REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Goodbye Washington, For Now

I am writing this post from Tully's Coffee at Gate A9 in SEATAC Airport. My flight to L.A. leaves in 45 minutes. I always leave Washington with such mixed emotions, but I am so ready to hug and kiss my daughter who is picking me up at LAX, and then Cookie. Tomorrow I'll be by to kiss Henry and Fritz and their parents.

Speaking of kissing, when my sis Betty and I kissed goodbye this morning when the shuttle came, we both had tears in our eyes. How I wish we lived closer together, but what a champ she is at 85 years old. 

More later on Shipwreck Beads in Lacey, WA, where my sis and I spent a few hours yesterday. Lordy, lordy. What an incredible experience that was! 

Time for a quick pee and off to my gate. L.A., here I come.

Grandma's Last Night With Her Boys

It's hard to believe I've been here six days, but tonight is my last night with Joe, Laura, Zach and Arlo. I just read Zach his two stories and he is fast asleep in "our bed." It was drizzly all day, but we bundled up late this afternoon and went to the harbor for the Wednesday night concert complete with a pick-up picnic from Safeway. 

I will probably not see this part of the family for several months except by webcam, but my iPhoto has about 200 photos stored. I put them on a flash drive and am downloading them into Laura's computer before I go to bed myself. 

Tomorrow I drive to Port Townsend for my art workshop and probably won't have Internet access unless I go into town to a coffee shop. I thought I would catch up on so many computer projects these past six days, but tried to stay away from the computer and be with family as much as I could. I have barely even written in my hand-written journal. 

I'm just so filled with gratitude!

Port Angeles All-American Hometown 4th of July Parade

Firetrucks, flatbed trucks, tractors, lumber trucks, tractors and all kinds of vehicles were filled with local groups doing their thing. 

Every child received a flag and every group who marched in the parade threw candy, so each kid came home with a bag just like Halloween. This is my grandson Zach with his flag. 

This is Laura, Arlo, Joe and Zach. The kids were besides themselves with excitement.

I got a big kick out of all the seniors participating in the parade--retirement communities and their buses, and the senior center bus itself. But check out the following picture: the Senior Center belly dancer students. 

And, what would a hometown parade be without the presence of the local public libraries, one of my passions, as you know? These are the employees of the North Olympic Library System doing synchronized drill routines with their library carts. 

There were dozens of photos, but these are some highlights. The frosting on the cake, however, was that when bedtime came, Zach asked if he could sleep with me. My heart melted. My eldest grandkids Whitney and Anthony (22, 21) slept over so often when they were little, but I haven't slept with a little kid for a long, long time. He chose a stuffed rabbit that he said would be for both of us, we read two stories, sang some songs, and finally he fell asleep. I just kept laying there saying to myself, "Thank you, God, thank you, thank you." 

A Quick Check-in from Port Angeles, WA

This is Lake Dawn, right outside the Hurricane Ridge gate to Olympic National Park. I have posted photos of the lake for the past five years as my eldest son's home is built by it. This shot was about 7:30 p.m. tonight. My grandson Zach and I watched a man canoeing and I listened to birds calling back and forth. Grandson Arlo had already gone to sleep. I believe that I live in an idyllic place in Redondo Beach, but each time I visit, summer, spring or even winter, I am awe-struck with the beauty of the place. I'm a Southern California woman but how lucky can you get to visit such a gorgeous place and be with the people I love so much. 

And back home, Cookie is being well taken care of by the team of Christy and Lorenzo--and she is doing great in my absence. 

So the Gods Shake Us From Our Sleep -- Mary Oliver

Gratitude comes in many forms, but almost always it is about the little things we simply take for granted.

For instance, who would think that watching an 85-year-old woman playing a slot machine in a casino would seem so sacred? But, it did to me yesterday. I know there are cultural stereotypes about elderly people frequenting the casinos, but when it is my sister doing it, it tickles me to the tips of my toes. Her late husband loved Vegas and Reno and she was a good egg and went right along with him all those years. Not a gambler by nature, she limits herself to $20 a visit about four times a year--on a penny machine at a local Indian casino. She drove us there, we had a humongous buffet, and then spent a lot of time together at home chatting--and watching yet another movie. Gran Torino. 

My mind immediately turned to Mary Oliver this morning. Being on vacation and undistracted by "have tos" at home and work, make me appreciate everything so acutely. Here's Mary Oliver telling it like it is. 

Gratitude

What did you notice?

