Without the lights, no one would notice the elephants.

It's quite unclear whether people can make out the unlit elephants. It's a big grey area.

It's a big grey area.

Heh.

I admit I wore my exercise gear all day. I usually do, unless I can manage a shower right after class.

Oh, you guys, today's classic story from my grandmother: She was telling us about her cousin who would come visit in the summers. He had a really cute Irish girlfriend for years, but one year he came with a PITA new girlfriend, who was even less pretty than the Irish girl! So apparently my great-grandmother said she was going to get him to marry her, and she did. "Well, I guess my mother was right.... She was better in bed." Me, mock-horrified: "But how would he know that before they got married????" My grandmother: "They lived in New York."

Hah, Jesse, that's awesome.

Cass, thanks for your hard-won wisdom. My sister & I are trying to keep an eye on Dad without trampling his independence, but he's also kind of lonely, so it's a hard balance. Anyway, I booked flights for us both to go to Colorado to see my brother & his family, and then Dad will go on to Chicago to see my oldest brother and his restaurant.

Today, we took him to church and then had a nice Father's Day brunch and a walk in the woods & strawberry-rhubarb pie. (Which turned out far better than I expected, since I was convinced the inside would be sweet red soup.)

He seemed pleased, but tired and he seems to have very little stamina. Which makes me worry a little about going to Colorado; we're going to Crested Butte for part of the trip, which is even higher than Boulder.

Anyway. I just hope he can get some real enjoyment out of life for a while.

Yeah, New York is that way.

Consuela, I've only been to Colorado a couple times. The first time I suffered horribly from altitude sickness. The next time I super hydrated for a few days before the trip and had no trouble at all. Your father is indeed blessed to have his caring children with him during this time of grief.

My dad passed at 62 and we were really worried about mom. She has been the caretaker for so many years and was in a place where she felt she no longer had purpose. That was 30 years ago this past spring and she will be 92 this summer. No one honest will say it is a smooth and easy process, but we do manage to go forward.

Ah jeez -- the person I'm supposed to be interviewing with this afternoon is home sick. They offered to do it via Skype from their office, or to reschedule for later this week. I took a vacation day today, so I should do the Skype one, right? Ugh. Suboptimal for everyone!

I shared a link on Facebook about a little girl who made a protest of Westboro Baptist Church by selling pink lemonade. First of all that's pretty awesome. It still kinda weirds me out that one of the members used to be a co-worker of mine.

Well, crap. I killed the thread.

At least we can expect the Westboro members to show up for the thread funeral.