Ten-fingered typing again...

Although the (small, neat, but still awkward) cast doesn't make it easy.

When I got the present cast, on the 6th, the doctor said, "Keep those fingers moving," and I was delighted that typing was an approved activity. With knitting out of the question for a while, I can housekeep or read or use the computer - cheered by e-mail and Facebook.

(I've considered trying to learn to knit Continental style, but so far haven't made the attempt.)

The flute is also living in its case for a while, which is a shame, because so many of the good Sousa Band gigs are outdoors in the summer. I hope to be back to playing by mid-August.

Here in the Pacific NW we've had certifiably summer weather for weeks now. There was a brief interruption for thunder, lightning and rain last Sunday, followed by a couple of gray days, but now it's back to sunshine (with an occasional foggy morning.)

To no one's surprise, Chase Bank announced, soon after the 4th, that it will not fund the fireworks next year. That gives organizers a year to find a new sponsor - and as my pragmatic son pointed out today, during its 21-year history the fireworks show has had several underwriters.

Recommended reading: Anything by Dan Fesperman, especially his two books that cover the period of the Balkan wars (1990's) - Lie in the Dark and The Small Boat of Great Sorrows. Either one illuminates so much of what we heard on the Danube trip last year, as we floated through Croatia and Serbia. After a lecture by a Croatian woman in Vukovar, our Serbian tour guides made sure to tell us that "there IS another side to this story," and subsequent Serbian lecturers sketched out an interesting array of conspiracy theories.

Eastern Europe is full of people who live side by side while remaining deeply suspicious of each other. The first time I went to Transylvania, people in our (mostly) Hungarian partner village said they watched on TV as Croats and Bosnians were driven out of their homes and towns, sure that the same thing would happen to them when the Romanians got around to ethnic cleansing. What kept the lid on in Romania was the government's overwhelming desire to become a member of the EU (a goal achieved in 2007.)

The party's over...

For another year at least. Last night Chase Bank sponsored a truly spectacular fireworks display over Lake Union, perhaps to reassure Seattle that they are at least as civic-minded as the late WaMu. (Now if they will just think about renewing that office lease agreement with SAM...)

Today an acquaintance reported on a conversation with "the most pessimistic person you can imagine," who ranted about what a waste of money a fireworks display represents. We agreed fireworks are a luxury we can handle - we may even deserve the show!

As usual, people in this building have the luxury of watching from the front porch, so to speak. I and Z made a delicious dinner for me and one of my neighbors, and we enjoyed a lovely gift bottle of bubbly (a thank-you for loaning out extra parking places.) After making sure her cat and mine had dark quiet places to feel safe, we moved to the neighbor's deck, because her view of the lake is just a bit wider than mine.

Fireworks here don't start until 10:15, because the sun doesn't set until well after 9 p.m.

Ready for big bangs...

...and learning to type one-handed. Yesterday, on the way up the escalator to the Pilates studio, I put my right hand out to break a fall -- and broke my wrist in two places.

Good news is that I don't need surgery. Bad news is the bulky splint (my arm looks like something ready to be unwrapped after 3500 years in a pyramid) which will be replaced with a proper cast on Monday.

The best news is that I have wonderful children, who did all the necessary transport, shopping, and most of all - THE WAITING. Their reward (I hope they think of it that way!) is to come back for mega-fireworks over the lake tonight.

I'm looking forward to touch-typing again.