Beneath the Wraps

            Louisa has a nephew who works at Universal and was able to get us for passes at no cost to us.   That was amazing!   We parked in a VIP area and were able to walk passed the lines of those waiting to get into the park.   I felt like we were getting a royal treatment – something I had never experienced before.   That was pretty awesome.          Southern California – perhaps the entire state – was experiencing a heat wave.   It was 115 degrees out!   Holy cow!   Universal had set up tons of cooling stations with fans blowing mist over the many patrons in attendance. We had entered the park via Simpsons and so had gone on the Simpson ride to start.   I really did not care about the rides at all.   I was so grateful that Sam had joined us and willingly went on anything or anywhere Jaime would take them to.           ...

                 Richard and I had gone to Medford on Thursday.  As we got closer to the city I could see the mountains in the distance somewhat enveloped in a hazy whiteness.  I asked Richard if it was smoke from the California fires.  He thought it was.  And yesterday I could sense the same sensation I had back in 2020 during the COVID fires – well, not that the fires were COVID related – the fires had pushed the topic of the pandemic into the back burner like it was no longer relevant, I could see the orange beams spill into my bedroom.   Kind of eerie – especially when the sun wasn ’ t even visible to my eyes when I looked for it outside.   Or through the window rather.   Still too hot outside to want to open the door just for Bonnie to go out and do her business.   The skies are hazy, but the hills are still visible.   It looks overcast but not.   The air quality is better than mo...