Great Sadness. Great Happiness.
2017 was the first time since 2001 that I drove solo on a long roadtrip. In 2001 it was a July drive back to Washington, to surprise my mom and dad at their 50th wedding anniversary party, with that party taking place on August 11, that being the first Saturday since mom and dad's actual anniversary date of August 6.
On August 11 of 2017 I found myself at Birch Bay where at some point in the night I found myself blowing out a birthday candle. The next day, August 12, my brother Jake, sister Michele, sister-in-law Kristin, and nephews Jason, David and Theo and niece Ruby, uncle Mooch, aunt Jane, aunt Judy and others, arrived at Lynden where we buried my dad.
That solo roadtrip in 2017 began June 7 with the final destination being Sun Lakes, Arizona. The first night I stayed in Albuquerque. The next day my vehicle suddenly came to a halt 10 miles east of Flagstaff. This turned into a few traumatic hours. I was rescued by more than one angel. By five I was back on the road, and a couple hours later finally able to relax at my brother's condo in Scottsdale.
I remained in the Phoenix zone until June 24. Suffice to say that stay in Arizona was an emotional roller coaster which I don't think I want to detail. I left Sun Lakes early Saturday, June 24, taking the south route back to Texas, the route which passes through El Paso. I drove over 800 miles that day, finally stopping about an hour before midnight. I slept for a couple hours then drove the final couple hundred miles back to Wichita Falls.
Five days later I got the message that dad was at peace.
I am so glad I took that roadtrip to Arizona last summer. To not have done so, well, that would not have been good.
A few minutes after landing at Sea-Tac I met David, Theo and Ruby for the first time.
David, Theo and Ruby are one of the parts of 2017, which were the best of times.
Long ago, via nephews Jason, Joey, Christopher and Jeremy I learned I liked being an uncle. But, I thought those years had long passed, for me, til last summer, when I found myself having the most uncle fun I have had in many years.
Riding bikes, wave pooling, pedi-cabbing, blackberry picking, dungeness crab chasing, avoiding arrest for illegal pull tabbing.
And building sand castles at Birch Bay.
Along with swimming in the warm water of Birch Bay, which the fates favored us our first day there with a low tide rolling in, soon upon our arrival, with the sun heated sand heating up the incoming tide.
David, Theo and Ruby's mom, my little sister Michele, never played in Birch Bay when she was a kid, like her older siblings did. So, Michele did not know the water is not deep. Ruby did not make it out too far, but David, Theo and I got far enough out that the parental units on shore were hollering that we were in too deep. We three dipped low in the water to maintain the illusion of being in real deep water. And then after a few more minutes of hollering we stood up to show those on shore that the water was not dangerously deep. We found this amusing at the time.
Two days later Theo and I were out a couple hundred feet from shore, wading, when we came upon a dungeness crab. Theo and I then chased the crab, and got chased by it. Theo was so funny. Meanwhile David was stuck on a sandbar wanting to be rescued from what he thought must be a herd of invading crabs. Eventually uncle Jake made it out to where Theo and I were crab chasing. Jake reached down and picked up the crab. Theo's reaction to this was what the word "priceless" was invented for.
So, 2017 was a year of ups and downs. In multiple ways. Back in June I returned to bike riding. Two weeks ago today my bike was stolen.
In another type of down, for the first time in several years I start the new year with my weight well under 200 pounds.
It was that week in Washington, followed by a week in Arizona last summer which got me on an effortless track of shrinking. In Washington I got inspired by Kristin to expand my salad making repertoire when I watched Kristin make tabouli salad. Then in Arizona my sister Jackie made a corn salad which was so good. When I got back to Texas I started making variations of both salad inspirations, along with others. Extremely nutritious, low calorie, filling and pounds melted off effortlessly. That shrinkage was not intended, just an unexpected benefit.
Anyway, Happy New Year, well, I hope 2018 is a Happy New Year....
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