Mohawk Trail Trip pics added!!!

http://pandafan.tabulas.com/gallery/a@62375/

Pets has also been updated with Green Tree Frog and more pics of Zoey

http://pandafan.tabulas.com/gallery/a@58625/

Found a really cool place that takes care of converting all kinds of media to digital files. They will also send you out a prepaid Fed Ex mailer to ship your vinyl safely to them. They will also put the files on your IPod for you. Talk about the lazy man's answer to musical excellence!! Very cool.

www.ripstyles.com

$35.00 per LP or $25.00 per LP if over 25.

They also clean them for you. (I'm thinking though that replacing them with digital is still cheaper)

A week on Cape Cod. Perfect beach weather looks like it will be in store for us as well - WOOHOO.

Now, how crowded will Nickerson State Park be and how hard is it going to be to get the trailer in and out? I'm not sure but I'm sure one of us will fill everyone in when we return.

Last time I stayed at Nickerson we never left the place and enjoyed being one of the only Yurt people there. Then it rained. Tenters moved to the yurts. It was chilly and hot so it was odd weather. I think this time with the place being full up (I checked Reserve America and there's nothing available in the whole place) we may venture outside. I like kids and all but they tend to get on my nerves when I'm looking for quiet relaxation.

We are also planning a movie night because Wellfleet has a DRIVE IN!!! Also - it's playing Kung Fu Panda and Indiana Jones so -- how can we NOT go?

One of the other items I have not done since college and just after college I will be doing while down there as well. Going to the library. I hear now adays they have computers and no card files. It's very sad about the card files. Dangit. I worked in the library at school and loved the Dewey Decimal system. LOL. I am going there specifically for the whole computer thing though. Must plug in somewhere to be able to schedule work for the week when we are back. It will be a fine experience I am sure.

We have found a few places in Brewster that we may go to like the Grist Mill and there is a Blown Glass Art Studio doing the Museum and gallery tour thing that I think will be fun too.

Hopefully red tide wont be bad and I can get my first bucket of steamers for the year - wish me luck.

Pictures and reviews to follow when we return.

I am downloading some digital photos for your enjoyment. Don't know when I will get to the print ones - I had totally forgotten how nice it is to take pictures and spend time there.

The site was great - big and not hard to get into or on top of anyone else. There was a path down to the lake with some steep offshoots but, if you followed it further you got the easy route to Fishermans Landing.

Abby was a delight and absolute joy. She learned that she can chase things in the water and just LOVED the tadpoles. She also did a wee bit of swimming - once with help and once without so, that was nice to see from her.

I will take away many different memories and fabulous sites from this vacation.

http://pandafan.tabulas.com/gallery/a@62518/

Thelma Lillian, my grandmother. She passed on yesterday. It was in her sleep. That is the way she always wanted to go. I am glad it worked out for her.

She was my last remaining grandparent. And for someone who knew their Great Grandparents - this one is especially hard. Also, it's been a long road with her. She had Alzheimers. She had been receiving Hospice care since the beginning of May. We knew it was coming but, it took so long and also went too fast. All of it.

There are no services. She was American Indian. Her ashes will be spread in the mountains of Arizona that brought her spiritual support daily. I know I can look at those mountains at any time to find the memory of her strength and spirit. That is good.

I felt badly today to wake up knowing that I should have tried to know more of that part of her background to say a proper prayer for her. We are all lost in that aspect as her mother lived in a world of hate and spent her life split between trying to conform and hiding her background and from what I have been told, visiting only on occassion that place of her family. I think I will enjoy the sun and the birds, the plants and the winds this morning. That will be my tribute to her. I shall also dig out my Tree Of Life bonepipe choaker and wear it for a while. It should be a great healing tool for me.

Little Ms. Thelma had an infectious giggle. It became more so as her dementia increased. It was something so heartwearming and infectious that you just couldn't not smile along with her. She was a tiny woman and as I grew up above her she would laugh when I put my elbow on her head. She'd say "That's okay, I'll be your arm rest if you are close to me". She really loved hugs. She would take a hug all the time from anyone. She never denied a hug. It all added to the charm that was her.

Thelma did not have an easy life. She contracted Polio at a very young age. Her family was forced into Quaranteen in Waturbury with all the rest of the Polio victims. As a young girl she was fitted with a brace made of long steel bars around her back and fashioned with her arm up in the air. She came out of it all with limited use of one side of her body and eventually little use for that arm. Her family being forced to move didn't make it easier for any of them. It was during the Depression. She would stand outside the Wonder Bread factory and beg for food. Some kind soul would eventually see this young girl in brace and trow out a hot loaf when they got a chance. She would catch it in her apron and run it home. Her fondest memories other than the kind souls at the factory and the work of the March of Dimes were the movies. For a nickle she could see a show and even get a piece of bread and butter on the way to eat. She loved them so much that later in life she named her children after some of those stars.

She did end up having 6 children. Four girls and two boys. They had children. And those children had children. Surprisingly, she really didn't like kids. I remember her being very cool towards me as a child. I never understood it. My grandfather spoiled me terribly, perhaps that was why. Plus, raising 6 children probably wasn't that easy as well. She always made me hot dogs stuffed with cheese and broiled. It was my favorite treat. I also adored the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I got over their house but, I'm not sure if she did because if Grampa was around he would let me be the messiest kid on the block with them. She probably thought of it as more to clean up.

As she grew older and my grandfather passed away and my mother moved in with her she got better and my feelings towards her grew a great deal. That's when she laughed and joked and fooled around with a great joy for life and those in her life.

She always had a calendar she followed religiously that told her when to touch base with everyone. I received post cards from her on a regular basis. It was charming and funny all the time to hear from her. When the Alzheimers was getting bad she realized she couldn't keep up with it and told me how sorry she felt for that but that her notes to reminder of her notes were getting too troublesome for her. It was very sweet of her. I sent her post cards and stuffed animals for a while. She loved having teddy bears to hug. She loved Owls too so, whenever I saw one I would think of her. Probably will still continue to.

Once I realized how the Alzheimers was affecting her and realizing that life is way too short I spent time with her. One on one time down in Naples while she was visiting with my aunt. Those are some of the best memories of her I will carry for the rest of my life. We spent hours along the beach finding shells. We had ice cream. We laughed until we cried. I am glad I have those memories to take me forward.

I am glad she is no longer in pain, no longer confused, and her spirit will live on in my memories and in the Mountains.

I am going to put some of my favorite pics here to keep them in one place.

http://pandafan.tabulas.com/gallery/a@62549/

My mother also made a page in 2006 spending the day with her:

http://www.graphicsbypati.com/mom/thelma.htm