August 10, 1955. The marriage of my aunt and uncle.
I am the one on the far left.

I've always thought of my aunt and uncle as having been married a LONG time, and us (ten fewer years) as a relatively short time, but I think we can now agree both marriages are long-lived. Since I was raised by a divorced woman, this marriage is my model as to how it can work. Happy anniversary, Pat and Jim!

Rich has been retired a week now. I don't think it will actually hit us till we get back from our trip to take Bernadette to school. Up till then, it's getting ready, and we have to be back by the 28th for a Music Circus event, so there are deadlines. But as of the 29th, no deadlines, and then we'll see. Today he went to the commissary, fetching the canned goods and toiletries Bernadette will need for the year. Last week he fixed the emergency brake handle and installed a porch valve for the mister. That really simplifies getting the amount of water Just Right, instead of walking back and forth to the faucet. Today I noted the mail carrier stopping long enough to step into the mist before she went on.
Rich went to fix B's bike, but since she didn't ride it at all last year, it didn't need maintenance. He ordered a turnvalve for our Coleman lantern, which was broken by Roni and/or R.J. a couple of years ago. He's now down getting new tires.

Bernadette and I have had a couple of interesting conversations of late. The other day she was reading something out of the paper about a baroque violinist, almost through with her concert, when her violin fell apart. She said "is there a baroque violin in the house?" My response: "well, yes, at least one. Yours is definitely 'baroque.'"
Continuing in this punny vein, she was on the phone with her friend Neva today, and telling her about Powell's City of Books. "How many stories does Powell's have?" she asked me. "4 or 5," I answered. "No, make that millions and millions."

I couldn't believe one letter to the editor, complaining about the use of the "foreign" word "tsunami" instead of real honest-to-goodness English "tidal wave." The letter was from a DOCTOR, fercryin'outloud! Rich says that he probably knows medicine just fine. I'm sorry, I think someone with general knowledge probably makes a better doctor that an expert in a narrow specialty. I think being able to pull from a greater body of knowledge would make one better as a diagnostician, for instance. It's not like English was fossilized umpteen years ago and doesn't borrow. The borrowing is part of what makes it such a vibrant, exciting language. And "tsunami" is a word a Californian should know.

Monica tells me she's going to be at a seminar in New York so will be unable to help with the plant stall. It's really good she told me so far in advance. See, we SHOULD have had it in July, when she could come! Roni rescued a blue jay fledge from Jeeves, and kept it overnight and took it to WildCare.

Nick came over to check on his house-sitting duties. I'm truly delighted. Justine does a good job with the pets and the mail, but the plants would be dry when we got back, as we can't expect her to do the gardening. Nick eats all the tomatoes, but that's OK. Bernadette thought he should go to the Garrison Keillor show, and pass up a card for us: "Your rabbit is fed, your plants are watered, and you're out of Pizza Pockets."
I dreamt about this trip last night. I somehow doubt there'll be snow falling on Olympic Park in August, but in my dream it was, and we decided to cancel the camping. (Wimps.) We also kept meeting Ceej. I'm dreaming about online journallers now! Time for a vacation!

Nick's parents were by yesterday, as well, to organize the Boy Scout camping.
At one point yesterday Rich and I were doing the usual dance around the house: I will look in back for him, he will have just walked to the front. I will go to the front door, he's returned to the rear. I was being sneaky yesterday, and looked out the side, into the carport. No Rich. Just then our neighbor across the street went out the front door, looked around the yard, and started calling "Frank?" I suddenly figured there was a husband pied-piper on the street, and all the husbands had disappeared!
Rich (I finally found him) and I discussed such a being. He thought shapely and blonde, but when I mentioned football on wide-screen TV, he agreed that would be a more likely lure.

There was a man in England (I hear second-hand on the radio) who says the English are superior to Americans for three reasons:

1. They speak English.
2. When they host a world sports championship, they invite people from other countries. (Hey, we have a couple of Canadian baseball teams!)
3. They only have to go down on ONE knee when they meet their head of state!

In Church yesterday I was sitting in front of a small girl (about 4) who was singing "Kyrie, Kyrie, Eleison!" at the top of her atonal voice. Cracked me up. Later she was shouting out the Lord's Prayer as though maybe the Lord needs hearing aids. When I shook her hand I said "You REALLY attend Mass, don't you?" Afterwards, I asked her parents if they remember Bernadette at that age. We used to sit really close to the front so the children could see what was going on and not get any more bored than absolutely necessary. Bernadette liked the handshake part, and would sit on the aisle and shake the hands of everyone coming down to Communion. If they didn't shake her hand, she was apt to hit them!
Then we looked at Bernadette, now, in the choir, and I said we'd be taking her back soon. They asked, harried, (little girl has a small brother), if it was hard to say "goodbye" again. I couldn't help the big grin that went over my face as I said "no." The parents were relieved to know there is Life After Children.
This is not quite fair: of course we've enjoyed having her here this summer, and we'll miss her. HOWEVER, we didn't have much child-free time in the early years. In fact, after our second honeymoon in Paris for our fifth anniversary, we didn't have any time without children for 20 more years. I do happen to like Rich and we do have fun together, and while it's nice having the children around, it's nice having an empty nest, too.

And we're heading toward OUR 43rd anniversary!