Memories

I was chatting online the other day with my friend, Bridgett, who mentioned she was restoring an old Camaro she got from her mom. That reminded me of the Camaro that I owned when I was younger. It was a '77 model with a 4 on the floor, and I honestly can't remember the size of the engine except that it was quite powerful and got lousy gas mileage. Of course, gas was about 50 cents a gallon back then so it wasn't too bad.

It was my first new car and I bought it while I stationed in Nuclear Power School in Orlando, Florida. Wanda really liked the Camaro body style, so that was one of the reasons I decided to go with the model. Mine didn't have a lot of features, but as a young E-4 in the Navy, it was about as much as I could afford. It took me back and forth between Orlando and Atlanta almost every weekend for 6 months, and then took me from Orlando to Idaho Falls, Idaho for Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) instruction. Wanda and I then drove the car from Idaho to Connecticut shortly after we got married and kept the car until our first child was born. I then sold it to one of my younger brothers who kept it for many years after that.

In the photo above, Wanda, all of 17 years old, is sitting on the car during a stop in the middle of Wyoming. She was a bit car sick and quite warm. We were traveling during the summer and the Camaro had no air conditioning - which didn't matter too much once we got to Connecticut.

One nice thing about being a prolific photographer is the images that you can pull out of your archives to help you remember so many different things. If Bridgett hadn't mentioned her Camaro, though, I probably wouldn't have remembered this image for quite a while. Thanks, Bridge.

Swirls of Change

So much has been changing recently that it's hard for me to keep up. Even the changes keep changing, or at least I don't know what the final change will be. My son and his family (and more specifically my granddaughter) may be moving back to Oregon. That will be wonderful for Wanda and me, and good for them in some ways since they will be closer to family and old friends, but not so great for them in other ways. For Wanda and I, it means a chance to spoil our granddaughter and do more with her with the her cousins.

There are other changes as well - with work, with life, with children and grandchildren. But life is all about change. It's never static and always challenging. Some things we have control over, but others are totally out of our control, if not out of our sphere of influence. So, changes are normal and we have to expect them, and learn to deal with them as best we can. But change is inevitable.

Wanda is on her way HOME!

The text came this morning - "on my way." That meant that Wanda as able to catch the 8 am direct flight out of Atlanta to Portland and she'll be home in a couple more hours. With any luck, she will have gotten some sleep, because two of the grandkids are here, and she's going to have her hands full with a little girl who has been missing her for the past three weeks.

When her mother took so ill three weeks ago, we weren't sure if Wanda was going to help her get better or to attend a funeral. Thankfully, it was the former rather than the latter, and Wanda was able to devote the time after her mother got out of the hospital to getting her mom on a good treatment regime, working with her to stay compliant on her medications, and helping both her parents to get their affairs in order so that should anything happen the preparations are in place.

It's good that she went to Georgia to take care of those things, but she certainly has been missed around here. This big house, and that big bed, seem so empty and quiet without her. Of course, Makayla can fill the house up with energy despite her small size, but Makayla isn't here all the time. I know the girls have missed their mom as well - otherwise they both wouldn't be here right now waiting for her return.

So, she was missed and we're damn glad she's coming home. Me especially.