John’s sister Barbara and husband Thom are always enthusiastic about walking to the creek with us. They had driven eight hours the day before and welcomed exercise. Knowing a photo at the creek is obligatory, they posed nicely. Dog Sadie was with us, too, and she behaved beautifully – sitting and staying seated whenever a car passed us. In 24 hours we had mentioned every sibling and all the children and grandchildren. If I had nothing better to do, I’d count them.

All six of us sat down for breakfast together. Son John $pencer exclaimed, “I have angel bacon!” and held it up to show us.

Cleaning was the number one project the day before. John $ pitched in to help, and John did most of the vacuuming. Poor Sadie distanced herself from the noisy machine, and she probably sensed something was about to change. I used toddler talk and tone to her, saying, “You don’t understand what’s going on, do you?”

From just around the corner I heard, “Right, Mom. I’m 41 years old, and don’t understand anything.” He and I both laughed.

This is how I know I’m slowly becoming a gardener. The state of the garden matters to me. I begged the roses to hang onto their full blooms until Barbara and Thom could see them.