I'm Back

It has been a while since I posted.  I’m just now writing to get back into the swing of things!  About 2 weeks ago, I traveled to Philadelphia for a huge family wedding.  I hadn’t flown anywhere since 2019, but that part of the trip went well.  On that Friday, we attended a big Nigerian ceremony and reception in New Jersey, and then on Saturday, it was an Episcopal wedding and even bigger reception right in the heart of downtown Philadelphia.  Above is a photo of the bride and groom after their Nigerian ceremony.   

Our hotel was right in the heart of the historical district, Ben Franklin et al, and just a few blocks down from the Liberty Bell, which my sister and I visited before flying back on Sunday. 

It has taken me a while to recover from all of that, especially since I came down with a cold upon getting back home.  All better now. 

Each event was fairly crowded, which I am not used to.  Being a Highly Sensitive Person, I found all of that to be over stimulating.  Add to that hours of loud music which made conversation with the relatives that I hadn’t seen in years difficult.  All in all, it was quite the interesting and unusual weekend.  A once in a lifetime event!

On another note, I am very much looking forward to my next trip—hiking in Death Valley in a few weeks.    Because of all of the moisture that the southwest US has received this winter, there is a lot of talk about this being a super bloom year in the deserts of Nevada and California, among other places.  We got about a foot of snow here yesterday, and Las Vegas even had snow flurries.  Below is a photo that I found on the internet of the California poppies in bloom during the last super bloom. Death Valley does not have those poppies, and the fields of flowers there are mostly yellow.  Stay tuned for those photos in a few weeks! 

In the mean time, I’ve been snowshoeing here in town and up in the mountains.  If we get a few more winters like this, it will go a long way to easing the drought.