Mom's Guide to the Galaxy

Voting by mail

I’ve never voted by mail before, largely because Illinois offers early voting about a month before each election, which has allowed me to vote without interfering with my work schedule in several elections. But this election is different. There’s a pandemic, with numbers still rising both in Illinois and across the country. And while I’m not high risk – having none of the pre-existing conditions thought to increase the chances of catching it, and already working from home before this outbreak – I recognize that most of the poll workers tend to be older, and likely to be in those high risk categories. I have no interest in putting myself, my family, or anybody else at unnecessary risk.

I realize several politicians, many of whom vote by mail themselves, are claiming that voting by mail increases incidents of fraud. There is, frankly, no evidence of this. It is, as far as I can tell, something they’re making up to scare people, much like the unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud in the 2016 election. That said, given the opportunity to vote by mail, I wanted to break it down to look at the realism of the possibility.

First, there’s the envelope the ballot application arrives in. It’s addressed to me, at the name and address I registered to vote with. (I moved mid-2016; I immediately updated my voter registration since there was an election coming up.) The important thing I noted on the envelope was “Return Service Requested” above my information. I double-checked with a local letter carrier (that’s the official title for your mailman/mailwoman), and that means that if that name is not valid for that address, the letter gets returned to the sender. This is different from Address Service Requested, which would return the envelope and provide the forwarding address to the sender. So flat out, if you’re not at that address anymore, the letter gets returned.

Application for ballot - General Election, November 3, 2020

And what if it accidentally gets delivered anyways? Well, let’s look at the application. Name, street, city and zip… those are all available on the envelope I received. My birth date – which is part of my voter registration – is not. Nor is my signature, and a mismatched signature is one of the common mistakes on absentee ballots – not generally because of fraud, but because of older voters whose motor skills are changing, or signatures recorded on that stupidly oversensitive electronic pad when you renewed your driver’s license. (I’m left-handed, and most of those pads are meant for right-handed people… the last time I had to sign for my driver’s license, it took me three tries to not bump it with anything other than the special pen.)

So even if you accidentally receive somebody else’s ballot application, you’re not likely to know enough information to request their ballot. Some states, like Oregon, had already switched to only vote by mail before the pandemic. Illinois allows all registered voters the option, and is now actively encouraging it because of the pandemic. I’ll post more on this topic once I’ve received my ballot, with a look at what checks are in place to prevent fraud on the actual ballot.

An ever-evolving garden plan

After I planted in the broken bed frame, I looked across my backyard and realized I wanted that entire strip of grass to be filled with raised beds, from the bed frame over to the windmill bed. I thought it would be a gradual process, starting next spring when I prepare whatever new bed I add for the year.

My plants have a different plan.

It’s not just the squash family plants, with their tendency to run out of beds, that are looking to expand their space this year. The three tomato plants I added to the keyhole bed have experienced explosive growth with this surprisingly warm summer, stretching over the squash and dangling out the side of the bed. And I keep redirecting the squash vines back into the bed frame, to keep them out of lawnmower range.

Sprawling tomatoes and squash vines extending past the garden beds

Most of the sprawling growth is headed south, so after mulching between the keyhole bed and the bed frame, I added a line of mulch to one side of the beds. Then, since the plants were already coming out of the keyhole bed, snaking towards the grass (now mulch), I grabbed a couple support cages from the shed and moved branches and vines around to intertwine with the cages.

But it’s only July, and weather-permitting, the squash varieties and tomato plants will continue into October… I need more space! And I need it now, before a ride-on mower devours a melon or acorn squash. (I’m less concerned about the tomatoes, they’re all bite-sized.) So it’s time to order a mulch delivery, rather than hauling small bags in my Corolla, and start next spring’s preparations early.

