Brief Hiatus This Weekend

Will be leaving town over the weekend to join my family on vacation near Bend, Oregon. My parents, my sister and her son, my brother and his wife and four kids and myself are getting together for what may be the last time as my Dad may be loosing his battle with cancer. I am the only one who lives too far away for regular visits. So for me, this may be good-bye. I have not seen any of them since I was in Longview, Washington the week of my Dad's surgery in May of last year. My brother and family are driving to Phoenix from Portland Saturday morning to pick me up and then we will be driving the route past Crater Lake up to Three Sisters. The attraction there that would induce my Dad to choose a desert in late July, during a heat wave as the place to stage this, is a horse ranch that my brother's eldest daughter read a book about. She adores horses. This ranch, whose name I will relate here when I get back as they didn't tell me over the phone, take in abused, neglected and abandoned horses and pair them up with abused, neglected and abandoned young people. The bonding between them works healing miracles on both child and equine. Or so I am told. They say they will bring the book for me to read while there. Dad says you have to read it through your tears.

My parents had thought to try to arrange a visit to this ranch for their granddaughter around the time of her birthday in June but they didn't get it done. The recent test results that reveal the rapid advance of the cancer again galvanized them into making the arrangements. We will be celebrating my parent's 50th aniversary as well. In fact, my brother and three of his kids as well as my sister and her son all have birthdays between the first week of June and the last week of August. My parent's anniversary is August 7th. So this visit will be an odd amalgam of celebration and good-bye.

I haven't decided whether I am going to just leave Joystory without posts for the durration or what. I have considered saving several posts as drafts and having my husband post them for me one at a time each morning. I have considered creating a post comprised mainly of links to several of my favorite posts from the last nine months since I had nearly zero audience until this past week when I began to promote. Reading those posts--mostly the ones with predominately autobiographical elements that shed light on my particular reactions to current events--would keep you busy for several days and give you a clearer understanding of just who it is that is talking to you here.

OK. It's been twenty some hours since I wrote this and saved as Draft. I've decided that I'm going to flood Joystory with posts between now and Saturday morning: several new essays I had in the works and got polishe up last night, a book review or two, links to previous posts as I mentioned above and a surprise or two. Should keep you all busy.

love joy peace