The view from here

The week in photos, taken between last Friday morning and this. The final two days were a major challenge, to clear out and leave it for the next couple in the way I would want my new home. And I guess it was a home, after all. Not the sort to spend a lifetime, but Chicago is, indeed, a magnificent city. And even more than Lincoln Park Zoo or Lyric Opera or concerts at Millennium and the best sushi ever, we made lifetime friends there. The challenge is to maintain those friendships over time and distance but I fully intend to do that.As the moving van pulled away I saw this in front of the condo. Sometimes it’s hard to know who travels easier in this life.Last week, I wrote that life can be so bittersweet. This photo captures what I meant precisely and I can barely look at it without crying.After miles and weeks apart, we brought Robert up to visit Bud at the extended care facility. Laurel rescued the two cats from the isolation of Lost Loon Lodge and Bud is in a place where he is getting wonderful rehab from people who are compassionate and skilled. And yet. Bobby spent a brief several minutes pacing the parameters/perimeter of the room and then, two friends that they are, they had a good long chat. I didn’t get a picture of Bear, Laurel’s dog. We decided it was more important for this reunion first and Bear has all that happy lab energy that might be a bit much as Bud is just settling in. We’re not sure what the next step will be. LLL, much like Bud, needs some serious rehabbing but for now, it’s a step at a time for all of us.After too many nights away from Rich, I drove back down that miserable I94 corridor to O’Hare and caught the last night flight out to Florida. McCloud expresses my sentiments exactly about being back in the bed where I belong.I woke up to that full flush of heat and humidity that is Florida in the summer. It’s ghastly and we’re just barely into June. Nevertheless, I am now witnessing the way things grow in this tropical clime. My tree fern, on it’s third year, has gone from 1 ft to 5 ft…The orchids and cactus hanging on the fence are all abloom…Without being retouched, in a color only Mother Nature could dream up.She does a good job in plain white, too.Last night I dreamt that we forgot to pack our beautiful cherry Shaker bed and I was trying to figure out how to get it back from the new owners. I couldn’t get back to sleep for a bit but I did find this fellow hanging on the screen. I could almost make an anole cross stitch pattern out of this…but right now, I still have a few boxes to unpack.