This and That

I am loving this time of year.  Our skies are full of clouds, wind, rain and sun.  We had the most amazing lightening storm last Tuesday night, just at dark, about 10 PM.  Lightening flashed between the clouds every few seconds for what seemed like a long time.  The sky lit up above us and thunder filled the air.  It was amazing.  I've never experienced anything like that before.  California, you know, has no such sky works.  A hard rain soon accompanied and then followed the lightning, along with lots of wind.  It was impossible to ignore such a show.

Our neighbors, the Wintersteens, invited us to visit a park full of American flags on Memorial Day last Monday.  The field there held flags for a large number of veterans.  We discovered that we could buy flags and attach a name and military organization to each one, and post it with the other flags.  So I bought one for Layne and one for my father.  We labeled each one and placed them with the other flags.  As I walked through those flags I could see the soldiers they represented in my mind.  It was an emotional experience for me.  I could feel the spirits of those soldiers.  Being surrounded by those flags brought such feelings of love and gratitude that we have men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line for us.  For our country.  I'm so grateful for them!  And that we have military men in our family.  We were able to bring our two flags home once the display was over.  I plan to display them in the yard when the occasion calls for it.

Layne holding his flag on Memorial Day at the Park.

Layne and I among the Flags.

We've been playing with our ATVs a bit lately.  Playing.  Layne also.  Layne.  He isn't much of a player you know.  Yet, for some reason, he is into this.  I'm happy to see it.  So we are joining friends and going on several ATV trips this summer.  I think I'm excited.  It is fun to drive them.  We rode through the foothills next to our development this past week.  It was great until I had to drive down what appeared to me to be a pretty steep hill.  That scared me.  But I did it, once Layne led the way.  And I made it out alive and unscratched.  So perhaps I can manage this.

View of our neighborhood from the foothills, when ATVing.

We are still taking singing lessons from our opera-oriented teachers.  Brett and Sue Hamilton are professionals and we are lucky enough to have them teach us.  It has been a revelation to me.  I'm actually learning how to use my voice and how to breathe better.  My mediocre voice is also improving somewhat, although I wouldn't want to display it too openly.  The Hamiltons performed at a local hotel Friday night and we were lucky enough to get tickets for it.  Wow, what fun to see professional singers up close and observe how they handled themselves, mistakes and all, in stride.  It was such fun!  There were even people there that I knew, which is such a joyous thing considering our limited experience here.  Since we don't get out to things like this much, it was an experience worth noting, and, hopefully, repeating.

I will say that Idaho is providing us with a multitude of new experiences and new friendships.  I'm enjoying that.