April was a roller coaster, with another great loss. Nevertheless, I made progress on some usual activities.

Neighborhood walks…

Sidewalk of the month:

Knitting…

I finally finished knitting my Zephyr Cardigan. It fits well, and now just needs buttons.

Books…

I finished twelve books in April. In the Jane Austen category, I listened to the BBC radio adaptations of all six novels – a completely satisfying refresher. I also listened to two Nancy Mitford novels, and read two by D.E. Stevenson. All escapism. I suppose my re-listen of The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion was the most pertinent, and sadly, very relatable, and I appreciate having her writing to listen to in a sad time such as this.

Art…

Once again, I did not make it to the Art Museum this month, but I did see a huge new wall mural at one of the remodeled arrival concourses at the Portland Airport. Colorful ceramic tiles suggest a volcanic landscape, or the view from 30,000 feet… with details that look like topography, plants, lakes, lava…it is beautiful!

We also went to the Oregon Potters Association Showcase, and bought some new bowls and trinket dishes.

Patagonia by proxy…

My husband went to Patagonia for a Photography Workshop, and shared photos while visiting the National Park and Fitzroy areas.

Sisters quilting retreat…

While he was gone, two of my sisters came to visit and to work on some quilting projects. We finished four potholders to give to family members in Eugene. I practiced using my Juki machine, and we had more quilting planned after the Eugene weekend.

Eugene weekend…

We were enjoying visiting with siblings and sorting some of our parents photos and other archival material.

An afternoon in a family garden…

Only one younger sister wasn’t there, not feeling well – and then we received the sudden news that she had an unexpected fatal cardiac arrest and our world turned upside down. What started as a fun reunion turned to grief. At least we were all together and could console each other; at least we are good people to go through tragedy with; ‘at least‘ is one of the worst phrases in the language…All plans were upended and now I am writing this in May trying to remember what else happened in April.

Toward the end of the month…

My husband returned safely from South America. Our younger son visited from Philadelphia. Our daughter passed all her preliminary PhD exams at Duke, and now “just” has to complete her dissertation over the next few years. Our older son traveled to Trail Blazer post season games, thus the many airport trips. There will be two hikes to report on in a later post.

Etc…

Life continues under the toxic umbrella of war and global disarray that I do not look away from.