Gone Fishing

I used to cry in the arms of my mom, when my dad was away in Roscommon. I remember a time when she asked me, “Do you cry this much when I’m gone?”

I still cry in the arms of my mom because my dad isn’t coming back this time. But she never sees the tears of missing her, because I am too busy being happy when she‘s with me.

My mom sent me a picture of the shells she collected while roaming the beach in Florida for the past couple weeks. My mom has a shell-collecting problem: Whenever we would go near the waters, she picks up any shiny or colorful piece of junk she sees on our walk. Then lugs them back in armfuls, trying to pawn them off on her kids to carry.

At home we have cups and shelves and bowls and plates dedicated to displaying her collection. Because once she picks them up, she won’t set them back down.

She told me she didn’t want the shells to feel sad. That someone picked them up, then decided they weren’t good enough to keep. So she keeps everyone she touches So they all can have a home, my home.

Which makes it a little hard for me to dust around them.

Make-up Class

A week or so ago Karly, Jack and myself decided to take Grandpa to the doctor in Traverse City. Big day for us and Grandpa. Grandpa had super news at the doctor and the kids enjoyed the fact there was an elevator....who knew the day could be so awesome.

Do to our change of venue that day, we had to miss Jack's gymnastics class. His teacher was very kind and decided to let Jack take a make-up class this week because he enjoys it so much. Anyway, as we wait for the class to get started I go over and over it with Jack. "Jack, this is just a make-up class, your friends will not be in there, it will be full of new people. You will probably not recognize these people. Are you sure you still want to go because you don't have to?"

Jack reassures me, "Mom, it's OK...I want to go....umm...do we put our make-up on before the class starts or do we put our make-up on once we get in there?"

Got to love the minds of the young....I laughed through the whole class.

Heart of ......

"The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway. In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits. A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in vanishing flatness. Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth."
English is the second language for this author. Who is the author?

Wedding Song

This song reminds me of Brian and Susie's wedding. Bill, Susie's dad, who I believed discovered the song, would always give his absolute zany laugh whenever it played.

Jump Start

By the calendar, things are hard to work out on time. Sometimes feeding the dog gets in the way, or there could be a snow storm, or something wrecking that doggone calendar. When the day does arrive, too much is happening at once.
This is a freelance prelude to a special day. The winter has been so long that a change is in order. Well...we can't change the weather, but we can add something different to the atmosphere i.e. an electric charge. I'm not suggesting that we start the Saint's Day early, but it is a birthday after all.