Good News Bad News

The bad news is that my cousin Donnie has died. He was a little older than Debbie and me and the "boy cousin" we saw the most. He grew up to be a real Carolina fan and sports nut. In many ways, neither of us ever had much in common with him, but for Mom and Dad he was a link back to Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Evelyn and precious for that alone. When he moved to Raleigh to teach, he joined Mom and Dad's church, which I always took as a nod to his esteem for them.

He has been very sick for a long time but has repeatedly rallied like the energizer bunny. But lately, he had outlived the possibility of regaining any measure of quality in his life, so I'm OK to let him go on to The Next Place.

Another cousin says so many people they know have died since Debbie, in April, that her children have asked if this is the season for it. I can see where they would ask. I was watching Ted Kennedy's funeral mass on TV today and found myself missing Walter Cronkite.

The good news is that my nephew, Jeffrey, graduated from his master's program at University of Chicago yesterday. I'm not sure exactly what he's going to do next, but I'm sure he's on his way to becoming Dr. Parker.

Work continues to be good and interesting. I love coming home across the James Island connector that swings over the downtown marina before it takes you onto Ashley River Road back into West Ashley. First I cross a vast expanse of marsh, which is bright green right now. Then the marina comes into view with huge yatchts and a mass of lesser sailboats. One day this week there was a group of what could have been Lasers clustered together in a spread-out circle; a sailing class, I imagine. One more turn of the road and you have to pay attention to traffic backing up again, but there's a nice stretch there where you get to really enjoy the view.

My Personal News of the Weird

Weird little things from my daily life these days:

The pool is closed by order of the health department. What's that about?

Duncan, who never goes anywhere on his own, will be out of town for his birthday. Since he's going south of Atlanta, it only seems to make sense that he should take the car -- that leaves me with The White Rocket for the weekend. It's been a really long time since I've had to use a clutch -- especially one that's nearly 20 years old.

Speaking of which, I've found a wine called White Truck that I've decided should be our standard house wine.

Last Sunday, a family at our church had their three sons baptized. I don't know the mom at all, but she is an artist and a yoga instructor. In my typical judgmental way, I had her cast as a groovy earth mother. Then someone told me that before she had a family she was a -- deep sea diving shark hunter! Wow!

At the exact moment of Debbie's death, I was getting my hair cut. Now, I find myself very reluctant to make that appointment. My hair is not quite out of control, but getting there.

At some point during the night, everyone in my house takes a turn snoring like a drunken sailor -- including Eloise.

When I was on my origami box tear, I made a pretty little triangular box from some very good quality, but old, wallpaper found in a closet during a clean-up day at church. A friend saw it, and said she knew the daughter of the person who bought that wallpaper. She took the box to her friend, who, in turn, gave it to her mother and sure enough, the paper was recognized and the box is prized. Tonight, I met the daughter.

Her mother was an interior decorator and remembers the house and room where she used that paper. She loves the little box -- Lucy said she looks at it and says "How is the world did she make that???"

Her mother is 93. She went to design school in New York City in the late 30s and worked in the city through the 40s before moving to Charleston. Lucy recently took her back to NYC for a few days and mom thoroughly enjoyed herself.

My little blog has turned 1 year old. Happy Birthday Fried Green Tomatoes -- and Duncan -- and Eloise!

Woof! Woof!

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Even though this picture represents one of my preferred states, for the last couple of weeks I have learned so much that I am seeing html code in my dreams.

Not only am I learning computer code, but I'm also learning a whole new business (again), and getting to know a new group of co-workers.

Plus, Duncan and I are having to work out a new routine just to cover the home-front basics. I know we look like we've been together forever, but this is brand new for us. We haven't both worked full-time since we got married.

My brain is getting lots of new wrinkles with all this change going on. That's supposed to keep you young. Good.

My new office is in a not-much-to-look-at house on James Island, but the view out the kitchen window is pretty. The dock, I believe, is at the business owner's family home and the water is the Clark Sound that wraps around the bottom of James Island and then opens out to the ocean. It's pretty.