OK, so the entire clan was pretty hammered this morning and relied heavily on caffeine to get through the morning. After that, who knows?
Tonight was a girls' night out: the office staff went out to dinner at Chili's and then to see "Sex and the City" -- a very girl evening. It is part of the farewell to Jane, as I will be out of the office for the last week she is here. Jane commented that you could count the number of men on two hands.
We are outside now, Ketzl and I. I think he would be happier if he could see me. He is conflicted...he wants to be outside and he wants to be with me. He loves this MacBook, keeps marking it with his face and rubbing up against it. OK now that he sees I'm out here, he is off to chase bugs. Fun! There is barely a signal as I sit here on the front step. I have such a clear picture of Linda sitting here, playing a guitar on one early visit, in a crisp white shirt.
The apricots are starting to ripen. It is another wonderful crop, tho this was supposed to be the lighter year in the cycle. (Thanks for your care, Daphne ... they are delicious, as always.) This is a bit scary...cuz once they decide to ripen, it happens all at once. Elinor may come down for a harvest. I do hope some are left end of June And then there are the peaches and nectarines in the backyard too. Timing, it's all in the timing.
OK Ketzl wanted to come in for a snack. Better connection and warmer. Nicer for me. Now he's back out again.
Other small notes from today: Audrey went to the cemetery yesterday for Father's Day. It was the first time since Linda's funeral. That must have been difficult. She said she brought a small rose plant. So today when I was at Costco getting gas (and hotdogs and sodas), I also bought roses. The bunches are now rainforest certified and really beautiful. I chose the lovely coral color that we've had many times before. A long time ago, eons, Linda started buying roses to bring home for Shabbat because she really loved having flowers in the house. It ws a bit challenging because in the beginning, Ketzl would explore the flowers. So today I bought the flowers for Linda. And because I spend more time at the office awake than I do at home, and because we will be leaving on Thursday, I decided to leave the bouquet at work. I had them on the table by the window, but Marcy wanted to move them to the counter above her desk, so that I could see them more easily. "Unless it is too difficult," she said. I replied, "It is difficult but it's also OK." As I type this, the tears are flowing all over again. It's amazing. I am crying some every day. Some days more and some days less. At least I cannot remember a day when something or someone did bring on the tears. Almost everyone says it's fine. It feels fine. Just incredibly sad and sometimes not so sad. One book I was reading talked about this...that one will never know what piece of music (the Carpenters, "On Top of the World," sung by Meeka), the flowers, thinking of the nectarines (Linda's favorite fruit) yet to ripen fully, a half-finished crossword puzzle or sudoku, the leather jackets...and that's just stuff around the house. It could happen anywhere at any time.
Tomorrow is the long-awaited visit with Rabbi Leslie Alexander. In the "really incredibly small world" department: she and Pinky Dubin's daughter are best friends!
Time to go make a list for tomorrow. It's going to be a very busy day.
