“Often we don’t even discover them as memories until years later when they emerge, not as they were, but as they have become as our souls expand enough to value what we thought at the time was dross as the real gold of our lives”. - Gerard Van der Leun  

410 Diner ... fried okra and black eyed peas for me. I declined the mashed potatoes, which was what I really wanted, in favor of “dill rice” which I didn’t eat. Dill rice. There’s something wrong about that!   Next time I’ll ask for two times the okra. They call this the anniversary of our 40th birthday ... we’ve all had half again as many. I started hanging with them in the 1970’s.

Women need great girlfriends and I am very fortunate to have more than my share. 

Those three have never not known one another ... raised in the same church down deep in Texas where the Rio Grande runs mud into the Gulf of Mexico. When I am with them, I am home. 

Before this weekend each of them had confided in me. Each, unbeknownst to the others (I assume), was carrying a heavy load.
Remember, I don’t teach people how to fly anymore, there are actual days when my car doesn’t move out of the driveway. I love it. So much.
I used to be almost unable to sit still, now I am totally chill.  But. They are not. Everyone of them has a big deal thing right now. I know why they didn’t tell each other. Women friends will tell you where you went wrong and how to fix it. Two of those will. The kindergarten teacher has been instilling “kindness” in others for so many years that it might have originated with her.
I’m am not a problem solver friend. I’m the good listener friend. 

In the mish mash of emotions they brought in with them and the little (maybe bitchy, idk, it sounds mean girl to me because I’ve been away for 25 years and have recently had the honor and joy of rejoining this circle of friends - so I’ve missed some important stuff  ... I wasn’t there for large parts of their history together) playful tangling back and forth they do there is a deep well of mutual admiration and love. 

You know what? I noticed that they are truly sisters. I feel that bond with them now that’s how I noticed it. 

Coincidentally, each of these friends has something biggish on their individual front burners, but this weekend was planned a year ago. Or twenty years ago even, when we were all 40. None of us would miss it. Anyway ... I sensed a low volume “rumble” in our group dynamic. I’m typically highly sensitive to what’s going on around me even when nothing is being said. My chill was frayed and I said so. That hurt the hostess’s feelings until she saw what was really going on. She’s probably my smartest friend. I actually can’t always stay ahead of her. That I don’t have to is part of what makes these girl weekends so great for me. I can relax with them. Like that feet in the sand, umbrella drink at hand, sort of relaxed. I wasn’t raised with sisters. And, back in the day, boys were a lot different from girls. These friends have helped me to experience what sisters are all about. I raised three girls but I was just looking in for little parts, the parts that didn’t need a mom, the “spectator” moments were few. When my girls tangled, I really didn’t get it. I never got it. The reasons for being upset with each other didn’t make any sense to me. And the way they could turn on a dime, ears back spitting fire one moment, to heads back roaring with laughter the next. Not that fast, but fast. Reliably so. They’ve always had each other’s backs.

I didn’t imagine that a weekend with my oldest friends could help provide some insights into the relationship dynamics shared by my daughters.

V is away at college now so this note was made some time ago. I miss her. That was a fun summer - ten plus years ago. Her apartment is a 12 month lease, so I know she won't spend the summer at home this year. She will take some classes and probably have work responsibilities. 


V "graduated" from elementary school today.  There were a few little teary eyed moments for me ... sweet moments.  remembered her first day ... she may have stood about up to my waist back then ... before the summer s over, she wll be taller then I am.  Many awards were given out today and her name was called often ... she rocks.
  
It's very nice to have the summer to spend with her.  

All four of her older siblings are at the age when  they'll be out dong their own thing.  V wll be my yoga coach this summer ...  I will put myself at her mercy!  She says she wll rise and shine early to walk with Sammy and me ... There s a Chick-fla about a mle and a half from here ... she loves breakfast there.  We also plan on a membership at the water park ... she's already tryng to get me to promise that  won't try to get her to do the big straight drop slide ...  can't make that promise! She wants to volunteer at the animal shelter at least once a week ... that probably means we wll have a kitten sister for the dog.  

