Family and Friends

It was my last day with friends and family from out of town. I spent most of the day today with these four people: Peitsa, Susan, Jason and Steve. It was so wonderful seeing them and sharing Arvin's celebration with them. Peitsa is like a brother to me. He moved to the US from Finland when he was almost 14 and Steve was one of his first friends here. Susan and Steve were married and are still close friends. Jason is my "little kid" who grew to a tall, interesting man. And Steve you probably know by now is my younger brother who lives within walking distance of where I live. Susan, Jason and Peitsa headed home at the end of the day. 

We all had breakfast at my house, sat and had a fascinating conversation about shamanism, spirituality, life, death and many other deep and thoughtful topics. Not to mention a whole lot of laughter about many things including retelling some of Arvin's favorite jokes.

We took a long walk in the woods. In the middle of it Steve and Peitsa left and Steve drove him to the airport to fly back to the Bay Area. The rest of us walked to Northridge Park and back home meeting Steve on the way back. Jase did some work while Steve, Susan and I played scrabble. They have a great way to play in which we cooperate and work to get the best possible group score. We had a great time playing three games.

By this time we were all hungry so we headed down to Fairhaven for a late lunch. We ate at a place called the Filling Station and had very delicious food. It's a new place for me and I will definitely go back. After lunch Jason headed off to Seattle to catch his flight to New York. (I look at my watch and see it is 10:49 pm so he should be in the air now.)

Steve, Susan and I headed down to the Ferry Terminal and Maritime Park for a short last visit before Steve drove Susan to Bellingham Airport and I met a group of friends who were all going on an evening cruise for a cause. I signed up and then worried I'd miss time with my visitors. But instead the timing was good and I spent two hours cruising with friends. I posted some photos I took as we came back into Bellingham on Chaikins of Bellingham. I sat with good friends and had a good time. By the end I was really ready to head home and get some quiet time and rest. It has been a long, full, good, meaningful weekend.

Thank you all for your comments on yesterday's blip. It means a lot to receive your kind thoughts. Thank you.