Saturday, January 23, 2016

Saturday, January 23, 2016



Tonight's picture was taken in March 2007. We had a bit of a snow fall and with that Mattie went outside onto our deck to create! Mattie made snow castles with whatever snow was on our deck. Just like Mattie did at the beach, he topped these castles with something found in nature. In this case, rocks! Mattie always loved to decorate his castles. It was like his signature theme!








Quote of the day: As I walk through the redwood trees, my sneakers sopping up days of rain, I wonder why bereaved people even bother with mourning clothes, when grief itself provides such an unmistakable wardrobe.  ~ Jandy Nelson

The snow is just relentless! Throughout the night the staff within our complex were outside and shoveling and snow blowing. They were actual God sents. Typically they do not shovel our deck, but if they hadn't we would never have gotten out of our door! We thanked many of them today and they said they are getting a kick out of us and the fun we are having with the snow. They can see we are taking photos and walking all over the place. Because they are worrying about snow clean up, we can actually experience the snow and the sights around us. 

This is a view of our balcony which faces Route 66. This major highway is in white out conditions. The snow plows just can't keep up with this! Not just one snow plow goes by.... try 8 at a time, as one passes, then there is another right behind it! 

This is Route 66! You can't see any of the buildings in the background because of the snow conditions. It is almost 6pm and it is STILL snowing. 

This morning we took a walk to 23rd Street. Typically this is a major thorough fare. But look at it now.... a ghost town!!! My red umbrella served its role, but it was getting blown in the wind, as was I. 

This is still 23rd Street, but what I loved about this is I saw other people using umbrellas. I am NOT the only one. 

This was the running joke on Facebook. People couldn't believe that Peter shovels snow in shorts! So I photographed him in action as proof. 

Peter jumped in the snow, and he used his pants as a ruler. You can see there was at least a foot of snow in this area that accumulated!

My Boston Snow Angel
















This afternoon, Peter and I were on the phone from 3pm to 6pm. We were talking with a researcher in California who is studying the impact of remembrance items on bereaved parents. She is conducting this study for her doctoral dissertation. I am always compelled to help doctoral students because I remember how hard it was to find subjects. I will discuss my feelings about this call tomorrow. But I have to say Peter and I shared a lot of our experiences with her and I feel in the process I gained further insights into what some of Mattie's objects mean to me and how creating remembrance items could help other bereaved parents.