. . .to my May Day Project, 2003. The photos are self-explanatory and each thumb is a link to a larger image in a separate window. You can just scroll through my day if you like, or, as a courtesy to my regulars over at Notes from an Eclectic Mind, I've written some accompanying text. If you haven't visited the site, please drop by and have a look around. Loitering is welcome and a full description of the day will appear there when I've recovered enough to write it. 1 a.m. I never sleep well the night before a trip, especially one as fraught with potential disaster as my Aunt E.'s funeral. I'd like to tell you I was asleep, but I was playing possum and calming my jittery nerves playing with the timer function on the camera. 4 a.m. After only a couple fitful hours' sleep, the alarm sounded at 4 o'clock. I had set 6:30 as the targeted time of departure but I knew I needed some time to drink my coffee, blog a bit, and in general shake out my nerves before starting the day. 5 a.m. I gave myself an hour to do all that and by five had focused enough to get the toothpaste on my toothbrush. 6 a.m. Hi, my name is Rana and I am a chronic over-packer. R. and J. had great sport with the extent of my preparation in packing the rent car. When I asked J. if I'd forgotten anything she said, "No, we're packed for a road trip to Alaska." 7 a.m. Later in the day we listened to a weather report which, I swear, contained twelve uses of the word "haze" which pretty well sums up our weather for the trip. During the funeral itself I'd say "haze hotter than steam from hell" would be more accurate. 8 a.m. Miss J. passed the time crocheting a baby blanket for a child I believe has already been born. I'm sorry I didn't take any photos later in the day when her yarn turned into a rat's nest of snarls and our good church going girl had choice things to say about it. 9 a.m. We took a rest break mid-way. While Miss J. changed into her funeral clothes, I tried to help R. get more comfortable. Stretching out on the velour upholstery with her stroke-affected left leg was not easy so I pulled her across the backseat from behind -- and almost pulled her slacks off. She threatened me with bodily harm, however, if I so much as reached for the camera. 10 a.m. The funeral started at 11 o'clock and at 10 we were one town away, but thanks to a lead foot on my part and deserted country roads, we made it on time. 11 a.m. I'm calling this my 11 o'clock photo but it was actually taken about 10:30, just as we pulled into town. The country road joins the highway right at the graveyard so I quickly drove in to take this photo of the family plot awaiting its newest occupant. My grandparents' tombstone appears in the center of the photo at the end of the front row of chairs. Aunt E. was buried beside her nephew who was shot down in the South Pacific during World War II. He lies beside his Mother, the tragic victim of prolonged domestic violence that ended in her murder in 1943. 12 p.m. I was touched by the number of people who came to Aunt E.'s funeral. She was 87, so I expected the turn-out to be small, but several of Mother's friends from the Little Town drove over to attend. Here we have a few of my kinfolks talking after the graveside service. My Mother is the woman to the right of the photo in blue, my sister is the one in the yellow blouse. All the rest of the group are various cousins. By this point, R., J. and I had unabashedly retreated to an air-conditioned vehicle. 1 p.m. After the obligatory meal with the family (Mexican food at what my sister, in a ridiculous bid to be politically correct around the city folk, referred to as a "Latin American restaurant") we started for home. By this point in the day we'd driven 215.4 miles. 2 p.m. The drive home carried less of the urgency of the trip down -- no deadline to meet. R. alternately read and dozed. Miss J. did more work on the baby blanket and made notes for what I hope will be a guest entry on my blog with her version of the day's events. I just drove and recovered from the strain of being around my family. It wasn't long before I plugged in the MP3 player, even though R. doesn't like music in the car. By trip's end Miss J. and I were singing bad country lyrics that sent our Texas accents right over the top into the hick zone. 3 p.m. The rear view mirrow shot -- there has to be a rear view mirror shot. It's a rule. 5 p.m. Sorry, we were singing at 4 o'clock. It's all that got us through that last leg of the trip. R. just took out her hearing aids and coped. Total elapsed trip distance at 5 o'clock when we pulled into the driveway: 423.7 miles. 6 p.m. Upon arrival I faced severe charges of feline neglect, the Empress had been looking for me all day to tell me about the pool lights trying to blow up, I had a Pen Cam repair to effect, and well, just in general, the nap I wanted didn't happen. At least I did get changed into my jeans. 7 p.m. The quad, vente, seven pump vanilla, non-fat, no foam latte I needed did happen. 8 p.m. R. and I sat comatose in front of the TV watching Law & Order re-runs and eating all the food I packed for the trip that we didn't consume during the day. 9 p.m. While we were gone the cats had not done the breakfast dishes. Apparently the word "domestic" in "domestic short hair" has nothing to do with housework. 10 p.m. Starting to shut it down. The one light that always stays on in the kitchen. 11 p.m. I'm not sure why, but Riff seemed to feel he had the right to look exhausted after sleeping 22.5 hours during the day. Winding down was taking longer than I thought, even though I was bone tired.  11:59 p.m. In a bid to finishing what I'd started, I made it to 11:59 p.m. and turned out the light.