A Christmas Day in March

This Christmas Day is to feature the blue end of the mantle and this neat card I got from my cousin Ann and her husband Steve. They live in Memphis, and thanks to Facebook we reconnected after many years.

The last time I saw Ann was in ... 1991? After mom died, dad wanted to take a trip in the big red van to visit his sister, Ann's mom. It was a great reunion for them both and I was so happy to have been part of it. Seeing Ann and Karen, all grown up and married was great fun, too. It doesn't really seem like almost 20 years ago.

It was quite an adventure--I drove the Great River Road all the way to New Orleans with a guy who was getting started on the path to alzheimers. We spent a couple days there poking around, it was in March and well after Mardi Gras so it was pretty calm. The Great River Road was interesting--it went right through the industrial areas of most cities, didn't follow the river exactly, but we sure saw lots of country. Following the route out on the flats of some Illinois farm trail--now that was memorable. As we traveled farther south we met up with spring! The flowering azaleas and magnolia blossoms were beautiful and such a treat after having left snow and ice up in Wisconsin. Bud got to see his old home on Union Street in Memphis and Bourbon Street once we got to NO.

Today, a rainy Christmas, looks just like March.