June brought all the plants to life and the garden started putting out a its first little peas. Appa looks forward to this season every year. At long last the garden produces something for her, raspberries!
In mid-June my sister Lucinda decided she wanted to celebrate her birthday with a sisters' craft night. So the girls got together, ate a lot of good food, and did a youTube painting class. While our "art" will never grace the walls of a gallery, we had an enjoyable time and were pleased with our products. Except Becca, she kept painting over her art when it wasn't exactly correct. She was still proud of her blank canvas. I believe she eventually painted something on it, she just wanted to take her time.
The end of June found Michael, our nephews, and I at a touch-a-truck event. The boys enjoyed climbing in all the vehicles and honking all the horns. Plus there was free ice cream. What more can a person ask for? Finn, who is working hard on his verbal skills, asked the attendant for strawberry ice cream in a cup. He was pleased to get his ice cream, the attendant was pleased with his cute persona, and I was so pleased that he was making himself understood by a stranger!
The last week of June saw Grace and I heading up to Bellingham, Washington for the weekend. She had applied for and been accepted to be a camp counselor intern at a YMCA summer camp on Orcas Island. She was so excited and very scared. She would spend five weeks on the island, have one hour off a day, one day off a week, chase kids for the all the other hours, and she got to pay for the opportunity.
We headed up a few days early and stayed at Libby's apartment. Libby was already on Orcas Island, killing it as (paid) Unit Director. So Grace and I had a few days to explore the area, get our bearings, and squeeze in a few panic attacks about the upcoming adventure.
We, of course, had to visit the ocean.
We walked up and down a lot of hills and stairs. Libby's apartment is in a very walkable neighborhood, the ocean is only a mile away, the university and a lovely park is a quarter mile away, there is even a little corner market. And everything is uphill. Really uphill, and really downhill, and then more uphill. And then probably some stairs, before another uphill. My calves have never been so toned.
One night I suggested we walk to the beach for sunset. It was only a mile away! Grace begrudgingly said yes. She wished she had said no after a quarter mile. The hills were brutal, unending, and unforgiving. The scenery was fantastic, but Grace swore never to walk anywhere with me ever again. It was a very long mile.
Libby managed to get one night off of work, so Grace and I rode the ferry over to meet her. She was sticky, dirty, and a little smelly but we were happy to find her safe and content. The girls begged for Chipotle, so we grabbed burritos on the way back to the apartment. Libby was happy to drive, so I sat in the back seat contently knitting, completely oblivious to how lost she had gotten us.
When we eventually made it back to the apartment, Libby headed straight for the shower, while Grace got herself repacked. We had to head out early the next morning, to get them both back on the ferry to get on with their labors.
After an expensive stop for all the personal hygiene items, we got to the ferry fifteen minutes before it left. One quick photo, one quick hug, and I sent my girls off to live on an island, with the responsibility to keep other people's children safe and alive. There are a lot of complicated emotions to sending my children off to take care of other peoples children. Pride, worry, sadness, happiness, exhaustion, and some more pride.
I walked back to the car, and started the long drive home. I was sad but also gloriously relieved to be by myself in the quiet for a little bit. My brain had been in overdrive making sure the girls had everything they needed and where were they needed to be. It was amazing to just worry about myself for a moment. I also realized I hadn't been the in car by myself for more than an hours in decades. I wasn't even sure how to travel by myself. Thankfully audiobooks, the Chicks, and Diet Coke were plentiful and the trip was relatively painless.
Everyone made it safely to where they needed to be. We did well.
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