Real People In Real-Time

Our trip to Colorado really emphasized how traumatic the last two years have been for us.  A year ago we had planned to visit in late Spring to see Logan graduate, but it didn’t make sense to visit for virtual graduation,  especially with all the other things that were going on with family members here in Tacoma.  

We knew before we went that it was a less than ideal time to visit. Jen and Tyson both had to work. Logan was heading off to Montana State with Jen on Friday, and Zoe and Sydney were starting school on Thursday.  As it turned out, Logan was also busy attending “goodbye” parties with fellow graduates as they, too, were about to leave for college.  We did manage to get him to take a break from his busy schedule and have breakfast with us at a local restaurant,  join us for dinner several nights, and we even participate in one night of board games.  Zoe wasn’t leaving for college, but between seeing friends, soccer practice, babysitting and finishing summer homework before school started, we didn’t see much more of her than we did Logan.  

We got to spend more time with Sydney, but even she was busy getting ready for school and practicing soccer.  She went out to breakfast and dinner with us, played board games several times, and, best of all, went shopping for her birthday present at Michaels. While we weren’t able to be there on her exact birthday, we were close enough that I suggested we should go shopping for her birthday and that way could ensure she would get something she actually wanted (besides, from past experience I’ve learned that grandkids usually get more expensive presents when they go shopping with me).  It turned out that I didn’t realize just how expensive beading supplies are and got a bit of a shock at checkout when it turned out we had $170 worth of beading supplies, nearly double my usual, cash birthday gift.  

We generally had Thursday to ourselves since the girls had school.  The highlight of the day was breakfast with Steve Allen, our long-time Tai Chi master, and his wife Stasia. We also had time to go birding, but, as Tyson pointed out, the birds seemed to disappear in late Summer, just as they do here in the Pacific Northwest. On our hour-long walk, I spotted a female Mallard,  two Snowy Egrets,

and a single dragonfly, sadly, the best sighting of the day.

Considering how many memorable trips we’ve had to Colorado over the years, this could have seemed like a disappointing trip, but it didn’t feel like it.  Instead, it felt like the moment when your doctor tells you that there’s no sign of cancer he has been treating you for.  After nearly two years without contact except for Facebook, emails, and an occasional phone call, it felt great to finally be able to visit in person.  As great as the internet is, it is no substitute for meeting real people in real-time.  

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