Under The Earth

My son Logan loves to explore. He particularly likes being outdoors. He is happiest when he is hunting or camping or fishing or climbing a mountain or doing the thing I hate most--exploring a cave.

Logan and I had been home from visiting family on my mother’s side in Indiana less than a day when my husband’s parents called him. They were camping up at the White River at Bull Shoals and wanted us to come up.

I stopped unpacking our bags and began repacking them. Logan, Gary, and his dad had a lot of fun trout fishing and did pretty well. It’s a subjective thing up there. Sometimes the fish bite as quickly as you can drop the bait in the river, and sometimes they won’t bite no matter what you do. This trip up, they seemed to be hungry and the guys enjoyed themselves.

We were all set to come home Sunday, then I saw an ad for Blanchard Springs Caverns. Logan has been to several caves, including the one at Bull Shoals. He has never been to one the size of Blanchard Springs, though, and we thought he would enjoy it.

They wanted to go on the "Wild Tour," so we bought the required boots Sunday for the Monday morning trip. Then Gary and Logan got to the Cave and discovered something not on the informational brochure we had gotten. The Wild Tour takes five hours. And it costs $75 a piece.
I’m claustrophobic in the extreme, which is why only Gary and Logan were going in the first place. It would be $150 for them to go into the cave, on a tour that would require hard hats, ropes, crawling on their hands and knees, and slithering on their belly. I was thinking folks needed to be paid to go on that, not have to pay.

Gary and Logan went on the Discovery Trail, which took about two hours and still required lots of walking and climbing; 686 steps in all. The last part of the tour is called "heart attack hill" because it is a straight vertical climb up stairs.

They had a great time. Oddly enough, the guys want to go back and try the Wild Tour. They are thinking of making a return trip for Logan’s birthday next month.

If they do, I will go with them…to the front door of the visitor center. I can’t breathe if I get any closer, so I will drop them off and then go read a good book or something, safely above ground.
When they get back, they will talk about all the tight spaces and confined areas they were in, and tell me how great it was. And I will smile, and be so thankful for open spaces and fresh air.
　
　

A Little Peace and Quiet. Or Not

It was finally sort of quiet around my house last week. For the first time, I was alone for much of the time at our new home. Gary was working, which isn’t unusual. Logan was away at camp, which is.

Monday, after Gary left for work, I considered my options. Everyone gone for the day, just me and the dogs at the end of dead end road in the middle of nowhere. I put on a minimum of makeup, and the most comfortable t-shirt and shorts I own, which means they are also the rattiest. I ran my fingers through my hair to settle it into some semblance of order and considered myself dressed.

A few hours later, the mini-dog and giant dog set up a din. There was a man in my yard. The telephone man had come to see about burying my phone cable. Again. They’ve been promising to fix it, immediately, for six weeks. He assured me he would take care of that day. We are still waiting.

A little while after that, another doggy alarm led me to the door. Who needs to wait for the doorbell with these two around? The mailman had a package. An hour later. Growl and Growlier ran to the window. This time not one, but two guys were in my yard.

Lovely. The day I look the scariest, there is a virtual parade of people at my house. The electric cooperative folks wanted permission to spray for weeds and cut tree limbs out around the power lines. Absolutely. Cut and spray and chop anything you want to. We’ve got twenty acres that were badly damaged in the ice storm. It all needs to be cut and sprayed and chopped. Please. Go right ahead.

The next morning, I had learned my lesson. I got up, got dressed in decent clothes, and fixed my hair and my face. Not one soul came up that day. Maybe I scared them all off Monday.

Wednesday Gary was home, and we got ready for a cookout we were planning. We bought a new grill a few weeks ago. It has gas on one side, charcoal in the middle, and a smoker on the end. We’ve had it about two weeks, but just now got brave enough to invite anyone over. Our old grill died more than a year ago, and we are just now getting around to replacing it.

The first week was sort of hit and miss. If we got something done one day, it was burned the next. Gary and I both had a few disasters, but we have gotten better now.

Thursday we did a test run by cooking some of the same things we were planning on making for everyone Friday. Since we have had some missteps, we didn’t want our family to starve, so we secretly experimented Thursday so we wouldn’t poison anyone Friday.

My son finally got home from camp, my sister was here, and my mom and dad were visiting too. My husband was off work, so it was a great day. In my family, being together and getting to eat always adds up to a good time.

Happily, we didn’t kill anyone with our cooking, burn anything down or serve anything raw. We might just be getting the hang of this. Then again, I’m probably not going to have anyone over that doesn’t love me for a while, either. Just in case.

