Touristy Stuff

Dwight and I both enjoy nature but sometimes you have to let loose and do some touristy stuff too.
So here's Dwight in Las Vegas-I'll spare you the photo of me losing money.

 And here's me in Fisherman's Wharf minus the musicians.

 Sorry had to get back to nature just a little bit, but this tree isn't one of the biggest and was just on the side of the road. Can you imagine? For reference Dwight is 6 foot one.

Sticking with the reference thing-I am five feet five inches-and this tree's diameter could easily be 8 feet.

Vacation Reality

I didn't get to see the Northern Lights, but Glacier Park was so beautiful that I did not want to leave and we camped in 34 degree weather.

I got to see the Avalanche Gorge, Avalanche Lake, The weeping wall, Going the Sun Road, Lake McDonald, mountain goats and for the first time ever-big horned sheep!
The picture below is Avalanche Gorge:

We got to see some magnificent water falls

and due to something I saw on Pinterest we visited the Devil's Punch bowl-We made it for low tide so it wasn't the same as Pinterest had it pictured, but while we were there we got to see whales and ate some clam chowder while we watched the whales (Dwight's first clam chowder).

The hardest part of parenting

Parenting has never been easy for me. I think it all started with the loss of sleep. My fault for waking up to watch a baby sleep. Some how breathing was more assured if I watched for a couple of hours. Then, came kindergarten and my world walked out my door to a new world beyond. I swallowed the lump in my throat when my child pulled out of the driveway without me grabbing the "oh shit" bar. Along the way, I resisted the impulse to tan another kids' butt for breaking a heart so dear to me. I watched my baby grow and learn. Looking back, it happened in the blink of an eye. So much, so quick.
And the hardest part?
Letting go.
Letting the baby grow up like she's supposed to do.
The first one put me into a toxic relationship with tequila. The second left a huge whole in my heart. It wasn't if we didn't try to see each other every chance we got, but I didn't get to see him every day or every week. I don't know if he ate, or slept well.
Now it's time, for the last birdie to leave the nest and she's not flying around the mountain this time.
I'd grab hold of her leg and beg her not to go, but that wouldn't stop her and would look really awkward.
At some point, every mom wants her child to be happy. She puts her baby's dreams ahead of her own and let's her fly.
It's not easy  this letting go. I'd like to keep her wrapped up safely and close to me, but she wouldn't be happy there and that's just not acceptable.
So I'll do my best to smile when I wave her out of the driveway.

Happy Anniversary

Five years has never flown by so quickly with so much fun, excitement, and happy memories. Love you more today than when we first kissed and hope for many tomorrows.

Wonder lust part three

Vacation time is drawing near. Very near. So close I can smell it. We're doing our final plotting and making final adjustments to our plans. If traffic goes smoothly, we could spend Saturday night in Glacier Park. It would be cold (high today was a whopping 54), there are a few  bears, but there is a chance of seeing the Northern Lights. A very, very small chance-but a chance. They were last seen July 24, 2015.

I know the chances of seeing them are very, very slim; however, if we spend the night in the park we won't have to wait for it to open and I can take more early morning shots of Going the Sun Road, the Weeping Wall, Bird Woman Falls, Avalanche Gorge, McDonald Lake.

But I would really, really like to see the lights just once.

Lee Bell Hovland reading "Mom’s Last Wishes" and Why I love my dogs

So after Dixie and Oscar had played in the sweltering summer heat for a few hours, they came inside to join me for facebook time.  Dixie assumes her position to my left between my leg and the arm rest. One paw under my leg and one over my leg. Her head is resting on her paw over my leg watching the computer intently. Oscar is on the right, sitting in the crook of my arm. While it sounds a little crowded, it's not. We can all see the screen and no one is really cramped. A friend of mine had shared Lee's reading "Mom's Last Wishes". I have only seen it a hundred times, so I hit play once more. Oscar gives me the look-he tilts his head as soon as Lee's voice came on as if to say:"Mom, she sounds just like you." Dixie noticed it too and cocked her head and all three of us watched the screen, listening to Lee's voice.  At a certain point, her voice cracks and that's usually when my tears start to fall. Today was no exception. I'm trying to focus on what she's saying and reliving  the past so I don't notice that Oscar and Dixie have scooted closer to me. I don't notice them until they try ever so gently to kiss every part of my face. You can't be sad with tons of puppy kisses and so before I knew it I was laughing. I know there are scientists that would tell me that they were simply licking salt off my face, but for the record-sweat has much more salt than tears and they don't kiss me after I work in the garden. 

Summer check list

So Summer is well on to being over. Have you gotten your Summer on?

Watermelon? check

Floated the river? done

Enjoyed summer evening? yep