For a little while this morning, the doors were opened to let out the stuffy air and let in the fresh. The sun is bright, even at this early 7:30 hour, and the promise of 'killer' heat is obvious. I've already had to shut the doors. The air conditioner started pumping when the temperature in the house reached 77 deg.
My mind wanders this morning...from weather, to friends with health issues, to the sweet grandchildren who are sleeping upstairs. The cares and the blessings of life, mingling as they have a way of doing. The tides of life ebb and flow, bringing with them what they will. All is well, I'm content, knowing that much of this is beyond my control and safely in the hands of the One who is in complete control.
I'm looking forward to the next six or so weeks. Kimberly and Rebecca will be with us for the entire time. We have lots of things planned, but we also have a lot of 'hang out' time planned. I'm one of those people who feel that kids ought to have a few minutes to think and plan their own activities, without having to go to lessons or planned activities. Rebecca has already decided that she wants to do a lot of gardening with her Papa and arts and crafts with her Grammie. Kimberly has lots of reading on her list, as well as crafting. That fits the bill for their crafty grandmother, too, as there are a few projects to complete (decorations for our church 4th of July picnic)
My mind wanders this morning...from weather, to friends with health issues, to the sweet grandchildren who are sleeping upstairs. The cares and the blessings of life, mingling as they have a way of doing. The tides of life ebb and flow, bringing with them what they will. All is well, I'm content, knowing that much of this is beyond my control and safely in the hands of the One who is in complete control.
I'm looking forward to the next six or so weeks. Kimberly and Rebecca will be with us for the entire time. We have lots of things planned, but we also have a lot of 'hang out' time planned. I'm one of those people who feel that kids ought to have a few minutes to think and plan their own activities, without having to go to lessons or planned activities. Rebecca has already decided that she wants to do a lot of gardening with her Papa and arts and crafts with her Grammie. Kimberly has lots of reading on her list, as well as crafting. That fits the bill for their crafty grandmother, too, as there are a few projects to complete (decorations for our church 4th of July picnic)
Papa and I have a few secrets too. We will be driving the girls back to their home 900 miles from here, and we'll make it a vacation trip. They've always wanted to stay in a log cabin, so rather than a motel room, with all the amenities of home, one night will be stayed in a KOA cabin, where one must bring their own linens and walk the distance to the public bathroom and showers. Another over-night will be spent in a motel which is constructed entirely of old train cabooses. The restaurant there (a train dining car) has a mechanism which makes the car
feel as though it's moving down the tracks, all the while train music is playing for our listening enjoyment. There's an old steam train that passes just in front of the motel.
All this is in the heart of Amish country, so there will be old farms to view on our ride, with discussions of equipment such as old fashioned windmills which pump water to the houses, out-houses, one room school houses, home-made food stuffs which we'll find at the local stands and farmer's markets. I'm sure we'll have the opportunity to see many horse and buggies, and people dressed in unusual and simple clothing. We undoubtedly will have conversations about that, as well as why we mustn't take photographs of these folks. Sometimes children need to see that others live in different ways from what they might be used to, and that those differences must be embraced and respected. We look forward to introducing them to the Amish way of life.
But, for this morning, I'll return to the loose routine of summer at Grandma's house, and I'll deal with the non-stop use of technology...telephones, television and other viewing equipment, computers, video games. Sigh....I wonder why I wasn't born Amish, or if I'd really rather have been!
