Clouds

Last Thursday I flew down to Southern California to stay with my dad for a few days. He had to have a cardiac procedure on Friday and needed someone to take him to the hospital and stay with him for a few days afterward. Armed with Bronte's thick "Villette" and my camera, I entertained myself during the waiting periods and made myself useful the remaining time. Dad is doing just fine and the test results were better than we'd hoped. He was able to resume normal activity, including driving, by Monday. We had some much-needed rain and it was overcast when he dropped me off at the airport for my return home.
Little did I know the tremendous treat awaiting me on the plane!

Lift off...
Good-bye to Southern California.
Into the clouds.
Everything turned pure white for a few minutes...
but when I looked out the window again
we were above the clouds!

I couldn't help but think of the reflective Joni Mitchell song, "Both Sides Now."

"Rows and flows of angel hair
"And ice cream castles in the air"
"And feather canyons everywhere"
"I've looked at clouds that way.
"But now they only block the sun
they rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way."

(Now this part of the song didn't fit -- as you can see the sun was in full force, and my mind kept reverting to the Beatles "Here Comes the Sun".)
"I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all."

Summertime at Dad's

Life's riches moments can be made up of the simplest joys when you spend them with people you love. Here are a few photos representing how my sisters, daughters, father and I spent our time together at his house this summer.

In high spirits we celebrated Ashley's college graduation,

and a few nights later Linda's and Dad's birthdays.

Determined to conquer despite our time constraints,

this was one of the challenging puzzles we managed to put together....

Enjoying the beauty of the nearby college campus,

we visited the waterfalls and walked the track in the evenings

United in love and remembrance,

we took flowers to the cemetery where my mother and brother are buried....

Bees in Your Meter

We've heard of bees in your bonnet -- but bees in your meter?! While staying with Dad in July the water meter man stopped by to announce he was unable to lift the metal lid of Dad's in-ground water meter because there appeared to be a swarm of bees entering it. The meter man said he would send someone to get rid of them. When I went back two weeks later, the water company still hadn't sent anyone out, so Dad decided to take matters into his own hands.

No, these are not pancakes from my kitchen -- they are honeycombs!

By some miracle, no one was stung.