Thanksgiving recap

Hi all. I've neglected my post for several weeks. For that I apologize, because I know for certain each of you were deeply disappointed that I had not written anything new for you to read. Likewise, I acknowledge your root desire to spend minutes and hours reading and re-reading every word from my keyboard; hanging upon each syllable as if it were sustenance you need to maintain your sanity and calibrate your moral compass. Well, be disappointed no more. The following is a play by play (of sorts) of my activities over the Thanksgiving Holiday break.

Of course, I did receive a genuine Holiday break from my job of teaching English. Not only did I receive the following Friday off work, but I also enjoyed the previous Wednesday away from the classroom as well. I'm blessed with that work schedule.

That previous Wednesday I rose early, early in the morning in order to drive and arrive in Humboldt by 7 a.m. I took good old Shelby along for the ride.There I did some cleaning out of the garage on a property that my aunt Betty and grandma Irene have been rejuvenating. I spent the day with Betty doing some improvements on the inside as well. We installed flooring . . . on the wall. I did some cobbling and installed some mopboard along the walls of a couple rooms. I didn't want to do too good of a job, otherwise it would look out of place with the rest of the house. It's a budget renovation, therefore should avoid investments of time or money when possible.

Grandma Irene treated us to lunch at Humboldt's H&H grill. Betty and I were joined by her son Dusty and his daughter Janae. Over a great cheeseburger and susy q's, I spoke briefly with Shawn Clounch. He looks and sounds just like his dad, my former little league baseball coach.

Around two thirty or so I became antsy to get back to Ottawa to see my own family, so I took off in a huff. About Colony dad called me saying "You forgot your dog!" Oh my gosh! She'd jumped in grandma's car to visit her house, and they were gone when it came time for me to go, and I just plain forgot her. I confirmed with grandma it would be okay to have Shelby stay the night, and continued driving on home.

At home, I indulged in a bit of a rest since Jack and Leo were both napping. Then, when Jack got up we did some serious playing with his cars. After a while, the nice sunlit day was hearkening for us to get outside and enjoy it, so we loaded up on the Hawthorne (my bicycle I resurrected from my Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Frank's auction pile, after grandpa died). We rode to Forrest Park, located beside the beautiful Marais des Cygne river, which is French for Marsh of the Swans. Jack played and played until just before dark. Back at home, we ate supper and prepared Leo and Jack for bed. Shortly after, Marian and I prepared ourselves for bed as well.

Thursday morning (Happy Thanksgiving!) we rose and got around in record time (for us) to travel to Humboldt again. We arrived a little after ten a.m. and spent some time catching up with my sister Clarie and her husband Dusty, who'd driven up from Ada, Ok. the night before. Their girls Macy, oldest, and Kali came with them (naturally) and their youngest, the boy Tuker. Tuker and Jack busied themselves playing. Kali and Macy played with Jack, too. But, they really were interested in Leo. Those girls are just the sweetest little things and they're the best cousins for our boys. Tuker is a boy, so I won't call him sweet and embarrass him. I'll say he's a fine young boy full of the curiosity and spirit that comes from good parents and a healthy country upbringing. Mom and dad's kitchen was full of giggles and kids' footsteps all morning. I could tell they relished having both their kids and their kids' families all there together.

It was a brisk Thursday, yet sunny and not too bad out of the wind. But, the wind was sharp and biting. Clarie and I visited Grandma Irene and handed down some of her stored Christmas decorations for her to access. On the way back to mom and dad's we were treated to a truly pleasant sight: Tuker and Jack in waist high grass trying to pull a little red wagon. They were having a ball trying to pull that wagon through the grass and falling down on the big cushion-like tufts of tall grass.

The food was delicious, of course. We ate our fill and retired to the chairs for some good conversation.

On Friday I went back to Humboldt and did some more work at the house on Central street. Not alot, but a little. Mom and dad went to Springfield so dad could pick up his brand new motorcycle. Once I returned from Humboldt, our family went to the local thrift store and purchased a few Christmas records to play on our record player. Since we were there, we allowed Jack to pick out a new car. He chose a police car. He likes police cars and emergency vehicles.

It was a great Thanksgiving break. I love getting to see both sides of the family. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I think most everyone did.

There must be a word for that

Here's a little thing I wrote awhile back. I don't know exactly what to call it.

It's just a little reflection on something small in life. Mostly, I wanted it to be

entertaining, but I'm not sure it accomplishes that. Anyway, enjoy!

We were playing casino, our favorite two-person card game; Marian and I. Leo was asleep in his crib. The two half jars of winter squash applesauce mixed with oatmeal were sure to soothe him, and his comfy footed pajamas would lull him into nightlong dreams of warm hugs and friendly, soft giraffes. Jack had fallen asleep on the couch watching musicians play their acoustic instruments on television. Their songs were like old barnwood and corn in the crib, and after struggling up ladders and zipping down slides at the park; after eating a supper of sauerkraut pork roast with carrots, fruit cocktail in a coffee cup, and two hot rolls with butter and honey washed down with milk; after he was scrubbed in a warm bath in the kitchen sink and he had pulled on his red and blue pajamas, the ones with a yellow neck band and little steam engines with smiling faces, the dark living room and warm acoustic music pulled his eyelids closed. I carried him in to tuck him into his bed.

