Lake Ralphine

We had a nice walk around Lake Ralphine with Spike this morning. 

Things in the garden have been struggling. The predictable summer weather came  in the spring and there really wasn't a winter. The tomatoes are ripening but also not looking so great. Upon investigation, John figured out that he had the wrong program for the vegetable beds and the tomatoes weren't getting enough water. Hopefully it's not too late to rectify that. 

We had an unexpected call from our former neighbors' daughter, Susan, today. We had a very close relationship with her parents, who moved into the house next door to ours on Magnolia Street at the same time we did. We watched our kids grow up together, went backpacking in the Sierra with them and had many impromptu, last minute dinners together. We went to their kid's weddings and they came to ours'. I often sat at my kitchen table talking with Susan about things she didn't feel she could share with her parents. 

Toward the end of the time we lived on Magnolia Street Susan's dad, the neighborhood news gatherer, developed Parkinson's Disease and her mother didn't seem able to cope. We finally convinced them that they needed to move to a more supportive environment, and their house was sold. The neighborhood never seemed quite the same without them and was a definite factor in our decision to move.

Susan's father died of complications of Parkinson's and Susan was finally able to convince her mother to move to a care home in Minneapolis which was nearer to her. It was a sad time for everybody, but it somehow strengthened our bond with Susan. Her call today was very touching. An uncle of hers had died and nobody called to inform her. She ultimately found out when she tried to call him, and she told us that she considered us family and, though she didn't want us to think she was being morbid, she didn't want anybody else she felt close to to die without her knowing. And that she considered us family.

We assured her that we were both alive and kicking and we would insure that she would be informed if things changed because we considered her family too. We talked about the effect of Covid on so many of us in so many ways, and how we had all become hermits on some level. I told her about my quilt project and she seemed really excited about getting a quilt in exchange for a donation to an organization of her choice. I suggested Planned Parenthood. So I have another 'commission'. And it will be a nice motivation for her to come visit us and pick it up when it is finished....