Bubble an' Squeak

  The easy breeze through the small opening of the screen in the window clattered the long, vertical blinds of my parents' living room. Many cats before Whitefoot had long since torn the screen to make the perfect entrance into the house from the front yard. Yet as he poked his orange face through the screen it seemed to belong to only him.  The stray cats my dad has been collecting from around the neighborhood lazed behind him in the flowerbed, where my mother's beautiful flowers towered over them, offering shade from the hot, Northern Arizona sunshine. Whitefoot rubbed his orange body against the window frame, drifting casually into the living room. My dad sat in his usual blue chair. His novel, a trashy detective novel, was open on his lap. His head leaned back in the chair as he dozed. Whitefoot meandered toward him, casually stopping at the fish tank to check on his nemesis, Spot. Satisfied that he could not catch him today, he stepped gingerly onto my dad's lap, a...

  "Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them." ~ Aurelius The Stoics believe that anything can happen to anyone at any time. As a result, we should be prepared for everything and nothing, while being totally chill about it.  I wish I had known this back in September when I realized I had broken my leg. Wow, if only I could have been slightly more chill about possibly never running again and walking with extreme pain. Instead I freaked out. Now that I do know this, I would like to believe I am slightly more prepared for this year. Prepared might be the wrong word. I am rarely prepared for much in this life. Jaded. Life will fuck you up. Try not to be too upset about it.  That's what I am going for. In the meantime I am focusing on building a life, fragile and vulnerable though it may be to Life, that feels good on the inside, and on the outside. To help me with this, I have chosen 'Well' as my word of the year.  I am working h...

You may notice a bit of a theme in these pictures: Nic and I love our dogs. A lot.. We spend a fair amount of time walking them, holding them, talking to them and about them, and generally loving these furry babies. One picture per month of just us reveals the ways that I overlook the beauty of our day-to-day life. We spend a great deal of time together, but Nic does not love photos, and I forget to record the things that make our life memorable and wonderful. I am resolving now to take more pictures of our life this year. And pictures of Nic, whether he likes it or not. January February March April May June July August September October November December  He is my best guy. This year was especially hard on him because of my injury. I know how much he did to make my life a little easier and to help me heal.  XX

January Sometimes I wake up and my life is so good, I can hardly believe it is mine. Sorting through photos of 2024 reminded me of how incredibly lucky I am. Truth be told, it is hard to choose just one photo each month because some months, like June, Nic and I took probably 1,000 amazing photos. Other months, like September, I took only a handful. As a result, I actually split my best of into two groups: The Family, and then Nic and I.  In choosing these photos I tried to capture significant, and meaningful events of our year through my eyes. This year I went to Flagstaff twice, Spain, Morocco, Portugal, Albuquerque, and Ohio. I ran a half marathon. Then I broke my femur and had surgery. I spent the second half of the year wobbling through life as best I could, but I am getting stronger by the day. February March April May June July August September More September October November December  It is a wild, wonderful, beautiful life filled with so many wonderful people and such ...

July 3-7 Per tradition, my siblings and I gathered together with our parents. This year we had a project in Dad’s garage. Two of my mom’s brothers joined us, and my cousin, Stephanie. Representing grandkids were my boys, and my nephew Kevin and his partner/fiancee, Sam. Uncle Bill & my Mom We did a little Fort Tuthill music for the Fourth. It was lovely  And then we got to work. It was a dusty job. We all had a role. Sam’s was definitely holding Dad’s cat. There was running in the heat, lots of cooking, talking, and catching up. It was great to see my siblings and parents. We already have plans for next year.  

Our last night in Seville was one of those magical nights that you never want to end because they are so perfect.  England won the soccer, we found the bull restaurant with the delicious artichokes that I love, and the weather was perfect. Nic indulged on ox tails and sardines for his last Spanish meal. He was so happy. Wanting the night to linger, we sat in the square beside the Cathedral and listened to locals play. Everything about that night was magical. It was almost midnight when we wandered back to the hotel. Knowing we had a long day of driving ahead of us, the next day, we reluctantly we went to bed. Some things in Spain, like the Continental Breakfasts in our hotels just need memorializing. Day’s Inn breakfasts will never quite feel sufficient going forward. We have been ruined, America.  I loaded up on food knowing we had a long drive and knowing who Nic and I are as people, I knew I had to make this breakfast count. Nic was really full from all of the ox tails. The...