There was this moment when I felt a flood of wonderment. It was when I walked into the Ronald MacDonald House near Seattle Children's Hospital. I immediately understood that there are people out there in the world "catching" those who are "falling". The Ronald MacDonald Charity gives grieving parents a place to crash, a place to feel safe, a bed to sleep in while their child is receiving treatment for cancer. Cancer sucks. It is a long haul. Months. Away. From. Home.
My sister is a mother. Her 16 yr old daughter has Leukemia. Both are in a strange place, far from family. They are succeeding. Bone marrow transplant is working. Both are feeling better. They are going to come home after six months of riding a terrifying rollercoaster.
I am glad there are good people who know when to fill a void.
Families of critically ill children need to know that there are nurses, doctors and "givers" who are committed to supporting their loved ones....I know that my sister and niece are getting the best Seattle Children's has to offer. I am so relieved.
The Hosenfeld family loves San Clemente. For the fifth time we returned to the familiarity of the pier, the walking bridge over the tracks and the horn of the MetroLink commuter train as it buzzes along the beach every 30 minutes. It seems like the whole family just comfortably settles in.
After a couple of days of relaxation, when my mom can no longer "just sit around", we do the annual Newport Beach bike ride. No vacation can ever be complete without a bike ride. Right Mom?
And then for something totally new this year we went sea kayaking in San Diego.
Thanks mom and dad for another great stay in our favorite house on our favorite beach.
Natural rock formations are as mind blowing to me as space travel is. I get how it works but WOW. Seeing a massive, free standing, sandstone arch seems so "unnatural". And the fact that these phenomena are common and practically in my back yard is so cool! I've been to Arches National Park many times and every time I return I'm just as "wowed".
From time to time (I mean ALL the time) I look at my arms and legs in the big standing mirror in my room. Man, I look rough! Scars all over. But then each scar reminds me of the moments that make me feel alive. Ankle scars from biking (or tripping). Knee scars from climbing rocks (or tripping). Elbow scars from yard work (or tripping). And a big 'ol thigh scar from a human bite. WHAAA?
5 days post Tanner
5 months post Tanner
These scars are forever. But I'm not sad. I'm happy that I can live such a special life. A little bit of ordinary and a lot of oddities which make a good balance.
There is this place in Utah that is very mystifying. It is flat and white and vast. Always. So if you happen to arrive in this place and you're not sure if it is winter or summer, and you looked out of your spaceship window, you would be confused. Is it a frozen lake? No. It is 80 degrees outside. But.....
Taste it. It's salty. The Great Salt Lake.
I have a problem with directions, namely north, south, east and west. My brain has no instinctual compass and therefore I travel through life going mostly the wrong way. In keeping with my quest to become more and more directionally proficient I decided to travel to a country where everything is backwards. It was not enough to be insecure just part of the time. I chose to drive a car with all it's parts in the wrong place as well as steer that car toward the wrong side of the road. And then I found that when I needed to make a turn the windshield wipers flew on, and when it rained I would use the blinker. And at intersections I just lingered for a long while trying to overthink my next move just to be sure I didn't cross over to the bad side. It took me 12 days to get the hang of it and when I got home the first thing I did was flip the windshield wipers on when I wanted to turn right.
So New Zealand (South Island) was great. Of course the driving was bonkers but so was the climate. I just couldn't accept that a subtropical rainforest can exist within a quarter mile of an actively moving glacier. Buckets of warmish rain falling in torrents, warm steam rising out of the jungle and oh yea, that's ice just ahead.
---Franz-Joseph Glacier Track---
Also the water situation threw me off. There's a lot of water in New Zealand whether it's coming down from the sky or in a river roiling down from a melting glacier, grey with sediment. Sometimes the rivers can be clear dark blue or bright light blue or milky turquoise blue. The lakes...well their color changes with the sun. There's even the Tasman Sea which gets a piece of all these shades of water. And I haven't mentioned the white water which cascades down a cliff face only when it rains hard and long.
grey water from the glacier above, the river is full of emulsified sediment (Mount Cook)
----Hooker Valley Track---
clear blue glacial water with no sediment ---Rob Roy Glacier Track---
milky blue rivers in the valley, a combination of glacier runoff and rainwater
clear multi-blue lake near Queenstown
slate blue Lake Tekapo
baby blue Lake Pukaki (fed by the Mt Cook glaciers)
orange Lake Wanaka
The Tasman Sea (west coast)
AND....Milford Sound (fiords)
THE BIGGEST "WOW" OF THE TRIP
This only happens when it's raining....on our way back through this canyon at the end of the day the cliffs were dry
I kind of invited myself. I said: Hey Dave I wouldn't mind going on your Company's Annual Dive Trip with You and Hailey. And Dave said: Ok. They like you.
So I went and it was fun. Not awkward, at all....really! In fact, a vacation with Dave was kinda fun because we both knew we don't have to live with each other. We can hang out with the daughter and do fun things and be chill. For a week.
Super-fantastic dive schedule with no hiccups, no stress, no drama.
dynamic Dave having fun
Hailey hanging out at the hotel
Ready to go out for a night dive, dive boat docking behind us
Sometimes we all hear jokes about a person being "special" or "rides the short bus" or " isn't all there". Well, that kind of describes my Tanner although he is a real person. My Tanner is sweet, affectionate and forgiving. Many times I am unkind to him because he is so messy, so difficult and so time consuming. But before I know it, he is right by my side giving me a hug or gently touching my face. He looks into my eyes with a sincerity unmatched by anyone I have ever known. It is at these moments that I feel such an intense love for this boy. I just poke him in the tummy and he laughs heartily, forgetting that I was ever mad at him in the first place. So, through all the tough spots and sacrifices we make as a family, Tanner adds a unique element to our lives....he makes us admirable.
hailey (18 yrs)
HAILEY
Whenever I think of Hailey, I picture a playful little ten year old. Except these days she is so grown up and responsible I hardly give her the credibility she deserves. Hailey handles this family with a maturity that I respect so much. She is a rock. And although I never need to worry about her I almost wish she needed me more than I need her.
