Juneteenth and Father’s Day

Juneteenth and Father’s Day, I am celebrating and thinking of both, and missing my father and my grandfathers. Yesterday was a delayed memorial for my ex mother-in-law. I loved her and we stayed in touch and I continued to visit her and also loved her second husband. He was another grandfather to my children. We had six grandparents, with my ex’s parents divorcing a year after he and I married. Now we have one living. My paternal aunts and uncle have stepped in as the parents and grandparents that are missing for me and my children.

The pressman is my paternal grandfather Kenyon Charles Ottaway. Or Charles Kenyon? Now I need to ask my Aunts. I do not know what year that was taken. He was head pressman in Knoxville Tennessee in the early 1960s. He went by Ken. My Aunt Pat adds that he was nicknamed “Inky” and that the above photograph was taken in Bridgeport, CT. On the back it says ’45, so our guess is 1945.

My father, me, and my sister Chris.

The second photograph is my father, Malcolm Kenyon Ottaway, and me and my sister. My father went by Mac.

Jubilee for freedom and for both father’s day and Juneteenth. I miss my parents and my grandparents, love to all of them. Hooray for Sweet Honey in the Rock, too.

Sending love and peace.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: jubilee.

before the rain

I took this two days ago on an early beach walk starting at North Beach. The sky was amazing and beautiful. We had intermittent sun through the clouds and very little rain on that walk. It’s easier to see the clear agates when the sun lights them up.

I did not find any clear agates. B found one that met his criteria. There were many other beautiful rocks. This one was way too big to bring home. The rock itself is almost a rainbow.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: rainbow.

Achievement

My first achievement for today’s Ragtag Daily Prompt is spelling achievement. And no, I did not spell it correctly on the first try.

My daughter has finished her first two years of teaching eighth grade, during Covid-19. She taught remotely until March of 2021 and then in person. She worked on her teaching certificate the first year and finished her Masters last month. She is SOOOO amazing!

Hooray for ALL of the teachers who continued to teach during Covid-19, remotely, in person, hugs and prayers and sending love.

Volume of water

We check the tides before we go walk the beaches on the Olympic Peninsula. I am learning the patterns of the tide locally. On North Beach, the tide is about an hour later each day. However, low tide is at a different time further out the Olympic Peninsula. I had to think about that a bit.

Picture the tide a low with the Salish Sea volume down. Then the tide turns and starts flowing back in. The Salish Sea is like the roots of a tree, with a main trunk and then branches and branches and more branches. There is water coming in from the land, from streams and from rivers, but the tide rolls in from the trunk first and then spreads through all of the roots. I have a tide table for the peninsula for this year, and it has tables for multiple different sites! Most days we have two high and two low tides, but once in a while the low goes out so little that it matches both highs, and we only have two tides that day, a high and a low!

I took the photograph at Dungeness Spit this month. The tide was nearly low when we started walking and we only went 2-3 miles down the spit and turned back. It is beautiful! Check the weather, check the tides and always take something rain proof, even in July. Our water is not warm.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: volume.

Bird talk

A photo tale from a hike last week.

Her: “I think we should discuss our future.”

Him: “Well, um.”

Her: “Wait. Are you trying to tell me something?”

Her: “Is there someone else!!?!”

Him: “I was going to tell you!”

Her: “You lying scum.”

Him: “Wait! Oh, no, she’s GONE.”

__________________________________

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: create.

These are Pigeon Guillemots, more here.

Photographs taken on Marrowstone Island last week.