Daughter Lise spent hours going through old boxes that were moved here eight years ago, unopened. John and I should have gone through them to enjoy old memories and give our children their keepsakes. She has piles of things to give to family members and a stack of letters for me to go through. I found a binder with notes written in my hand about the practice teaching I did when I was a senior in college. What an eye-opener! I remembered only one day of teaching, a day when the children were a bit unruly and I felt ineffective. Those pages showed me that I was organized, and the second-graders responded wonderfully to simple music theory and singing in two parts.
We took a welcome break when former neighbor Connie came for lunch while Albert was being groomed. David knelt on the floor to fit in the photo.
Luckily, there is no photo of my running. While walking in the morning, I asked Lise if she could still skip. She could. I’d tried it the day before when she thought I was skipping, but I didn’t get my feet off the road. Could she run if she wanted to? With no announcement, I took off running. I just HAD to try it!! On the third step, the right foot hit the sole of the left shoe, and I was falling. I had time to think what a fool I had been and wonder how badly I would be hurt when I hit the road. In an instant Lise had her hand on my arm, steadying me. She claims I caught myself. We looked at each other with wide eyes and then howled with laughter. Lise’s first thought was that her siblings would demand to know why she hadn’t protected me from myself while she was with me.
David untangled wires behind John’s computer desk. The desk had been moved quickly, and we wanted to replace a monitor with one Lise found in a closet.
Since I had paid the electric bills electronically, we thought it would be simple to change John’s name to mine. We had to go to the office, provide a death certificate, fill out numerous forms, and set up the payment again using the same bank account. The woman was very helpful, and as we got up, she offered me a rain gauge or a hat. I took the hat! I always wanted to own a baseball cap with no ties to a sport, and now I have one.
As we started up the steep hill this morning, we stopped to admire the mist and the mountains. Lise was sure the corn in the foreground grew overnight. There is always something to see that is different from the day before.
Mehrling Muse 