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A little bit of Portland is now in Austin.
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| Yes, you can have Fruit Loops on your doughnut. |
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But it was Halloween. So I opted for the chocolate voodoo doll doughnut with raspberry filling and a pretzel pin in its heart.
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| That was a ton of sugar for someone who doesn't ordinarily eat doughnuts. |
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| Papa Tom tried the apple fritter. |
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| Hello, my pretties! My magic broom and I are ready to fly! |
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| Papa Tom was a very scary zombie! |
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What? Not even on Halloween? And why did they choose the Jason mask?
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So this must be like posting a "No Dumping" sign, which always guarantees there'll be dumping at a site.
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So many fresh and delicious options at the Asian market! We found turmeric root, which we got for juicing, due to its health benefits. Will dilute it with TopoChico for a tasty drink, as we've been doing with ginger we've juiced.
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Okay, look no more. This is the source!
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Have never tried one. They're not very big. Do you eat them like chicken eggs?
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Fresh fish, indeed. But would be hard to choose one for dinner.
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We don't know where Einar was during all the storming. He showed up on the front porch for breakfast during the deluge, then disappeared. After the rain stopped, he surveyed his world from the porch railing.
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Austin airport received 14.5 inches of rain by 5 p.m. that Friday and was forced to close when the air traffic controller tower (tower?) flooded. Our neighborhood sits fairly high so houses aren't prone to flooding. But houses flooded elsewhere in Austin. The flood stage for Onion Creek is 17 feet; it reached 39 feet. At any rate, when I picked Jade up from school on Wednesday, she insisted that we scramble through this ditch, which was completely dry, to get to the Zoomer. Not on Friday!
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In front of Jade's school on Friday afternoon.
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A safe way across the arroyo. (The street name is Arroyo Seco, which means "dry ditch.") Not so much that day!
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We hardly ever use the garbage disposal because we compost almost everything. Sometimes I send lemon or lime down the disposal to keep it fresh. Even so, it stopped working after 7 years. Papa Tom installed a new one. Should be good to go for another 7 years, right?
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Connie flew in from El Paso to visit with Sharon, who lives in Georgetown. They drove into Austin to have lunch with Papa Tom, Amon, and me at the Flying Saucer.
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Connie brought a berry cake for us to share in remembrance of Mom. Thanks, Connie. My Mom would have loved this.
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I was so sure that the poster at Spec's (near our house) was of Richard Simmons. Doesn't that outfit look like something Richard Simmons would wear? Papa Tom remembered correctly: it's Liberace. Had a bet riding on it; I lost!
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Yep, it's Liberace.
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| Mom and Dad's wedding photo: October 20, 1950 |
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Our passport photo for move to Peru, in 1957. Not sure what time of year it was, but I would have turned 4 and Martin would have turned 1 in July; Charles would have been 3 in November. Children traveled on their mother's passport. I wonder if that's still how it works?
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Our sweet Dad. Lilies from Mom's service are in a vase on the table.
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Martha, Colton, Donna, and Keeley, Donna's bichon fries
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Destry and Camille drove to Ruston Sunday, and spent the night. They and Colton (who attends Louisiana Tech in Ruston) arrived on Monday, October 19, 2015, and had to leave on Tuesday, to get back to school and work.
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Donna and her boys
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Ryder and Papa Tom picked up po-boys for dinner
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Tuesday evening, the Sistas wrote thank you notes to everyone who had sent flowers and donations in memory of Mom.
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Ryder, with roses from the spray at Mom's service
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Mom's service was held on October 20, 2015, which was Mom and Dad's 65th wedding anniversary. She loved fall colors; orange was her favorite color.
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You might have to enlarge the photo to see these better. Left to right: Mom on the Thames in London, where she and Dad lived in the 1980s; Mom and Dad's wedding photo; Mom in the kitchen; a more recent photo of Mom and Dad; Mom and Dad in the early 1950s.
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Mom's pall bearers were Martin, Papa Tom, Craig, Ryder, Destry, and Colton. After the service, they placed their boutonnieres on the coffin.
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The flower spray was so beautiful. We took lilies and roses from it back to the house. Left to right: Me, Donna, Martha, and Martin. Charles, Jr., was there earlier.
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Mom would have been so happy to see everyone. We were supposed to get together on Thanksgiving, which would have been her 81st birthday. Left to right: Martha, Craig, Charles, Ramzi, Dad, Martin, Donna, Papa Tom, me.
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Ramzi had flown in from L.A. a few days earlier to celebrate his mother's 60th birthday in Houston. He and Martin drove up together. Ramzi had to leave early Monday morning, to get back to work, before Mom's services on Tuesday. We're so glad we got to see him.
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| Fox shared her TruMoo chocolate milk with me at lunchtime |
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| After lunch, we visited Clifford the Big Red Dog and the book fair in the library |
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| Fox showed us the garden her class is growing. She pointed out the tomato plant and collard greens. |
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| Papa Tom and Jade, outside her classroom |
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| Jade with Mrs. Moore, her pre-K teacher. Mrs. Moore's shirt makes her pants look very weird in this photo. |
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| Papa Tom cleared out the front flower bed and Amon helped him pull out the loquat tree, cutting the roots away |
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| Almost done! |
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| Success! |
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| Had to stop at Zabar's to pick up some black-and-white cookies for Papa Tom. They are like soft sugar cookies, with white icing and chocolate icing on top. |
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| Food delivery bike. Perfect! |
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| As long as I was in the neighborhood, I had to stop at Cafe 71, at the corner of West 71st and Broadway, where Ryder, Brandy, and Mya used to eat and one of the places they took us (besides Zabar's) when we visited them in September 2010. Before River, before Piper . . . . although River came within a few months of being born in NYC. |
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| 251 West 71st, where Ryder, Brandy, and Mya used to live on the fifth floor. |
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| Sharon and I took our lunches from Zabar's to the Hudson River for one last look at the water. |
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| Behind us, kids played soccer in the North Meadow. |
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| Another first on this trip: flying home first class on United Airlines. Got more than the bag of peanuts you get on Southwest! Not shown here, but dessert was chocolate ice cream covered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Oh my! |
