Friday, August 24, 2012

We Be of One Blood

"We be of one blood, thou and I"- Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book

I love this quote. I have always loved it, since I read The Jungle Book many moons ago.  It is how I feel about my family, it is a perfect description of my family, immediate or extended. We be of one blood.

My mom's cousin and best friend passed away this week.  The rest of us knew this was inevitable, her fight so long and hard.  My mom could not make peace with the idea, never gave up hope that one day, Nancy would wake up and be better.  They were cousins but sometimes were as close as sisters, in that way that cousins can be.

My earliest memories include Nancy, Paul, Leslie and Joni.  Nancy with her quick smile, the "Hi honey," said around her chewing gum while she gave you a hug. Paul so tall.  I thought Joni was the coolest person alive and I wanted to be just like her when I became a teenager.  Leslie and games of paddy-cake.  My mom and Paul and Nancy would talk and talk and laugh and laugh and laugh, sitting at the kitchen table.

I thought of all this today at the funeral home.  I thought about my family, as I watched them go about the room.  I thought about how there is no small emotion in my family.  We all laugh in that head thrown back loud way. We are quick to anger, but then we are just as quick to forgive, move on, smile and laugh again.  Our every emotion is there to see. We can never love a little bit or halfway - we give our entire hearts out. And we grieve when those hearts are broken, with all of ourselves.  I saw a lot of tears today, and tomorrow there will be more. No one will ever forget Nancy, and the joy she brought to each of lives. And we will all be there to help each other out tomorrow, through our own pain, because that is who we are and how we love and what Nancy would have wanted. What Nancy would have done.


We be of one blood, thou and I,' Mowgli answered,"  - The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling




Monday, July 9, 2012

Heat Wave - Part I


Billy and I went to Eastern Market on the hottest day of the heat wave- we went early but the sun was already blazing away in the sky, creating a 92 degree temperature at 9 am.  The heat seemed to affect my photos; I didn't take as many, and they seemed to all have the same thing in common. the colors of fire- red, orange, yellow.



These fish tacos were part of  Chef Race Uk vs. Us.  We had never heard of this, but voted with our dollars for Team UK.  Billy thought the tacos were really good, but I  could not force them down in that heat and that early!


The truck.  We didn't even stick around to see what was going on, I was melting.  I couldn't believe it when I looked it up online! I probably saw Jamie Oliver and didn't realize it!








I really wanted to get a better picture of this, my cousin says pies are the next trend in food, but I was being jostled by many sweaty people. So I hurriedly snapped what I could.




These Asiatic Lilies were like an oasis in the heat, so cool and silky.