In The "Good Ol' Summertime"

This year marked a first: We had the heat on in the summertime. 62 degrees inside, with little hope of the sun shining, made us run for the heat. Sad. We've had so much rain that everything is green and lush. Much of it we've missed as we've been traveling for surgeries. We hope that we are finished with them, even though everyone was very nice. Still, Salt Lake City is a far cry from rural Oregon.

Yesterday we went fishing. Our daughter saved the 4 little blue gills we caught and put them in her personal pond. They are still live, mostly, this morning. She also has a catfish in her pond. She feeds them dog food every morning.

Our young son is busy making a "tree" house. We thought that it would be better being close to the trees rather than in them. The tree can grow without messing up the fort. He's thinking that pulling nails from boards isn't particularly exciting. Life is filled with the mundane so that the excitement is a flash of brilliance. We appreciate it all the more.

GRATITUDE

So much has happened since the last post! We were busy enjoying idyllic Spring days and reveling in daffodils. After 2 Life Flights, we still appreciate the daffodils but we also appreciate health.

Our son was riding, sitting down, on the front of a long board. It collided with a pickup and he bore the brunt of the impact. Everything that happened to him has had the best possible outcome. Skull fracture? Healing itself. Bleeding from the ear? Fractured eardrum which is healing itself. Needs a skin graft? Outstanding plastic surgeons ready, willing, and able. His prognosis is for a complete recovery with no losses anywhere. He will receive a ticket for failing to wear a helmet. That is as it should be.

We are extremely grateful for all the prayers in behalf of our family. We feel much-loved and that is very comforting.

Fakeout

We did have a couple of days of Spring but, alas, it was all a trick. Since last posting, we've had: snow, (waking up to 3 inches), wind, cold, rain... Where are those balmy Spring days that I love? The poor daffodils were faked out that it was time to awaken and many of their stems have broken from the weight of the snow.

A lot is bandied about on the topic of global warming. Perhaps we should refer to it as "Climate change" because it sure ain't warmer here!

Spring Has, Indeed, Sprung!

We had our first daffodil yesterday. At 4,100 feet in elevation, we're a little behind many places. We had a contest going to see who would spy the first one and the winner was (Tah-Dah) Rachell. They seem to be very late this year but the snow is almost completely gone. This is good. We had a big bonfire after cleanup yesterday. We roasted hot dogs while the fire was hot, giving us Char-dogs. Still tasty. I have some blackberry plants to put in this next week - hope springs eternal that I will one day reap a harvest.

This is my favorite time of year. All the plants yawn, stretch, and reach for the sun. They put on such a glorious show that it's very easy to be joyful. Hooray for Spring!

Sunrise

Getting up in the middle of the night (before 6 a.m.) has its advantages. OK, it has ONE advantage: I have seen some spectacular sunrises. My early rising, coupled with the fact that I live in the mountains on the west side of the valley, have given me some panoramas. This morning, and for the last several, the sun has looked like molten gold as it spills over the hills in the east. First comes a pinkish glow. After that, it starts turning reddish-gold. Just before it pops out over the tops of its barriers, the rich red comes. It can be blinding. I suppose if that were the last thing I saw in this life I'd count it a full life. That, and grandbaby smiles.

Spring Break Travel

We had such fun visiting far-away family during Spring Break. Coming home is never fun, but it is a necessity.

We had planned to go to church and leave directly from church. Ah, the "best-laid plans..." A couple of hours before church, it began to snow, heavily. It's almost April for pity's sake! We decided to forego church (truly a tough decision) and head out. This would add 4 hours to our traveling window. We spent 2 hours getting from SLC to Tremonton at 40 miles per hour with the 4-wheel drive one. I thought about putting the posi-track on, but that might have been overkill. At Tremonton we spotted blue in the sky and headed for it. Cool. Alas, Wind can be blue. We had wind, heavy wind, from Snowvilled to Boise. Filling up at Burley was nasty as we had to get out of the car. We averaged 15 mpg for that leg of the trip.

After we arrived in Boise and visited family we headed out again. Arriving in our valley we saw a calm and beautiful evening with the sun shining brightly. Oregon rocks!

Changing the clock

For starters, we have "early" church, at 9:00 a.m. This is always difficult during the Spring time change, more so with children. But, we usually manage. I dutifully set my alarm an hour ahead last night, which was 5:45 a.m., the time I usually get up on weekdays. When it went off, I groaned and moaned but finally got up. I went into the bathroom and next to my bleary-eyed face was a clock saying that it was shortly after 5:00 a.m. I had forgotten that my clock can "think" and resets itself automatically. Dare I admit it, but I think I got up at 4:45 a.m. for church?

The children are VERY lucky I figured it out before I woke them.