Well, not normal fully, yet. But pretty darn close if you ask me. You see, for a decade or longer, every February, I have hopped a flight west to hang with my kiddos for a week. Except in 2021. Yet, here we are again, rolling on to normal like that blip was a bad dream because I’m back with the one who gets us laughing. I’m so glad he does. Always.

He’s a sunset guy too. Whole days can be built about catching the dip. You know the moment when the sun sinks below the horizon? We always make a plan to witness that spectacular and brilliant instant. Afterwards we keep our eye on the sky as the orange and blue shifts to a pink and purple. Oh on to normal looks so very good.

Not too many mother’s rush their youngsters out and on to their own lives, but I did. Not that I didn’t ache with missing them, or shed those hard tears each time I watched them pack up and start out on their next adventure, but still I couldn’t hold them back. My mother never did. Instead she came to join in whatever we were doing, and with that in mind I do my best to arrive ready to do whatever they are doing. Happily.

Of course, seeing them means I get in the Pacific

and I’m once again mesmerized by palm against the blue with graffiti below

and seriously, cactus are such a fascination that I find myself yearning for more and more

while all the flowers in such bright hues crack my winter blues, to simply intoxicate.

How can I resist staring out into the space where the blue meets more blue? Yeah, I can’t.

Life is one twist and turn after another but getting together with family steadies me for what may lie ahead. 2020 taught us all that family is more precious than gold. I watch as my adult children navigate each sharp curve and straight away on their own roadway, thankful that our journeys continue to meet at the crosswords. Just long enough to remember all the standout sights. And longer still to soften the hurts too.

There is not much I would invite back from COVID, nope not much. But finally flying clear across this crazy, enormous country to laugh with my loves with less fear and more cheer helps the pandemic to fade further from view. I am so proud of our extraordinary scientists and medical community for making the impossible possible. At day’s end, I’m grateful for all their efforts to get back onto normal. To see that big sky of hope.