 The dew snail;

the low-flying sparrow;

the bat, on the wind, in the dark;

big-chested geese, in the V of sleekest performance;

the soft toad, patient in the hot sand;

the sweet-hungry ants;

the uproar of mice in the empty house;

the tin music of the cricket’s body;

the blouse of the goldenrod.

 What did you hear?

 The thrush greeting the morning;

the little bluebirds in their hot box;

the salty talk of the wren,

then the deep cup of the hour of silence.

What did you admire?

The oaks, letting down their dark and hairy fruit;

the carrot, rising in its elongated waist;

the onion, sheet after sheet, curved inward to the

    pale green wand;

at the end of summer the brassy dust, the almost liquid

    beauty of the flowers;

then the ferns, scrawned black by the frost.

 What astonished you?

 The swallows making their dip and turn over the water.

 What would you like to see again?

 My dog: her energy and exuberance, her willingness,

    her language beyond all nimbleness of tongue, her

    recklessness, her loyalty, her sweetness, her

    sturdy legs, her curled black lip, her snap.

 What was most tender?

 Queen Anne’s lace, with its parsnip root;

the everlasting in its bonnets of wool;

the kinks and turns of the tupelo’s body;

the tall, blank banks of sand;

the clam, clamped down.

 What was most wonderful?

 The sea, and its wide shoulders;

the sea and its triangles;

the sea lying back on its long athlete’s spine.

 What did you think was happening?

The green breast of the hummingbird;

the eye of the pond;

the wet face of the lily;

the bright, puckered knee of the broken oak;

the red tulip of the fox’s mouth;

the up-swing, the down-pour, the frayed sleeve

  of the first snow—

--so the gods shake us from our sleep.

A Wi-Fi Visit From the Tumwater, WA Public Library

Now, if you want next to perfect weather, you need to be in Tumwater, WA today. I write to you from the Tumwater Timberland Library, which is about a mile from my sister's home. It's here I can get wi fi.

In fact, I've become so accustomed to dropping into libraries when I travel when where I'm staying doesn't have wi fi, but then libraries are my home away from home anywhere I go. 

This library has a very small Friends of the Library section, but I always find great books and magazines here and I did today.

I arrived yesterday and my sis and I joyfully reunited after a 10 month in between of seeing one another. You've heard me talk about Betty before--an 85-year-old larger-than-life kind of woman. She has cooked up a storm for us and last night we watched back-to-back movies of her choice, neither I had seen before. Nights in Rodanthe was a little too schmaltzy for me, but the scenery sure was beautiful. Flywheel is a Christian movie she really wanted to share and it had its humorous side along with the ageless message. The actors in Albany GA were priceless. Tonight it is Gran Torino, a film I'm looking forward to.

Betty took us to the Red Wing Casino today as she loves to play the slots and often arranges bus tours there of her senior complex members.Casinos are not my thing but I got some great photos of her at the slots and then we had a humongous and extremely reasonable buffet. She always delights in showing me the beautiful countryside although building still seems to be going on here.

Tomorrow we will visit some of her friends in the afternoon, after her weekly hair appointment. Needless to say, I'll spend that two hours back in the Tumwater Library. By the way, I'm reading Shanghai Girls and it is fabulous!

Zachary, Arlo and Elowa in Montana

Haven't shown you any of my grandkids lately, so here are photos of Zach, Arlo and Elowa during their two-week camping trip to Montana recently. Laura and Joe are outdoors people, but with the kids so little, they made life a little easier and rented a tent trailer to pull. Boy, it sure brought back memories of camping when my kids were little and big. Two of them have remained outdoor people, too--especially Joe. 

This is Zach with Elowa sound asleep under a picnic table. Zach turned three in April. His mom titled this photo as Elowa Pillow. My kids were also raised with dogs and have continued to love them. Now that Tony and Gretchen have moved to a bigger house, maybe they will get a dog. Christy has two pit bulls. 

And this is Arlo by a lake in Glacier National Park. He turns one on July 7 and grandma will be there for his big day. I'll arrive at their home in Pt. Angeles on July 3 and will leave on July 9 to take an art workshop in Pt. Townsend for three days. Other days will be spent with my sister in Tumwater. 

Update on Cookie

Cookie was back on her Cushings meds at half dose for a month and last week she began to get sick again and she had been doing so well. The vet stopped the meds and now Cookie has her appetite back and isn't vomiting et al, so obviously she can't tolerate the meds.

He thinks maybe it is Addisons instead of Cushings. All I know is that today she is great again except for the creakiness of old age. What to do next? We'll see what he says, but I'm inclined to leave her off the meds for the summer entirely so we can both have decent vacations.

