cathleen's place: Lois

What do you see out your window at this time of year?

This is Lois' view: a fantastic scene of the desert in spectacular bloom. Whoa. Really beautiful.

And here's Lauri's view: an amazing vision in snow. Yes, also really beautiful.

I'm struck by the contrast of their two environments at this time of year. It's not earth-shattering or miraculous, just wondrous. I also like that my friends share these pictures with me; I like seeing what they see. In fact, I love it. Did you know that Lauri and Lois are friends? We all met in Tempe, Arizona around 1976. I've known them such a wonderful long time.

I think I have the most amazing friends. Haven't I said that a few thousand times? No matter. I will say it and say it and then I'll just say it some more. I'm very lonely here in Florida. The "friends" we had were $cientologists and they're not allowed to speak to us any more. We had great friends in San Diego -- many who had nothing at all to do with $cn. And we have sorely missed them. I also have fantastic friends from when I lived in Arizona.

As Kim and I have worked through our disconnection from $cn and made our plans to relocate to Oregon, a remarkable number of people I'd lost track of started to surface. Or, in other cases, stronger bonds were made with friends who had been shunted aside because they weren't interested in our "religion."

Well, all this is just prelude to these fabulous photos that three lovely friends have shared with me and I am now sharing with you.

Lois visits a Caribbean island.

Haris dresses up Sadie.

Lauri zooms down a slide carved out of ice.

Have I mentioned that we know a lot of people in Oregon? It really boggles my mind that we're going to have so many friends the moment we move there. It's awesome. In fact, we already have our first dinner invitation!

This is the first video I've put on my blog -- I just learned how today. I'm thrilled to present for your enjoyment this incredible a cappella group Straight No Chaser.

P.S. This is for Lois and Cousin Waxx.