Come on Little Hand

Layne and I have just spent another week with mom, who continues to make progress. With Physical, Occupational and Reading therapists and bathing aids coming regularly, mom is being stimulated and cared for effectively. Here she is at left trying hard to read all the way to the right of the page; one of her greatest challenges. On the right you see her exercising her legs. She is becoming more animated and taking more and more of an active role in exercising her right side, especially her right hand, which is still unresponsive. But she is working it gently and talks to it by saying "come on little hand, move!" She doesn't seem to be discouraged at the challenges before her; she just keeps trying. It is paying off.

My cousin Michael came to Cedaredge while we were there. He has an old house in town. He brought his girlfriend Rose along. He visited with us one day and stayed for 6 hours! We had a great visit. We spoke a little about God; he considers himself an agnostic. As we discussed the creation of the world I agreed that it could have happened by chance through evolution but it was far more likely that the wonder of the life on this earth was created by an intelligent force. He had to agree. I cannot understand why the scientific view of the creation must conflict with the idea of creation by God. Can He not use scientific methods? I believe He does. Anyhow, I felt that our conversation offered me a chance to express my faith in God in a way that Michael might consider. He has a good heart but has lived a life that has not made him happy, in my opinion. We spent many hours in philosophical conversation when we were young. He seems now to have given up his idealism and lost himself in the pursuit of things; especially properties. They are his babies. He cares for them and has trouble letting them go. I hope he is still in Colorado when we return in a week.

Mom has agreed to come home with us for the winter! I'm excited about that. Layne suggests that we rent a small trailer and bring her bed and chair with us when we drive home with her in November. I think that is a good idea. My mind is filling with ideas for making our space here fit her needs. I believe we can have a good experience with her and that she will enjoy her time on our little hill.

Speaking of little hills, Cliff has laid the groundwork for our front yard pathways. I like it! Soon the guys will get the stone in place and we can add plants. Things don't grow easily here. I hope we can get the hang of making a furtile field out of our surrounding grounds. Layne refuses to be frustrated by this challenge. He just keeps on trying things until he finds a system that works. I love that quality in him (it is generally contrary to my own!).

Our trip home from Colorado on Saturday was an adventure. We flew from Montrose to Denver without any problem. In Denver we found that every flight west was oversold! Fortunately the airport offers free internet service so we used my laptop to access the United web page and searched every flight out of Denver that could possibly connect us to a flight into San Francisco. We wound up in Pheonix! Layne discovered that the flight to Pheonix was wide open. The SF flight out of Pheonix was also wide open. We took a leap of faith and it worked! It took us all day but we made it home Saturday evening.

It is always good to be home. I feel such peace here. The house is organized just right to serve our needs in great comfort and convenience. I'm grateful for it. This crazy time of flitting back and forth between Colorado and here is a bit jarring. I am beginning to feel confused about what is here and what is there. I'm glad we will be bringing mom home with us for awhile.