May 20th

My tulips are blooming!

Had no idea what colors I was planting in the fall....

Green Vermont.

the pond

Funerals

Two deaths is a week and a few hours.  Two funerals in a week and a day.  I am tired, yet I am not the one who cared for the dying family members - my aunts and uncles must be exhausted.

I have learned a few things though, for helping others in their time of need and what I want at my own funeral:

Fruit baskets, while lovely, healthy, and useful, are a lot of fruit.

Shepherd’s Pie is the most common dish to bring to families.  Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate and thank the people who made dishes...but Shepherd’s Pie three days in a row from different people?  Probably the number one reason I will always make something else for families in need.

Organ music, while nice, is NOT the instrument that I want to be played at my funeral.  Way too wheezy and depressing.

Pictures hanging up on magnetic boards produces a lot more memories, talk, and laughter than pictures on a slide show.

A wake should not be done at the church - or at the very least, not in the sanctuary.

I’d like my funeral to be more about the lives I’ve impacted, than about my accomplishments.

I am truly impressed at how one side of my family rallied around my grandmother while she was dying (though the infighting by certain spouses after the death is really trying).  I wish my grandfather’s death had inspired the same amount of rallying on that side of the family...though I don’t think they will have as much infighting about personal possessions.

The out pouring of prayers, thoughts, meals, deeds, special music, feeding my dogs, and offers of help, from family, friends, co-workers is truly inspiring.  I had no idea people could be so kind.

But now, as the busyness of getting ready for death is done, and the bodies buried, and the traveling done; now I think is the time for my grief to rise.

You will be greatly missed Grandma, especially by your children since you were the last remaining parent.

You will be greatly missed Grandpa, especially by the wife you left behind and the amazing legacy of marriage that was built on love and mutual respect.

"Wait for the Sun"

All the horribleness that comes with living, there are so many moments of joy and life, that we go on.  (Though this is easier when the grief is more felt than lived and is a generation removed...but it still is.)

Today has been an absolutely gorgeous day!  The sun was shining when I woke up, the birds chirping, the temperature in the low to mid-60's by mid-morning (too warm to scooter the dogs though), everything greening up beautifully, my sister had to go to work so the house to myself...just an awesome day to enjoy life.

So I spent the morning doing a load of laundry, picking up after last night's bonfire, vacuuming up the Sibe fur carpet on top of my bedroom carpet (blowing coats season), cleaning out a closest and the laundry cupboards (this was two-fold, as I was actually hunting for hardware to hang shades, but the closest and cupboards were messy), bringing up the last of the stockpiled dog food from the basement (time to order more!), fetching Jack's friszer out of the Ice Box (aka the pond)...busy work.  Then my other sister stopped by and after lunch we went for a hike up the mountain to my uncle's hunting camp.

Karen had her two dogs: Jack (chocolate Lab) and Abby (who near as we can figure is an Australian Kelpie http://2000dogs.com/australiankelpie.htm, that somehow ended up on Vermont of all places) and I had the puppies.  So down my driveway, then up the road toward my dad's farm, then up into the fields, through the pastures, up into the woods...thankfully with it being Spring, there are lots of little brooks right now to toss the pups into so they could stay cooled down as there isn't any real shade cover.  Then up and up to the camp.  We sat on the porch (I winced a bit when I saw how the porch was supported, not so sure a 6x6 block is the best support for a column) and let all the dogs cool down and drink some of the water we had brought.  We meandered inside the camp as I hadn't been up there in years and signed the guest/log book.  Then one of the dogs decided to pee on the floor...I'm pretty sure it was Rogue; she was the only one who hadn't gone on the way up, though why she thought she had to then is beyond me!  Then after we cleaned Rogue's mess up, off on another trail back down towards the fields and back home.

The trails we were walking on are snowmobile trails in the winter...but I'm still, shy shall we say?, on steep trails with two dogs and this winter I'll have four, so maybe we'll try the trails up to camp...and maybe not!

Once we were back to my house, we tossed a ball into the Ice Box for Jack so he could enjoy the pond before going home.  Gambit jumped into the pond after Jack - so maybe I have a water Sibe!  Rogue, she doesn't like the pond, but I pushed her in enough so she at least got wet up to her belly so she could cool off.  Even Abby, who is almost scared of the water, jumped in to cool down.

Then after playing in the pond, Karen, Jack, and Abby went home; I took down my laundry (which smells SO good!), and went back to my chores.  And then I decided, screw the chores - let's sit in the sun on the porch and write for a while...especially since these days don't come along all that often and work begins anew tomorrow...