Thoughts on The Obsidian Tower

There’s a thrill when I receive a packet of books to review, and an added bonus when I recognize the author on one or more of the books. So when I received The Obsidian Tower, the first of another trilogy by Melissa Caruso, I was practically bouncing off the walls. This review was originally published in the May 1, 2020 issue of Booklist. Part of the thrill was seeing how the world has progressed since the previous trilogy; there are clear impacts from those adventures.

Melissa Caruso’s newest book, The Obsidian Tower, is an action-packed adventure set well after her Swords and Fire Trilogy. The world has changed in some ways: Raverra and Vaskandar cooperate in times of magical crises through a group called the Rookery. Yet Raverra’s political schemes and Vaskandar’s confrontations between Witch Lords make the world seem unchanged. Ryxander (Ryx) should have been a vivomancer like the rest of her family, but her magic was warped by a childhood illness, causing anything she touches to die; even powerful vivomancers can only touch her briefly. She has instead become the Warden of Gloamingard Castle, forging alliances through diplomacy. A diplomatic mission turned into a disaster when the envoy opened the Door to the Black Tower, unleashing an unknown threat into the land. Ryx and her new allies from the Rookery must race escalating threats while averting a diplomatic crisis. Ryx explores her abilities and limitations as she learns the extent of the problems she unleashed in this first book of a new series.

Wizards Unite combat

I mentioned in my previous post on Wizards Unite that I have fun with the Augmented Reality, or AR, placement of my opponents. I don’t always place them near my cats. Here are a few screenshots I took – some at the risk of taking a direct strike – because the placement amused me.

This is an itty bitty werewolf standing on the dash of my parked car. Perspective matters – if I aim the phone at an open room, my opponent can be quite large. But if all my camera can see is a small space, such as my desktop or the dash of my car, I ended up with a tiny opponent. This werewolf was fairly low level, so there wasn’t much risk in taking the screenshot.

Combat uses both offensive and defensive spells. Offensive spells use spell energy – the lightning bolt counter in the bottom left corner. Defensive spells are free, with the amount of damage improving as you progress along your career path. Both offensive and defensive can improve with the career progression. One of my proficiency charms causes my opponent to lose health when they attack me.

The giant spider doesn't look so large when it's in the cat tree.

You may remember Aragog, the Acromantula befriended by Hagrid in the Harry Potter books. Aragog was huge. In theory, so are the spiders in Wizards Unite… when given a large space for placement. This particular spider was placed inside my cat tree, forcing it to a size where my cats could have sat upon it. To be fair, that would be cruel to the spider, Arwen would probably try to eat it. Again, a low level combat, I was just goofing around with different placement.

This Death Eater, on the other hand, had me outclassed; he had almost four times my hit points. He’s actually placed against a wall, which is how I noticed the awesome shadow animation. When he moved to cast a spell at me, his shadow moved as well. I certainly never imagined when I started playing computer games – many with ASCII graphics, like Moria or The Pit – that technology would come this far and be so portable. The icons under our health bars indicate charms in play – I probably had a proficiency charm on myself, improving my abilities, and the defensive charm on him, causing him to take damage every time he attacked me.

This cute fellow is an erkling. I honestly don’t know why he’s one of the bad guys, but since they insist on attacking me, I insist on defending. Well, OK, to be honest, I go into the wizarding challenges and choose to fight them… but he’s on the wrong side for some reason. Anyways, he’s standing on a small sofa that I’m almost done assembling; I thought the color contrast would be nice for some battles.

Set a goal, find a buddy.

I’ve discussed some of the goals I’ve set in multiple posts. Some goals are quick and clearly individual, like creating a garden plan for the year and writing a blog post every week. But some of the ongoing goals, like staying fit and learning a new language, are long term goals, and those can be aided by finding a buddy with similar goals.

For fitness buddies, I keep in touch with my karate friends, and Centr.com has a Facebook community where we all encourage each other, particularly when participating in the same challenges, like the 6-week bodyweight challenge that many of us just finished. (It started on May 18th.)

