Patricia Harrelson

On Labor Day, I got caught in a traffic jam–thousands of people leaving the Sierra after the 3 day weekend. It took me more than an hour to get from East Sonora to my turnoff at Rawhide Road in Jamestown. I had no water and no food; it was after noon and I hadn’t eaten since 7am. As I inched along listening to Radio Lab on NPR, feeling light headed and terribly out of sorts, it occurred to me that my life of late (and some would say long) has been one big traffic jam.

I haven’t blogged for weeks because I haven’t sat down long enough to even download the pictures from my event-filled life. I write blogs in my head as I take my morning walk or as I drive from one happening to another. Sitting in traffic on Labor Day, the blogs piled up in a long stream of slowly moving words and pictures. Here are a few images from that stream:

My writing retreat at the Dardanelles Resort, a highly productive time doused with a dozen reasons why I’ll never go there again: ancient tilting cabin under which skunks lived all winter; the constant hum of a huge generator, critters invading the kitchen at night to munch on anything left out and knock dishes and pans at 2am.

Huckleberry’s 6th birthday party at Brentwood Lake with tons of kids and friends and family. When I looked at his adorable smile with 3 missing teeth, it seemed like only yesterday that Emee and I went to Portland to meet him shortly after his birth and she put him a wagon, burrito-wrapped, for a photo.

The start of the new school year, including my first day tutoring language arts for the Tippetts, (phonics to 10th grade Lit) and opening ceremonies at Waldorf where Huck, Nell, and Opal are all in the same class.

Juggling freelance work (play reviews, newsletters, business blogs) with fixing the gushing drip system, helping Cindy re-situate her newly painted office, mowing the lawn, driving Cindy with her broken ankle to jobs, and shopping in Modesto.

Remembering Ashley and the 2 year anniversary of her death; researching a rose to buy and plant as a memorial and choosing a beautiful JFK–gorgeous many-petaled white rose.

Heading to a quasi-Dixon family reunion where Cindy spent time with the 2 boy cousins she hung out with as a kid and we all traipsed enmasse to the Mariposa County Fair to ride rides and dance to the music.

A caravan trip to Angel Falls where the clan fanned out across the rocks, climbing, climbing, climbing, laughing and enjoying the idyllic wonder of the place and finally patiently posing for a group photo taken by 10 snapping cameras.

Yes my life is a traffic jam of momentous events. The main lesson: make sure you have water and food!