This and that

Today we drove to Enumclaw for an indoor picnic. My cousin, Erik and his partner, Bert, flew up from Austin to spend the long weekend with Uncle Gene and Aunt Jeanie. The temperature in Austin this weekend is in the low 90's! Erik, knowing he would be spending the weekend in rain & cool temperatures, said he felt rather silly carrying a coat as he boarded the plane in Austin.

As soon as we drove through Buckley on Highway 410, the memory sensors in my brain begin to fire and I was besieged with wonderful memories of times spent in the Enumclaw area while growing up. You see, my grandparents owned 10 acres in the country where Grandpa, retired, raised a small herd of cattle while Grandma worked very part-time as a clerk at the local livestock sale barn.

While living in Richland, WA many a weekend would find us waiting for dad to arrive home from work on a Friday night. We would have the car packed, ready to 'hit the road' for the 4 hour drive to Enumclaw. (Invariably, dad would have to rearrange the trunk because it wasn't up to his engineering standards!) Once we kids became teenagers, we would each get to spend 2 weeks at the farm with our grandparents - the highlight of my summer!

Uncle Gene has lived in Enumclaw all his life. Visiting his lovely home at the edge of the foothills of the Cascade range evokes many of my happy Enumclaw memories.

It was wonderful being with all the family and we had a fun day.

Otis was traumatized on Saturday. The only time I have ever felt threatened by Otis' canine incisors is when I've attempted to clip his nails. I learned very quickly to allow others who know what they are doing to complete the task!

I took Otis to PetsMart (his favorite store because he is allowed to participate in actual retail therapy). They have clipped his nails in the past but this time, having a new computer system, they needed all his information. Because I didn't bring paperwork proving he is current on his shots, I was told Otis would be muzzled during the clipping process.

As you can see by this picture, he was not a happy camper! He sat up on his hindlegs and used his front paws in an attempt to pull the muzzle off. He looked like a squirrel eating a nut! I bought him an extra special bag of bones because of his humiliating ordeal...

Saturday afternoon I decided to work in the yard, despite the drizzle. Within a short time I shed my sweatshirt and, before too long, the sun actually started peeking through the clouds. By the time I went to bed (9:30 pm), there was was hardly a cloud in the sky. In the Seattle area, about an hour north of us, the sun was not present. I took this photo of my shadow to prove that we did have sun! No. I am not suffering from a rare case of giantism......