Last week a good friend died. She was a rare jewel in so many ways. Her smile was a beam of equanimity, warmth, and joy. She always spoke of her family and her husband with love and respect; not that there weren’t times of annoyance or disagreement but the love and respect always shone through. She was a very pious Christian but so human and humble with and about her faith. She would laugh with you about you but laughed best at herself. She wasn’t rich or powerful in position, but her absence over the months of her illness and now her death has left an empty space in the lives of her family and the hundreds all over the world who knew her that only memories can fill. And despite my sadness that she is no longer here, I am comforted by so many memories and touched by how often we laughed, even at the serious. What more can be said of a life well lived, than her husband’s words: If you want to remember Ernie, be like her.

Knitting from stash continues. I have a pair of legwarmers on the needles, though I fear it will be too warm to wear them when finished. The Gold Socks are done. I realized on the second sock that I neglected to put in the ribbing on the foot. I didn’t want to frog and reknit. I am seeing the need for a yarn scale to give me some idea of how much yarn I have remaining at the end of a project. I suspect I have about half the skein of this yarn.

 

Toupie wasn’t interested in this morning’s sock photo session.

He curled up on the crocheted rug awaiting a more exciting activity: like following me to the kitchen to watch as I made my second cup of coffee.