Another gorgeous day. We drive south to Temecula where some of my relatives on my dad’s side live. My cousin Dan and his wife Joan are traveling, but cousin Anabel and my Uncle Don greet us with a fabulous lunch of fresh salmon and salad. We visit Dan’s scenic property outside of town, and get…

Here’s a glimpse from Christmas day with Ann’s family. To them it’s obvious what’s going on. For me it’s a symbol of the many things a family shares, bits of common identity that make them unique. As a new member of the family I don’t have the memories that fill this picture with meaning, but…

There is water again by the time I return home from work, and a sizable pit dug in the back yard.

It’s good to be reminded of what life is like when the tap goes off now and then. We had a pile of dirty dishes hogging the counter of course. Ann is in general much more prepared for contingencies than me. She had nine gallons of filtered drinking water on hand, so I could rinse…

Ann woke me up around 3 am saying that something was wrong in the back yard. Indeed, it was flooded with water right up to the door. The sprinkler system had flooded the back yard a couple weeks ago, so I immediately went to look at that, but it was still off. Then Ann had…

I like this picture Ann took of me leaving for work through our frosty screen door this morning.

“…I know a little bit about everything, but I don’t know everything.” This bit of wisdom came from Larry, who has been installing a heater in our shack for the past three weeks. It’s been a learning process for all of us. Larry’s laissez faire style of home improvement involves working until an insurmountable impediment…

Today Ann buys a world map jigsaw puzzle at the thrift store. We sit down at our table and put it together. There is one piece missing in the end, an empty spot in the middle east. It has a sort of chilling effect.

When I watched this I thought it was directed by Darren Aronofsky, the director of pi and Requiem for a Dream, so I was prepared for a VERY dark and disturbing movie. The actual director is Christopher Nolan, who went on to make Memento. Still dark, but more concerned with a plotline. It’s interesting to…

In the evening our dog Jezze looks at me with big, question-mark eyes, and I notice her bowl is empty. Usually Ann feeds her, but I grab the nearest food bag and pour some in. Instantly I see it’s cat food. Jezze doesn’t care though, and starts munching away. Out of curiosity, I pour some…