Marian and I continued our game to its conclusion. A conclusion that was most dissatisfying to us both: a draw! At least there were no losers in the match. Since it was getting late our eyes were getting that scratchy feeling like sand in our eyes because we were tired. Marian laid her head down on the table. I suggested she go on to bed. She moaned that she couldn't, she still had to brush her teeth. "But, I thought you did that earlier, right after I carried number one to bed."

"No," she lamented, "I wish I would have," and added, "and I wish I would have put on my pajamas, too".

I thought there must be a word for that: that feeling of regret a person experiences when they realize they should have taken advantage of brushing their teeth and putting on their bedclothes earlier in the evening, before they become sleepy tired. So, when that moment of wanting to get in bed and go on to sleep arrives, all that must be done is to extinguish any candles and lights, look in on the sleeping babes, then slide in and curl up beneath the covers.

I'm not one for living with regret. Sometimes, though, I feel the burden of making that trek to the restroom to wash my face and brush my teeth when I have nodded off while reading in my chair in the living room. It's a routine sure to awaken me and cause me again to become alert and not at all sleepy and ready for bed like I was in the chair with the book in my lap.

What's the word for a small missed opportunity? It's such a small thing: to complete a task earlier than our regularly scheduled routine; all in order to give ourselves a little bit of extra comfort and ease in the future. I don't know what that word is; the word for the regret that comes from not brushing your teeth somewhere in between your last drink and bite to eat of the night, and the time when the right combination of being tired and ready for bed arrives. I don't know what that word is, but take a tip from me: give yourself that little reward at bedtime. Brush your teeth and put on your bedclothes early. Make it a smooth transition from chair to bed. You'll be happier for it!

Grandsons and their grandmother's technology

This is something I wrote a few weeks ago and have neglected to publish. My apologies for not keeping this blog up to date.

The following is for entertainment only. Any resemblance to actual persons is completely coincidental (feel better?).Enjoy!

It's the time of year for pictures. Trees have changed the color of the leaves and abandoned a carpet of them along the neighborhood lawns. The very sky has drained itself of its golden light: azure blue in the afternoon; Fabergé pinks at crisp dawn; sherbet oranges melting of a chill sunset. Charcoal geese have ushered in wet clouds the color of slate and through their honking have brought with them the rumor of winter. Sounds have become muted in the damp, cool air. Mothers unfold comfy sweaters from the bottom drawer. The outdoors smell of cedar and of smoke.

College students call home an extra time during these weeks. New moms dress their little boys in all their newest hand-me-downs. They have waited all summer to affirm their assumptions that he'd be a darling version of a little man in a chore coat, and brown leather belt.

Grandmothers everywhere again will take to the task of solving the riddle of their new digital cameras.You've seen them at the city park. They follow the little toddlers around viewing them almost exclusively through the viewfinder on the back of their new cameras. She may stumble unexpectedly as her foot steps from damp, grassy earth into the soft, slow pea gravel. And she'll mutter; or out and out talk to herself or to the camera in her hands as one holds it while the other works buttons on the back and turns a dial on the top. She may appear to be following the camera around, rather than following a possible subject for her photography. She is likely to demand of it, "Now, why won't you let me get back to that one I took earlier?" You may overhear her interject above the camera's silent argument with her, "No, no. You're not going to erase that one." She likely will call out to her daughter, there with her in the park, "This thing won't let me save more than one picture at a time," then ask, "does yours do that?"

Please be kind to these grandmothers. Look out for her safety if you see one. For you may have occasion to find her rebounding repeatedly against an out of the way windbreak wondering aloud "What's this thing doing?" or she may trapped in the corner of the shelter area expressing her bitter disappointment in the down turned camera, "I don't want to be clear over here. Take me back, take me back!"

But, she'll capture those little boys' smiles; the crooked blaze orange hunting cap; the slightly big chore coat and little brown leather belt. And the wind will blow brown paper bag leaves into a pile below the park bench. You'll see less and less of them as the season grows old and dies. They'll be back on one of those warm, false spring days just before February slams the back door and keeps keeps everyone pinned inside for a month. He'll be pulling her along by one hand, while she feels her way along with her feet, scowling as she complains to her newest technological marvel in hand, "No, I don't 'want to delete this image'!"

For Fun.

"To Kill A Mockingbird"

Sorry they are dark. Clayton can be seen as Judge Taylor (left photo, center) and giving a bow with the cast (right photo, second from left). -Mare-

Halloween

Here are some Halloween pics. At the bottom are photos from the Pumpkin Patch. -Mare-

"Trick Or Treat!"












Even cowboys need rest after a
long day of horse riding.

Leo is happy just before bedtime in his walker

My apologies to everyone about the low lighting. When we recorded Leo in the kitchen, it seemed light enough, but obviously it's not. However, the good stuff is still there. He's developing a personality of his own and interacting with us more and more. His little feet just barely graze the floor in this walker. Of course, he's real sweet. Yes, it is only November 2, and we've already found the radio station with the twenty four hour Christmas music! If a person listens closely,it's playing in the background.

Things are going along smoothly. I need to make a conscious effort to update this blog more often. I'm sure all you readers out there are just desperate for me to write so you can pore over it. There's not much higher in everyone's priority list above reading Clayton's blog, I'm certain.

We're praying for everyone's prosperity and good health. We love you all.