At the end of the day.......

.........we have a dramatic electrical storm! And yes, I am on my computer during the best of it! The storm came as quickly as it is leaving, at least, it appears to be moving south quite rapidly. The waves are white, crashing against the breakwater, and a lone osprey is soaring, riding the wind, as it were. Impressive! Lightning is striking on the opposite side of the river, and since it is not night time yet, looks creepier than if it were.

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Joanne got home only moments before the storm, which thus far has not brought rain, because on Monday nights she watches The Bachelor on TV. I vacated the family room so she can enjoy her program. I know of some others who also watch this show plus various programs of the same ilk, and then they wonder "Why?"...She reported that the north end of the building has already been painted, which I never would have known unless I walked down there. I saw some white on the face of the one portion but assumed it was primer/sealant. I wish we could have gone somewhat more daring with the color choice, but as Donna, one of my neighbors, told me, "Kim, you are our accessory!" I was wearing a particularly outspoken shirt that day with many of the colors I would have preferred instead of the blah yellow that was chosen. It really does not matter, in the big picture, because the mildew will be gone with the building looking fresh again when they are done.

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This afternoon I spent some time poolside, enjoying the lovely hot weather. I was not alone, others were there for the same reason. While I was sitting at the table, I gave Mom a call just to chat, and in the course of the conversation, she observed her parking lot full of police cars. Four of them, this time! Enough!!!! Mom said she made some phone calls this morning to get prices on apartments, including the nice place we toured with Clara Petska. Yesterday she heard someone pounding on the neighbors' door, begging to be let in because he had just gotten out of jail.........Okay, so when can we start packing the boxes????

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My late morning/early afternoon was spent at the funeral, and what an interesting service it was! Steve was buried from his church, which I am sure was a blessing for his parents and family, and had planned his service months ago with his son. The hymns he chose were all CHRISTmas ones, even "Silent Night", because, according to the service folder, Steve felt that this day was when all people feel "peace". It was nice to see his former spouse, Margo, again and their daughter, whom I had not seen since she was an infant. Margo is not working right now, having been laid off from her brokerage job. I felt so terrible for her, having to deal with all this right now, but she was holding up.

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When Timmy died, my sister, Lori, remarked that she had never before seen so many grown men openly crying. One of those men was serving as an usher today and I reintroduced myself to him as Timmy Day's mom. Immediately his arms were around me, as yes, he did certainly remember me. When I answered that I am doing just fine, he was so glad to hear it. He knew Timmy well because his son was in the same classroom. This man's wife did not remember who Timmy was, and I can safely say here in this venue that she not as "hands on" as the dad was with the kids. Sort of a role reversal. We had been at their home for Steve's parents' 50th wedding anniversary party years ago, but I cannot remember exactly when that was....

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My neighbor, Pat, was also at the funeral so we sat together. She was familiar with the order of service plus knew many more people than I did, because she is also a Realtor. Isabel was holding up quite well, but Steve's dad was not.There were many photos and momentos on the table in the narthex, including his wedding photos and pictures of his youngest daughter, Rebecca. His older son is married and has a child of his own, and his older daughter appears to be in her late 20's, at least. Steve's family who remembered me asked about Justin, which pleased me greatly. After all these years and all these events, they still remembered Justin!

Waiting for the washer

I have a load of laundry to throw in the machine at the start of this day, but, behold, Joanne had a couple pieces, formerly wet, now stinky, in the washer for the past couple days. I set the dial to rinse and spin to see if that takes care of it. She had forgotten it was in there when she ran out to work on Saturday but now, it should be okay after being splashed about in clean water. I will make sure to add a dryer sheet to help it smell nice and fresh. That is what she gets for sorting!

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My day today includes a funeral service at the church nearby, Grace Episcopal. Only last Tuesday when Kathy and I were swimming in my pool did I mention this man's name, laughing about the snow storm that took place here in 1989. Steve was our Realtor, our first solid contact in business when we moved down here in 1988-----I often claim, "He taught us the language" since we did not speak "Southern". Oh, he did, that is for sure. He dripped with it. Steve would refer to us (my former spouse, our partner, Curt, and me) as being "Yankees" but I would quickly correct him, reminding that we were from the upper Midwest, far from being Yankees! His reply would be, "Anyone who comes from where it snows is a Yankee!" Well, at Christmas in 1989, Steve and all other North Floridians quickly became Yankees!! And now, he is gone. At the age of 51, Steve has died after his life and its style had taken some rather dramatic swings and turns, shall we say, and I will not say more out of respect for his family, his former wife and young daughter.

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The last time I saw Steve and his wife together, I think, was at Timmy's funeral service in January, 2001. His mom, Isabel, was quite attentive to us at this time, she came more than once to my home bearing fruit for our guests to enjoy. About three months ago, I saw Steve's brother and sister-in-law at Cracker Barrel and I think Isabel, but do not remember talking with her. Clare loved my hair and was just so excited to see me again after all these years, which seems odd in a such a "small" town. Our paths just quit crossing, I guess, after the famous Christmas parties, usually the first one of the season, were no longer being held at their real estate company.

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Sunday, Justin spent time with his father, I think, and I spent the day at church and then at the beach with Judy J. and her house guest, Louie. Well, at least part of the day! We ended up eating outside at Joe's because we would have had a 35 minute wait to eat inside. Judy and I left it up to Louie because he was the father being feted, and he decided he did not want to wait that long for a table. That poor guy had sweat dripping from his goatee and was forced to endure three frothy drinks to hold heat prostration a bay! Louie ate crab legs and really had to work hard to eat them. I had chicken fingers and onion strings, of course! And only one adult beverage, thank you very much!

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At first we toyed with coming back here to splash around in the pool but Judy was so tired at the end of our long drive, most likely from the heat, so opted to go home. I thought about going down to the pool, but it did feel good to be home and settled in for the rest of the late afternoon/evening. My neighbors were not on the sundeck in the evening so I just decided to stay put. Joanne came in later and made some pasta for supper, which I shared with her. Not often do I ever eat what she cooks but the pasta was "normal", not made with veggies or tofu or anything like that. We both mentioned being tired and figured it was because of the heat. I finally surrendered to my bed about 10:00 pm and had a good night's sleep. The temps are supposed to be coming down this week, 'only' in the mid-90's for the highs. Even Manty had decent temps this past weekend, which just figures!