This is my friend Lori, a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines, who had a layover in L.A. tonight. She was my roomie for 2 1/2 years in the late 1990s, when I got Cookie as a young pup. Lori wasn't married then but she is now and has an adorable 3-year-old daughter Abby. She lives in Toledo, OH.

I picked Lori up at the airport, we had dinner and then she came to visit "Cookie Monster," her pet name for Cookie--and Cookie remembered her.

She has to be up at 4 a.m. for her morning flight so I delivered her back to her hotel.

Here is Lori with her baby Abbigail. What a great evening we had. I've always considered Lori "one of my kids."

A Most Memorable Mother's Day

Mother's Day began with church where each mom got a pink carnation. As always, I thought a lot about my own mom, who died in 1967. Throughout the service I was flooded with memories of her and of my own kids growing up. Getting rid of the crib yesterday did a number on my head. 

The perfect gift for my daughter Christy and my daughter-in-law Gretchen popped up after a presentation by one of our church members is who supporting the Free Wheelchair Mission project. I purchased two wheelchairs in Christy and Gretchen's names. We had earlier agreed we had everything and wouldn't exchange gifts--although I did receive flowers, I'll admit. I am encouraging my family to downscale on gift giving for the elders; we essentially have everything we need. I had not heard of this charity before and I was very impressed with their work. Check it out.

Here's some photos from our afternoon. My son Tony, daughter-in-law Gretchen, their boys Henry and Fritz, my daughter Christy and her daughter Whitney, along with Whitney's dad, picnicked this afternoon at Robert Ryan Park in Rancho Palos Verdes. It's hilly with lots of playground equipment and endless hills to roll down, and trees to climb up. The gorgeous view of the ocean dazzled the grown-ups. Dogs are also allowed on leash, but I didn't know that. I'll bring Cookie next time. 

This is Henry and Fritz inside of the playground boat.

This is Tony and his son Fritz. 

This is me with my DIL Gretchen (l) and daughter Christy.

This is my very gorgeous granddaughter Whitney who is studying nursing. 

My eldest son Joe, his wife Laura, and their boys Zach and Arlo were up in Washington state, but my DIL has an absolutely tear-jerker of a mother's day entry at her blog: Lake Dawn: Life Beneath the Olympic Mountains. Following is a photo of Zach and Arlo this morning, however. 

Zach is three and Arlo will be one in July. 

The only downside of Mother's Day was that Fritz fell out of one of the low trees the kids climb on. I didn't see it happen, but he fell on his back in the grass and had the wind knocked out of him. He was very upset and Gretchen talked to the pediatrician. I think it just scared him mostly, but he's under observation by his mom and dad tonight. 

Saying Goodbye to a Crib 47 Years Later

I'll admit that I'm a sentimental person and I have a hard time of letting things go, especially things that have to do with my grown kids when they were kids. They are now 47, 45, and 42. I have not been able to part with a lot of their stuff, but keeping the original crib is downright silly. It wouldn't even have been safe by today's standards. But I have kept it--until yesterday. 

It was a birch crib, probably from Sears. There's a big decal of two lambs on one panel. It was the crib we used for Joe, Christy and Tony. By the time we were done with it, it was pretty thrashed, but I couldn't part with it.

And then Christy gave birth to Whitney 22 years ago. While she was carrying her, my ex husband offered to refinish the crib so I could use it for Whitney when she stayed at my house. He was remarried by then, but we've always continued our parenting through thick and thin. 

Whitney slept in that crib at my house for the first days of her life. Later, after I had sold the family home and moved to Redondo Beach, Anthony slept in it when he visited; he's now 20. 

Back in the garage the crib went, but later when a friend wanted a crib for when their grandchildren visited, I loaned it to them. For about 15 years, however, it has been gathering dust in the garage. 

My son Tony and I were moving things around yesterday in my garage and I said it was probably time to get rid of the crib as all my kids tell me they are done having kids. But, what if Whitney and Anthony have kids in the next few years? "Mom, this crib usefulness is over," Tony reminded me. We decided to bring it up to the street and prop it against the palm tree so a passerby who needed a crib could have it. Even though it isn't up to standard, maybe it will find a home. If not, the trash truck will haul it away. That's how our neighborhood does things; I'm close to the pier and on weekends lots of people pass by. 

I have a great, great sadness, however, like an era has passed. As I type this I feel like I'm definitely a tribal elder, not a young mother anymore. I told Cookie to stand in front of the crib for a photo. I told her to look sad. Does she look sad to you?