A Trip to Spring and Back Again to Winter

We arrived home late last night from a weekend trip to North Carolina. Last October when I was there at the passing of my father, I promised my mother that we would come for a visit in the spring. I chose the end of March for our visit because I knew it would be more like spring in North Carolina than in Potter County and I wanted to see that. We left home on Thursday morning and drove down to Duncannon where we stopped for a few minutes to visit Aunt Esther Rathfon. It takes just under four hours to get to her house. After that, we drove on several more hours to Frederick, Maryland, where we met up with the Thayns, who had driven over from Pittsburgh. In Frederick we had lunch, did some shopping, and went to a playground so the children could get some exercise. Then we all drove on to North Carolina.

As we drove down from Potter County, we noted how spring progressed the further south we went. At Aunt Esther’s house there were forsythia bushes, daffodils, and a few magnolias in bloom. When we reached Frederick, we saw redbud and ornamental cherry trees flowering. In North Carolina there was all of that plus dogwoods and azaleas in bloom and trees like maples leafing out. When we left home it was cold and there were still patches of snow on the ground. When we arrived in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, it was 80°. We got there around 7:30 that night and went straight to the airbnb where we were staying. We unpacked, settled in, and had dinner. By then it was time for bed.

Friday morning I awoke to a warm spring morning with mockingbirds and robins singing. We had breakfast and then played games. My mother had her weekly hair appointment and after that Hollie and Jim brought her to us at the airbnb. We visited and had lunch then we went over to the Martin's for the afternoon. Some of the group went fishing with Jim. One of the things we wanted to do while we were there was help Hollie sort through my father’s things that were still in the shed behind their house where he had his office. Hollie and Jim’s daughter, my niece Laura, is going to use that shed now and we needed to get it cleaned out. So we spent several hours looking through things, sorting them into piles – things to give away, things to throw away, things to save. Most of the things to save got loaded into the back of our car and are now here at our house where I will continue the process of deciding what to keep and what to discard or redistribute.

My mother with her great-grandchildren.

My mother with her Howe granddaughters, Rachel, Miriam, and Hannah.

Friday evening we went to an event at the Martin’s ward, a belated Saint Patrick’s Day celebration. We were taught a few dance steps and some of us danced and there were refreshments. It was a fun activity.

Great-grandma with Russell at the party.

On Saturday the Thayns and my niece Jennie went to the beach for most of the day. The beach is almost three hours from Rocky Mount. While they were there they went to an aquarium. The ocean was pretty cold, so they didn’t spend much time in the water. While they were gone, Stacey and I went over to the Martin’s house and returned to the task of cleaning the shed. Laura and Hollie, Stacey and I got most of it arranged to Laura’s satisfaction. Later in the afternoon, when we knew the beach party was headed home again, Stacey and I went back to the airbnb to start dinner preparations. Everyone gathered there and we had a Mexican fiesta – tacos, burritos, beans, Spanish rice. Then we spent the rest of the evening visiting and playing games.

Hazel with the makings of our fiesta.

On Sunday we went to church and afterwards everyone gathered at the airbnb for lunch – hamburgers, potato chips, macaroni salad, brownies. There were over twenty of us there – the Howe/Thayn group of eleven, Hollie and Jim and my mother, Laura and her beau, Brandon, and Jennie and her children, their friend Richard, plus friends of the Thayns who live in Virginia, J.D. Eadie, and Maddie Lane, joined us. Later our friend Ann Emery, who lives in Chapel Hill arrived. She and Stacey have been friends since they were ten. We’d brought instruments with us – Stacey’s autoharp, Miriam’s tin whistles, and Hannah’s violin. Ann is a wonderful violinist and she brought her violin with her and we spent the afternoon making music. We had a great time. After Ann and the Lanes left, we spent the rest of the evening playing games, talking together, and enjoying just being together. We connected Miriam’s computer to the big TV and brought up Google Earth and spent some time looking at satellite images of the places where we used to live. As we did that we told stories of those places and wondered at how much they had changed since we knew them.

At church.

Lunch on Sunday.

Lunch on Sunday.

Looking at Google Earth and reminiscing.

Cousins playing games.

And then it was time to say good-bye. There was lots of hugging and some tears shed. Saying good-bye is very hard for me, especially with my mother. I’ve always had a hard time with good-byes, but with my mother now 94 years old, I always wonder if this might be the last time I will see her. Even sitting here now I cannot think of it without tearing up. She’s doing pretty good for someone her age, but you never know about these things.

Monday morning we packed up and headed north to Richmond, Virginia. We had tickets to attend the open house of the Richmond Temple. Our niece Kailie and her husband Ian drove down from Maryland and met us there. And we met our friend Merry Rech there. Mary and her husband James and their children used to live next door to us in the house that Kurt and Julie live in now. Kurt and Julie bought the house from them when they moved to Richmond. We have many happy memories of that time. James unexpectedly passed away recently and their children are mostly grown up and on their own, but Merry was able to come and meet us at the temple and it was wonderful to see her. The temple was beautiful inside and out.

Our friend Merry.

The Thayns at the Richmond Temple.

All of us at the temple.

The Richmond Temple.

After the temple we all had lunch together at a Mexican restaurant. Then there were more good-byes. We said good-bye to Kailie and Ian who headed home to Maryland. We said good-bye to Merry. We said good-bye to the Thayns who were headed home to Pittsburgh. And then we drove home.

Lunch at a Mexican restaurant.

The drive home seemed very long. As we drove north, the progress of spring reversed itself. We left the dogwoods, redbuds, and azaleas behind. We passed by the forsythias and daffodils. It rained most of the way. Stacey drove and the rest of us dozed off and on. We listened to an audio book part of the time, a Hercule Poirot mystery. When that was done, we listened to music. As it grew dark and the music played, I found myself sliding into a nostalgic reverie. The music was songs from the 1970's, songs I knew when I was a teenager. Every song stirred some feeling or memory in me. Music is so powerful. My thoughts wandered back to places and friends I haven’t seen in decades. I reflected on the passing of time. How quickly it goes. How is it possible that I am this old – a father, a grandfather? The younger generations of our family are growing up so quickly. My mother, my Aunt Esther, and my Aunt Dolly are all that remain of the generation just before me. Driving north in the dark, in the rain, with the old songs filling my mind, I felt deep longings. As we neared home, the rain turned to snow.

This morning.

I awoke this morning to find a crust of snow laying over the world. I was happy to be in my own bed. I am happy to be in this old house. I’m happy that I got to be with family and friends for a few days – too few. It was nice to visit springtime. I’m hoping it heads this way sometime soon. Today I have things to do. I have a pile of things that we brought home that I need to start sorting through. I need to tend to my houseplants. I ordered some new black currant bushes (bare root) that arrived while we were away and I will plant them. I feel the way I usually feel after being away, a tender mix of happy, and sad.