Grandchildren Visit

 

 

Our two oldest grandchildren came to visit on Sunday.  They are so grown up now, though still in their teens.  My mother came over to spend the day with us.  It was a wonderful treat to share the summer time with all of them.

Snow Clearing

 

 

 

 

Snow clearing from the weekend's storm took over two hours of steady work.   Today Gary is still sore and achy and resting.  I am encouraging him to get away from here for a trip but he isn't able to find reasonably priced flights to his destination of choice.  He wants to visit Julie in Alberta.  Yes, that's going from one wintry place to another, but another man is in charge of snow removal there.  It would be a welcome change and a great visit with his daughter and son-in-law and three wonderful grandchildren.

Now to find a flight...

Grandsons

Visitors.  We've had visitors.  Two of our daughters came to see us, accompanied by portions of their own families.

Over the weekend, we spent time with our youngest grandson (7.5 months) and our oldest grandson (14.75 years).  We're fortunate to have eleven grandchildren, six boys and five girls.  With their families' busy lives, we don't see any of our grandchildren as much as we would like, so this visit was a special treat for us.

It fascinates me to see the youngest and the oldest grandsons together.  Despite their age difference, they have physical and personality traits in common.  They share blue eyes, fair hair and skin, large heads and strong hands, healthy appetites and tons of physical energy. 

Already evident in the youngest is a propensity for studying the face of the person talking to him, an attentive sensitivity to the environment around him, an easy and frequent smile, and a gentle presence; all of these are characteristics shared with his older cousin.

It is easy to note their differences but it is more fascinating to see their similarities.  They are kin; they are family.  And it was such delight to see each grandson, to enjoy a visit with some of our family.

Thank you.  It was thoughtful and generous of you to come. 

And again, thank you.

Family Visits in Summer

Family Visits in Summer

Last night, I slept for 13 hours.  Yes, I was that tired.  Exhausted but content.  Since Monday we have entertained company, well not really company...I should say family.  Each day we've had 6-8 adults and 2-4 children at our house; family who've joined us for a summertime visit.

We visited with each other, caught up on family news and stories, played cards or paper crafts with the children, had many barbecues, late night conversations under the stars, laughed and sang, enjoyed the summer days and evenings.

It felt a bit like a camp ground here with a Volkswagen camper van in the driveway and a 40 foot RV at the curb.  At bedtime, everyone went off to their own cozy places to rest.

During the day, we played in the pool or caravaned to The Rocks to sight-see and picnic or sat around talking, eating, and drinking Caesars...or doing whatever anyone felt like doing.  We enjoyed each other with no agenda.

Our time together was full of laughter and love.  Though there were many meals to prepare and dishes to clean, laundry to wash and supplies to purchase, there were many hands to help.  It was worth it all to see family, to spend long summer days together and to enjoy each other.

When everyone left, the house had a few extra finger prints and spills to clean, but was so quiet...too quiet.  It was fun to have family come and spend time with us and we are missing them so much already.

Yes, I slept for 13 hours last night.  I am catching up on rest and feeling almost ready for the next batch of family visitors, arriving on Saturday.

My House

My House

My house is going to be busy this week.  We are hosting relatives and enjoying their company.  I won't be posting again until the end of the week.

I hope you're enjoying time with someone you love, too.

Carol

Visiting Your New Home

 

Visiting Your New Home

In your new home, I wake each morning to the murmur of leaves.  Dappled shade and rippled sunlight play, gifts from trees that stretch upward over 200 feet.  Black Locust, Black Oak, Cherry and Chestnut, these trees are centuries old.  I lie in bed and feel the cool morning breeze, hear the whisper of fresh leaves on ancient trees and I breathe in, breathe in summer.  I wake canopied and cradled in a tree house.

The songs of trees chorus throughout the day.  Steel-framed windows hug the light, invite the light into every corner, and shine the light onto every pale wall inside.  Outside each window, there are sturdy trunks clothed in every possible shade of green. Inside this home, the outside is made welcome.

Inside of me, the outside is welcome, too.  The quiet, verdant world fills me.  I see green, breathe green; I feel green expand inside me.

