HELLO AND AN UPDATE

First off, thanks for your comments on the post below.  I read them all and enjoyed them.  I will be visiting u all later.  It's been a busy month.  Oldest son moved temporarily to Los Angeles from Washington state for his job so we have seen them a few times.  The two middle guys are busy but I've seen a couple grandkids because their mom brought them to California.    Youngest son and his partner are giving us another granddaughter. We went to the baby showed and also got to see our second oldest grandson there who just graduated from high school.  So now once she is born in November we will have  five granddaughters and five grandsons.  

 We are on  an  "evacuation 2"  watch/warning  for one of the several fires hitting Southern California right now.  We are fine - as the fires are traveling more  north east but we will remain on Evac Watch until it is contained.  The fire that is affecting our mountains is called the "Line Fire" in San Bernadino County.

After Labor Day our local lake closed the swimming area but boating and fishing can still be done up until we get snow in the winter.  This all means that it will be easy to find parking and walk  along trails with very few people out during the day as they are at work.  I'm a loner - i like being alone on the trails.

So that's all the update I have other than just normal stuff in life, nothing exciting.  

Since the fire began I think about four days ago up here, the sky has been really smokey.  I wanted to go out yesterday to an area called Playground where the paragliders take off over the rim.  I wanted to see if I could see the fire (wrong angle and couldn't see anything really)  and the  smoke was mostly northwest from us.  When we arrived we were just in time to see this guy attempt his take off.  

A DAY BACK IN MEMORY - 2011.

 

A special moment with the grandkids when they are younger.  This was a day back in 2011.   Hunter is now 22 and Cayden graduated high school this year.  I'm glad I have these memories.

 A very tiny praying mantis was found near the park we took them too. Forget the play structures - they weren't interested. What they wanted was to take this guy home and put him in a cage for a pet. I talked them out of it. The praying mantis still is a free spirit, not caged.

The little bug seemed to pose for us before we said one last goodbye and they let it go.

I like this quote by Thomas Berry.

"We see quite clearly that what happens to the nonhuman happens to the human. What happens to the outer world happens to the inner world. If the outer world is diminished in its grandeur then the emotional, imaginative, intellectual, and spiritual life of the human is diminished or extinguished.

Without the soaring birds, the great forests, the sounds and coloration of the insects, the free-flowing streams, the flowering fields, the sight of the clouds by day and the stars at night, we become impoverished in all that makes us human."

Thomas Berry

AND ONE MORE GRANDKID IN NOVEMBER

 My youngest son  (who is depicted in this sketch) with his son Cayden and Cayden's mom) is going to have a little girl in November (not with Cayden's mom) but with his partner.  Now all four of my son's will each have a daughter and son(s).  She will be my fourth granddaughter and I have six grandsons.  

John and Carmen (Cayden's mom) never married but have always had a good relationship between them because of Cayden.  Cayden has like four sets of grandparents all who love him a lot.  He is a lucky guy.  He has graduated this last school year, as has one of my granddaughters and great niece. (my sister's granddaughter).  Time has passed so fast.  Another granddaughter will graduate next year.

This little painting was mostly done by Cayden when he was about 10.  He did the background and wanted help with the figures.  His mom is a day person and dad has always been a night person.  I was amazed at his reason for this painting - wanting to show a strong connection between them all.  Cayden has an absolutely wonderful supportive step dad and a great dad - my son.  He's a lucky guy but also a very sensitive person and I don't think ever got in trouble going through high school.  Unlike some of my sons who really challenged my patience, lol.  

I came across this painting again in one of my folders and it brought back a good memory of creating something together with Cayden.  Eventually before we gave it to each one of them, he wanted to divide the painting in half and each one got half of him.  This was all totally his idea.  

And that's my sharing for today.  Hope u are all staying cool if you are in heat zones and warm if you are in winter somewhere.  

A TRIP DOWN THE MOUNTAIN RECENTLY

We were going down the mountain one day when we rounded the corner on the mountain hwy and saw this man.  I felt sorry that he appeared homeless and decided to  take his belongings and head down to the city below.   

There are a lot of homeless people that find places to camp in summer up in the mountains where its' cooler and in winter they head back down where it's warmer.  I was surprised to see him going down where it's hotter.  

In a perfect world there would be a home and food for every one.  This bothers me that so many have lost their houses or jobs.  The price of houses and the rental prices have skyrocketed.  We were down in 105 or hotter temps yesterday and where in the heck do these people go to stay cool.   

When we saw him we were in our small jeep.  If we had seen him and  we were driving a truck I would have hoped we could have given him a ride to wherever he was headed. 

Hope u are all coping with what I read these days, to be extreme weather in many places, floods, fires, etc.  California has some big fires right now and I think a big one over in the next mountain range is almost contained now called the Vista Fire that started in Lytle Creek and headed toward Mt. Baldy.

I love the Yucca plants in summer.

REMEMBERING A TRIP TO VISIT MY OLDEST SON'S FAMILY

It's been a few years since we have traveled anywhere other than when I have gone up to the central coast of California the last two years to help with my sister and her husband, after her stroke.

Last time we were in Washington for a visit  a couple years ago our son took us to a small winery in Olalla.  Olalla is a really small little town with only a few stores, a post office and a family owned winery.  I thought I would put these up today so I see these memories someday when reading through my blogs.  The tray of food is what my daughter in law made and brought to the winery.  I guess people are encouraged to bring their own snacks while they enjoy the wine experience at this beautiful place. It's only like 10 minutes from my son's house. 

My oldest just turned 50 at the end of March and they were in Los Angeles because of his job so we met at a restaurant down the mountain and had a nice visit.  I'm looking forward to getting back to Washington, Bend, Oregon, where another son lives and Montana where a third son lives.  Thankfully my 4th son just lives about 40 minutes away - he's the youngest and just turned 40 a couple months ago.  I'm feeling kind of old, lol