The warm pinks and yellows. The girl in lace. An amazing mother. Those glasses. Talented daughter-in-law photographer. That little smile. Soon to be three. So smart. Is a great cuddler. Our little miracle. So dang Alaskan. Should have her own YouTube channel. Adventurous. So very sweet and a precious gift from Heavenly Father to two amazing parents.
“Brothers and sisters, we have a heaven-sent opportunity as an entire Church to demonstrate ‘pure religion … undefiled before God’ (James 1:27) — ‘to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light’ and to ‘comfort those that stand in need of comfort,’ (Mosiah 18:8-9) to minister to the widows and the fatherless, the married and the single, the strong and the distraught, the downtrodden and the robust, the happy and the sad — in short, all of us, every one of us, because we all need to feel the warm hand of friendship and hear the firm declaration of faith.” Elder Jeffrey Holland. And today – that is what we did today and it was a great day!
We stopped by to visit our friend Suzette and of course her big fluffy orange cat jumped up on Ruth’s lap for a cuddle. Ruth does not care for cats! Why is it that cats always go to the person that doesn’t like them? That is the question I have always wondered. Here is an explanation I found: “When humans don’t care for cats, they try to avoid looking at them and at the same time keep an eye on them. They want to make sure that the cat isn’t coming … Oh darn, here it comes, rubbing on my leg, jumping in my lap, purring. Let’s look at this from the cat’s point of view. All aggression in the feline world starts with staring. Polite cats are demure; they look briefly and then look away. So when you meet a cat you want to be friends with, note its location in the room and avert your eyes.”
In Alaska, fireweed is purportedly a harbinger of the first snow. It begins blooming in late summer, and by the time the blooms at the top have begun to wilt, old Sourdoughs say that the first snow is less than six weeks away. Harbinger? What a great word. It means a person or things that announces or signals the approach of another. My daughter-in-law posted this picture and although fireweed is beautiful I had a moment of panic thinking we all gauge the future of our summer on this tall showy wildflower – but we do. We feel that bit of angst as we don’t want to surmise the death of our warmth and sun by watching it bloom out to the top. “When fireweed turns to cotton, summer will soon be forgotten” says Alaska Botanical Garden Education Specialist Patrick Ryan. So sad but so true and so stunning.
It is any box, any drawer, any bag or actually any thing that Ovi can get into she will. I have been redoing my cupboards and drawers and putting in new shelf liner. Never fail when the drawer comes out and it is all wiped down Ovi lays in it to take a nap and I’m ready to lay down new liner. Ovi is such a normal yet unique cat. “There are lots of reasons that cats love boxes, but the main one is because they’re confined, enclosed spaces. Cats are ambush predators and finding confined places where they can hide, hunt prey and feel safe and warm is an instinctive behaviour. Snug cardboard boxes fit the bill perfectly.”
And off we went to show Alec our popular and favorite hangout. Little Miller’s in Houston is the place – you know, where the big ice cream cone is. I slowly savored my favorite hard ice cream cone served in a sweet waffle cone and realized why I don’t come here often – because I would eat one of these every single day. The kids were sticky and messy and lapped up their soft ice cream goo and then stuck their heads through the big circle so I could snap a shot.
The crumpled up dollar travelled. One of my nieces or nephews made a deal with one of the little grands when we were in Tennessee that if they did something they would get a dollar. That dollar moved from one child to another – I saw it crumpled on a table, crumpled in a chair and in the sticky little hands of another. It came home on the airplane stuffed in a little backpack and now it sits on my dining room table. That dollar was cherished and now it just sits. I wonder if it has served its purpose yet in the mind of a little one -probably not – that dollar meant the world to them. I leave it alone.
This boy has waited a long time for a tooth to fall out. He has had cousins about his age lose theirs the past year. He has had school mates lose theirs. He went to the dentist and he said the tooth wasn’t loose – not yet. Hinckley wanted to lose a tooth so badly. It is so cool to have that toothless gap when you are his age. Finally and with great excitement we are all announcing that Hinckley lost his front tooth. The tooth fairy should be pretty generous for the patient little patient.
It is summer solstice and the best, longest, lightest and happiest day of the year for so many reasons. The first is that I can relish in every light beautiful moment in my day and get so many things done. Second. The day is long and so much more fruitful – very few hours are needed for sleep. Third. I love light – I close my eyes in daylight and wake up to daylight and appreciate the sun rays that have joined us as well. Fourth. There are celebrations and that is so much fun – I enjoy seeing and hearing what people do to celebrate. Fifth – I receive beautiful photos like this one from my friend Ruth. This is the lake they live on and she took this picture at 12:02 am. Breathtaking and happy Summer Solstice 2022.
Soccer again and these two just crack me up. Cal and Remi are on the same team and practice/play every Monday night. They are so cute to watch and they are just like the little couple. Remi has her cute little girl voice and Cal has a deeper “I’m all guy” voice and they truly look out for one another. These two little cousins are always the pals. Cal says he is going to marry Remi and we can’t bear to tell him that won’t be happening so we don’t. We just watch and smile- oh another water break!
Tara Truly 