Green enters my ears as birdsong and bright breeze gossiping in the leaves.  Green enters my eyes when sunlight calls on the shadows to dance.  Green enters my heart, peels it wide open to trade anxiety for attention and awe, to trade responsibility for joy in the present moment, to trade cares for being astonished and carefree.  Green enters my lungs, as I inhale wind and rain, sunlight and rainbow, fog and dew.  I breathe anew, easy and deep.

Green cradles me and comforts me in this new home.  Green draws me to a place where boundaries don’t exist, where doorways out and doorways in are translucent pathways, where every living thing is part of the same breathing and growing earth.

The leaves whisper, “Peace, peace, peace,” morning and night.  Under this canopy of trees, all’s well with the world and I am fresh and whole.

So, I offer my blessings on your home and to you, who live under this great green canopy of ancient trees.

And remind you:

All shall be well,

and all shall be well,

and all manner of things shall be well. *

* Quote from Julian of Norwich (1342-1416) English Christian Mystic

All photos are mine.

To learn more about this wonderful property, click here and go to Super Granny, a blog site written by Sally Wendkos Olds.

The Experience of Air Travel

The Experience of Air Travel

See people ahead of you take extra time to place their belongings in the plastic security trays:  belt, shoes, jacket, watch, jewellery, cell phone, money clip, pocket change, car keys, along with other unidentifiable metal things.  See time slow down.

See the pilot rush past you on the escalator.  Feel him nearly knock you down, when his luggage hits your back.  See that you are both rushing to the same plane.

Hear a male passenger bragging to his female seatmate about his $200,000. a-year job, organizing and selling shipping boxes.

See his seatmate squeeze herself against the window and turn away from the man.  See him not notice and hear him talking and talking.

See your seatmate use his I-pad.  See him alternate, every 15 minutes, between playing a game where airplanes drop bombs on tanks below and reading passages from I John in the Bible.

Feel your seatmate poke you in the ribs each time he moves his arm, now that he’s switched to his laptop.  See him stare at you when you mention this.  Feel yourself move so that a different rib gets poked from time to time, to ease the ache.  Think that he obviously hasn’t read the I John3:18 verse yet.

See a man playing solitaire on an I-pad.  See him tap his left leg 3 times and snap his fingers twice, before each card move.

Smell the foot odor from the people behind you.  Hear that they have made themselves comfortable by removing their sneakers.   Feel uncomfortable.  Turn on your overhead air.

Hear the music from the personal earphones of the man three rows ahead.  Think about his hearing loss.  Think about his taste in music.

Feel amazed at the ability of the woman across the aisle, to sleep undisturbed through the noisy outbursts of her own flatulence.  Avoid breathing.

See the couple in the seat ahead of you, faces pressed together in the space between the seats; lots of kissing, lots of tongue action.  Feel anguish that you are not asleep with your eyes shut.  Hear the spit-swappers complain to the attendant that the cabin air is dry and they are so thirsty.

See clouds above and below.  Feel wonder at the dark shadows on the waves of cloud.  Think about writing a poem.

Feel empathy and warmth at the patience and resourcefulness of parents travelling with children and babies.

Hear two women discussing which one`s daughter has been accepted into the best university.  Hear them say, ``You know… like… and like, you know`` many times.  Like...too many times.

See a couple ask for tomato juice.  See them pour their own vodka into their glasses.  Feel curiosity about how they got on the plane carrying booze.

See cities and rivers, lakes and farms spread like the screen of an aerial Google map.  Think about how tidy and perfect it looks.

See a couple springing into a grooming routine, prior to landing.  See him lick his fingers and pat down her stray hairs.  See her lick her fingers and pat his dyed red curls.  See her tweeze his eyebrows.   See his wrinkles and pouty face.  See her French manicure gel nails and her three-carat diamond ring.  See how thin and fashionable they are.

See passengers unbuckling, standing and reaching for overhead luggage, as soon as the wheels hit the runway.   Hear yourself breathe.  Feel yourself be patient.

Think about how temporary discomfort will get you to someplace you really want to be.

See and hear human behaviour.   Feel how intriguing it is.

Thank the flight attendants.  Feel sympathy; they have to work these flights every day.

Feel glad you have a sense of humor.

Feel glad you have arrived.

Feel glad and excited that you`ll soon see your grandsons and their parents.

Feel good.

See yourself walking off the plane, through the airport and out into the passenger pick up lane.

See them coming.

Feel yourself smiling.