Our Amazing (Great) (Grand) Mom

I hope all you Mother's out there had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I had Mom over for lunch and then we took an hour beach walk.  Some time ago I made a post about a guy who puts up interesting kites most Sunday's in Santa Monica.  I hadn't been down there on a Sunday afternoon in awhile and his collection has obviously grown.  That's Mom standing next to his butterfly pole.

All my siblings can testify that if Mom is on a beach and there's kelp anywhere nearby, she is compelled to stomp on every kelp pod she sees.  (what are those called?  pods? bulb?  John Ashley can you anwer that?)  Anyhow, she's like a crow drawn to a shiny object... must....smash....pod... (only said at a much faster rate, it is mom after all).

I watched her jumping around, smashing the pods (envision Lucille Ball smashing grapes) and how when a wave came in that she didn't see she'd run up the beach so her shoes wouldn't get wet.  I marveled not only at her child-like joy as smashing these things but also at her agility and movement.  

We then decided to drive up into the Santa Monica mountains to a fire road that has views of the city.   Our plan was to walk to the first bend, about 1/4 mile up to enjoy the panoramic view of the Pacific and Los Angeles.  Mom decided she wanted to continue up to the site where I had my biking accident- 1 mile more up.  I was a bit concerned but decided just to pay attention to how she looked and her breathing.  No problem there!  She again turned into a big kid having to stop and torment every stink bug we passed and kick rocks long the path (no one below- whey!).  Again I marveled at our Mighty Mouse's physical ability and just plain joy at being outdoors.

Trust me, observing movement is what I do for a living and Mom is SO BEYOND most of her cohorts, it's amazing.  Of course this does NOT mean that I approve of her doing crazy things like climbing up a ladder and onto her roof while wearing a post-surgical boot immobilizer - Mom, are you reading?- but then I'm so impressed and take great hope that perhaps when I'm her age I can be as agile and joyful.  Yes, true she can be a wee bit cranky occasionally (heeheehee) and we rarely see eye-to-eye politically, but I hope to be her when I grow up.  My genetic inheritance gives me great comfort as it should all of you.