^^We finally made it back to Yosemite this Summer^^
Remember how long it took for Summer to even get here? And now, just like that, I’m smelling cinnamon and vanilla potpourri in the stores and I know that can only mean Fall is right around the corner. Fall is my most favorite season but damn if this year didn’t go by just like *that*.
This summer we went camping, hiking, miniature golfing, tubing and traveled back to Cali 2x and saw lots of our old friends (the best). We made a strawberry pie. We saw a couple musicals. Sly’s car broke down and he was stranded in Atlanta for over a week. I got sick from a)drinking too much of my sister’s delicious spicy watermelon drink b)heat stroke and dehydration. We became addicted to cold-pressed iced coffee. It rained A LOT. We had a mini family reunion in Michigan (the best part 2). We watched a lot of sunsets (but not many sunrises). We stayed up late reading comics, watching documentaries on pelicans (Sly), and eating the best burger in the dinkiest dive diner.
I grew up in the fifties and sixties with practical parents – a mother who washed plastic plates after she used them, the reused them. A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. I can see them now, Dad in trousers and tee- shirt and Mom in a house dress, a pot in one hand, and dish towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things- a curtain rod, the kitchen door, the hem in a dress.
Things we keep.
It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, reheating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant there’d always be more. But then my mother passed away, and on that clear summer morning, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn’t any ‘more’. Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away…..never to return! So, while we have it, it’s best we love it and care for it and fix it when it’s broken ….and heal it when it’s sick. This is true for old cars…..and dogs with bad hips, and children with bad report cards…..and aging parents…..and grandparents… and marriage.
We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.
Some things we keep.
I found this NYC video template via Animoto just before we left for NY and thought it would be pretty cool to use for a video slideshow. It’s a cool idea, but also weird at the same time. I was more mesmerized by the actual stock film footage than my poor photos (note to self: take more videos). Oh well, worth a shot.
