river of peace

today i crossed the peace river, a wide beautiful waterway in florida halfway between fort myers (where my aunt and uncle live) and orlando (where i left florida and flew back to california).

last night karen and grace and i spent the evening with my aunt ursula and uncle johnny. we ate and drank and ate some more. and we talked and talked and talked. we all had a wonderful time. johnny brought out old photographs ~ there is one of his father selling vegetables from a cart in niles ohio (there is no photo of my great grandfather selling from such a cart) and i would like to use it in my cookbook. and ursula brought out pictures of cousins i dont know, have never met...

and we talked politics...

and ursula told us about about a woman who had been ordained a catholic priest and was excommunicated from the church but still said mass and ministered to her congregation. she had a program for the homeless and urusula had cooked food for it ~ the same as we were eating... she had to tell us while johnny was out of earshot as he didnt approve. (others in my family are similarly inclined ~ my cousin helen in las vegas runs a food bank for aids patients ~ her catholic church helping over two thousand clients... but helen wont donate to the regular collection at church ~ that goes to pay for the pedophilia lawsuits ~ she only gives to the building fund and the food bank.)

we had a long drive today to get me to the airport on time so after we crossed the peace river, we stopped only for a few moments to get coffee and post peace graffiti. grace did the honors at a fast food chain and karen shot pictures...

it was a great trip to florida, surprising karen, meeting buffy, visiting with grace and al, seeing my aunt and uncle... we flew fighter kites, walked in the rain, shopped... and there was a big party... but mostly we talked. it was wonderful to be able to have a conversation and relax... and now im home and back to the grind... but the river of peace still flows through us all.