On The Road

Stock Exchange photo and so much like home.


Today was about being on the road. I was a passenger tucked away in the backseat and had an opportunity to observe my children. We were on our way to the Sacramento Airport to send Quanah off on yet another plane trip, this time to Portland Oregon. The objective this time was not a job interview but the chance to see his girlfriend for the first time in three weeks.

On the way up I discovered that communication had again swung back to a balanced center between brother and sister. Kris' successes in school this year have been a huge confidence builder and she has become a more articulate person, more able to hold her own in a conversation without being overwhelmed by emotion. Quanah has changed from being idealistic, judgmental, and dogmatic to a mature confident speaker who actually listens intently, engages in conversation, and offers not the ANSWER but alternate ideas as food for thought. I have seen these two go through so many changes together with the tie of love between them tightening or loosening as their own personal growth sent them off in very different directions. But now with their own paths mapped out and personal loves in their own lives, they have moved back to the tie between brother and sister I remember from their youth.

As we left the airport later, we call friends who live in a little mountain town an hour up the road and a long detour from our straight shot back home. Thus the day unfolded into a series of fun and ordinary events that could be so easily forgotten if not recorded here.

Kris visited with her old friend Paul;
Visiting with Barbara (see Barbara's Hands) catching up on family news over shepherd pie;
Our visit accompanied by the energetic darting about of hummingbirds outside the window;
A fast trip to Walmart and crazy laughter as I got hung up on the seatbelt in the backseat;
The purchase of a hummingbird feeder and food;
The purchase of a white nightgown to replace the one I left in the hotel room in Ohio;
A picture frame to give as a gift to Jennifer as she awaits the birth of her child

And finally the trip home and the beautiful early summer backroads that had us passing through El Dorado, Plymouth, Ione, and Clements before finally reaching 99 South, the final leg of our very circular adventure. But the day did not end for me there. The mail brought me a very special package from Vancouver, BC - a gift of socks from Becky. I had oo'd and ah'd over the color of these socks a few weeks ago and unbeknownst to me, she had decided to send them to the first person who said anything about liking them. I am the lucky and happy recipient. And there was a little box of Dutch Girl Chocolates as well. Ummmm, Heaven. Thank you Becky. So, all in all it was a very ordinary day but experienced as something very extraordinary.