Harry Potter and Us

Ok - I haven't posted a lot in this blog about my late wife Patty. But after seeing this article, I couldn't do anything but post this! Patty is going bonkers with joy somewhere is all I can say. Patty was the BIGGEST fanatic! She would be so excited to go to this theme park. From 2000 onward we as a family were so Harry Potter-centric. I am sure we must have watched the movies hundreds of times each. Additionally, Patty read each of the books at least a dozen times. Shortly before she died I told Patty the outcome of the final Harry Potter book. She had wanted to read it herself but she never got the chance. Anyway - I am sure we will be going to this new theme park!

Thanks and peace to all! - J.

Where We Have Been....

Since I started this blog almost 10 months ago, this is the longest I have gone without writing a blog post. A debate has raged in my head over whether or not to even write this entry as to where we have been. The last several weeks have been a time of great personal pain and suffering for both Zack and me. Since our return from France in mid-August Zack has been suffering greatly from anxiety and fear. The situation reached such drastic proportions that at times Zack was entirely frozen by his anxiety. The root cause of all that ails Zack is ultimately the loss of Patty in July of 2008. As much as I and Zack's psychologist felt that he was "over" things in May of this year, it was definitely not the case. The anxiety, sorrow and grief over Patty's passing has continued to exist in his mind and soul. Due to the severity of this "outbreak" of anxiety, I have had to take some pretty serious steps to try and resolve the problem. Last week I even pulled Zack out of school for the week and had him attend a day program to help with his situation. Unfortunately this program didn't offer any really help and in fact made the situation worse. Thankfully, I have had the wonderful support of many people in terms of trying to work Zack through this situation. Without their help I am sure I would be going insane. At first as this whole trauma started again I felt very isolated and alone. But in the past several days there have been many people who have rallied around Zack to help and support him. For this I am forever grateful. Despite all that we have experienced and all that Zack has suffered through during these last 3 years, I am full of optimism and hope for his future. I believe in him. I believe that he will make it through anything that comes his way. He is strong and he has endured much more than you would expect any 11 year old to have endured. I will be back to my normal blogging habits in the near future. However for now I will be dedicating almost all of my free time to Zack and helping him through this current crisis. We planning on resuming our "adventures" as soon as is humanly possible. Til later! Thanks and peace to all! - J.

Night of the Orange Moon

Tonight is a night in which I still had my digital SLR camera. I have been sitting on my back deck for a good bit of the night drinking beer just staring at the moon. It isn't a full moon tonight, but because of the wild fires in California, it is an orange moon. Honestly, it looks like a partial orange has been thrown into the sky in the place of the moon. It has a very interesting and haunting look to it. It would be very cool to take a time sequence picture of this orange moon as it transits the sky - so that is why I wish I had not dropped my camera and destroyed it. I should be in bed or doing something productive, but tonight the six pack of Corona beer that I have had in my refrigerator for the last month has been calling my name. So I sit here on the swing staring at this odd but beautiful moon. The fact that this beautiful moon is being created by the destructive wildfires is a downer as how could something so beautiful come out of such a horrible event. Is there a lesson in this? Umm... I don't know, as I am really not a philsophical person. I guess a person could search for a lesson in this and say "there is a silver lining to every cloud". Or perhaps the saying could be "even in destruction there is beauty". Regardless, it is a neat looking moon! So if you live in Denver and haven't looked at the moon, I would suggest you do it. Even in you are in your pj's get up and take a look at the orange moon as it is pretty neat. Last night's moon was surrounded by a halo of different colors, so it seems as though we are in for a show each night while the fires burn and we have lots of smoke filling the sky. Thanks and peace to all! - J.