Stitches Out and Hitting the Road

I finally got my stitches taken out from my thumb surgery last Monday. What a relief. Now, I can wash my hair without little pokey things sticking me in the scalp.

We are shortly off for a little vacation up north. It's time for the annual Blues Fest down by the Bay and the family reunion that accompanies it. It is a time for sitting in the sun, drinking questionable beer, and listening to the blues as the big ships drift by out in the channel. Four days of music and nuttin much else.

It is a time when those of my family who are able to make it back to the old home place do so and we all wind up camping in some kind of lawn chair circle while the music plays on. I can't remember when this informal reunion started, but it's been going on now for some time.

My son is already up there - spending time with cousins - both local and from out of town. My daughter and I leave tomorrow to do the same. It will be a while before we return and internet access will be spotty. I'll try to upgrade as I can.

After the Blues Fest, we head to a cabin on a river in the adjacent state for a week of relaxing. It is a time of listening to the wind whispering through the tops of tall pines, of crackling fires, of sitting on the dock watching the world flow by, and some walks of solitude, remembering those who have gone before.

This will be the last bit of quiet and peace that I will enjoy for some time. When our week on the river ends, it will be back to chaos as I try to figure out how to move two siblings in opposite directions at approximately the same time. Bear in mind that neither one has done a bit of serious packing as of yet. This will not be pretty.

So, if you see me, or talk to me on the phone and I seem a bit distracted, or agitated, or maybe even homicidal, it's just the time we are going through and I'll be better - maybe sometime in October.