Family

They were gone almost before we knew they had arrived. The two weeks that Mom and the others of my family were here went by in a flash. They left Thursday morning on the 6:00 flight, and I got an e-mail the next morning from Jacque saying they were at their house by 11:00 p.m. that same day (with 7 hours difference, that made 24 hours of travel time). But everything went smoothly on the return trip.

Now we're back to the regularly scheduled program. Tomorrow is Sunday, and it appears that it will not be as "regular" as all that. We are expecting another couple to be baptized tomorrow afternoon. More about that after it happens.

In the meantime, a picture or two to record the family's visit:

On one of the last days, we went on tour of the western end of the island. Some of the locals wanted to join us for the picnic:

It was here at Porto Moniz, on the NW corner of the island that I took this B&W picture of my brother, Duane. With his white hair, dark glasses and dark shirt, even the color photo turned out B&W. He's standing in front of a fence made of broom. The gardens and vineyards on the north coast have to be protected from the salt spray from the ocean, as the prevailing winds come from the north. Maybe they protect from more than the ocean's spray. My sister spotted a ripe strawberry on the other side of one of these fences, which also make it difficult to help one's self to the neighbor's produce.

And there was the "official" family portrait, taken on the eve of their departure. My sister Jacque was still learning how to use the many features of her new digital camera. She succeeded in taking some pictures of her own backside, after setting (or thinking she had set) the delayed timer. Even as fast as she is, she was only about halfway back to her designated position in the photo when the flash and shutter went off. As family portraits, those photos left something to be desired, but they also left other memories engraved in our hearts. No wonder we were smiling in the picture. It's a wonder we weren't laughing out loud at Jacque's beleaguered attempts to get "one good photo"--- of all of us.