Better Friends

Today was really a scorcher (93 F and 99 F heat index), and the forecast for the next 7 days shows no relief. Highs predicted are from 93-97. At least, we got all the outside stuff done this morning. I made a trip to Target, and John mowed the yard.

Our YMCA reopened this morning, just a week after the fire. YEA!!!! I had to go over and see for myself. Other than the expected smoke smell, everything looked the same. Only the men's and women's dressing rooms were destroyed and were still blocked off. We'll be able to get access to anything that might have survived in our kit lockers in those rooms eventually (my ultra-valuable shampoo, flip-flops, water bottle, and comb). But at least our class will start back on Monday, and that's the most important thing.

Our purging and rearranging continues. Today we organized the mess of CDs, and got them on some new shelves. It wa amazing that we found only one jewel case with no CD - and it was a Jimmy Buffett, too. I'm sure it'll turn up somewhere, sometime. And maybe we'll listen to the CDs more, now that we can find what we want. We also managed to find homes for some small bronzes that had come from John's parents' home. We put out the word to the girls and grands, and got some takers.

We watched a PBS program called Anuna: Celtic Origins tonight. What wonderful sounds the human voice can produce. These are amazingly talented people. Watch and/or listen if you get the chance.

Talking about friendship, Leroy Sievers wrote yesterday about seeing a casual friend more often since he was diagnosed with cancer: ... it's a shame that the cancer made us better friends, or at least made us work a little harder to stay friends. We should have been doing that anyway. But there's always a reason not to -- work, other plans, just the normal things that can fill up all your time. And that can happen even when you have cancer. There are the demands of normal life, along with all the appointments and procedures, and the days when you just don't feel up to doing anything. But I realize now -- actually, I've known it all along -- that that's no excuse. I need to work at it more. I need to be a better friend.

And we found out today that an old friend who had been treated for throat cancer has just been found to have metastasis to the liver. Not good news today. I'll have to keep in touch more - and be a better friend.

Today's picture is evening at Valley of the Gods, Utah.