Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies

The destination

We took a drive around Fish Creek near Cove Fort to see the damage from last year’s fire. This was a place where Richard’s family memories are richer than their mine ever was. We wanted to see where the fire had been. It was sad to see so much land burned. There were enormous mushrooms which looked like boulders and the little oaks are making progress in some areas. In the places where the fire had not destroyed everything, it was so green and the wildflowers and birds were rich in variety and vivid color. Richard’s dad identified every one for us when we asked.

 

Our guide
Russell samples the iron rich spring

 

 

The explorers
The dog watcher
My man at the old homestead site
Area above the cabin site was saved from fire
Fire damage
contrast
Our outfit
Doggy sniffing heaven
The end

 

 

Window set

It’s good to have a friend with whom you can laugh and tell secrets on the window seat.

This is where they prefer to sit when it’s not over 100 degrees.

People have been so kind

S'mores on sticks from my friend

I sorted my notes and letters last week, hoping to organize them. What I thought would be a 20 minute job grew to several hours because it was so fun to read from and remember friends. I’m going digital in everything from my cookbook to scrapbooks and literature. I am trying to avoid acquiring too many things to clutter the house, but I can’t get rid of notes from friends and relatives.

I decided to group things by year. It turns out that I know the best people. My stack of cards from 2005 and 2006 is enormous. These were years of upheaval and stress. Until last week I hadn’t realized how many people reached out to us to encourage, thank, and welcome us.

As I sorted, I noticed that the letters from 2010 are few. I’m grateful, because it turns out my card collection is an indicator of how much trouble I’m experiencing.  It’s also an indicator that people rely more and more on other means of communication. I do hope that old fashioned correspondence isn’t dead. I really love to write and receive letters. A note is something special that someone takes the time to create in a busy world with no time.

The S’mores were made by my friend, who drove across town to deliver to me when she discovered I wasn’t home to receive them. I tried to keep them from melting before they got home. We ate some and carried the rest into the library in my purse.

Generosity is worth preserving.

 

Formal and stranded

That cake I mentioned in my last post did not work. I baked at 325. Maybe if I baked at 350 the colors wouldn’t have had so much time to wander. It’s still pretty, but it is not what we worked to achieve.

Pet peeve alert:

In my church, we attach a “Brother” or “Sister” before the last name. Basically, we teach the youth to call their leaders by the formal, “Sister so and so” and that is all good. It gets a little more tricky with adults. I usually introduce myself as “Sister Ross” when I telephone somebody on church business. However, at a party or at the grocery store, I’ll call people from church by their first name and expect to hear my own name, too.

I have a growing pet peeve about this expected dichotomy in terms. To others, I am almost ALWAYS “Sister Ross,” whether I’m at the pool, the park, or the zoo.

I walk down the hall and someone says, “Hi, Richard; Hi, Sister Ross.” (Why does he get to be Richard and I have to be Sister Ross?)

On the phone someone will say, “Hi, Sister Ross, this is Jared.” (Hey, no fair using your first name and my church name!)

Yesterday at church, they announced the people in a musical selection, “Today we’ll hear a song from Tina Toocute, Wendy Winsome, and Sister Ross.” (I do NOT wear a bun and a cameo brooch to church. Why can’t I be Angela?)

Richard says it’s my own fault for being formal from the start. Once people hear me refer to myself as Sister Ross, that’s it. Someone once said that I live like I’m in a Jane Austen novel. Apparently I have a perception problem. People are just responding to my formal, archaic persona or they just don’t know my name.

Dear friends,

I don't live in Jane Austen's world.
I am learning to text. I have read Twilight.
It was so good. J/K LOL! If you call me Angela
or Angie now and then, I will not bristle.
I might actually give you a hug.

Thanks,
A

We’re stranded with no transportation today. There will be a lot of movie viewing and reading. There’s a heat advisory and we’ve been instructed to take it easy and drink a lot of water. And that means blogging. Apparently.

Tomatoes! and other items of note

If anything can cure summertime blues, it’s a fresh garden tomato. The boys love picking them but they won’t eat ’em. (That’s not a real snake beside Mark.)

Daniel is off having “experiences and adventures” with the Sanchez grandparents this week. Lucky!

Paige returned from Girls Camp Spiritual Retreat in New Mexico just as sunburned as when she camps in the mountains.

I’m reading Democracy in America by de Tocqueville  since I have always wanted to do that.

I’m trying to gather enough courage to open the box of animals I ordered for Paige to dissect. Strange, given the fact I have dissected just about every animal you can think of. I’ve even dissected a shark… and worked with cadavers. You have a new disgusting respect for me now, don’t you? Back to my box dilemma: the specimens showed up in a package on the doorstep from a hot truck. I have a serious case of the willies. WHERE are we going to dissect these? This sort of dilemma keeps my mind busy.

I’m going to make this cake, sans the green frosting and trap.

I’m watching Bride and Prejudice while I ride the exercise bike. The music is so weird, it’s wonderful. I guess I’m on an India kick. Last weekend we watched Gandhi. It was very quotable…and an essential classroom tool I will incorporate next time we talk about Indian independence. I also bought a book of henna tattoos from a local gift shop. It’ll be a couple of years before we study this, but I’m always planning ahead.

I discovered this source for science supplies. The products appear to be high quality and the prices are good. There are chemistry supplies, too, which I have had trouble finding. I’m excited to order a bunch of prepared microscope slides.

I finished our family scrapbook for 2010. Hooray for the unscheduled month of June!

 

 

Summertime blues

I am not prepared to play this on Sunday. I am in big trouble.

My white spray paint is jammed. My birds are not finished.

And then there is the dust. We can’t keep up.

After two years I still haven’t found the courage to add to Care’s masterpiece for my grandma. And the family keeps growing… more names…aaack! I spent an hour in the middle of the night thinking about it.

There are school books to unwrap and lesson plans to make.

And then there is this painting. I can’t do it. I can’t do it. I KNOW Ray is not that color. I KNOW his hand doesn’t look like that. I KNOW the background stinks. And Ray’s smile isn’t right. Sigh.

 

Temperatures are high and I can’t seem to help Mark stop fighting. Summer is not my favorite time. I lack a FUN gene, I think.

The Three Pigs

I think this picture is a whimsical treasure. Instructions here.

I feel a significant change in the dynamics of our life. We don’t read as many picture books and the house is no longer “baby-proof.” I’ve stopped stashing emergency diapers in the van; We don’t end up eating the snacks we take to church. Strollers are unused and no one rides a tricycle or uses training wheels. I threw out the sippy cups.

Sigh. In the place of all the baby gear, I find sports equipment, socks, big shoes, and Legos everywhere. Showers, not baths, independent reading over snuggling together with books, and more bike rides away from home without Mom watching anxiously are the norm now. I live in the van, reading books as I wait for activities to end. I read a lot of books.

It’s good. It’s different. It’s a little sad sometimes. It all happened without my noticing anything had changed. Now everything has changed, but it’s okay… most of the time!