Thunder and More

Last night I went to sleep to the sounds of thunder crashing. For a fleeting moment I worried about the two "lightning rod" trees directly behind our house but that didn't stop me from a good night's sleep. Those are the ones with a dead top, which fills with moisture. Lightning likes a tall, moisture-filled tree. But, it appears that we made it through intact.

This morning we awoke to a beautifully washed day. The flowers are a little droopy from the rain but they really like it in the long run.

This week includes a training to help me learn how to be efficient on my oversight board. Salem said they were making the training available "locally", which means that it's a drive of about 120 miles. The next best option was 160 miles. Small states have it made.

The oversight board's job is to make sure that the needs of the children in care are met by the state, according to its own mandates. For example, a child in foster care is mandated to have a face-to-face visit with his caseworker every 30 days. That must be documented. There's a whole list of things and it's a lot of reading but so very necessary. Not all caseworkers love us.

It is a joy to continue to learn and be challenged.

Weeds and more

Last year we were very aggressive in targeting weeds in our pasture. This Spring we have a lush, green, and grassy field. It's interesting that we saw few results from our efforts last year but that the weeds apparently died , during their winter dormancy, at the root. This takes effort on our part but what a nice result!

The daffodils are finishing their work. Some came up in places I hadn't even remembered putting them, which was a nice surprise.

We have had a very wet week with it raining hard nearly every day. This makes everything look crisp and fresh as well as grow like crazy. One might not see the downside, but there is a definite one: Fire danger. Rain makes plants grow a lot in places where they aren't irrigated (forest land) and then, when there is no more rain water, their life cycle is to die to the root. This leaves all the above-ground part to dry out and become tinder. We are very careful with fire.

Home Again

In the last week we have traveled clear across the United States with several of our children. Mostly, it was a fun experience. The flight cancellation and resultant comprehensive search by TSA in Salt Lake City would be the negatives. I have no idea what profile I fit, but I was well and truly searched.

We were able to spend time with our children and grandchildren and we learned that the older of the latter is "an aggressive eater". Her Aunt was trying to take a picture of her eating strawberries in a large patch but the child was too fast. There was no hesitation between getting a strawberry in her hand and putting it, complete, in her mouth. Poor Aunt never got a picture.

In addition to strawberries, we enjoyed Myrtle Beach and Fort Sumter. The best part was playing Perudo around the dining table, which I should have won. I was robbed. :-)

Though we miss our far away family, it was a joy to come home to the explosion of daffodils.

Grandchildren

The crocus are up and the daffodils are thinking about it. My heart would soar with that, but added to my joy is the fact that this is a grandchildren week! We are excited to spend time with the grandchildren and are grateful for a circle of life which includes many generations. (OK, 3)

Spring

The winter was long and hard but the spring promises to be gorgeous. We probably enjoy the lilacs and daffodils more after our monochrome season. This morning I awoke to about an inch of new snow but am confident that it will shortly melt away. The daffodils are probably a little confused because they've waited so long to send up their efforts.

Spring is my favorite season of the year with all the new plants with their riot of color and all the new animal babies, both wild and domestic. I haven't seen any turkey babies but the evidence is the adults. Guess I'll keep watching.

SNOW

In YDKJ, the snow comes to tidy everything up. All the horror that existed is covered with a white blanket. It makes a beautiful picture for several months and then comes the thaw. while we may tire of the snow, we often overlook the challenges that come when the blanket is taken away. We must deal with, in addition to many other things, mud. I suppose there's an allegory here.

Investigations

When things go wrong in a society, there are usually many agencies involved. I recently learned how our rural community handles a major crime, such as a homicide. We are small and no one agency can be all things. But, there is an agreement in effect that the District Attorney is in charge and also that each agency will work to its strengths. We don't have crack forensic teams or homicide detectives for whom this sort of thing would be routine. Each agency has areas of expertise and the DA can coordinate that. Usually, however, the investigators already know what they do well and where they need help. The best part of all is that we seldom need to know any of this.