Mourning Willard

People of all ages morn the loss of a beloved pet.  This most recent acquisition of two new kittens was my way of avoiding the complete void of the death our first kitty, Celeste.  About 20 years ago, Son Jeff, knowing that we were looking for a kitten, brought us one that came from a litter his co-worker was giving away.  I had been so deprived, that the moment I hugged her, she purred.  Her face was calico on one side, and striped on the other and the same with her body, they had named her "Half-n-Half".  I  redubbed her Celeste and we had an instant bond.  After 16 years with her, she died of natural causes.  I didn't think I could love a pet as much.

I  eventually replaced her with Lily.  She was a mischievous kitten and absolutely adorable.  She thought it was really funny to perch on our headboard of the bed, and bonk sleeping Husband John on the head.  It made him angry, which she loved.

After she was about a year old, I decided that she needed a companion, and happened into a pet store.
There, I found a tiny little white kitten.  1 was told it was a she, and named her Violet.  She quickly gained weight, so I went to get her neutered, and much to my surprise, she was a he.  We changed her name to Willard, and he grew quickly into a beautiful white, long haired cat with green eyes that looked at you lovingly.  While I adored Lily, Willy, as he was nicknamed, stole my heart.  He was very athletic and joined Lily as great hunters.  They regularly brought home some poor victim.  Once, Willard came home with a live mouse, which he let go inside the house.  I freaked out, and literally stood on chairs until Mickey was finally cornered by Willard in our family room, as I breathed a sigh of relief, and we captured Mickey and threw him out.

A month ago, Willard became ill with Feline Diabetes,  Unable to respond to treatment, he passed away.

Yes, we have a lot of pleasure with our Kitties, and Lily is still with us.  We will always have pets, and will love and mourn each one with their passing.

Agates, and Pretty Rocks to polish and Beaches to Visit

I love the beach, the hotter the better as long as I am in the water!  As a child I would even try to swim in the sewers around our house, making sure I didn't get my clothes wet, until my mother raced to get my naked 2 year old body home quickly before I even could get in.

Me, under a smaller waterfall inside the grand Palouse falls, which was formally made into the state falls of Washington.

As I was growing up, we lived in the in the Puget Sound area, and our family took trips to Birch Bay, where I found beautiful agates and rocks, which I polished with my trusty  rock polisher.  (as an adult, I have been collecting rocks everywhere we travel to and then polish them.

The pure joy I feel at the beach, whether it is on Puget Sound, or the Columbia is only replace by my love for my  grandchildren, children, friends, and of course, my John

 A swimming pool will do, (me on my floater in our above the ground pool in Everett, )

 I am overlooking the Columbia River from our deck in Desert Aire

John & Me

John and I travel from our new home in Eastern Washington on the Columbia River, to the Pacific Ocean on the Washington coast, to Puget Sound, a channel, fed by the Pacific Ocean, that divides the Coast of Washington from Seattle, and surrounded cities on our other coastline  We love to travel by car, and visit as many places with wonderful water spots from Washington state, down the Oregon and California waterfronts.  After much travel, we find many other attractions inland, brimming with water activities.  I absolutely adore Oregon's  Crater Lake!  One really can't swim there, however it is magnificent

Ferry on Puget Sound, WA

At the ocean on the Oregon Coast

I could go on for hours about our great United States of America gifts for all of our tastes of activities, but only focused on my choices as those for a water baby.

Time Marches On

It it great to get back to blogging.  Because my eyes are getting dim, I am switching to large print.  

As I get older, time flies by.  When I was a child, a whole summer
seemed to be a grand and long season.

 We lived across the street from Elizabeth Park, which was my joyous playground, with swings, a slide, tennis court, and even a
pond.  I went back there as an adult, and they filled in the place where I caught polliwogs,  and every other swimming creature
you could imagine. I met my best friend there.  Her older sister spotted me, and took me home to meet Vicki.  We were exactly the same age.   I learned to ride my bike there, and made braided necklaces and ran all day long, except when my mother called me in for lunch, and then, for the day.  Mother's voice 
could be heard for miles.  Like an opera singer!  In those days,
We would go out, and the door would close, and not open again
until we were called in.  Moms could never do that now!

The school year was a lifetime, year by year, yet I was very happy at school.  We had a huge Maple Tree in the middle of the playground.  We played  on it for years, and it sort of separated the girls and boys.  The girls were on the paved part of the playground, where we could play jump rope, hop scotch, square ball, etc.

The boys mostly were on the play field,  for football and baseball, etc.  But the bars were behind their field, closer to the back fence, so we (the girls) would gingerly walk on the edge of the field to play on the Bars.  I would take my jacket off to put under my knee as I turned round and round on them.

So this is the aging of Linda right before your eyes:

                                   Infant Me

                                  2 year old me

                               Adult Me

Aging Me  (present)

 

Even as a young mother, time began to speed up, and soon your child is in school, and then you blink, they are grown.  By the time one is a grandmother, a year is like a week, and my first grand baby
is suddenly a senior in High School.
I now hang on to every moment, for time now is cherished!