My Duolingo goals, while accomplished (in that I did a lesson every day), were stagnating. With a big project at work, I was frequently logging on just long enough to repeat an earlier lesson, and catching just enough extra lessons at the weekend to stay in whatever my current league was – the top 10 in a league advance; anybody below 45th drops a level. I’ve never dropped a level, but I sat in the same league for an awfully long time.

And then Cassandra started pushing forward through the leagues with her Hawaiian lessons. She caught up to me, and passed me by a couple leagues. Suddenly, I have an accountability buddy for my language lessons. Coincidentally, I’m now in the top 10 for my league a second week in a row, and have added about 10 more vocabulary or grammar sections in the last two weeks. There’s still a ton to go, but having a buddy gave me the right motivation to surge forward in my lessons.

Garden update – June 2020

What a difference a month makes during gardening season! When I posted my spring garden update last month, the garden tower, keyhole bed, and bed frame were freshly planted, and the star was done with the seasonal bulbs with excess amounts of mint sneaking into the center.

Left: Garden Tower filled with marigolds & petunias, plus some dill and purple basil; Top right: star-shaped bed with excessive amounts of mint, plus chives, cilantro, rosemary, sage, parsley, thyme, and newly planted squash and sunflowers; Middle right: keyhole bed with sunflower, tomatoes, pepper, acorn squash, and honeydew: Bottom right: marigolds, petunias, and some mystery squash

And look at it now! The marigolds and petunias are thriving in both spots, but more so in the garden tower. I get to look out my kitchen window at this array of colors, paired with the bits of dill and purple basil that came back from last year’s herb garden.

The star bed lost its first batch of sunflowers, and with the bulbs done for the year, I weeded out the entire center. I then relocated some mystery squash (probably acorn squash), planted milkweed seeds (a few years old, no sign of germination yet), and the last few sunflower seeds from this year’s shopping. I’ve taken to watering the sunflowers with a mix of coffee grounds and cold water, hoping the coffee scent will discourage whatever’s been devouring my sunflower seedlings.

The keyhole bed has gone from early sprouts and seedlings to explosive growth, particularly the acorn squash and tomatoes, with the volunteer (read: probably planted by a bird or squirrel) sunflower towering over them. I’m hoping they’re squished enough in there to prevent the neighborhood woodchuck from eating all the squash flowers before they bear fruit.

The marigolds and petunias in the bed frame have grown a bit, though not as much as the ones in the garden tower. There are a couple mystery squash plants there too. I really hope the mystery squash is acorn squash… I like to bake it wrapped in bacon.

Wizards Unite, a Harry Potter-themed game

I’ve been playing Wizards Unite (WU) for about a year now, since the app first launched, and somehow haven’t written about it yet. Like Pokémon Go (PoGo), my interest in the game is a blend of geekiness and fitness. In fact, I frequently run Pokémon Go and Wizards Unite at the same time, bouncing between them to accomplish tasks at local inns, greenhouses, and fortresses (WU) and Pokestops & gyms (PoGo). The locations are the same, they’re just used in different ways.

Not surprisingly for a Harry Potter-themed game, potions are important. Ingredients are acquired through visits to greenhouses, both by picking a random ingredient (repeatable every 5 minutes) or by planting seeds that you’ve collected. Ingredients can also be collected from random appearances on the ground, or in some gifts from your friends.

Spell energy is another essential part of the game, and that can be collected from inns, gifts, or random appearances on the ground. All of the random appearances have increased in frequency with the worldwide shelter-at-home orders. Spell energy is used to collect foundables – individual items that have to be salvaged by casting a specific spell – and in wizarding challenges, which take place at fortresses.

Wizarding challenges can be faced alone or with up to four other people. Before the lockdowns, this was always at a fortress with other players that were physically present. More recently, the Knight Bus became available, taking players to the virtual Fortress at Hogwarts Castle, where you can team up with whoever else happens into the challenge level as you’re prepping for battle.

