+ 54 - 4 Days to Boarding Flight to Europe

It is just 3 days till we get in the car and head for Dallas.  Today we did about 95 % of our packing.  One more run at the electronics bag and the bathroom bag will be the end of the task.  And the bags are packed to the seams with clothing for 27 days.  So much clothing and still the closet is full.  Shoes on the shoe racks.  And we are taking 125 lbs of clothing and another 50 of electronics and bath items.

Lange's 1936, Migrant Mother,Florence Owens Thompson

As I am writing this post we are watching a documentary about another photographer, Dorothea Lange.  Her photos of the depression and dust bowl migrations were influential in helping the nation see the plight of the humans.

Later, she worked for the military photographing the Japanese interment camps of WWII.  She had started our in San Francisco as photographer of the wealthy of the area.  Her work on the depression and dust bowl were under the government programs created under FDR.

The photos and documentary made me realize the migration from the troubled middle eastern countries is not really that much different than running from the depression's lack of jobs.  Or the grit of the Dust Bowl of the American prairies in the 1930's.  The trauma of being uprooted is bad enough.  I cannot even imagine adding the trauma of war to that life disruption.  The loss of possessions, loss of income, often loss of hope.

And I sit snugly on my sofa.  In the comfort of a modern apartment.  There is food in the pantry.  There is a man I love within easy reach.  My knee continues to heal nicely.  A luxurious trip await us in 4 days.  With plane seats the are a little wider and more leg room for our oversized bodies.  At the same time somewhere in the world yet another family is being uprooted in hopes of just not dying.

I will be accountable for this dichotomy at some point in time ....

29 Days to Lift Off

Today, February 23, is my Granny's 133 birthday.  Forty-seven years ago Granny passed away and a bit of joy left our life.  Granny was 86 the day we buried her.... on her birthday.

Granny had a mild stroke that caused her to be hospitalized shortly after Christmas, 1968.  In an attempt to follow her son home, she fell out of bed and broke her hip.  Surgery ensued as well as the remainder of her life, 7 short weeks, being spent in the hospital and nursing home.

Granny was in relatively good health up to the last.  Pepto Bismol and a dip of snuff kept her is fine shape.  She would walk the 4 or 5 blocks to the A&P, Woolworth's or Penney's to do a spot of shopping for Christmas and birthdays.  Granny would do a jig with her great grandchildren well into her eighties.  She would remind anyone misbehaving that Raw Head and Bloody Bones were lurking in the shadows to take care of bad children!

I loved sleeping with her between the flannel sheets of her bed.  Combing her thin, white hair is a memory I recall as a calming image.  I still use the sewing basket she gave me in my teen years.  Also, have the last can of snuff Daddy bought for her to have at my Mom's house.

One short month from today, March 23, will be the date we board the plane for our European adventure.  Unlike my spry Granny Chandler, I have required knee replacements, the last just 30 days ago.  I hope to dance a jig somewhere along the cruise of the Rhine, Main and Danube Rivers.

Tulip Dreams

Carpe Diem #667, 

Tulips

Tulips field by Vincent Van Gogh (?)

tulips flutter

brushed by the windmill's shadow

zuiderzee breezes

©  Janice Adcock

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI