Easier

"It gets easier;" I told her, a parent who had just sent her eldest son off to college.

"It does," I emphasized, as she looked at me with faint disbelief and said, "Does it?"

I could see the sadness in her eyes - I imagine that mine must have looked the same a year ago.

It does get easier, but it doesn't really go away completely, that pang that you feel of not having him around. I wandered through his room today, looking at the things on his desk, and his wall. A class schedule is still pinned up on the board from his junior year - something he never quite got around to throwing away. Then there are those little bits & pieces of note paper & junk mail still lying there.

It's his way of telling me that he'll be back sooner than I think - his claim on this place that he still calls home.

It does get easier, but it doesn't really go away completely.

College Apps 2.0

And so it begins...

It is W's turn to apply for colleges. Except that for him it is going to involve a lot more work with the added requirement of submitting audition audios/videos since he is going to be majoring in Music.

I am hoping that it will be easier this time around. W seems to be more pro-active than Z insofar as getting his b*tt moving. He started on the essays before the summer break began. Z thinks that it's because W has a deeper passion for his chosen course of study than he ever did.

I certainly hope so. With this year of transition, I have a whole lot more on my mind than before.

Wish us luck.

Role Reversal

Happiness is...

...when your "baby" makes you coffee & a hearty breakfast all on his own accord.

:)

Magnificence 2

We have made our way through three national parks on the Colorado Plateau: Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon (North & South Rims).

They are, in one word, spectacular. Thinking about how they have been here on this Earth for millions of years makes me feel small and insignificant.

If I had to choose a favorite, I would say Bryce Canyon with its reddish colored rock formations called Hoodoos. The Paiutes believed that this was an evil place, and people who wandered in were turned into stone. W & I did the easy hike into the canyon and came up close & personal to some of these Hoodoos.

The Grand Canyon was, well, grand. The views from the both rims were breathtaking. With the Colorado River snaking through what essentially is a chasm in the Earth formed from shifting tectonic plates & volcanic activity, there were many areas along the Rim Trail where we were literally steps away from certain death if we were to take a wrong step over the edge!

We drove through desert highways, mountain roads, up to 9,000 feet above sea level. We saw mountains & valleys, rivers & lakes, forests & deserts, and the bright lights of Las Vegas.

But you know what the best part of the whole trip was?

Just doing things as a family and spending time together.

Magnificence

We are road tripping through a few of the national parks in the American southwest. The splendor & beauty of the landscape we have driven/hiked through can best be described through pictures.

This is Zion National Park in Utah. The pictures speak for themselves.

Panorama

Sunrise

Valley