance) Zoo and Aquarium with me. The weather is cooperating, so we won’t have to bundle up too much for the zoo. (The aquarium is indoors.) I haven’t been to the zoo in decades, or its aquarium ever, so I’m looking forward to it. The aquarium closes at 3:30 so we’re going to get there sometime between 11 and noon and visit the aquarium first.
The aquarium was scheduled to premiere an expanded version this year, but the grand opening for that extravaganza is delayed and so we decided to see what’s there now. We can go again next year to see what changed.
I hear the zoo has a serval. Be still, my heart!
I will only have my smartphone along, so I don’t know if I’ll get great images, but if I do, I will share them here with you later.
CLE ELUM, HERE I COME!
This coming week, I will drive to Cle Elum (a 90-minute trip one way, traffic willing) to have lunch with six to eight high school classmates for the first time EVER. They meet monthly, but I have never made it over YET. I AM SOOO LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.
As you know, I’ve been revisiting my Cle Elum memories all this week, so I’m super excited to get back over there, see my classmates, and take images of the town I grew up in. Although I wasn’t particularly close to anyone in my class of 69 (my few closest friends were in classes other than the Class of 1969 and lived nearby six miles out of town), I KNOW I have true friends and advocates there now, after the show of affection and solidarity that they showed me when I came out as transgender and had my chest masculinization surgery several years ago.
They sent me cards, notes, and several hundred dollars for a masculine wardrobe. I was completely surprised and stunned and I will never, ever forget their compassion and kindness. (My nuclear family ignored my transition, although Jackie did give me my bridge therapy following the surgery, so I’m grateful for that!)
I still have this display on my bedroom door. It was a big F’ing deal to ME (as a VP Joe Biden would say!) (I didn’t put up the card and notes from my classmates, but I still have and treasure them!)
LAUREL VISITS
The day after the Cle Elum visit, my older sister Laurel will visit me. We rarely see each other. We’re planning to drive to Chambers Bay Golf Course and traverse its walking path. I used to do that quite regularly when I lived in Lakewood fifteen years ago, but I haven’t gone since then. It was quite the trek back then, so I don’t know how well I’ll do at age 72 (there are a couple of hills) but I’m sure Laurel will do fine (she’s three years older than I am) because she walks up trails all the time, but I do plan to survive it. I may even surprise myself because I was a lot heavier 15 years ago, so it may feel easier than it did then. I’m about to find out, that’s for sure!
After we walk, we plan to eat, probably right there at Chambers Bay if the prices aren’t outrageous.
EVER NEW
On Saturday March 25th the next EVER NEW podcast will happen. Hannah McCrane won’t be with me this time, so the show will probably consist of me reading excerpts from my De Kelley books, unless I get some great images at the zoo and aquarium. Luckily, I can still wear my flipper where my missing tooth is, and by the next time EVER NEW rolls around, I will have a permanent placement there (the completed implant) and won’t feel (or sound) like I have half a mouthful of dentures in my mouth! It’s going to be super nice to sound like myself again and be able to eat without taking out my fake tooth to do so!
IMPLANT MEASUREMENTS
Eight days from now, I will be driving to Seattle again, this time to get the measurements for the abutment and crown that will finish off my year-long dental implant journey. Then, seven to ten days after that, I will drive up a final time to have them placed. What a joy that day will be!!! I’ll finally have a smile without a gap in it!
DAILY STAR TREK NEWS INTERVIEW
And finally (at least so far in March; who knows what else might end up on my calendar this close to the Enterprise launch?!), on March 28th at 10 a.m. a gentleman named Rick from Daily Star Trek News will be Zooming with me about the upcoming Celestis Enterprise Flight and my part in getting De’s DNA on it. I have sent him my book DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal so he can get a head start on getting to know me better, so I expect the interview to turn out pretty well. When I have a link, I’ll put it on my home page at YellowBalloonPubications. com so you can access it there anytime at your convenience. I’l probably post the link to my Facebook page, too, if I get permission from Rick to do that…
OUTDOOR DOGGIE “RUN” FOR HOPE
Yesterday I built the frame for a very small “doggie run” for Jackie’s new pup Hope. Today Jackie will finish it off by putting chicken wire around it so Hope can go out and spend some time in the sunshine (and shade, as needed) instead of being able to go out just to go potty. She loves being outdoors and this little contraption (about eight feet long and three feet wide; two feet high) will give her a safe place to be so hawks, eagles, and coyotes can’t abscond with her if Jackie decides to put her out for a little while unattended. Here’s what it looks like pre-chickenwire wrap:
Jackie applied the wire, I attached the wooden overhead door
And…. I guess that’s all the news that’s fit to print for this time. ENJOY YOUR DAY AND WEEKEND!!!
