I have been living in Montana long enough to realize that the humidity wipes me out. I am not fond of it. I have tolerated it growing up in North Carolina, Virginia, and Louisiana. Nebraska also was pretty hot and humid – the self-proclaimed state of extremes in the weather: hot and humid in the summer to rival the deep South and frigid and cold in the winter to rival Minnesota and even Alaska. Yep, I have fond my sweet spot in Montana. It does get warm, but it is drier and there is a breeze. That equals a climate I can tolerate. Does it get cold? Yes, but not too cold. Lots of snow. Love it. That is all to say that my trip to the Mayo Clinic (where I dodged tornadoes the whole time) and then flying to Kansas City to see my girls (where is was HOT), I was missing my Montana climate. I had quite a long delay in Minneapolis due to the bad weather….I think I spent 7 hours in the airport. Luckily the airport is like a small city…bigger than the one I live outside of, actually. Anyhow, I didn’t get into KC until 1 a.m. Lily picked me up (what a trooper) and took me back to her place. It was 2 a.m. by the time we got there and Lily had a trip planned with her two best buds to Philly the next morning. They were up and out of there by 10 a.m. I spent the day organizing and cleaning their part of the duplex. Lily rented her room out for the summer. I also got to see close family friends from Norway/Nebraska, who have since moved down to Lee’s Summit. That was a lovely visit. Their son, Zac, was my Joe’s best friend, and he is also a firefighter/paramedic and I love listening to him talk shop. Now it all makes sense. He likes to listen to me talk about what we do in our very rural area to fight fires. The next morning I spent a couple of hours with Michelle, our daughter-in-law. She has moved to a new place closer to her workplace and it was nice to see how she is settling in and making it her own sanctuary. It was of course good to see Moose and Jenna. Moose had some pretty severe health issues in March and April, but he seemed really good. She then took me to the airport and I was on my way home. I always enjoy spending time with Michelle. I miss her terribly.
Joe’s fire helmet is on his urn. Michelle asked me if I was offended by that. She said the helmet was so big and didn’t fit on her mantel. I laughed and said that Joe wouldn’t have it any other way.
Messina Musings 