Kate’s Visit

We stayed busy while daughter Kate was here for a week, but we never felt rushed. I usually take photos when we go out to eat, making it appear that we never stay at home. I have only two from this visit – eating dumplings at China King and going to Jukebox Junction, modeled after roadside eateries from my childhood. Neither place was busy, and both had wonderful food.

Mother and son do heavy chores, making them look easy. I wrote about their burning the garden trash early on. They trimmed the Wicked Wisteria, making me hold my breath. Kate held the ladder, while David reached wayward branches. He felt safe bracing his knees against the top of the ladder. I wouldn’t look too closely, but was relieved when the job was done.

Kate noticed I had left a pile of branches from a nasty thorn bush. She loaded them on the broken wheelbarrow without touching the sharp thorns. It looked like she was running with the wheelbarrow, but she said she hurried because one of the handles was hard to hold.

Seeing neighbors was fun. Joyce brought mail that was put in her box by mistake and stayed to sit on the porch to visit.

Logan came over to play games with us. Kate was putting a jigsaw puzzle back in the box while he and David played a computer game. I didn’t take a photo of our visiting with Shawn and Bob in their living room, but we did enjoy it.

Although Kate has always been very afraid of dogs, she paid lots of attention to Kasey and often took her on short walks. These were two of the photos she took of the dog in her playpen and a favorite pose when looking at the neighborhood from the front porch.

A most exciting moment was seeing a bird flying at full speed and crashing into the porch wall. It didn’t move for a long time. I eased past the bird, took a photo of it through the front door, fetched a dustpan, and gently put the pan next to its feet. It stepped on. As I rose to take it to a tree, it suddenly flew straight to the top of a tree across the street. When Logan (13) saw the photo on our frame, he asked what kind of bird it was, looked closer, and said, “It’s a waxwing. No other bird has markings on its tail like that.” I was very impressed with his knowledge. I had planned to look it up but hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

David and I were chatting with Kate on the phone as she drove home to New Jersey. Grandson Nathaniel called to talk to us, so David propped the phones up for a four-way family conversation. We had had a lovely visit, and that was a fine way to end it.

Major Cleanup is Over

Daughter Lise stayed with me for two months after John died. She worked from home starting at 5 in the morning (11 am in Denmark) and then spent hours every day organizing our junk. Neighbor Bob took a truckload of trash to the dump, and Sarah and Nathaniel posed with the almost finished garage days later.

As a reward, Lise, David, and I went out to eat several times.

Sarah and grandson Nathaniel came for several hours when in this area of the state. Nate went through things Lise had put aside for him to see.

We were happy he wanted a ship model that John had been given from one of the companies he worked for.

I’m blessed in having relatives who will pose willingly when we get together.

We record events of a visit, too. A headlight was out on Sarah’s car. When Lise pointed it out, they knew what tools to use and how to coax it to shine again. I liked the victory pose.

Of course, we all miss John and talked about him a lot. He would have joined in the laughter and teasing if he had been here.

Halloween with Logan

Reformation Day started like any other Sunday, with our rushing to go to church. The day veered sharply toward extreme pleasure when neighbor Logan (11) called, asking if he could go to church with us. Logan told us in the car that his mother was ill, and his dad was staying with her. We all sat in the choir loft, because John and David had been asked to sit up there to help lead the singing. At the end of the service, Pastor said someone had made him a hat like Martin Luther would have worn. He modeled it for us, because he said he would not have been comfortable preaching with it on. This was a zoom shot from the other end of the church.

We had planned to go to Tennessee to eat lunch and were glad Logan was given permission to go with us. Bob was taking Shawn to the doctor, so that worked out well. Grandson David and Logan posed with mozzarella sticks that seemed to be sticking out their tongues at me.

Our waitress offered Logan three pieces of candy from a large container . She had already given him a spider ring for Halloween.

John drove us home via a small road beside the Pigeon River. The fellows examined graffiti, picked their way down the steep bank, and skipped stones on the water.

I was standing under I-40 with traffic roaring overhead. Can you see the boys beside the river?

The camera could see David and Logan helping each other find stones to skip on the water.

Camera and I caught a three-skip throw, although he made others skip seven or more times. The stones made it to the middle of the river and beyond!

We took a few seconds to celebrate Halloween at home, pouring candy into a bag for Logan to take home. This was one of the best Halloweens I can remember.