On to 61!

And it's a human need to be told stories. 

The more we are governed by idiots

and have no control over our destinies, 

the more we need to tell stories to each other 

about who we are, why we are,where we came from, 

and what might be possible. 

~Alan Rickman

I haven't read Harry Potter even though I've seen the books on shelves in my home, and though the some of the movies have been playing around me, I haven't watched them. I did stop for one very cool scene where the special effects were pretty amazing...I don't really remember it though. Today I saw this quote on PINTEREST with a picture of Alan Rickman and I thought he was a SNL guy, former guy, the comedian known for the Church Lady, and it seemed like an interesting observation. Turns out Rickman is known for his role in the Harry Potter movies. Cultural relevance ... I'm not very tuned in.

The quote though.

I'm not a person who feels that the idiocy of our "leadership" is on the rise. I also don't feel that I've lost control of my destiny. As I type that, I'm not even sure that I believe destiny plays a role in many (if any) of our lives. I mean, maybe. It's a comforting idea. One of my close friends suggested that the Civil Rights movement would not have happened if not for LBJ. Uh...ludicrous. Maybe my astonishment hurt her feelings. I don't want to talk about LBJ, but his legacy does at least in part support my conclusion that idiotic governance isn't a new thing. I rarely make political observations. But here I will say I don't believe we can be genuinely  proud of any of them. 

...the more we need to tell stories to each other 

about who we are, why we are,where we came from, 

and what might be possible. 

 That's the part that interests me. I like stories.

Fifty years ago today (July 20, 2019), humanity set foot on the surface of another world for the first time.  ... There's the technology, of course. The long list of Apollo spinoffs includes space blankets, improved food-safety procedures and computer-guided flight, an innovation that soon found its way into airliners and, later, cars (in features such as cruise control and antilock brakes). ...

But the biggest and most important impacts of Apollo are less tangible. For example, the giant leap gave Americans a glimpse of their nation's true potential.

Apollo 11 showed that "when we have the political will to do something grand, and we set ourselves an achievable goal — even though it's challenging — the country can come together and do something of magnificent quality," said John Logsdon, a professor emeritus of political science and international affairs at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington, D.C.

To appreciate the scope of the Apollo 11 accomplishment, consider where NASA stood at the start of the moon rush. 

That, APOLLO 11, is a great story. 

It is such a great story with so many great (great like significant) smaller stories told during and after the actual process. 

Coincidentally, another (new) favorite story which I'm becoming more familiar with is the bigger story of the Jewish Feasts. Fascinating. Sometimes I hear about something that makes me wonder "how did I not know something about that". And the weirdest part of not knowing about The Feasts is I do (and you probably do too) know quite a bit about the why or how of each of the particular Feasts.

Like Passover. And I think of "it", the story of Passover as, the story of Passover. 

Israel in bondage, enter Moses/Pharoah/plagues ... blood of an unblemished sacrificial lamb placed as a sign to "death" to passover ... which culminated in the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt (and captivity) to (eventually) "the promised land".  

Passover is sort of the beginning of the cycle of Feasts (sort of because there are some pretty interesting stories leading up to Passover). 

I'm going to try to retell why I think the story of the Feasts is so interesting. Starting later. Now it's past time for me to walk my dog.

The astronaut “toy” is there to remind me that great stories still happen. 

That was snapped try during our long walk this evening. 

still working away (and enjoying almost every minute of it) on the house

Here's the before and after of the bathroom - it was slightly improved from the before picture (which I downloaded from Zillow). We still have several projects to start and finish before deciding on what to do with the house.

Christmas quilts

This undertaking was a bigger deal than I realized when I accepted the challenge from an old friend (who made it possible for me to get these completed and wrapped before Christmas morning)!

