Three Cards From The Tacoma Trio Of David, Theo & Ruby

Opening my mailbox today I was surprised to find three identical envelopes, all from Washington, all addressed to Uncle D.

I knew this had to be from the Tacoma Trio, but what could David, Theo and Ruby be sending to me?

Was I forgetting a holiday?

Is it my birthday?

I am sort of losing track of time, what with the discombobulated current state of the world.

Those are the three envelopes above, awaiting opening.

Opening the three envelopes I found three cards, each slightly different. David's is green with the word "joy". Theo's is purple with the word "hope". Ruby's is greenish-blue with the word "peace".

I then opened the cards to find carefully handwritten messages.

That is David's on the left, Ruby's in the middle, with Theo's on the right. Each message made mention of building sand castles. David and Ruby both verbalizing wanting me to come visit at their new beach cabin. Theo indicated that the sand castle building could only happen when COVID-19 is over.

I readily admit to feeling rather melancholy of late. The part of Ruby's note saying "I hope you don't get sick, and I love you a lot" sorta got to me.

Up til this COVID-19 nightmare arrived I was pretty much 100% I would be in Washington this summer, visiting the Tacoma Trio and their Harstine Island cabin, and sand castle building at Birch Bay.

The Tacoma Trio's Aunt Jackie and Uncle Jack, also known as my sister Jackie and favorite brother-in-law Jack, flew up to Washington yesterday. It was an emergency flight due to Jack's mom ailing bad.

Due to the COVID-19 complications a direct flight to Spokane was not possible, flying into Spokane required layovers adding up to a 10 hour travel time. So, Jackie and Jack flew direct to Seattle, then rented a car to drive over the mountains to Jack's mom and dad's abode in Moses Lake.

Jackie had been being extremely cautious during the ongoing lockdown and was a bit non-plussed at having to fly during this troubling time. How does the social distancing work going through security? Waiting to get on the plane? Boarding the plane? Renting a car? Staying in a motel?

It's all so vexing.

I was so looking forward to roadtripping to Washington this summer for the first time since 2001. And now that is on hold.

I will repeat. So vexing...