"...a very dear family friend..."

It doesn't seem like enough, somehow.

To describe someone that has been a good friend as well as a friend of your parents; the mother of a close, childhood-right-up-to-present-time friend; someone you even worked with at a couple different jobs.

Someone whom you grew up knowing...who was always...there...in one way or another. If not in person, in spirit, surely.

To describe a person like that as "a dear family friend" just doesn't seem...adequate.

My heart hurts for my friend and her family. And I'm being selfish, but it hurts for myself, knowing that my "very dear family friend" is gone.

Photo blogging...

...cuz I got nuttin to whine, moan or complain about.

(Click on the photos to enlarge.)

Uneasy truce

It's a rare occasion indeed when I'm able to capture both da boyz in one photo. They don't exactly hate each other, but they're not anywhere close to besties, either.

Last trip of the season

Or one of the last anyway, for our local paddlewheeler, the Spirit of Peoria.

Woody

We've spotted several different types of woodpeckers (this is a Red-bellied Woodpecker...even though his belly isn't red) since Da Zigster started hanging the suet blocks.

Confused geraniums

Doesn't look that unusual, huh? Well, it's November 12...and my geraniums are starting to bloom. Again. We've had some freaky weather this fall...it was 72 today, fr'instance...and we haven't had a hard frost yet.

The rare, elusive "Squirrelbird"

They're a huge pain in the ass, but kinda fun to watch.

Orange

Must be another side-effect of the wacky weather...really gorgeous sunrises lately.