No Rainbow After the Flood, But Still a Better Day

After this morning's deluge, I drove Ariana to school.

We both could not believe the amount of water coming into the house. I told Ariana that when the boys finally wake up, the chill room will be the first room that I will have them clean. And they will have their job cut for them.

When I returned home, I made myself a cup of coffee and settled down to read the morning newspaper, which had finally dried out.

As I was nearly finished with my reading and clipping articles and cartoons to send to Neil, I heard my cell phone go off in the living room.

Well lo and behold! It was Neil's best friend, Jim, and he was coming over in half an hour!

Now I had thought that Jim had already left for his U.S. Government job in Singapore. But apparently he was still in the States. I was glad that I did not miss the opportunity to visit with him.

Shortly after Jim came over and settled in my nice and still-clean kitchen, I called Neil at work, saying, "There's someone here that you would like to talk to."

The 2 fellows had an amiable chat. And Jim was very happy to hear how well Neil was doing in Texas.

Jim and I visited for 1 1/2 hours.

Of course I did not get any work done during that time. But really, how important was work when you had a good friend ~ whom you hadn't seen in years ~ visiting?

I invited Jim to join us for Thanksgiving. But he politely declined, saying that his 2 daughters had already laid claim to them.

And what accomplished women those 2 daughters have become!

I remember when they were still little girls crawling under the tables of their aunt's wedding rehearsal dinner. Now one is a city assessor, and the other one is in charge of a couple of laboratories at MIT.

Their dad must be really proud of them!

It was sad to see Jim leave. I wish he could have spent longer time. After all, who knows when the next opportunity to visit with him will arise?

Godspeed and be safe, Jim!