TUAR Tea Time Rambling, and Thankfulness

 I see that I last wrote on here almost exactly a month ago!    Since then I have gone up to Oregon and back, and then waaay up to Alaska, where my brothers and I had an informal family reunion and went through the last of our parents' things up there, and visited some of our old family and personal friends.  

Lunch with my good friend in Oregon

Once I was back home, I guess because things have been so busy and now are quieting down, I plunged into a sort of ocean of philosophical reading.   And I decided to start taking fitness seriously, now that I am over half a century old, so I have been spending a lot of time walking and listening to podcasts -- mostly on philosophy and theology. 

Lupines on my daily walk in the National Forest

My daughter put together this composite photo.    The second is her wedding in 2013, and the first is her parents' wedding 28 years earlier.      Besides my 80's hair, do you notice anything?  Yes, we are wearing the very same wedding dress.    Since both my parents passed away before this latest wedding, I am glad that the dress that they paid for and that I kept in a bag under the bed all these years was repurposed so beautifully. 

When I was confirmed into the Catholic Church just at the same time that she was baptized into the Church, I would have prayed for just such a holy courtship and wedding for her as she and her husband have had.

The Dress, 28 Years Ago, and 1 1/2 Months Ago

In line with Chari's theme of Thankfulness, I will quickly list my first ten things:

1. Asian noodles and chopsticks.... the former, also a dietary staple of Aidan's.
2. Old dear friends (it is Clare's godmother Belle that I shared the lunch in Oregon with, and I actually met Belle in RCIA class when I was pregnant with Clare -- she was sponsoring her then-fiance who was confirmed the same time as me)
3. Philosophy podcasts!  I have just finished listening to this series on Philosophy and the Faith by Fr Francis Selman. 
4. New wildflowers every week on my walk.... the lupines are particularly numerous this year.
5. My daughter, who I miss since she's now across the country from me -- Aidan keeps asking, "When are we going to pick up Clare???"
6. The towering sugar pines and incense cedars -- they keep our house shady and breezy even during this heat spell. 
7. Piano lessons without having to drive 30-60 miles.  Paddy's starting to play pieces that actually sound like pieces.  
8. Aidan's bursts of joyful chuckles almost every morning as he skips across the loft on various projects -- I'm blessed that his adolescent hormones seem to make him euphoric rather than dysphoric -- most of the time, anyway.
9. Reading The Two Towers to Paddy in the evening out on our porch, as the bats and flying squirrels start gliding and wheeling.  
10.  My CSA subscription -- my first year doing this and it's great, since gardens are logistically difficult up here in the Sierra Mts.    I love trying out things that I usually don't buy at the store, like turnips, and kale, and summer squash.    It makes the kitchen more fun. 

CSA cornucopia