Line up the July anniversaries in a row

Tuesday the 7th was the 30th anniversary of my mother's passing.  

Wednesday the 8th, the 29th anniversary of a niece's birth.  A year and a day later than Mom's passing.  

Mom used to intone what was probably "urban legend" before that name was invented that a year and a day was how long they left a body in a mausoleum spot in New Orleans before it was considered OK to reuse the slot.  This may just be a twisted childhood ghost of a memory, but it stuck in my brain.  I have a few of those kinds of cobwebs rattling around.

Thursday the 9th, the anniversary of another niece's birth, the first time I became an aunt.  Nowadays I follow that niece's kids on Facebook. 

Friday the 10th, I have surpassed my mother's lifespan by 7 years.  

Monday the 13th will be 7 years since Kevin (MOBYCARP)'s passing.  I still miss him every day.

Life, memory, and dates are an interesting saga.  And cryptic recitations of this sort are what happens when your brain is one of those fixated on numbers! 🤣

Subject change time!

This little critter is an orb weaver spider.  On my deck's drink rail, posing for a photo after I had rudely walked through her web, destroying it.  I am dubbing her "Charlotte" although I have no clue if spiders have sexes and if they do how one can distinguish, but let's honor the children's literature for a bit.

I took this photo on Monday morning.

By Tuesday morning, she was hard at work weaving yet another work of art.  This time she chose the other side of the deck, not the one where I would walk through the web on my way to the backyard.  One day she had it low enough that EMBER walked through it!

Mid-week

Another seasonal day on Wednesday!  Ember and I got out early.  There is this one yard, at the far end of that walk route, that tempts her every time.  The woman who lives there and is sometimes outside when we walk by is very afraid of dogs, but she grows such tempting plants in that yard!

Ember dragged me up to the retaining wall (the lady was not out).  I pleaded with Ember that this is "not our yard", but it took some time to convince her to take me back to the sidewalk.  Yes, a treat tossed to "search" in the grass closer to the sidewalk was involved.

On Thursday morning, completed the "in touch with siblings over the summer" sequence by having coffee with Alicia.  Lots of information dumps beyond blogs, catching up on one another's extended families, as far as we know (we're not an "up in your face" kind of family, so often it's a "no news is good news" kind of assumption).

On Thursday afternoon, Ember was wet coming home from daycare, and we ended the day on the couch with her head on my lap.  Nothing as peaceful as having an animal that trusts you!  You can feel your heart rate and blood pressure settle.

Friday - another week in the books

Large and in charge, we have The Prisoner, still doing OK, even though thinner and feeling a little bonier to his hu-mom.

Ember checks in with the senior pet.  I think these photos are from Thursday morning.  Overnight Wednesday to Thursday one of the deck chairs got picked up by the wind and knocked over into the sliding door.  Ember was a champ, given that her crate is within six feet of that door.  She was fine when I went down in the morning to start our day.  She sniffed I swear every board on that deck to ensure herself that all was well.

Friday morning dawned overcast and humid.  Ember cut our morning walk short, for some reason.  We filled Dexter's gas tank ($21 for six gallons).  Came home with the London Fog and doggy bone, and our weekend has begun.

Life is good.  Keep on Sparking!