I treasure the annual pilgrimage that my MacMu cousins make to the yooperland to visit us. There is one sibling left in our parents’ generation and I am glad that the loss of the older generation seems to be making us become closer, rather than the opposite. The Fin and MacMu clans are not without problems but we do try to solve issues amicably and we are always there for each other.

I was thinking about how much I looked up to my cousin Salwa when I was a beach urchin. She is an artist and when I was a small child, she taught me how the Crayola crayon color-wheel worked. I spent uncountable hours exploring that and have never forgotten it. When I returned from a beach walk yesterday, she was collecting little bits of beach flotsam — feathers and tiny bits of driftwood, stuff that would (and did) fit into a plastic WalMart bag. This is what Salwa does when she is here and I loved seeing her doing it yet again. She is an artist and she sees things amongst the flotsam that I wouldn’t notice on my own but I am always amazed at what she collects.

We were visiting these MacMu cousins at their East Lansing home when my FinFam grandaddy died. That particular time, we had a room at one of those old fashioned Holiday Inn motels with the outdoor swimming pools. The Engineer and I were hell-bent to go swimming because we were all about swimming and that’s what you DID when you stayed at the Holiday Inn. When we got to the pool, it was CLOSED! What? It was too early in the season. C’mon, it’s 50 degrees, chilly and gray, let’s go swimming! My dad said something like, “We didn’t want to tell you this before you went swimming, but [since the pool is closed anyway] your grandfather died this morning.” I didn’t miss a beat. “We are going home NOW!” And so we did.

Do you like my cubicle? The one (Lyme Lounge) in the pitcher? If you have to telecommute, that is the place to do it. (Ignore the Green Pig. That’s our propane gas thingy.) There is lucky-shucky (with plenty of plugs) and wi-fi and if you tell the beach folks that you are working, they will not come out and try to converse with you. I even dialed in to a meeting today! It was so much fun. And then I checked in with my supervisor to make sure there wasn’t anything more I should do before I signed off for some vacay. She said something like, “Actually there is one more thing I want to talk to you about. Can I call you?” Of course. It was good news. A promotion. One that I was expecting but had largely forgotten about. My life [and job] won’t change at all because of this. I’m just thankful that I somehow landed in a place where people appreciate me and my contributions. And let me occasionally telecommute from places like the Lyme Lounge. Love to my work buddies even though they don’t read this bunch of blather (and if FZ did, he’d prob’ly find all of the typos [g]).

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