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Dad passed at 5:20 this morning. I had to smile as he was born at 5:25am. Symmetry. Plus, it is Earth Day, which is rather appropriate for someone who loved the outdoors as much as he did. He didn’t want any services, just donations to our local state park volunteer program, the historical mining museum, and the Friends of the library. The pictures below are from 1936 to 2014. Lots of Dad as a climber.
Yesterday, we had to go up to Pueblo for building supplies for Brandy’s dog house. we are trying to do stuff to get back into a routine. While we were up there, we stopped into the hospice and visited Dad. It was difficult. He’s non-responsive, and we have no idea if he hears us or not.
I told him that all the grandchildren, great grands, and all the ‘adopted’ family sent their love. I told him it was okay to pass, and that I loved him. Then Dan and I said our goodbyes and headed home.
In all honesty, it seems as if his soul is left. That his body has just not gotten the message that it’s time to go. The nurses are amazed that he has lasted this long, but then again, he’s always been a tough old man. I hope it isn’t long.
Because it’s Monsoon Season! Here it is Saturday, and it has been raining almost non-stop! Apparently, it rained most of the time I was gone, and the few partial days we didn’t have rain have been made up for. My friend Chas posted a lovely piece in his blog. rain-on-back-order.html
As for myself, I blame my parents. teeheehee. You see, Hell is attempting to freeze over and all this rain is the result. My Dad decided at long last to retire. He has been a park ranger at the Grand Canyon for over 25 years.
Dad did the whole Interpretive Park Ranger thing. Trail talks, Evening Programs, etc. He was very good at it. However, over the years the politics of it has worn him down. Plus, he will be 72 in just over a month. So, he retired.
My parents bought a house and have slowly been moving things in. They did the final packing and left the Canyon yesterday. They arrived today on this bitterly cold August day. 30 degrees below normal! I almost started a fire in the fireplace! I woke up to thunder and lightning at 5:15am. Could not believe the length of the thunder roll. Nearly a minute at one point. We’ve had a few breaks in the rain, but not many. Right now, the gutters are flowing so full that they are spreading out into the street.
As for the rest of this week… I spent most of Monday and Tuesday trying to catch up on sleep and house hold stuff. Lots of running around and trying to get stuff done while jobs kept piling up on top of everything else that needed done.
We wired Boutique Blvd. on Wednesday. Marianne Smithey is a sweet lady who was having telephone troubles. Dan re-did the wiring and fixed that issue. Thursday I went down and worked on her computer for 2 hours. Made $50, which was nice. However, that will get dumped into the bank on Monday for bills.
Friday, we went with Maryjane H. up to visit her husband who is finally up at the VA hospital in Denver. Friday was Carl’s 77th birthday. He was happy to see all of us. He also learned that he has cancer that can’t be operated on. They can treat him, but not cure him. Not a nice thing to learn on your birthday. We stayed as long as we could and then had to drive home. The trip up had been wet and rainy. The trip home was just as bad. I swear that parts of the highway were under 2-3 inches of water at times. Dan drove which was a good thing. Got home around 10pm and collapsed.
I planted a few Italian plum trees in the back yard. I hope they take well. The plums are wonderful for cooking as they are very meaty and tart. At least I don’t have to worry about watering them for a while!