The fortress challenges feature several types of combatants, with each of the three available professions (auror, magizoologist, and professor) having advantages and disadvantages against different opponent types. In an ideal challenge, each of the three professions is represented, and at the higher level, many estimulo, which boost your spells, and healing potions.

A pixie floats above the cat. Quick, defend the cat!

Part of the fun of the battles is to turn on AR, or Augmented Reality, mode. You can have it on for the entire gameplay, at some cost to your phone battery of course, but I find it fun just for the battles. Depending on how open the area is, your opponent’s size can vary. If I’m right up at my computer when I start the combat, I can end up fighting a midget werewolf perched on my keyboard.

But what I really enjoy is focusing on a cat as I’m starting the combat, so I’m fighting to defend the cat. Here you can see Arwen ignoring the pixie flying above her as I fight it. The game actually captures an image as you line up the combat, so if the cat walks away halfway through, your screen doesn’t reflect that change.

Between the two games, I have set myself a minimum walking goal each week, in addition to my other workout routines. Both games initially launched with GPS distance tracking, but later added Adventure Sync, which tracks distance and location while the game is closed. In other words, if I have my phone in my purse while grocery shopping, or in my pocket while using the treadmill, the games count that distance towards in-game goals. So fun and fitness combined!

Find something that makes you smile.

This year has given us all some time for introspection. Well, that or video games. And if that’s what makes you smile, go for it. We each have different needs.

My garden makes me smile. Looking out at the flowers, stopping to smell the peonies (which smell like roses!), admiring the sunflower that has sprung up in the keyhole bed… particularly after losing all the sunflowers I planted out back to some hungry critter, and unsure whether the front yard sunflowers will survive whatever’s leaving holes in the leaves.

But I can’t complain too much about the critters… I just smiled at a rabbit hopping through my back yard. And have you ever watched a woodchuck run? It’s like a low to the ground penguin waddle, with hips shifting back and forth as it leaves a trail in my grass. Of course, that may be who ate my pea seedlings. It’s hard to tell, I’m not spotting the rabbits or woodchucks in the raised beds.

Keyhole garden with prominent sunflower (no flower yet)

At a guess, it’s birds eating my strawberries, but at least that’s the actual fruit. If the sunflowers had grown to full height, most of the seeds would have been consumed by the birds. The peas probably would have been shared between us and the woodchuck.

The cats June and Diane sitting on a cat rug

And then there are the indoor critters, sources of amusement and frustration. I walked in to these faces this morning. I was immediately suspicious. This was after breakfast, so they weren’t expecting food, and the third cat, Arwen, wasn’t in sight. Arwen is the main troublemaker, the one who figured out how to open the crockpot over Memorial Day weekend, landing a paw in my chicken soup. (Knowing it was possible, Diane then followed her example.) As it turns out, Arwen was lounging in the bay window, and I still have no idea why these two were eagerly awaiting my return from the garden.

Pork chops with cherry sauce, peas, garlic mashed potatoes with chives

I also happen to enjoy food, eating it and preparing it, given enough time. And it’s a mix of things I grew up with – like omelets, which Dad would make on Sunday mornings, grilling on my Big Green Egg – a gift from Dad, or making a pizza from scratch. We’ve developed a Friday night pizza habit, and while the multigrain crust is pretty much the same each time, the toppings vary from week to week, and sometimes I switch from tomato sauce to pesto.

This is by no means the entire list of things that make me smile, just a few things that came to mind. What makes you smile?

The world watches in horror as the United States attacks itself.

With around-the-clock news and social media, the world was watching as the United States (among others) federal government floundered epically in the face of COVID-19. The world saw armed protestors rally against their elected officials, because their need for a haircut or a meal out is apparently more important than preserving lives.

The world was watching as the news came to light that an African American man, Ahmaud Arbery, who was running through a residential neighborhood, was killed by two armed vigilantes while their friend filmed the attack, and the local prosecutors sat on the case for over two months before arresting the attackers.

