Catching up

Yeah, okay it's been awhile.  Rough year.  Mom died in May, Aunt Nancy in September and Aunt Anne in November.  An old friend lost her husband.  Another is getting divorced.  One of my coworkers was diagnosed with breast cancer and all her hair is falling out from chemo.  Another breast cancer survivor coworker is starting to have lung problems.  I look at the research and lo and behold, working rotating shifts increases the risk of breast cancer.  Hmmm.
I'll stop there.  Starting to sound pathetic.
On the bright side.
We are still alive.  I bungy jumped for the first time.  My father and sisters came to NZ for a 2 week visit and we had a great time (photos to come).  It's summer.  When I got home from work last night the sky was clear, with no moon, and no city lights to interfere.  The Milky Way in all it's glory was above me, and for the first time I really saw stars twinkle. Awesome.
It's New Year's Eve here in Gisborne.  I'll work this afternoon and get out of work by 11:15pm.  Am invited to a friend's house not far from the hospital to watch midnight fireworks.
More to come.

This should have appeared in the NYTimes

Mom is so happy and proud in this photo, in her studio, surrounded by her work and facing the world head on.  She called herself a painter, but I know she was an artist.  Her love of faces and bodies, of capturing a look, an expression of shape and stance, is what comes through in piece after piece.

Mom was always on the move. Her motto was “just do it!” She volunteered at a homeless shelter, tutored adult learners in mathematics, supported Habitat for Humanity and Planned Parenthood. She walked the golf course, lifted weights at Gold’s gym, and took bodypump classes until illness cramped her style in her 83rd year.  She eschewed sentimentality, didn’t suffer fools, and only occasionally tolerated Republicans. 

Elsie Ridings Boyce was sister, wife, mother, grandmother.  She made a mean apple pie.  She wore winter colors and ear cuffs. Her eyes were sharp and curious, looking for the unique within the ordinary.  She was strong and beautiful.  We miss her.