I still exist, really
Oct. 28th, 2006 03:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vr_trakowskiWell, I never did get around to describing my vacation. Seems like ever since I got back I've been scrambling in one way or another, or sleeping. *snerk* And I have a major story to finish for someone who's being very patient, plus I want to try NaNoWriMo next month. Oh well, what's life without stress.
California was of course gorgeous. Delectable weather--hot, yes, but shade worked. And we went to wineries, and the old-fashioned ice cream place (a pity, but the place with the 75-cent triple cones closed), and saw redwoods, and ate great food, and laughed and talked and laughed some more. Grandpa was remembered with much love, and I saw folks I haven't seen in years, including one cousin whom I've only met three times. Sheesh, I have good-looking relations.
And we went to the river, the American River, for the memorial picnic and swimming. I wish I had photos to post, but they don't do it justice anyway. I haven't swum there in years, and I had to wear earplugs and take off my glasses so I was basically deaf AND blind, and it was completely, totally worth it. The wade among the rocks and toe-nibbling minnows, and then that first teeth-gritting plunge into water that was snow just a day or too before, and then after a few minutes it's just cold enough that you have to keep moving to stay comfortable. And it's live water, full of fish and algae and the occasional drowned bug, but it's clean--and sparkly with fool's gold. One can climb out on the other side into the sun and stretch out on a rock. My mother (my mother!) took an inflatable raft and went down the little rapids, osteoporosis and worried husbands notwithstanding. And she had a great time.
Most likely, I'll never see most of those people again, unless I manage to move to the West Coast. And the thought makes me sad, but that's the way things have always been. We're far away...yet, on some level, in some clumsy but unshakeable way, we love.
My dad's 65th birthday is Sunday. My brother and I booked a gorilla to come to the house and sing him "Happy Birthday" and give him balloons (this has a long and complicated family history that I'm not going to try to explain). We just have to remember to put the dog in the back yard before the gorilla shows up, or she'll go absolutely spare.
When I told my mother what we were considering, and asked for her opinion, she said it was fine, and told me by the way that she and Dad were going to ask the pastor and his wife over for drinks after a church meeting...and if possible, could I get the gorilla to come by before they left?
*grin* I love my mother.
California was of course gorgeous. Delectable weather--hot, yes, but shade worked. And we went to wineries, and the old-fashioned ice cream place (a pity, but the place with the 75-cent triple cones closed), and saw redwoods, and ate great food, and laughed and talked and laughed some more. Grandpa was remembered with much love, and I saw folks I haven't seen in years, including one cousin whom I've only met three times. Sheesh, I have good-looking relations.
And we went to the river, the American River, for the memorial picnic and swimming. I wish I had photos to post, but they don't do it justice anyway. I haven't swum there in years, and I had to wear earplugs and take off my glasses so I was basically deaf AND blind, and it was completely, totally worth it. The wade among the rocks and toe-nibbling minnows, and then that first teeth-gritting plunge into water that was snow just a day or too before, and then after a few minutes it's just cold enough that you have to keep moving to stay comfortable. And it's live water, full of fish and algae and the occasional drowned bug, but it's clean--and sparkly with fool's gold. One can climb out on the other side into the sun and stretch out on a rock. My mother (my mother!) took an inflatable raft and went down the little rapids, osteoporosis and worried husbands notwithstanding. And she had a great time.
Most likely, I'll never see most of those people again, unless I manage to move to the West Coast. And the thought makes me sad, but that's the way things have always been. We're far away...yet, on some level, in some clumsy but unshakeable way, we love.
My dad's 65th birthday is Sunday. My brother and I booked a gorilla to come to the house and sing him "Happy Birthday" and give him balloons (this has a long and complicated family history that I'm not going to try to explain). We just have to remember to put the dog in the back yard before the gorilla shows up, or she'll go absolutely spare.
When I told my mother what we were considering, and asked for her opinion, she said it was fine, and told me by the way that she and Dad were going to ask the pastor and his wife over for drinks after a church meeting...and if possible, could I get the gorilla to come by before they left?
*grin* I love my mother.
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-28 11:30 am (UTC)My father's 90th birthday is coming up March. Believe it or not I was considering a gorilla-gram. I'm also planning my parents' 65th anniversary, which will be January 1st....yikes!
no subject
Date: 2006-10-30 04:35 am (UTC)The gorilla went over VERY well. *grin*
no subject
Date: 2006-10-28 01:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-30 04:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-28 08:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-30 04:38 am (UTC)Addition
Date: 2006-11-15 09:44 pm (UTC)Re: Addition
Date: 2006-11-16 03:05 am (UTC)