We had expected Karyn, Matt, Ridge, and Aker for the Labor Day weekend (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday), but Ridge came home from school on Friday with a bit of a cold. Not knowing whether how contagious it was, Karyn opted not to visit to prevent our possible exposure. Fortunately, it was only a cold, but as a result we had a very quiet weekend. Those are the times in which we live.

Kay had a very busy day scheduled for Tuesday with committee meetings and self-care appointments. Beautified by a cut and color, manicure, and pedicure, she was essentially ready to travel. PEO (Philanthropic Educational Organization) and Lady Duffers committee meetings completed her busy day.

Lucky for me, Dan called and extended an invitation to travel to Mount Magazine in hopes of repeating Thursday’s success photographing butterflies. After the two hour drive, we parked in the same spot as last week and hiked the same trail. There were fewer butterflies, but still more than we had seen elsewhere. It was a good day.

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To make it even better, a few dragonflies were posing.

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And how about this bug.

As a procrastinator, I waited until the last minute to pack for our upcoming 18-day trip. Consequently, Wednesday was used for washing and drying clothes, folding them for packing, and stuffing them into a suitcase. Kay packs a lot of clothes when we travel, and always looks great. I, on the other hand, pack fewer clothes, but more than make up for it with “toys” such as cameras, lenses, accessories, and computer, iPad, and iPhone and various cables, chargers, and memory drives and cards. In addition we both have to pack meds, and I carry a CPAP.  While the clothes can be packed, and “checked,” many of the other items are too necessary and/or valuable and must be “carried on.” Consequently, it takes me forever to organize my “stuff.” We both finished packing, except for last minute items, and sat down to chill. And then we remembered that boarding passes were needed and luggage checked. Of course, the printer was offline, etc. Finally, all pre-trip preparations had been done. We ate leftovers for dinner and watched British television to wrap up the evening.