THE CLAN GATHERS

Our family reunions tend to be long affairs, as much as we can put into a long weekend-plus. And, families can include lifelong friends as well as relatives, we've learned over the years.
Ken, his wife Laurie, three teens and two dogs left Las Vegas at  4 A.M. and arrived around three P.M. Thursday. Over 9 hours of driving with a couple of rest stops.

 Consider totally jet lagged Romain Chemiere, who flew from his native France to Las Vegas and arrived Wednesday. He slept most of the day and evening June 30th, only to be loaded into a car with my son's family for a long road trip yesterday. He is the son of Catherine (Carre) Chemiere. She is the AFS sister to my youngest daughter Virginia.
Romain will spend a month with  family members in the US.

Grandson Stewart was hep. He brought his uke and guitar, so we are in for a treat. He and his brother are both credible musicians.

Son Ken did most of the driving and was stifling yawns and struggling to stay awake.

  Makes you wonder if  dogs suffer jet lag? Probably not. They just seem to go with the flo. They do bark, however, but this pregnant doe browsed the weedy side yard for a snack when all was a bit quiet.

 Deer are pretty common visitors, but the night before, we determined we had a noisy, growling, grunting bear in the yard. Possibly two. Couldn't see  clearly in the dark, to be certain. A neighbor dog inspected the yard with his hackles up for several minutes in the morning. And, every dog in the neighborhood was sounding an alarm. They've been spotted nearby. Its the time of year before the wild blackberries ripen, my orchard isn't fruiting either. Its their hungriest time. They like the compost pile and other succulent plants. We just have to hope they don't like dogs for snacks.