Sunday Funday

A family get together/reunion a little later today ..... and if forced to choose between attending or having a catheter inserted, I might just choose the latter. I fear that if I compiled a list of pros and cons of going, the cons would far outweigh the pros. But since my cousin who resides in Germany is rumored to be attending, I can drive a half hour. 

I'm excited though about the opportunity to get a few waterfall photos. 

I had decided a couple weeks ago to attempt to lose a little weight for the event but twelve hours into my diet, I aborted the plan. I will be what I am. There will be no filters. 

An image capture from a video I took in 2021. Birds at sunset. the combination excites me. 

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Well, I thought that I was going to wander off after a couple hours but stayed into the early evening. With the exception of a couple paternal cousins, a niece and my siblings, I felt like a stranger. I did befriend the daughter of a cousin that I've only seen a few times in my lifetime. She expressed her appreciation for the photos I post online. I mentioned in this journal a few posts ago, hitting it off in a dream with an unknown cousin .... it appears I found that cousin today.

I saw the cousin who I watched the first moon walk with in 1969. No one else seemed to remember that but it's always been one of those memories that I've held on to. Saw another cousin who I thought had passed away. I stopped short of mentioning that to her. It's good to know that tact is still one of my strengths.

Was asked by three or four people about my vinyl collection and joked that I have no intention of ever giving it up .... that when I go, my siblings will have to deal with the records. Then after detecting a puzzled reaction, felt the need to make clear to all listening that my departure from this world isn't imminent. 

My niece introduced me to the game of cornhole. And NO, I wasn't a ringer. In younger times, I used to pitch quite a bit of slow-pitch softball so the skill of the underhand toss, transitions pretty naturally. Unlike with the game of scrabble, I wasn't going to need a couple decades to taste victory.

Missed an exit coming home and ended up on an unfamiliar path, driving along winding rural roads, admiring the hills and trees of the countryside. I kept checking the compass app in my car to make sure I'd eventually end up stumbling upon a road I knew and not at the Canadian border or something. 

Upon arrival in the park, I was the recipient of a random act of kindness. A stranger gave me his all-day parking pass. Thank you!! Pretty sure though that the state of Oregon Department of Finance wouldn't think much of this act of kindness.

So, I overcame my reluctance to attend, survived my shyness, agreed to a vinyl hunting excursion with my youngest brother, managed to get lost for a few minutes upon departure, thinking I was in the wrong parking lot and not locating my car, and like usual, came away feeling in-adequate after comparing my life to others.