The world watched as a white (now ex-)police officer kneeled on the neck of George Floyd, an African American man, ignoring his cries for help and beyond the point when he became unresponsive. Three other officers, also since fired from their jobs, allowed this murder.

And now the world watches as the response to peaceful protests against systemic police brutality against minorities is… systemic police brutality. Reporters have been arrested and assaulted, including being shot with pepper balls. A CNN reporter was arrested – on camera – while visibly wearing his press credentials. And they’re seeing the protests turn into riots each evening, as the crowd shifts from the legitimate protestors to the rabble-rousers.

What the world isn’t seeing – I couldn’t even find this on our national news sites, much less international ones – is the clean-up effort, as volunteers flock to the Twin Cities. These people, the helpers, are the ones to watch. They’re the ones who understand that they live in the community and need to help each other. (It also lends credence to the accusation by Minnesota’s governor that most of the damage was done by non-residents. Who would show up the next day to clean up what they destroyed?)

Watch the police officers whose immediate response is to condemn the murder for what it was, and are trained to de-escalate situations instead of intensifying them. Watch the officers who listened to the protestors and joined them, recognizing the validity of the complaints. These are the officers who signed up to serve and protect everybody. These are the officers we need.

It’s what George Floyd needed – if just one officer of the three watching had done something right, his murder could have been prevented.

How does my garden grow (spring 2020)?

We are quickly shifting from spring to summer here in Chicagoland, though it varies by day which we’re enjoying. My first round of seeds has been planted everywhere I had planned, a couple starter plants purchased where seeds didn’t germinate, for the annual herbs up front, and my new garden bed. What’s more exciting is seeing tiny plants popping up across the various beds… and in the composter. Wait, what?

On the left, a garden tower with marigolds and petunias. Top right is the herb garden; middle right is tomatoes and squash; bottom right is garden bed with marigolds and petunias.

Yes, there are tiny squash plants in my open composter, just like there were last year. Those are probably acorn squash or carving pumpkins… it’s hard to tell at this stage.

My garden tower is filled with marigolds and petunias purchased through the Boy Scouts. The sheer quantity of individual plants included in their flats is insane; I filled the garden tower with half of each flat, and was left wondering what to do with the rest.

The star-shaped bed in front is my herb garden, with mint, chives, and cilantro carrying over from past years. I added parsley, sage, and rosemary into the points, and small (they only grow to about 6 feet) sunflowers in the middle, just behind the ninja gnome. There’s also mint popping up in the mulch… and the other points… I’m working on that.

In the back yard, my carrots failed to germinate in the keyhole bed, so I bought a couple tomato plants and a bell pepper. While I was watering them this week, I noticed the acorn squash and honeydew sprouting, along with the mystery squash in the composter. Based on what I can see at the moment, some of those mystery squash will probably end up in the windmill-shaped bed (not pictured) I set up last fall. One of the three squares in that bed has nothing germinating that I can see at the moment. One of the other squares is filled with okra, with all sixteen plants poking out.

The garden bed pictured in the bottom right is the old, cracked bed frame that I mentioned in last week’s post. It seemed like the perfect place for the rest of those marigolds and petunias. The empty space at the head and foot, also known as the “built-in trellises”… that’s where the big sunflowers have been planted. Big meaning they can grow up to fourteen feet tall. Past experience tells me that they tend to topple once the flower blooms, weighing too much for the roots to support. Shortly before that happens – if I’m on the ball – they’ll be secured to the trellises. Hopefully I’ll have some lovely photos to share later in the season.

Last, but certainly not least, is the small selection of fruit in my yard. The raspberries and mulberries came with the house; the raspberries are flowering, and the mulberry leaves are emerging for the season. On a more exciting note, the strawberries I planted last year near my grilling area have a tremendous amount of flowers, so I’m certainly looking forward to those.