Past:
Photo from May 16, 2022: 2022 was the year before our son got married for the second time. It was during a road trip to introduce his then fiancé (now wife) to his dad.
The date is of interest. It was the 41st anniversary of the wedding of DXH and me. Friday was the 45th anniversary of it. We have been divorced three years longer than we were married.
I still care about the man. Being me, I tend to fuzz out the bad parts and paint the good ones with a pink cloud filter.
Travel and weather (sort of Present):
My son's in-laws (DIL's parents) went off on a family adventure. I think a nephew or niece's wedding, two states away. Son, DIL, and FGC were bird-sitting the parakeets while they were away. While they were gone, and on the day they drove home (Monday), tornado alley set up shop around here.
Ember experienced her first "real" tornado warning with sirens ablare Sunday evening. I don't think it hurt that we did a tornado drill a few weeks ago, where the test sirens were a cue to go down and kennel up in the lowest level of the house. During the warning, I brought a kitchen chair down and sat next to her crate. It was her normal sleep time anyway, so she just curled up and did just that in a different spot. What a good girl!
Those are my knees under the blankie. After the front had passed and they were warning Iowa and Wisconsin, we went back upstairs to her regular crate for the remainder of the night.
Future:
The birds (all four of them, DIL's cockatiels and her parents' parakeets) will go stay with her parents at some point this week. Because Carl serves as my son's PTSD security blanket, they will bring him over "at the last minute" before they leave town. He'll stay with Ember and me. The younger generation folks (including FGC) will go road-tripping for five days. I'm actually looking forward to the dog-chaos, saving up my energy for it.
I gave the neighbor on the other side of my fence fair warning of the upcoming "barky dog" visit.
Speaking of the barky dog, the things that drive him totally nuts are the squirrels. The squirrels in my yard are pretty doggone cheeky. On Saturday, one of them was honest to gosh ON MY DECK, drinking out of the dog's water bowl! I did not have time to take a photo, because I slid the door open and the silent chasing pup (Ember) took over. No more squirrel on the deck. Maybe Carl will teach them to be a little less cheeky. But I kind of doubt it.
I also gave the neighbor heads up about the upcoming deck project. When I took Ember to day care on Tuesday morning (today), I changed her reservation to NOT go to day care next Tuesday. I also booked her in for Monday through Thursday starting June 1.
There it is, past, present, and future! Life is good. Keep on Sparking, my friends!
Bad weather warnings are not my favorite thing. When I lived in Oklahoma, it was tornado warnings. Here on my California high desert, it is a no-warning situation for earthquakes. The sometimes-rumble and the movement are simultaneous. Fire season, we expect fires and many of us have an alert app on our phone so we can track them.
ReplyDeleteI hope Ember and Carl have a lovely time together. :D
All is well with me, keeping busy with church stuff, girlfriends, working out and when I can't avoid it, housework.
Happy Tuesday.
I thought I had put a reply on here but apparently not! I am glad to hear that you're keeping busy. What we're busy with may change over time, but the habit of being busy and productive is lifelong.
DeleteEmber and I are lounging on the deck on Friday evening, anticipating Carl's arrival in the morning. We have little white fluffs of cottonwood cotton flying around. It is that time of year. She's had a good week. And if Ember's having a good week it means my week has gone well too.
Wow! That looks like quite the storm! Glad things went well for you and Ember and all was safe. And glad that DS's in-laws made it safely on their travels.
ReplyDeleteHope Ember and you have a good time w/Carl!
hugs and blessings
barb
1cd
We were grateful for the fronts going through, especially for the rain they brought. Seems like a recurring theme, drought, fire and flood. Don't mess with Mother Nature.
DeleteI love the double rainbow with lightening shot. That was really well caught! Sounds like Ember handled the warnings very well, Tigger lays in the hallway where she cannot see any windows and seems to know that is the safe place to be. When she comes out from that spot we know the storms have past. Your latest post was right at the top of my feed, maybe they fixed the hiccup (fingers crossed) Wonderful to catch up with you. Have a lovely rest of the week.
ReplyDeleteI can't take credit for the lightning/rainbow photo. I downloaded it from a FB group called Nebraska Through the Lens, where people share photos they have taken. I loved it, should have given the originator credit.
DeleteOh, good to hear about the feed! Hope it's fixed (I haven't seen it fixed for my own feed yet). And have a great second half to your week, too!
I’ve got a good-sized backlog of photos I need to download, but it’s such a tedious process with my aging equipment…
ReplyDelete((Val))
I hear you about "tedious process with aging equipment". And yet, one doesn't want to spend the time and money and effort to upgrade "just now"... and puts it off!
DeleteIt sounds like life has been beautifully full of reflection, family, and a bit of wild weather lately. It is so lovely how you hold onto the good memories with your ex-husband while embracing where life has brought you now; that "pink cloud filter" speaks to a really generous, caring heart.
ReplyDeleteEmber deserves all the treats for being such a brave girl during the tornado warnings! It’s clear she felt entirely safe because you were right there next to her crate keeping her company. Good luck preparing for the upcoming "dog-chaos"—saving up your energy is a smart move, but it sounds like it’s going to be a wonderfully lively five days. Hopefully, Carl gives those cheeky deck squirrels a run for their money! Safe travels to the younger generation, and good luck with the upcoming deck project. (((BIG HUGS)))
Thanks for popping by! Thanks for the extra luck wishes... I'm collecting those, as well as saving energy! LOL.
Delete(( big hugs back at ya ))
I thought about y'all that busy weather day. I'm glad you have a plan. Ours is grab the construction helmets, radios and go to the windowless bathroom in the middle of our single-story-basement-less house. My perch is the closed toilet, his on the bathtub edge.
ReplyDeleteAnimals! There's no way I can send the video...DD2 has a crow that decided to adopt her. When she comes out, he/she lands on the deck rail and hops to wherever she is. If she moves, he moves. She's trying to feed him by hand. I said try to teach him a word. I understand crows have some ability. He and Chewy don't give a hoot about each other.
Oh, how awesome that Chewy thinks the crow is "none of my business". I'm not at all surprised that the crow is not phased by Chewy. It's usually the dog that gets obsessed!
DeleteIt's good to have a plan for Spring weather out here. I reminded DIL to pack Carl's storm calming pills, which he was given during last weekend's rumblings. There aren't any long term storm fronts forecast until after the kids are supposed to be home, but those of us who grew up in Girl Scouts like to be prepared, right?
Hugs and of course the two-dog adventures will show up in a blog sooner or later!