Odds and ends

Although it wasn't the main purpose of our visit, my sisters and I did some house cleaning while we were in California. Most of the items went straight to the dumpster, but a few things found their way home with me. These included letters...

and postcards from days gone by,

some childhood artwork...

and a handful of old photos.

Christmas 1978, starring Breyer's Justin Morgan

Here's a picture of my sisters and I riding an elephant in 1975.

Elephants were my first love. That was a big day for me.

Here are a few moments from another big day, this time a 1974 field trip to a farm.

We got to pet a lot of animals...

and I met a pony!

I've shared that picture before, but not the companion photo of the pony by itself. He or she was very cute!

Here's something that didn't make it into my suitcase: a hand drawn Horseopoly board.

I'm pretty sure my older sister did most of the work on this one - no doubt a futile attempt to get me interested in board games - but the names were definitely my work. 

They include a number of racetracks...

and Thoroughbred breeding farms...

mixed with a smattering of local stables.

More evidence that Colleen had a hand in this. I would have surely written Eaton Canyon Riding Club, rather than Eaton Canyon Stables.

There is actually a real Horse-opoly game. We sell it at work.

I don't own it because I'm still not a board game fan - sorry, Colleen! - but here's a picture of a picture of the game board.

It's pretty snazzy, but I think I like ours better, Eaton Canyon Stables and all. Maybe next time I'll bring it home with me, or maybe it will end up in the dumpster. Either way, it was nice seeing it again.

The silver lining

One of the best things that ever happened to me was meeting Tara Reich.

photo by Jackie Rossi

This is mostly because she is awesome.

She is so awesome!

But also, she lives a scant seven point seven miles from my mother. This means even the toughest California trips have a silver lining.

No matter how busy - or how bad - things may be, I'm always able to sneak away for a couple hours to spend time with Tara.

She listens to me vent, and depending on the severity of the situation, comforts me with ice cream,

bourbon or both.

I play with her cats,

check out her projects...

and her admire her newest creations and acquisitions.

this year's NaMoPaiMo horse

Let me tell you: There's a lot to admire.

Tara's apartment is nearly as awesome as Tara herself.

Last week, I was particularly drawn to the medallions.

This one is so good.

Thank you, Tara, for talking me off the ledge again.

I hope our next meeting is under better circumstances!

Five days later

My California trip ended as it began, with me once again having my own row on the airplane.

I could get used to this.

Unfortunately, the ten days in between were a lot less pleasant.

Oh, there were some good moments, to be sure.

I definitely enjoyed spending time with my sisters.

And it's always a treat visiting old...

and not-so-old friends.

Still, the purpose of the trip was to forcibly move my physically healthy but cognitively impaired, eighty nine year old mother out of her beautiful but falling down home. 

If any part of that sounds like fun, let me assure you: It was not.

Worse, I'm not even sure that our efforts thus far will have a lasting effect. It's very much a moment to moment situation.

I've been home for a couple days, but my thoughts and emotions remain in California. There's still so much to do, and for better or worse, I won't be available to help with any of it until mid May at the earliest.

Until then, I guess, I'll just keep taking things one step at a time and reminding myself to breathe.

Almost wordless Wednesday

Early in my blogging career, I decided that posts should have, at most, twenty five pictures. 

I have not stuck to that. If you scroll back, there have been plenty of thirty picture posts, and maybe even a forty or two.

This one has more.

What can I say? Santana was special. I knew him long - ten years! - and I loved him hard. This truly is too many pictures. I don't expect anyone to look at all of them, but I needed to post them.

Godspeed, Santana. You truly were my favorite person.