Interlude...

See, I planned on writing about my failed trip to visit an uncle's house and filling in the time with my dragging my mom into South Pasadena and seriously walking much too far in the too-hot heat, maybe in the wrong direction, looking for, of all things, YARN, preferably of the woolen variety.

But now I don't feel like writing about the trip or the wool. Life is intervening again.

My great aunt has passed away and I'm at a loss as to what to say...and maybe I'm especially weirded out as my mom mentioned her during the endless walk from where we parked to the store (10 of those LONG LA city blocks...or would that be Pasadena blocks?). It was definitely a "keep quiet and listen to your mom" moment for me as I had to concentrate on not dropping from the heat.

Seriously, it's kind of a shock. My cousin just saw her last week! She was hale and hearty and now she's, um, not. No one's even sure what happened. Heart attack? Blood pressure induced? Brain aneurysm? We'll know more in a few days.

She's my dad's aunt. I haven't had a chance to talk to him about it. I know it was with her and my great uncle that my dad went to stay with when he first left home to make his fortune in the world abroad.

It's harsh, all this dying. But I suppose it's that time of year...extra stress + colder weather + older folks...all that noise. It's just...hard.

So today I leave you with something living...even through my torture:

I was going to try to make a few home-made tree decorations...but somehow I think anything more and I might end up pushing this poor little guy over the edge.