My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
I am heading south to Phoenix for a visit with family and some warmer weather. I’ll spend some time with my sister and brother-in-law and some time with my parents. I was hoping for some nice weather so I could go barefoot and get away from the cold here but they are expecting temperatures on Thanksgiving day to be right around freezing. Be back in two weeks unless the family gets tired of me. 🙂
It was 22 years ago today my first grandchild was born. A grandson, named Daryian. I have some good memories from my times with him. He and his mother lived with me when he was younger. I remember changing diapers. I remember walking the floor with him when he was sick and could not sleep. I remember taking him with me on Monday evenings to a favorite restaurant for spaghetti dinner. What a mess to cleanup but so worth it. I remember getting down on my knees as we checked out every bug that walked in front of us. I remember him telling me I was too big to climb up on the playground equipment and go down the slide. I did anyway.
My youngest granddaughter graduated from high school this past week. Some consider it an alternative school but that is not an accurate name for it because I think it is a model of what school needs to look like. I am impressed with the school, the faculty and staff.
This graduation ceremony was a tear jerker for me and I’ve wiped my eyes a couple times writing this post. Rather than have a guest speaker attempt to urge these young people on to more success (however you define success: money, power, popularity, career, or just attaining enough credits to graduate), each graduate stepped to the podium with two white roses and offered those roses to two people who helped make their graduation possible.
Late yesterday afternoon a front moved into the area bringing light rain, some thunder and lightening and pea size hail. The foothills were covered with snow from the snowfall during the night. By mid-morning today we began to see snowflakes mixed with rain and temperatures hovering just above freezing in town. But a little snow and cold weather was not going to stop a special graduation for us folks from Colorado.
My youngest granddaughter, Madie, had her graduation today along with nine other students. All of these kids have come a long way to walk these stairs and receive their diplomas. It wasn’t easy an path. Each one of the students shared something personal about their experience at Centennial so there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. Thank goodness for autofocus. Congratulations to Madie and her classmates. Madie now moves on to a junior college this fall with a full ride for her first year. She then plans to transfer to Colorado State University. Did ya notice her smiling in every image?
Can’t take the cold anymore. So, my sister and I are boarding a airplane this morning and heading to Phoenix to spend Thanksgiving with our parents, our sister and our favorite brother-in-law. Checking the forecast we see temperatures to be near the 80 degree mark. I can live with that! My sister and I met Sunday morning for coffee and plan our attack. After settling on our plans we headed out to a woodcarvers show. My dad has been carving for the past 20 years and now Sheree has been bitten by the bug. She’s joined a local club who is sponsoring the show. I have seen some nice carving through photographs in my dads magazines but seeing these carvings up close will take your breath away. Here a few images from the show. I’m not taking a laptop nor expecting to be connected to the internet for the next week. Stay warm!
After 21 months of having a daughter and two teenage grandchildren living with me, I now have my condo back. I have a small one bedroom one bath condo and adding three more people it became much smaller. My daughter and granddaughter slept in my bedroom and my grandson and I used bunk beds in my living room. It was nice to sleep in my own bed in my own bedroom. They really did not bring that much stuff but when all of it is this little condo it seemed like so much more.
So, now we all have moved on to anther phase of life. These months were a stress on all of us. We learned a lot about each other. Some issues we dealt with and some we didn’t. This time allowed me to discover a few things about myself and them that I did not about before. It’s a change not having them here but pretty sure I will adjust in couple of hours. I’ve already noticed it’s quieter and peaceful. I no longer find dirty dishes in the sink or shoes laying around on the floor or curling iron sitting on the bathroom counter or someone in the bathroom.
I missed that bedroom. I was not aware of how much of a sanctuary it was and how much time I spent there. It’s a simple bedroom: a full size bed, a dresser, a small desk and a wicker rocker. I now having quiet mornings, and evenings, in that rocker with my latte, again.
I’ve been traveling a bit and without internet. It’s been nice, actually. Visiting family in the Texas/Oklahoma panhandle area. I have several cousins who work hard at farming in that area. One morning I went with Daryl to check on his irrigation systems. Farming is one of those seven days a week jobs and is hard work. The corn in this field was wet with dew so both of us were pretty wet by the time we were back at the truck. I admire their work ethics.
So when your retired and just turned 83, it’s time to celebrate. Glad I had a fast lens so I could capture all the action as we celebrated dads special day. So glad for the time with them on his birthday. Now he gets to enjoy more of his retirement while I start another trip today.