Daddy Made Me Do It

When I was growing up, there were a few things that were absolute in our house. We didn’t question if we could or couldn’t do certain things. There was no question. We knew. We knew, because Dad had said. And, as he likes to quote from a verse in the bible, "Thereunto is the end of the matter."

Housework would be done. Our rooms would be picked up. We wouldn’t live in clutter or filth. It might be our room, but it was in their house. Mom, the "queen" of the house as he liked to call her, would be helped, would be honored, and would be respected. We knew, because Daddy made us do it.

We wouldn’t fight. We wouldn’t raise our voices, and we certainly wouldn’t raise our hands or fists to each other in anger. It wouldn’t be tolerated. We knew, because Daddy made us do it.

Our friends would come inside the house and meet our parents. Mom and Dad would know where we were going, with whom, who would be there, what time we were getting there, what time we were leaving and when we would be home. If we changed our plans, we would inform them. We had to. Daddy made us do it.

When I started dating, I was attracted to a man that was strong, loving, compassionate, humorous, intelligent, kind, gentle, and hardworking. How could I accept anything less? Daddy made me do it.

When I became I mother, I realized we were parenting with set boundaries and strong guidelines. My child is required to respect me. He helps out around the house. His room is reasonable at all times.

We know his friends, we know where he is going, and we know when he will be home. If that changes, he lets us know. He is required to do these things. His Daddy makes him do it.

The best gift a child can have is a loving father that enforces standards of behavior in the home. Standards that include respecting Mom, and every other family member, keeping a clean home, willingly being forthcoming with information, and living in harmony.

It doesn’t happen automatically or even easily. I wouldn’t be the daughter, sister, wife, or mother I am today if I would have grown up in any other home environment. There were times I hated the rules. But now, looking back, I can say I am so glad Daddy made me do it.

So It's A Little Confusing....

If you read my columns or my blog, you will see a unifying theme. It's chaos. Which is why several of these posts suddenly appeared on the same date. No, they didn't all just happen. They just all happened to get posted.

Sorry about that. I've been a bad blogger. I would put them in chronological order, if I could figure out how to do that little thing. I can't. I will try to do better, which should make my editor happy, although he has kindly not said a word.

It should also make my mother-in-law happy, who has said a word, although kindly. This is for you, Grandma. Happy reading.

Changes

It seems like I am tired all the time these days. We have so much stuff going on, and my brain is having a hard time keeping up. I literally have a notebook with me at all times so I can keep up with myself.

Yes, I know every other person in the world has a handy dandy PDA. I’m a low tech kind of girl. Paper and pen works just fine for me.

Part of the tiredness stems from not sleeping. I had underestimated how much work a new puppy would be. We are doing well with our new four month old German Shepherd, but he hasn’t quite mastered sleeping through the night yet. He wakes up at least once to go outside. Considering the alternative, I would rather wake up.

He wakes up for good about 4:30 a.m. He is good, just playing until the rest of the house wakes up. Unfortunately, he doesn’t play quietly. And in our small apartment, it doesn’t take much playing by a forty pound puppy to wake the rest of us up.

We are making other changes too. Logan is almost out of school, and is as excited as a four month old puppy with a new toy. Another school year down thrills him. This has been his best year ever, and we have been so happy with his school this year. His teachers were absolutely amazing, teaching with a joy that I had forgotten existed.

Our biggest change, though, is the one we have been working on the longest. We have found our house in the country that we have been looking for.

When we sold our home in November, we began actively looking for a new home to buy while we rented a place temporarily. After 16 years of this city girl staying with what was most comfortable, my country boy husband and wants-to-be-a country boy son were ready to find their dream spot.

We have looked and considered and even made an offer that was rejected. At the time, the rejection hurt. But now, we are so thankful that seller didn’t like our offer.
Our new home has everything we have wanted since Gary and I first got married. A little land, a lot of privacy, out a little but not too far out.

We can’t wait to begin the process of moving, this time into our dream home. We’ve wanted it more than a decade, and now we are getting it.

Between buying a home, which always has so many details to keep up with; getting the puppy, and preparing for the changes to come, I’m tired. But I am also excited. Changes are not always a good or happy thing, but for us, these changes are something we have been working toward for a long time. We are ready to make finally make them.

The biggest change will be watching this city girl try to turn into a country gal. It may be interesting, and will probably be funny. I’ve got a ways to go….but I’m going to enjoy it every step of the way.