Precious Sister Time (This Is Us Making Up for Lost Time And Visiting Our Mother's Ghost)

I could have titled this post, "What I did on my summer vacation". Because really, the best moments of the summer were squeezed together in the shrinking daylight hours of this past week with my sister. That old adage time flies when you're having fun--it certainly does. Trust me. Before we knew it, I was taking her to the airport for her flight home. We have so much lost time to make up--every moment we have together is truly precious. We call it: Making new memories. We have years lost. Dr. Thyme is patient and kind while she is here. Giving us the "girl space" we need. Also, jumping in to be Photo Studio Man (because he really does take some of the best pictures we have in our collection--especially now that his eyes are fixed).

My sister is the last remaining person on the planet who shares my DNA. That in itself makes for a powerful bond. I know that neither of us could have predicted our lives would take the turns they'd taken. That the things she remembers of the past are some of the same things I'd forget. Like our trip "home". We headed down south to the place where we both went to high school. After our mom died, neither of us ever really wanted to see "the house" again. I spent less time there than she had. I had to depend on my sister for directions to our house. Can you believe that?! If that doesn't tell you something about the effect of the past, I don't know what does.

Upon arriving, I said I'd had it with letting this place, this "shell"--have power over me. I said I wanted to drive by. Sort of like that Miranda Lambert song, "The House That Built Me"--but without the knocking on the door asking to come in part. My sister was brazen enough to reach into her purse as we stood in the middle of the street staring at its decrepit state, stating she thought she still had the key to get in!--to which I looked on in horror and said, No way! I'm here to face this place and proclaim it has NO control over me--NOT to be arrested for breaking and entering the damn thing, 'kay?! Which got me the, Well it WAS your idea to come here--look. Truly a sister moment. And then we just sat and stared at it. At the whole block. The trees. The yard our mother meticulously worshipped. The same yard my sister was charged with maintaining. (I had "flown the coop" by then.) A yard that now looks like it hadn't had a moment of tending to in the past thirteen years. Our mother would have died. It had changed so much. I didn't even remember it being the color it was now painted. It was this sad white with black trim, with peeling paint in different spots. Not a car drove past. Not a person stepped outside. It was as if this moment had been set aside--without distractions, a time for us and only us--to contemplate. To think. To remember. And then. . . to get in the car and forget.  

 

We went to visit her best friend. She's been fighting cancer. It's been a grueling year. But you would hardly know it--she is an inspiration. She's back to teaching full time! Life. Another friend of my sister's joined us. We had dinner. (I have no friends from high school that I would even remotely want to call upon--well there's one person, but she lives many states away. High school was a bitter pill for me.) We headed home after a nice dinner and good conversation.

So along with shopping and eating (and boy did I cook and boy did we eat!)--we took a few day trips and had fun seeing the sights in St. Louis.

We visited one of my favorite parks: Lone Elk. We donned our hiking gear and set out for a pretty good hike. I packed up some vegan picnic grub and we headed out for points unknown.

Along the way, we came around a corner and I happened to glance down a hill. I stopped and sat really still--trying to make out what I thought I saw. My sister was about twenty paces ahead of me. I said, "Hey"--in a yell-whisper. "Look!" Sitting just below us, blending in almost entirely with the backdrop of the woods and the greenery was this gorgeous deer. A buck. We had not run into a soul on the hike. So to say I was a bit spooked and thrilled by this encounter would be an understatement. There he was, literally unphased by our presence. Chewing. Looking around. Just like we were. But a little less terrified, I'm sure. I tip-toed up to the closest point I could to get a picture--without putting either of us in the site line of a charging deer with antlers. We just stared in awe. We have deer in our back yard. This was not the same thing.

Our mother had this HUGE thing for birds. Exotic birds. Her best friend was into exotic birds also. But then her best friend went to prison for something unrelated to the birds. Mom wrote to her often. Her friend died last year. My sister sent the obit to me. Birds will always play an important role in our lives. But neither of us has one at home. We had to stop at the bird sanctuary. Sissy loved the birds! We got some one-on-one time with the volunteers working there that day. By then, school was back in session and we nearly had the place to ourselves. We couldn't have picked a better day. 

This photo really struck me. This eagle was very animated--more so than I'd seen on previous visits. And then there were moments of absolute silence. We were both taken with her. After getting home I saw this shot I'd gotten of her, and after thinking about the anniversary of 9/11 this week, I think this photo captures more than just an eagle on a perch. 

We visited the Japanese Festival the the Botanical Gardens. My sister had never been. It'd been years since I last attended this festival. It was packed! I told her this visit counted as my "Do something that scares you every day" moment. She agreed. When we finally got to the park--after a mile walk from the car--we really were glad we'd tested our limits. 

My sister took this shot of us in front of some of the biggest ferns either one of us had ever laid our eyes on. I love this photo.

Ice sculpture. Awesome.

Pretty. 

 So amongst the crowds of people, this particular picture stands out. Only because the dragonflies were everywhere. Then I glanced down and snapped as fast as I could. Very cool.

 Glass sculpture with sun. Another favorite shot of the day.

My sister took this picutre. I thought it was gorgeous.

 I walked over to look closer at these purple shields. They are the hugest I'd ever seen. Clearly the Botanical Garden believes in "feeding" their plants. Sissy snapped this shot of me.

Dr. Thyme and the kids and me. They are both camera shy.

Sissy and me. Until next time.