Christmas morning 2019

Hat's off to Bp for loading my ice box with fancy fabric scraps that she had saved up from her many quilting projects, for teaching me how to do this, for meeting me in Waco to trade quilted (on her long-arm machine) treasures for tops and bottoms needing her expertise and love, and for her many kindnesses when I felt like pulling my hair out!

first square cut late July
(That's the Auburn - AU - square)
then I went on a trip and didn't get back to it for awhile...

 I knew I needed 42  (times 5) squares but beyond that I had no clue yet ...

4's

5's

1's

how I "see" the scrapes

learning how to do corners

hand binding

template for cutting with roller blade

working with pattern and placement of squares

2's finished
(7x8 squares)

1's finished
first time to do repeating squares with the fabric choices

5's completed

3's finished

From my spot here in the great room I can see "what I haven't done" towards finishing the exterior paint job on our house. I could finish it in a day, and I might, do that today. What's left is part of the little house and touch up along one side. I wanted to get this done so I could focus my full attention on the quilts (that I made for Christmas gifts). The summer heat finally shut me down.

I started that job after we came home from our summer camping trip.

We needed  warm sleeping bags on the night we spent on the Northern Rim of the Grand Canyon. Boy were we miserable that night! All three of us were cold, but making matters worse, my daughter C had altitude sickness. As soon as there was light we headed to the lodge there for a big breakfast. My fruit salad featured blackberries the size of shooter marbles and fresh cantaloupe - so good.

I guess I feel bad about not at very least creating a post to save some of the camping trip memories ...

The trip wasn't very well planned.  We knew roughly where we wanted to go - with Zion being the furthest point, and Denver would be our last stop before heading home.

White Sands was an add on ... very cool. I don't need to see it again, but it is definitely a must see. I asked one of my flying buds to send a pic from "up high" and it's a cool looking white spot on New Mexico.  The lava fields at Carrizozo, Valley of Fires, was another very cool add on to the over all loose plan. Fair to say New Mexico was a delightful surprise because of the rich natural beauty. Carlsbad, NM was definitely our worst over night camping experience though. It was just a mess of a town in my opinion.

This was a remote area for a sissy girl camp site ... probably was our 3rd night out and I was still "skittish". Turned out I was the most cautious of our little group of three.

The petroglyphs we saw the next day around Three Rivers, New Mexico really made the campsite selection worth it for me ... on the drive in to the camping area we passed through private ranch land and saw magnificent horses roaming free. That was pretty cool.

I seem to have a thing of LOVING searching for and finding little less than obvious treasures ... it was exercised frequently during this trek through the Southwest.

The ruins at Chaco are amazing.
Definitely on my second look list.

Those two pictures (above) were taken at Chaco.

Pretty fabulous. Remote though ... we drove for an hour or more one way in on a rutted dirt road. There's a better way in but that wasn't our route.

Carlsbad - in a picture

The two above were taken at Mesa Verde - also a favorite National Park

It's amazing to see how the ancient people lived.

four corners - basically  photo op stop and a bunch of merchant stalls

The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest was an add on for this trip.

I had been there several times during my childhood but my traveling buddies hadn't seen it before.

Breakfast at the Lodge on the North Rim. 

Grand Canyon

Zion - hard to say it was my favorite stop, but it is one I need to go back to and stay awhile.

typical campsite

bare essentials kept close at hand
the showers provided at most of our campsites were
adequate ... and for pay.
I came to look forward to the next one!

This is the MOAB area

we were without cell coverage a good bit of the time

which has led us to research better options for the next trip
especially if we "get" a Sprinter Van which is looking like a go.

typical breakfast

typical dinner
but I'm practicing on our home fire ring pit
for next time because there's something very appealing about cooking over an open flame!

One of our sons joined us for a few nights in the Denver area.

Before that we tucked in at Blackhawk for the comforts of  pristine clean sheets and all the running water we could use!