June 3, 2014

• Family

  I've been in Arkansas for my aunt's memorial service. I saw a lot of family members while there. I'd like to say that I saw a lot of family members I hadn't seen for a long time, but sadly, I saw most of them in March at my cousin's memorial service. I rode down to Arkansas with my cousin who lives in Chicago. I am embarrassed to admit that we have lived a couple of hours from each other for a couple decades and hadn't seen each other for about 15 years. It was so much fun reconnecting with Debbi; we are planning more get-togethers in the near future.

  Debbi and I were sharing a hotel room, and our cousin Ginny (from California) joined us because every hotel room in the area was booked. We were in the south and there was a country music concert, a monster truck rally and an NAACP track meet going on at the same time. In fact, they were going on at the exit to our hotel, about the time we hit town.

  After my aunt's service, I drove down to Fort Smith to visit my mom and spent the night there. Ginny and Debbi stayed in the hotel room. At about 1:45 in the morning, the hotel fire alarm went off and the guests were evacuated. I can't believe I missed all the excitement! The deafening claxon of the alarm, the blinding strobe lights in the hallways, the fire trucks, standing outside in my nightie... How could I be so unlucky to miss all that?

  I did not miss the experience of opening a bottle of wine without a corkscrew, though. Ginny had seen on Facebook that you can pop a cork by beating the crap out of the bottom of the bottle with a shoe. Maybe it works, but not with a rubber sandal. I happened to have a hemostat with me (because who doesn't travel with a hemostat?) and we tried to use it to pull the cork out. That didn't work, either. Debbi called her husband for advice and he suggested pushing the cork into the bottle. I had a pair of scissors in my knitting bag and used them to push the cork into the bottle. It worked! It also made the wine spray out of the bottle like a geyser, showering Debbi and me with Chardonnay.

  I did manage to take a few photos, mostly just shadowy shots of family members, but a few fun ones you might enjoy. When the kids are a little shy about talking to me, I pull out my phone. and we take selfies. It's amazing how quickly kids will warm up to you when you take a bunch of silly selfies with them.

  

  After getting my Tommy and Savanna fix, I got my Lincoln fix. He's such a happy baby!

  

  My sister and I picked up our mom at the nursing home and took her for a drive to Natural Dam, Arkansas. Mom was feeling good and for some reason she wanted to sing Jingle Bells all afternoon. Every time I pointed a camera at her, she started singing, "OHHHHHH... Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way..."

  

  We sang it with her and she had a great time. The funny thing is that I never remember her singing that song when we were kids. Maybe she did occasionally around Christmas, but I don't remember it being a particular favorite of hers.

  The natural dam for which the town is named is a lovely spot. It was a hot Sunday afternoon and many families were playing in the water above the dam, dangling their feet in the pools below the dam, and one young lady was enjoying a leisurely horseback ride up the little dirt road that runs next to the dam.

  

  I have a lot of catching up to do. Grocery shopping, water aerobics, tai chi, salsa making, laundry, sleeping... My knee is telling me I really need to go to water aerobics, while the rest of my body is encouraging me to sleep. I was dithering about which to do when my wonderful husband informed me that it is, in fact, Tuesday and not Wednesday. Yay! Sleep it is!

  • 9:24 pm
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