Autumn Sunset

I was on my way to Mary J's on Tuesday evening, for our weekly quilt get together, and this was the sky as I headed West. I didn't make much of an effort to frame the picture . . . just pulled the camera out of my purse and shot. The sky was a constant color show as the sun was setting.

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Wisconsin for the memorial service for my cousin, Woody. He has been battling emphysema for some time. He's suffered so long, it's almost not a sad thing. Woody embraced our Indian heritage, and had become active in the Brotherton nation. I'm curious to know if some of those ceremonies will be part of the memorial. About a year ago, he got all the cousins together, and explained some traditions to us. Woody was a classic curmudgeon. He could always locate the negative. He made Don Quixote look like an amateur. Once, he was disgusted with the manufacturers of dishwashing soap, but I don't know what the issue was. To protest, he refused to let his wife wash his coffee cup, and it turned dark brown from the tannic acid in the coffee. It always seemed that his protests ended up punishing him more than anyone else. You had to laugh. I got tickled at him once when he was explaining to me that Darwin was wrong . . . not on a religious level, but he said the weak tend to eliminate themselves . . . and I said, "leaving the fit to survive". Once we took off on an all day adventure to visit our grandmother's farm, now owned by a cousin. The house was almost hidden behind trees and shrubbery, including some wild red raspberries. Kids and vandals had broken into the house, and strewn things around on the first floor, but upstairs, everything was just the way my Aunt Edith left it when she passed away. All her clothing was still hanging in the closets. We snooped aroung there for a bit, and then headed to the Stockbridge Reservation to see a basket woven by my great-great grandfather, on display in a glass case there. Unfortunately, they were closed that day, so we could only peek through the windows. Back into the car, and somehow or another, we got to singing with the radio. Woody had a wonderful voice, and had spent many years in a barbershop group. So, he was singing the bass part and I was singing harmony with the radio. It was great fun. Music rather runs in the family, since his father was a musician, and my mother was one of the singers with his bands in the late 30's and into the 40's. They were brother and sister.
Less than two weeks until we head for Tampa and a week at Melanie's house. We had to stay an extra day to qualify for the discount tickets. What a sacrifice! We'll muddle through!
Back to my sock knitting . . . I've finished number 27 in the 52 pair plunge. I've got second sock syndrome on a current pair . . . the first is finished. I think th pattern is just so boring, that's the problem. I like the feel of the yarn, and the way the first sock finished. I bet that's the last time I finish a sock, and don't immediately cast on the second one . . . or knit them simultaneously!