Scenes from a Memorial Party

I didn't take many pictures at the actual memorial party for my mom, but as the evening wore on, some of us who had stayed later headed to the beach as the sun set and I brought my camera along. Shoes were removed, rocks were skipped across the water's surface and splashing was encouraged. It was great fun and I think that my mom would have approved.

Vitka and Me.

Matthew

Amy

Lisa

Amy and Mike

Caleb

Gone From My Sight

I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white
sails to the morning breeze and starts
for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length
she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come
to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says;
"There, she is gone!"

"Gone where?"
Gone from my sight. That is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull
and spar as she was when she left my side
and she is just as able to bear her
load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone
at my side says, "There, she is gone!"
There are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout;
"Here she comes!"

Flying Day!

Today Mike and I amused ourselves by going to the Red Bull Flugtag here in Chicago, although in complete honesty, we didn't stay the whole time. We arrived when the gates opened and snagged a good spot. But then as the opening ceremonies arrived and over 70,000 people swarmed North Avenue Beach, we found ourselves overrun. People stood up in front of us and it was really hard to see. We tried to move to another area with a jumbotron that might give us a better view, but it was so crowded and such a hassle - add that to the heat and the just plain annoyance of dealing with over 70,000 people pushing and shoving...and it was time to go home about halfway through.

Still, we had a good time and Mike went over to the "hangar" and got some pictures of the teams and their air crafts. My favorite are the Flying Ditkas (pictured further down), whose bio says "How far will the craft fly? In true 'Superfans' spirit, Mike says that his team 'plans to file a flight plan at both O’Hare and Midway airports.'"

The last pictures are of the sky divers who loop-de-looped and whatnot before touching down on the launching deck. Quite cool. One of those guys is the stunt double who did the parachute landing trick at the beginning of one of the Austin Powers movies. Huh. Who knew?