We’ve just had the most amazing weekend filled with gatherings and joy. Four of our beloved family members arrived safely from the airport, despite the chaos of an I.T. outage. It is the beginning of a golden phase for our family, with everyone finally in the same time zone. We were hoping to spend some quality social time in our yard, but the weather had other plans – nonstop rain filled the weekend. Nevertheless, we made the most of it and created fun and laughter together.

But cousins who normally spend their time half a word apart  are united waiting for the rain to stop.

Or share their lunch offerings.

Friends gathered at our house this weekend too and I was madly British and insisted on cooking in the yard because that has been the plan. The outdoor grill perched on a table in the yard, but near a kitchen window. The food, both grilling and steaming in the rain.

There were also moments when we weren’t in gathering mode and I could read a weekend newspaper, when I discovered that my obsession with weather forecasts and weather Apps is widely shared. A quick look at my home screen on my phone shows that I have 3 apps and I follow two local weather forecasting Facebook pages not so much for the actual weather as neither cover where I live but for their knowledgeable chit chat.

One day I might get a weather station of my own to chit-chat about. I could call it ‘Pondering Precipitation’

We also had a hybrid friends/family gathering. Four grandparents gathered in the same space and not a single small person in sight.

Not the sun-baked July weekend we  anticipated but joyous in many different ways.