Superman Is At It Again

Several years ago, we had a string of events occur where Don was in the right place at the right time. I don't think I was blogging then, but in short, he was instrumental in saving a man's life, he kept a hotel shuttle bus from rolling into a lake, and there was one other thing that I don't remember right now!  So I dubbed him Superman.

So yesterday at the tailgate, I noticed a large conflagration about four parking spots east of us.  The flames were about five feet high and growing.  Cars parked nearby were bailing quickly . . . it was not looking good.  I showed it to Don and asked him to go get one of our fire extinguishers.  He was a little hesitant to interfere, but I wasn't.  Someone needed to do something!  He got the extinguisher and was moving rather slowly, but with a little urging (ok, a lot of urging), he and his brother, Kevin, (a fire chief, by the way) ran up there and within about a minute, they had dispatched the fire.

The people had a turkey fryer, and the grease caught fire.  No wonder it was burning so badly.  Kevin said all they needed to do was put a lid on the fire, but I understand why they didn't.  I am sure they were only a little concerned about burning themselves up!  Anyway, when Don arrived and put it out, they were pretty relieved.  The fire department arrived about 5 minutes later with nothing to do but check it out.

Anyway, though in two of the instances I was the one who spotted the trouble but didn't have the presence of mind to do something myself, Don did . . . and once again he saved the day!

The Pressures of Parenting

I have been thinking the last few days about parenting and its challenges.  I always preached not overscheduling children, yet I was bad at it.  There were so many things to do and learn, I wanted them to experience it all.  So they played soccer and baseball and basketball, and they took piano lessons, and they did Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and 4-H, and they took a ceramics class . . . . and then they did school activities out the eyeballs, church activities, and once they were old enough KSU football.

When we were home, we always had laundry to do, a house to clean up, practicing and homework, and of course the family dinner, even if it was just Applebee's take-out.  It was always a relief to have a day off - such as MLK day, or even better, a snow day!

And now I find myself asking if I put too much pressure on them, if I didn't give them enough time to play and dream . . . High achievement, though very rewarding, also comes with a price.  I hope my kids will forgive me if I was too demanding, too strict, too intense.  A mother's love knows no bounds, and neither do their good intentions.  

East of Eden

I must have led a literarily deprived childhood.  Both of my parents were readers, though for Dad it was mostly newspapers and magazines, and for Mom the same and the popular book of the week.  I did read a lot, though I found myself thinking reading was a luxury I could not afford because there was always something I "had" to do.  So the older I got, the less I read.

In high school, I read the usual books - To Kill a Mockingbird, A Separate Peace, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations . .  you know the books.  And then I tried to read a lot of those I "should" read - Wuthering Heights, Ivanhoe, Emma - but I didn't really understand them.  

Once I retired, I joined a book club, and as a result, began to read more.  And as I read more, I decided to begin to try to pick up a few classics along the way.  And it has been wonderful. 

Sometimes I think one needs to be older to enjoy many of the classics, though I know Diana would disagree.  The second time through on To Kill A Mockingbird was far more enriching.  And Jane Eyre?  I loved it, though when I began it as a teen, I was so scared at the ghost scene I did not go on.  Our book club reads one classic per year (this year we will do Anna Karenina, which is rather scary to me!), and I have tried to add one or two more per year.  East of Eden was a last-minute addition.

I think I know what turned me off to Steinbeck.  Travels with Charley.  I was so offended by his realism when I was a very naive eighth-grader that I put it up and never read anything else of his.  So when Kathy Dunlavy suggested I read East of Eden, I balked; but her recommendations have always been so spot-on, I decided to read it.  And I have to admit, I loved it.  I am glad I took the time to read it.  If you haven't, I highly recommend it!

Timing

The last night we were at the cabin, I took the pups for a walk.  Dusk was approaching, and the light was rapidly dimming.  As we walked up the road near the cabin, I looked up just in time to see a large bird leave the tree above me.  I wish I had been looking up, as if I had seen it, I would have stopped.  As it was, I watched to see where it landed, and although it took a few minutes for me to find it, I did.    Unfortunately, I couldn't just whip out my cell phone to call Don and had to go back to the cabin to get him.  He quickly put his telephoto lens on his camera, and we took the trek back up the road.

I was able to see him really well with the binoculars, and we decided that he is a juvenile Great Horned Owl.  Don got some really good pictures of him, but this one is one of our favorites!

Mother Nature is At It Again

Earlier in the summer, I wrote about the yukky tent worms and how they had destroyed the leaves on an entire aspen grove.  The caterpillars were crawling on the road, falling on our head, and climbing on the car.  It was disgusting, and the aspen trees were not much liking it, either.

Well, six weeks later, and look what has happened.  As predicted, the leaves have come back, and the grove is as beautiful as ever!  Some of the trees still look a little peaked, but in general, they have recovered nicely.  Another sample of Mother Nature taking care of her creation.

Baptism

August 16, 2015, is a special day.  Our little Caleb was welcomed into God's hands.  It was even more special because both sets of grandparents were there, as well as Kenneth's godparents, Kristen and Greg Hart and Kathy Gunter Davis.

Caleb was especially thoughtful throughout the entire church service.  He was enthralled by the music and the lights, and when Pastor Adam was baptzing him, he wore his "serious look."  He just sat in the pastor's arms, letting the water come off his head and back into the baptismal font.

The pastor took note of Caleb's shoes, and he made sure to mention that we were using a baptismal bowl from my side of the family.  My mom gave it to Diana in 1995, and she said that it had been used for six baptisms before her mother was born.  She didn't know if Brooks had been baptized with it, and she didn't know if she had, but Katie and I were, Kenneth and Diana were, and now Caleb is the 11th generation to be baptized with the bowl.  I think that, in and of itself, is pretty cool!

Let's Go On an Owl Hunt

We had heard there was an owl in our area at the cabin.  The Macphersons had seen it, and we were hoping to see it, too.

This morning, Don came inside about 6:45 a.m. to awaken me.  He knew I would want to hear what he was hearing.  Sure enough, as soon as I stepped outside, I heard the four hoots.  About 30 seconds later, we heard it again.  And again.  And then its mate.

We decided to see if we could find it.  As we climbed the mountain, we heard a loud screech.  At first we thought it was an owl, but it turned out to be a red-tailed hawk.  Big.  Loud.  Scary.

After traipsing around the hill for awhile, we heard the owl again.  We were getting closer, but we didnt know how close.  We had stopped to see if we could see it, but no, we couldn't.  Don began to go ahead, and suddenly, from just above us, the little guy flew away.  Well, he wasn't so little - raven-sized, I guess.

I know seeing an owl is not the most exciting thing to some, but to us, it is a big deal!  We had not had the opportunity to see one in the daylight, up close.  Fun times!