The more I get to know and hang out with my gkids, the more I dread this summer when they’ll move far away.  Worse yet, eventually my son will follow them there.  Some things in life are just out of your hands, so you learn to treasure the moments you have.  For some of us, it takes a lifetime to learn to be here now.  But enough of my regrets.  I’m very thankful for the good times I’ve been granted.

Saturday we had a fun time with my son and kids at their home, at Full Service BBQ (another first for us, including the scary Nazi with the swastika), at a huge nearby playground, where a mother duck and her long parade of ducklings swam down the stream, and back at the house, where we saw one of the resident lizards (an anole?) on the deck.  Not to mention the many gorgeous flowers and interesting native plants.  It was a perfect day for playing in the woods.

Speaking of wildlife, more critters are making themselves at home at our house.  We have lizards (a skink, I believe) warming themselves near the porch, and large birds performing mating rituals in our trees.  Last night a possum strolled by our front door.  Maybe checking out the veggie garden, which I finished planting yesterday.  Observing and looking after nature is what helps keep me sane through the anxiety and sinking hopes.