Love is ...

Dear Friends,
Last weekend I was in Columbus, Ohio, for a bridal shower for Casey, the fiancé of my nephew Nick.  

I wrote this poem for Casey and made it into an accordion book.  Welcome into our family, Casey!

Love is a kite

that flies the wild wind

with a string you can barely hold onto

Love is a seed

that grows silent and slow

then suddenly bursts into blossom

Love is a look

that nobody sees

except the one it was meant for

Love is a night

when you cry in your sleep

then you turn and his arms gently hold you

Love is two hearts

tangled aloft

claiming a piece of the sky

Love,

k

Little details and chance connections

Written last night:

Dear Friends,

There are so many people who live alone, and I am finding out how to do it. Maybe it’s easier if you’ve never shared a life. One important person is a handyman. Bob, who was recommended by a friend, came today and installed lights, hung pictures, straightened doors. He made it look easy. With each of these steps I’m feeling more at home here. 

I spent some wonderful time with Patrick. 

And I just returned from dinner with my neighbor Sandy at Biba’s, a very popular midtown restaurant that could become a favorite. We chatted with a couple who live in Grass Valley, in the foothills, but do business in Ohio. Then we took an uber home and the driver was from Columbus, OH, my home town. He got a law degree from Capital University there and works for the government here during the day and ubers at night. So it’s a small world.

Love,

k

Bob hung this quilt

My friend Mona made it

Midwest moderation, then California heat

Written last night:

Dear Friends, 

It was great -- the wedding of Megan and Jeffrey in Ann Arbor Saturday. I'm so glad I was part of the celebration. I'll tell you more later --kind of tired after today's flight back from Columbus. Sunday night was great, with all in Ohio. The next 2 days Mary and I just had fun! 

Here's what I came home to -- Rosa recorded 108 degrees outside temperature when I went to Safeway to stock up on mangoes and peppers:

and it looks like dogs might be welcome at Trader Joe's, 

where I 

Zing wants to shop with me next time!

Wedding weekend

Wedding Recap

Written May 4:

Dear Friends,

After the red-eye flight via Charlotte, we’re here in Columbus in a downtown office tower-turned Hotel LeVeque. I mean, just turned. We may be among the first customers. Men were painting around the elevators as we stepped in. But first, my suitcase was “delayed.” That’s American Airlines’ word for “we kept your bag in Sacramento because …” Maybe because my mac was inside. Maybe because it was magenta. Maybe because the flight weighed too much and some of the bigger bags "had" to be held back. Whatever the reason, we got the impression that this happens deliberately and often, that it is not the airline’s intention to get every passenger and every bag to their destination on time. It was frustrating. It is over. My bag arrived, via Phoenix, and it was in my room when I got back to the hotel at 10 p.m... Oh, the experience did not do one thing to make me think the airline cares about the customer.  But I do have my pajamas.

For a while I fumed about how I might have to dress up my jeans and running shoes to wear to the wedding. Then I decided to make the best of the afternoon and (forget the jet-lag!) uber-ed to lunch at Northstar Café in the Near North neighborhood. Things got even better when my dear friend Linda joined me. Then the family had delicious, laughing Italian takeout for dinner at Mary and Bob’s. 

It was a fuming, frustrating, fabulous family day.

Love,
k

Written last night (Sunday):

Patrick, Steph and I just got back from  Gretchen and Rich’s wedding in Ohio an hour or so ago. I am more and more deeply grateful for my family — as it grows! So many people told me how much they love my sister's family -- and therefore me too! The wedding was in the most beautiful “churchy” church — Our Lady of Victory in Marble Cliff, which is a pocket of Columbus that was — and still is, I think — near a marble quarry. Here are some photos.

Love,
k

A deeply happy visit

Written last night:

Dear Friends,

What a flip of worlds! Sacramento to Columbus and back to California …

The time and the weather were most different. Even the angle of sunlight (when there WAS sun!) set me askew.

It was a deeply happy visit. Steph and Patrick were there. And on Sunday Patrice and I, with help from Rachel, had a wedding shower for Gretchen, who is marrying Rich Thompson in May. 

Love,

k

Patrice, Gretchen, Mary and me

with shower friends in the background

at Lindey’s in Columbus

 I wrote a poem for Gretchen

Ohio in late fall

Dublin, Ohio

last week

Maple tree behind someone's house

We woke up to wet snow one morning. I think this is a flowering crab apple, seen through screen of sunroom
Sunroom?

Ohio farm & field

I've been to Ohio, and took this photo somewhere north of Cincinnati, where this farm abuts the I-71 rest stop. Nostalgia time.

Mid-Ohio Excitement

Warren County, Ohio, cornfield, as I approached Columbus from the south. The night I got there, June 2, we heard tornado sirens; no tornado! Big golf tournament at Muirfield, where Mary lives.