Still Standing. Right Here.

Brain cancer is...

...still standing.  Right here.

What's so special about the photo, above?  Masks?  Sure.  The fact that we have posted so many pictures from this spot with family and friends?  Oh yes.  And also:  We were standing in this same spot for the first picture we ever posted in this blog.  (Here's the 2/5/16 post.)

You bet when we took the picture today we stood still and asked ourselves some questions.  First, we laughed:  "Who knew we'd ever be taking a selfie from this spot wearing masks?"  And then we got a little more serious:  "Who knew we'd be taking selfies from this spot...more than four years later?"

Although these four years held our darkest days, they have also held many of the happiest times of our lives.   Masks or no masks.  We're still standing.  Right here.

Today's View:

Today's Bloom:

You Might Find a Waterfall.

Brain cancer is...

 ...exploring some more.

Today we counted how many side paths might be explored in the forest from "the loop."  Above, Darrell points us to Path One.  Down Path One, we found...a waterfall!

Path One took us to a stream bed that we followed upstream to find water tumbling down the rocks before it headed underground on its journey to--we surmise--the lake.  The waterfalls are probably seasonal, consisting of snow melt.

We are physical distancing so well that we have bad Internet, but here's what we can offer:

If you go exploring, you might just find a waterfall.

On Path One, we also saw great granite outcroppings and fresh bear scat.  Yes, we have pictures of both.  Darn Internet!

Nothing new to report from Path Two, described yesterday.

On our exploration, we also watched mist roll over the lake:

Time Lapse View

What a beautiful Saturday!

Today's Blooms

From Path Three:

And, reporting in from the flatlands:

Kristine

Christine

LuAnn:  Charley's Rose

The Path [Just] Taken

Brain cancer is...

 ...exploring.

Today we hiked "the loop," a family favorite trail through the nearby national forest.

As we walked, we talked about more than 40 years of happy memories of the loop.  We remembered Darrell carrying Baby Alex and Gordon carrying a picnic that the five of us enjoyed in the forest.  We remembered hiking with a succession of family dogs through the years, with our growing sons, Zach proposing to Summer, and Bennett and Christian climbing its rocks recently.

In all those years, we never varied from our known trail, despite the fact that several paths branch off from ours.  Never...until today.

Today we employed our 2020 Word of the Year, explore.  We set a trail marker and a timer and ventured cautiously onto another trail into the forest (above).  Maybe we won't wait another 40 years for our next exploration.

Nova:  As the next generation of loop hikers, please know you'll have a few options.  

Back on our trail, we caught this view and felt faraway indeed, with the mountain cloaked in clouds:

Happy Friday, Team D!

Today's Bloom

Until someone knows better, Darrell names this the "cotton candy vine bloom."
(Update 4/20/20:  Roene did some Internet sleuthing. We think Cotton Candy Vine is also called Wild Clematis.  Well done, Roene!)
 

Up Close

In a Trio

At a Cotton Candy Vine Party

But We ARE smiling!

Brain cancer is...

 ...having fun with face masks.

We are in San Bernardino County, which requires the use of face coverings outside of home.  So, in addition to all the other safety practices, we're also employing our variety of face masks when we go out. 
 
Fortunately we've come so far since Darrell's terrifying bunny mask attempt, just ten days ago.

Above (top) you see us smiling through our masks on our walk today.

Then we realized that the few people we saw--from our six-foot distance--didn't know we were smiling at them.  So Darrell invented hand signals.  Here's the signal for a gentle, "have a nice day" smile:

And here's the signal for a full out "Can you believe we're wearing face masks in a forest?" grin:

You might want to hold off on using these signals widely until we conduct our field test for public acceptance.

Next we tried masked selfie kisses:

Two thumbs up!

Finally, we tried the "face mask filtered water" maneuver:

 Not fully successful, but--oddly--not a total failure either.

In case you're not smiling yet, here's the view.

Please know, Loved Ones, that we're smiling as we think of you.

Today's Bloom

A Twist on “Stay at Home”

Brain cancer is...

...sitting around at home.

We packed our supplies and headed up the mountain today.  Why not stay home in the forest?  It’s as beautiful and refreshing as you would imagine. 

In case a change of scenery would be useful to you right now, here’s a first glimpse of the lake, with snow bonus.

All our best.

Today’s Bloom

Another daffodil, this one at our Fawnskin neighbor’s.

Missing Nova, Day 38

Brain cancer is...

...giving Face Time and Zoom the thumbs down for optimal granddaughter communications.

Video calling is definitely taking the edge off our lonesomeness for family and friends...except for with Nova.  The picture, above, was taken on March 7.  We haven't seen our grandbaby in 38 days.  Babies are meant for holding, not Zooming.

The good news is that Nova's local team (Alex, Tiana, and Moira) does a great job of keeping us in the loop so at least we can smile and laugh from afar.   

We'll feel better if we share a bunch of Nova pictures.  Indulge us please.  We'll pay you back later.

Mommy and Nova rock the mask thing. (Nova’s was a pose.)

Nova tries solid food:  Oatmeal.  It's okay.

Nova celebrates Easter.

Nova reads to Daddy.

Nova is a little pro at channeling both her parents.

Here she is...

...channeling her mommy.

And here she is...

 ...channeling her daddy.

What a baby!  Well, that was therapeutic.  Thank you.  Your turn.  How can we help?

Today's Bloom

Melanie discovered palm blossoms.  What the?

Tiger King: What We Do for Our Kids

Brain cancer is..

 ...on Episode Four of Tiger King.

Beverly and Gordon used to tell us that their kids kept them young.  Our kids have always kept us relevant.

On Alex's recommendation, we're watching with the Netflix phenom, Tiger King.  Alex encourages our persistence, saying the episodes get more interesting.   

(Side note:  With all our spare time, we read up on the news and know what happens in the end, generally.  So feel free to talk to us about it.  No spoiler alert required.)

Tiger King is just another instance of our kids ensuring that we are in-the-know.  There have been so many instances in the past...Pokemon, a Series of Unfortunate Events, Dragon Ball Z, Harry Potter, Britney Spears, Stephen King novels, cross country racing, Football, Greek life, Shakespeare, rap music, country music, The Game of Thrones (yes, the books--twice!--not just the show)...so many! So relevant!

Now that we think about it, perhaps the title of this post should instead be:  Tiger King:  What Our Kids Do for Us.  Thanks, Kids!

Happy (What day is it?) Monday, Team D!

Today's Purple Blooms