My morning started with a bit of a bang on Friday; I got a wicked case of food poisoning from last night’s dinner, which I cooked. It laid me up for a while, but I am rallying, and we’re going to a friend’s house for dinner.

We are hoping to sneak out a day early on our vacation tomorrow, leaving in mid-afternoon Saturday, looking for a motel to stop in along the way.  Sunday, we’ll get up early and head for the ocean. It’s a long drive, and we can break it up this way.

We both get crazy restless the day before vacations; there is so much to do and think about and prepare for. There are a million things to do and remember.

We have a great team caring for the farm and the dogs and animals; someone will be here all the time. I’m not sure the dogs notice or care that we are gone; they seem to have fun and continue to be spoiled rotten.

( I call these Sky Cows because they hang up there, grazing off the warm air and turning it into clouds. I imagine them just hanging out as cows do.)

I’ve got to pack a medical bag between the insulin pens, my other pills, and my sleep apnea mask. I miss the days when I would just toss some clothes in a bag and jump in the car. But I am always grateful that I am ready, eager, and excited to do so.

We plan a lot of reading, sitting and talking on the sand, eating great seafood, and walking and walking. I give thanks that I can do my walking again. I give thanks all the time.

This might be the last Photo Journal for a while unless I have some time tomorrow.

I won’t be blogging until Thursday once we leave.

I miss blogging, it is a labor of love, a part of me, and when I’m away, I always feel there is something I should be passing along.

But I also respect the idea that we sometimes need a break from one another, and I need to refresh those brain sells before my head blows up.

I am grateful to the people who read the blog and support me. I am even thankful to the people who don’t like it or me; they have challenged me to be a more patient and confident person.

I’m still working on it. When I get back, I’ll head to the Mansion for the meditation class, and then we will bring a bunch of donated prom gowns to Bishop Maginn High School. The girls there are eager to see them and try them on.

I hate to say goodbye to the dogs, so I don’t. I walk out. Then I don’t think much about them when I’m away. That takes up enough of my mind when I’m here.

My sister was shocked when I told her I didn’t like to take dogs on vacations. She said she couldn’t imagine going to the beach without her dogs. Well then, I suggested, take them to one.

I love my dogs, but we need time off, individually and together. I have a massive stack of books to read, lots of resting and walking, and I cherish every second with Maria.

We have a good time, always, which is something of a miracle to me.

(The clothesline is full today, drying out the clothes we are taking on vacation. The Leica is wicked fast at capturing moving objects, even without the tripod.)

We get another, even shorter vacation, two days with my daughter and granddaughter; I haven’t seen either one for nearly three years.

Maria thinks we should wear masks for much of the time when we are indoors on the trip; I defer to her; we got this far. Almost everyone we know has Covid, and I am weary of being told how vulnerable I am.

I’d rather not, given a choice.

When my stomach settled down, I rushed up to my new Big Sky site with the Leica to do some landscape photography. The sun was lovely; the clouds hung like pillows over the mountains.

When I got home, I decided to take a photo that captured Zinnia’s lovely dark and round eyes. I think the dogs keep their souls in their eyes.

I took this photo of the yard after a big wind. I found it spooky and evocative.