Summer, Seattle and the Death of a Saab

Every James Bond fan knows you open the film with a bang, and so it is with today's blog entry.  Literally.  On June 24th, shortly after leaving work, Brandon was rear-ended by some lady who apparently didn't notice all the stopped traffic ahead waiting for the red light to turn green.  Or maybe she just really hates Saabs.  Regardless, the result was a collision hard enough that it shot the radio out of Brandon's dashboard and gave him a lovely concussion.  That last bit was confirmed after a visit to the ER and a couple days of absent-minded stupidity (completing sentences was a particular challenge for a day or two).  As for the car - Brandon's beautiful, beloved Saab - it's been deemed by our insurance as a total loss.  Someone will come pick it up soon to haul it off to auction, and ultimately, a scrapyard.  The kicker is we'll be receiving about 1/6 what we initially paid for it.  Ah, well.  Robert Frost knew a thing or two, it seems...  "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."  And so it does.

We've been busier than ever this summer, and a gorgeous, warm and sunny summer it's been. Calvin is following in his brother's footsteps and playing t-ball, and he's gotten quite good at it.  Malcolm has moved up a level, to the point where he dons a Marlins uniform for every game, instead of the standard local business sponsorship outfit.  He intends to continue playing as he prepares to enter middle school in the fall.  Chloe, of course, is still all about gymnastics.  We expect before long she'll finally relent and follow her coaches' advice about joining the competitive team.

Calvin turned the big 5 on June 13th, and Chloe's getting ready to hit 9 on August 31st.  And since Stephanie's birthday on May 29th was her fortieth such celebration, Brandon flew her down to Seattle for a surprise performance by our favorite Irishman, Dylan Moran.  Between the secret preparations (read: flowers and chilled bottles of stout) by the concierge of the W Hotel (we can't recommend W Hotels highly enough), the dinner reservations, the tickets to the EMP Museum and the autographed photo Brandon managed to have Mr. Moran sign to Stephanie, needless to say, she was satisfactorily pleased with the whole affair.  The only downside is our return flight was delayed, then canceled, and we had to stay the night slumming around the ghostly halls of Sea-Tac airport.  One wonders if Robert Frost ever had to try sleeping on a metal airport bench under fluorescent lighting.

Otherwise, it's been more of the same.  Which in our case, is always a good thing.  The sudden lack of a car will work itself out somehow, and in the mean time, we'll keep going on hikes and picnics and assorted family outings.  In a few weeks we meet family in Maui, which we're thrilled about.  Then we'll have the Alaska State Fair, Chloe's birthday, blueberry picking in Hatcher Pass, the start of the new school year and so much more.  In light of all that, complaining about a lost car seems rather petty.

But it was a really nice car.

♥

You've got red on you.