Memorial Weekend

The funeral turned out to be a celebration of a long life, well spent. There were tears and there were stories and remembrances by family and friends. We, the members of the Han-derson family remembered that we are very similar and bound together by memories that were stitched together by Aunt Louise and her five siblings over her 89 years and the several more of her sisters. I realized again that I am lucky to be part of that large extended family and the smaller nuclear one, too.

The weather has been better this week than last. That means warmer, but tonight a tornado leveled a bunch of homes in Hugo. Mother Nature gives and takes away with the same breath. And in the end, as a wise person keeps reminding me, "Mother Nature bats last."

My photo is from the backyard of my place. My daughter and my sister. In the shade of a growing maple tree, in the grass, in the summer, in 2008.



My tennis game has been stinking up whatever courts I play on. It's partly a reaction to the shift to outside play and the wind's effects, but also to a minor calf injury that I thought might be serious. There is room for creative excuse making, but whatever the cause it isn't as much fun to be south of the zone as it is to be tightly cradled in its center. I've taken a couple of days off from the grand game for the holiday, and to nurse my wound back to normal - with the aid of my friend, ibuprofen. I won't be testing it again until Wednesday.

Unky Herb is off in England visiting his college roomo, Andy, and also Stu, a roomy from his time in Kure, Japan, but will be home, jet-lagged, on Thursday. KS is off to southern Minnesota to visit her mom, and the house is very quiet. I'm going to watch some Laker-Spurs basketball and wait for my calf to heal.