We had a week of cool temperatures, lots of rain, and several thunderstorms. It rained so much I didn’t get much done in the yard. I’ve given up on most of the garden. The weeds can have their way now. Harvest time is coming and then I'll rip it all out, dig it all up, and get ready to do it all again next year.
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| January King cabbage. |
I’ve heard several predictions that the coming winter is going to be colder and snowier than usual. I hope they’re wrong. We’ll be working on our woodpile starting this week, making sure there’s enough to get us through the coming cold months. I hate to think of it, but we need to be prepared.
On Wednesday we dropped Hannah off at college. Alfred State is only 40 minutes from our house and I know we'll see Hannah often, but even so, it wasn't easy for me to leave her there. She is the first of our children to attend a non-LDS university. From all I can see, Alfred State is a nice school. The campus is small and the student enrollment isn’t huge like BYU. But the dorms are coed, something outside the realm of our experience. I think Hannah will adjust well. She is very capable. We’re so pleased with her choice to become a midwife. Alfred is just a two year step in her plans to do that. Since her classes don’t start until tomorrow and she had nothing much to do on campus, we drove up and picked her up on Friday afternoon and brought her home for the weekend. We took her back to her dorm after church today. It seems so strange to not have her at home.
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| Leaving to take Hannah to college. |
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| Hannah in her dorm room. |
Stacey left on Wednesday too. After we dropped Hannah off at school, Stacey went on to Buffalo and caught a flight west. She went to our nephew Christopher’s wedding in Salt Lake. She got to spend Wednesday night with Rick and Melony – they picked her up at the airport. She spent Thursday in the Family History Library. Then that evening she went to the wedding reception, which was held in advance of the wedding. She spent Thursday night with her sister Audrey (the mother of the groom). Friday she went to the wedding and later that day to a surprise 60th birthday party for her brother Kurt. Friday night she spent with Geoffrey and Joni and our granddaughters. On Saturday Geoffrey took her to the airport, but she was flying standby and couldn’t get a flight out. So she got to stay with Geoffrey and family another night. She’s supposed be home later tonight. It was a quick trip full of lot of family and fun for her. We’re looking forward to hearing all about it.
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| The house from the back. |
So the second half of the week was quiet. With just Josiah and I here, it was way too quiet. We both kept busy, but with mostly quiet activities. I spent most of the time painting. We managed to eat at least two meals a day. It was a bit lonely, especially in the evenings.
I see there was a 6.0 earthquake in Northern California early this morning. During the 20 years I lived in California I felt quite a few earthquakes. We lived a mile from the epicenter of the Northridge earthquake in 1994. That’s an experience I hope to never repeat. We have friends and family in the area where today’s quake was, but as far as I know no one was hurt.
So here we are in the last week of August. School starts tomorrow. I know Hannah is nervous not knowing what to expect. Josiah is excited yet dreading it too. I remember that feeling. Although I’m not usually called in to school for the first while, I still have to be ready every morning just in case. That means we are on a schedule again with stricter bedtimes, alarms set in the morning, and time set aside for homework for Josiah in the evening. I usually keep to a schedule no matter what, but it always feels nicer to follow a schedule because I want to, not because I have to.
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| Our first bouquet of glads this summer. |
With Hannah back at school again and Stacey not home from Utah yet, it’s just Josiah and me here this afternoon. We ate a simple lunch – scrambled egg burritos – easy to make, easy to clean up. Now there isn’t much to do for the rest of the afternoon. I think I’ll do some family history research. I think Josiah plans to read. But first, I think I’ll take a little nap. Maybe I can persuade Josiah to make a treat for later, but there isn’t a lot ambition around here right now.
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| Late summer sunset. |
