The extraordinary lightning strikes began while we were at dinner and continued for hours. Strange to be visiting in Puget Sound when such a storm began. The photo of the large group of ten is taken at a restaurant just a short distance from where Gary and I graduated from high school—that’s Gary and me on the right. Gary’s brother (gray beard) is moving to Tennessee and this was the goodbye party hosted by his youngest sister (right at top).

It was an interesting weekend, if by interesting you include skipping our morning walk to drive north, shopping for yarn and tea on Bainbridge, a flat tire, meeting the lovely couple who bought my childhood home from my mother (a highlight—they really were delightful and thanks to Gary for insisting we drive by), checking into a split-level house converted to an overpriced hostel (mold in the bathroom, but we stayed less than 12 hours), dinner with family, storm, early rising just after two in the morning, getting lost in Woodway (turn right, I said, but he always turns the wrong way), and driving south on I-5 (the first time for us on that particular route in well over a decade, and then I drove from Longview to Seaside—my longest drive in a long time) to arrive home by breakfast time. Excellent leftover tomato pie waited in the fridge.

Glad we went, glad to be home again. I think it will take a few days to recover.