It's Wet

Mom often hooks upon a thought and loses herself to the outside world. Recently we had a Relief Society less at Church on charity. At the end a sister stood and began to offer the closing prayer from her seat, in soft tones. "You sisters are very good at charity," Mom spoke out, not noticing the prayer at all. everyone smiled and the prayer continued. "You've all made me feel so welcome," Mom spoke out again. Smiles again and the prayer began softly again. "I'm so grateful for all of you" Mom interrupted once again. This time the praying girl walked to the front of the group, spoke louder and managed a complete benediction. It all ended fondly as the sisters love Mom. She has bonded with them as the weekly greeter, so they look tenderly upon her. Mom has a magical effect upon people; way more people greet her at Church than me. And, technically, she is just a visitor!

Rain was in the forecast this past week. I determined to beat it as I hurried to the front yard and the weeding that was beckoning to me. Poppies and weeds had enveloped the plants we hoped would thrive and provide a lovely presence in the front of the house. Even poppies, which I planted with abandon last year, can be weeds if they grow in the wrong place. So I put on my boots, knee pads and gloves and headed outside. It wasn't long before our little kitty, Cherry, joined me. She presented herself right in the middle of my work, begging for pets and attention. Then she sat nearby, simply looking on. Layne calls her a ca-dog because she loves people. We (the cat and I) worked together until the rain started. I lingered until it really picked up. I lingered some more until I was thoroughly soaked. There is something strangely magical about being out in the rain. Especially when I don't have to worry about my hair.

My grandson, Isaiah, was hoping to set up a pellet gun battle with his deacon's quorum in our back yard. But it didn't stop raining. To my surprise, it didn't stop the boys either. They covered up with black garbage bags and, with guns in hand, played in the mud, shooting each other, ALL DAY. Their shoes filled with muddy clay and their cloths were soon soaked in spite of the garbage bags but they played on and on and on. Only pizza pulled them inside, briefly.

The picture above was taken during a brief, sunny pause between rain storms. We have a family of nine deer that love to meet in the mornings near the compost pile, where the grass is tall and green.

Rain and rain and rain has filled our days, and more is predicted. I love the rain. Even better than rain however is the anticipated visit by our Taiwanese family. Son Gerald and his family are scheduled to arrive this coming Wednesday. I'm so excited to see them! Speaking of family, our Brentwood boys have a break from school for several weeks. The youngest two school-goers wanted to spend some time with us, so they spent the night with us this past Monday. I'd like to think that they really do enjoy our company. Perhaps they do, but the real draw is the chance to play their "Gameboys" without restriction. Vincent also wanted help with his Pinewood Derby car. Whatever their motivations might be, we take them any chance we get. You can see Vincent and Timmy here, on a popcorn break in our kitchen.

There are just some days when I really don't think much of the world and the people in it, in general. Saturday was one of those days. Layne always tries to console me by saying I need more sleep. Hum. He may be right. But in the meantime, I was cranky all day. "A donkey on the edge", son-in-law Cliff would say. Saturday happened to be the day we were assigned to clean the Church building. It appeared that Layne and I would be the only ones willing to do the job. That rather sent me over the edge just a tiny bit. But as it turned out another family joined up and we got the job done pretty efficiently. By the end of the day, things turned out OK and I felt ashamed of myself for being such a crab. But I still had to sleep it off.