A couple more photos

This is a photo taken Wednesday, the 17th, of Shiloh talking to the lamb in Timmy's memorial garden at church. It still looks nice and white after Fausto gave it fresh paint and repaired its ear. Shiloh is Cindy Sholes' granddaughter and her brother attends Precious Lambs.

This is my goofy sister, Carol, with whom I just had dinner in Kimberly, WI. I am twice her size, but please do not judge her harshly----she can't help it! In the course of our visit, Carol mentioned that since she started going to the YMCA and such, her balance had improved and she did not fall as often as she used to, particularly since she walks to work in every kind of weather. This past weekend, however, I got an e-mail from her reporting she broke her wrist while riding a bike! Poor thing!

Here we are again, although not fooling around this time. Mom did not want to pose for the pictures but she was there. My bro-in-law, Rodney, gave us door to door directions for getting home, this time avoiding the detour which delayed us on the way there. She is going to be 63 in September and doing great----other than the broken wrist, that is!

The mullet enjoy the hot weather!

As I am looking out over the river, I can see the fish leaping from the water and falling back, almost as though they are taunting the shore birds to come get them. Joanne told me a story this a.m. regarding a snowy white egret she saw, attempting to eat a cat fish captured outside our windows. It seemed to be too large for it to swallow, so the bird kept putting the fish down and recapturing it, or trying to break it into pieces or something. The expression "biting off more than you can chew" came to mind! The egret finally carried the fish off to work on in private as a blue heron came nosing around to see what was going on. As Joanne claims, only a birder would appreciate this sight.

*

Earlier this afternoon, or rather, later, the heavens were again rumbling and threatening to break lose in yet another storm. But---nothing! All talk, no action, at least not here. Last night around midnight the house was shaken by a tremendous storm, the crawler along the bottom of the TV screen warned of high winds, penny-sized hail, torrential rains, and frequent lightning. Yes, this storm had it all, except it seems the other side of the river and south of us got the best of it. I could hear the wind but did not feel threatened by it, but the thunder did a good job causing my metal lanterns to rattle in my bedroom window. Morning did not show evidence of leaks in my usual spots, which is wonderful.

*

When the storm was coming up, my mom-instinct kicked in so I sent Justin a text message wondering if he was safely home after his date. He sent back the message that Heather got called into work so had to cancel. Later he sent me a message telling me to watch "Conan" because Larry David was going to be on. He was the other brain involved in "Seinfeld" and is now in a Woody Allen movie, his idol. It was fun to watch, as the "George" character was based on Larry David, and he sounded just like George!! After the storm rolled further south, I eventually went to sleep. I am feeling as though my sleep schedule is never going to return to what I consider "normal", especially if the storms keep coming at night!

*

Oh, also, just before 11:00 pm, my upstairs neighbor sent me a text message asking if I had a fax machine. I do not and let him know that, suggesting he try contacting our other neighbor who is a Realtor. Travis thanked me and said he would try that in the morning, probably due to the lateness of the hour. Sometimes I do wish I had a fax machine but usually find the scanner and e-mail work perfectly fine for what I need.

*

Joanne and I are eating at home this evening, which means my house smells awesome as country-style ribs are basking in golden mushroom soup and potatoes are baking. Since I returned home from WI, I had only spent about 10 minutes speaking to Joanne so we had some time this a.m. to catch up on all the news. She is far too busy a girl to read the blog so I had much to report, as did she. It seems she might be going to live in an empty condo at the beaches, house sitting, as it were, for the owners. She was concerned about leaving me, but I encouraged her to take advantage, and not feel like she needs to keep me company. I am good company for myself, and besides, she only works a little way down the road from here. Her decision was not yet made this morning but perhaps we will know more come dinner time!

*

This afternoon, knowing Dee was gone to CA, I called Julia to see if she needed any lunch. YES! I stopped at Sonic and got her a burger and fries, and my usual Route 44 (oz.) Diet Coke. She was glad to see me, and not only because of my bringing food. She showed me the photos of her parent's 50th anniversary party, which I missed by being in WI. It was so wonderful to sit down and chat, catching up on all the big news in her life. I greatly enjoy spending time "in the shop" and look forward to Dee's return in a week or so. I did get to say "Hi!" over the phone to her, as Julia had to pick Dee's brain about a project. Now I miss her more!

Change of plans today

My head was full of ideas about what to write about, as I am rarely without them, but now, something changed my mind.....

*

My e-mail this morning brought an interesting note from the fiance of my nephew, Tommy, who died at his own hand in late January this year. Jeana finally got his personal effects back from the police and found my e-mail address in Tommy's telephone. She told me I was the only family member he ever mentioned besides his mom (deceased) and father, and the only one she could find information on. This touched my heart, and broke it at the same time. How sad and tragic!!!

*

Please, people, please, I implore you----take good care of your families and extended families so this type of thing never happens to you!! Let people know how you are, keep them up-to-date on happenings, and remind them how you feel about them as often you can.

*

Anyway, I asked this young lady if any of Tommy's personal items contained pictures from his first wedding as there might be some photos of my kids in them, including Timmy, who had a good time running around the dance floor. She said she will look to see, and I sent her photos so she knows who she is looking for. Jeana also told me how Tommy made the recipe he asked me for and that no one liked it but him! Hamburger Corn Pone Pie, which I was surprised I could find in my recipe box after all these years! He asked me for it last fall, when we talked for an hour, or rather, he talked for an hour! Just like his mother used to do, saying a whole lot of nothing for an hour and a half!

*

When I was reading the e-mail, my mouth just went dry because I was so sad by what little information was available about family, and how desperate Tommy was to be part of a family. Jeans describes Tommy as having "demons" inside of him and this was not a surprise to me at all. This topic of family is especially valuable to me since I just got home from spending good times with my family and I miss them terribly already. Some claim to miss me, too!