Flowers for Cheering Up

Snow has covered the earth for a long time - we can finally see most of the street, and some of the dried grass under the evergreen trees is beginning to show.  The weather continues cold, although we do have sunshine today, refuting the weatherman's prediction of snow.  Ron recently had a bout of a very severe flu virus that sent him to the emergency room of the hospital Saturday morning, with a stay of two days.  I thought that I would escape, but it was not to be - after friends took me to emergency, we ended up in side-by-side rooms.  My stay was short - only about 16 hours.  Julia and Mike sent us these Get-Well Flowers - a beautiful bouquet of favorite flowers that brightens our days. We think of other friends and family who are coping with injuries (Ann's broken leg and ankle, especially, and Benjamin's scoliosis surgery recuperation), and hope that things will get better soon for all with the coming of spring.

The Incredible Art Project

Lauren's Mother sent this wonderful picture.  She had to construct a costume from shopping bags as an art project for one of her college classes - Enlarge this one and look closely.  Of course, as a proud grandma, I think it clever to the nth degree.  Surely this is Marie Antoinette incarnate.

New Snow

When I taught music on the Arapahoe-Shoshone Indian Reservation in the long-ago world, there was a 1st grade song that went, "Oh, it snowed last night, it snowed last night, The sky bears had a pillow fight...."   And, it certainly did.  Anyway, yesterday the snow had melted enough on the sundial that we could actually see part of the top - and then came last night's snow.  And we are looking for more tonight and tomorrow night.  More fun.  Thank goodness the snow blower worked for Ron, and I  shoveled out the front sidewalk.  The hard part is that as the path gets deeper, one has to throw the snow higher on the piles at the sides.  And our poor Christmas deer are completely buried - but the red and white greeter hanging from the light pole may stay there until spring - no climbing through that mess to retrieve him.  The neighborhood kids do love this snow.  As the front-loader scoops up the snow from the culdesac, the operator piles it on the edge of the property, making wonderful places to slide - right in one's own front yard.

More Pictures from Olympia

As I've said before, funerals are a sad-glad occasion.  Sad because we've lost the companionship of the person who is gone, but glad because there is still family to cherish.  This picture was taken at Judy and Bob's house the last night we were in Olympia.  Mike's white beard looks distinguished, Julia has her amazing smile, Andrea looks as lovely as ever, Ron looks good, and I didn't close my eyes.  However, pictures do help us analyze, and I've decided that a green sweater I thought was bright and cheerful is a little much.  Oh, well.  See part of Bob's lighted Christmas village behind me.  That village goes almost around the whole living room, and is like an enchanted village.  If I were him and Judy, I'd leave it up all year - or does it then become common and not magic?

Cousins Forever

Sara and Ross were born about 5 months apart.  When we lived in Seattle, they had the opportunity to play together fairly often.  In later years when I was teaching school in Powell in the 70s, Sara, Dorothy and Ross enjoyed each other very much.  (I think they all had teenageitis, which involved some smart remarks, etc.   There were tears in 1976 when I was preparing to go to Germany, because they "might never see Ross again." That turned out to be not quite true, although each went on his or her path - none of them smooth.  It was good to see this picture that Judy took while we were in Washington in January.  Thank you, Judy, for your contribution of taking all of my family's pictures.  They are very special to us.

Winter Visitor

Dorothy came to our house for a couple of days on her way to North Carolina from Seattle - We sorted boxes of letters and were amazed at how much history there is in the old snail mail.  The sad thing is that e-mail, texts, tweets, and whatever do not have the same staying power, so much will be lost in these years.  I would suspect that most of us do enjoy receiving a real, hand-written card or letter in the mail - one of the rarities of our time.  We so appreciated the wonderful cards of condolence and for Ron's birthday that we received in the last week.  Personal correspondence is not all lost!  Shall we start a campaign to bring it back?

The Five Plus

 The addition of spouses and three grandchildren add to the mix.  (Oh, yes, and mother, too.)

The years go by, and people change, but it is wonderful to have all five of my addition to our combined family come to their step-sister Jennifer's funeral in Olympia.  Their presence was much appreciated by all, and it was good to see them in one place, after many, many years.  Dorothy and Sara came from North Carolina, Tony from Las Vegas, Pat from The Dalles, and Brig from Sequim - all of the trips a sacrifice, but not even considered in that light.  Thanks for family solidarity.