New phones

This past week we got new phones.  What a process for us.  Two full days in the review of what seems like an unlimited selection.  We are happy with what we purchased, the iphone 5c.  It was the most user friendly for us of all the ones we looked at but it has taken us some time to catch up on the techy world with lots of exasperating sighs.  They certainly lessen our dependence on the computer and unlike out old "go phones", we can actually talk inside the house now. How civilized. 

So where were you?

Every generation asks that question after a traumatic event...the Challenger explosion...9/11...etc.  For my earliest recollection, it was JFK's assassination.  I was 15, sitting in geometry class when we heard commotion in the hallway and girls crying.  It soon became known what had happened in Dallas on a Friday around noon.  I think everyone was glued to the TV over the weekend and on Monday there was no school so we could watch the funeral.  It left a huge impact on my life.  This vital man with so much of life ahead of him and in an instant, it was over.   I realized for the second time in my life how fragile life is.  The first time was the death of the Mosier boys, 2 neighborhood boys who died in a car accident  when I was only 12.  Grief is hard for a young person.  It's hard to know what is "normal"...what is "acceptable" but I soon learned that grief is something that one doesn't just get over...it takes a long time.  After watching some of the footage this past week of Kennedy's death, I still had eyes that welled up remembering the sadness of 50 years ago and how it intruded on my generation and its innocence.

Date Night

On the island we hardly ever go out for dinner.  Not really sure why...ok, cost may be one factor...it's hard to get out of a decent restaurant for less than a $100 after a nice bottle of wine.  But also the summers on the island are so crazy busy with tourists crowding all the restaurants and in the winter it's just easier to make a fire and cozy up with polar fleece and smart wool socks on the many dark, cold rainy days.  But here...well, Thursday nights have become date night.  We are avoiding the weekends for obvious reasons and it's fun to look forward to getting out and not cooking.  I think it's the lifestyle here and things are cheaper in general, but also the big guy has not been out on the tractor or weeding or working on his lathe all day and so there is energy to go out...such a novelty.

6:30 A.M.?

I have not written on this thing forever.  We are now in Tucson and enjoying the weather...really, an understatement.  I have had to make some adjustments in my exercise routine as the afternoons have been warm and it's a bit much for Hank.  So I have been getting up at 6:30 and off we go.  The mornings are glorious here, cool with gorgeous sunrises.  I can get my sweating done early, shower and be ready for the day.  I just never thought I could get my body moving at that hour of the day but it's been going well.