Putting off " Grace's reading" blog yet again to talk about what happened directly after graduation . . .
Early on the morning after Hailey's graduation, the five Reales took off on a ten-day trip to the great Southwest—Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. My husband and I did a 5,000-mile RV trip with our three children way back when, visiting many of our most outstanding national parks. And, finally, Susie was able to plot out a trip for her girls, even if it was confined to a smaller area. The highlights: Sedona, including a very fancy observatory, a spectacular "slot canyon," Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and Las Vegas. (Where, I'm told, our math-minded new grad reveled in the "slots.") Interestingly, all three girls walked away with money.
I'm so glad they were also able to tour inside Hoover Dam, the surrounding area now much fancier than it was when I was there. Built about the time I was born, Hoover Dam is one of the great wonders of the world*, and a chance to go inside and see how it works, hear the hum of the giant generators, peer down at the immense incline on the back side . . . Wow! Add that to the incredible beauty of the mountains, the towering cliffs, the giant rift, the glitter and glitz of Vegas . . .
Needless to say, everybody had a great time, although Hailey reports she came back to the reality of her work not changing from intern days, except for longer hours. (And, of course, more money.)
*Russians brag that Bratsk Dam in Siberia is bigger, but I've seen it, and it is only WIDER, not nearly as tall or as impressive as Hoover Dam.
Last night—Thursday, May 21—Mike and Riley prepared a "Late Mother's Day Dinner." (Mother's Day missed as the Reales flew to Phoenix.) Thank goodness we have so many good cooks in the family! Evening complete with cards and flowers and beautifully bagged-up leftovers. Thank you, Mike and Riley! (Cassidy, also an excellent cook, is summering in Melbourne to get in more flying time.) No photos from last night, so I am posting our family photo from Thanksgiving 2025. And giving thanks for the close-knit Kone-Reale family.
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| And, yes, our Michael "Stewart" was pushing the season a bit. |
The highly dangerous lack of a comma . . .
Regular readers may recall we have a family friend who works for Disney. Photo below from an event this week in Virginia. Way to go, Teddy!
The photographer swears the following pic was not photo-shopped or AI generated. Just a very special moment on Florida's Gulf Coast.
When I moved to Venice (FL) in 1982, there was nothing from Venice Beach all the way down to Caspersen Beach except a Coast Guard station, a tiny hot dog stand and, as I recall, a single port-a-potty. Below, a recent pic of the area—first came a modest-sized Sharky's restaurant—now a vast complex of two-story restaurant, shops, and giant pier. FYI, I understand the road south, leading to Caspersen Beach, has not been repaired since Hurricane Milton, making Sharky's almost the end of a road that once led down to a fossil-loaded beach, a couple of large parking lots, plus a 2-story building with restrooms and changing rooms (also, no longer available, sigh).
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| Sharky's restaurant complex and fishing pier |
From the Sublime to the Ridiculous. Both pics from Facebook:
For my foreign readers and younger Americans: Drawing depicts the U.S. Supreme Court raising the Confederate flag in a mock portrait of the U.S. Marines raising the flag on the island of Iwo Jima during World War II.
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Book of the Week - choosing one of my 12 Regency Gothics at random:
Independent and capable Prudence Wedderburn, daughter of a vicar, is a woman before her time. She not only manages the parish duties usually performed by a vicar's wife, she has learned the art of healing, and during her father's final illness, she also assumes some of his religious duties—all actions welcomed by her village until her father's death abruptly ends her life as First Lady of Kenner's Cove, Kent.
Well aware she must curb her independence—even learn to practice subservience, a quality entirely unknown to her—Prudence accepts a position as governess to a five-year-old girl in Cornwall. Where, alas, rumors of her activities in Kent plunge her into difficulties with the church, she clashes with her pupil's father (an earl), finds herself hip-deep in smugglers and Cornish legends, is befriended by a 500-year-old cat, and discovers that someone—several someones?—want to kill her. Finding a happy ending in a deluge of disasters will be the vicar's daughter's greatest challenge.
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