A Moment

CARRIED AWAY

 

 

Floating where there is no breeze,

Green below and soaring blue above.

 

Still air hushed with the unbelievable,

Graceful points of yellow, red, leaf green

Orange, deep royal blue, rose, ballerina pink

and forest green.

Solid colors suspended, breathlessly floating,

silently performing.

Cotton candy and carmel corn air wrap each color.

Necks crane, eyes glow, whispers hush,

Life is halted in a moment....

 

Then a giggle, a laugh, a crowd hugging freely.

The colors gently descending,

Joy in a bubble that is breaking,

the Overarching moment is ending.

 

Jennie

What It Is That I Do

Since I 'retired' about 12 years ago, when asked what I do, I often reply that I 'take care of my husband'. A short quip that seems to suffice in most situations. But this week I was thinking about what DO I do that seems to take up so much time. I came up with three pretty obvious things.
First I plan, shop, prepare and clean up meals. Fortunately, this is something I enjoy, especially baking. But as our eating has evolved to more basic food stuffs (away from prepared items) it takes more time, especially as the insurance man is home for lunch most days. It also involves vegetable gardening, and at this time of year caring for the produce.
Second I take care of the laundry. It is much easier these days with generally only the two of us, plus the household items. But again, there is more there than meets the eye. It involves shopping for replacement items, seasonally cleaning and rearranging, sewing and ironing. I used to hate ironing (it was my worst idea of housekeeping) but again these days I enjoy the slow pace of it.
Thirdly, I have taken over all the care of the finances. The insurance man did it for years, but I realized that he had enough on his plate to take care of his business finances. It's amazing how much time it takes, to do a good job of planning and executing in this dept. It also takes me longer because I'm not good at it! I am a writer, creator, and good at spelling and grammar. NOT good at math. However, I've seen the fruits of this as it has been a burden lifted from my good husband's shoulders.
I have other responsibilities of course, (like cleaning) but these are the main three that take most of my time. It is just life, and I am trying to slow down the pace of our lives. That means maybe not being perfect at the three items listed above. And including more 'fun' things into my schedule. And what do I do for fun?

Arrange flowers of course!

So much fun!

 For the last 10 days we have been busy having so much fun with Samuel. He and his Papa enjoyed their fly-fishing float trip on the Deschutes so much, they were still smiling the next morning. Beautiful country, and new to both of them. No fish caught, but a great learning time.

 Our guide, Scott Blackwell provided them with a wonderful lunch, and Scott and his daughter Emily accompanied the insurance man and Sam. Aren't they just a picture of male and female fisher-folk?

 The next morning we left for Burns, and spent the Labor Day week-end there with Sam's great-grandparents, who are both 90. We had a great time. The men folks went out hunting for Indian artifacts on two separate days. They hunted on private land, where Dad has friends that give him permission.

 They had beautiful weather, just perfect for the occasion. Here it was time for a lunch break on the tailgate. Look at that beautiful blue sky!

 Samuel found his first arrowhead, and what a beauty it was! He was really proud and exited.

 Here is our desert-dirty boy, with his trophies from the hunt.

 And a trophy of another sort....one only boys could appreciate. A desert scorpion.

 On Monday the insurance man and his brother took Samuel out to the 'gravel pit' just outside of town, where they caught several trout. That was fun in and of itself, but it is also where Sam's Mom caught her own first fish at age 3.

 Samuel turned out to be a pro at cleaning and filleting the fish, and once we got home to Bend, I showed him how to fry it up and put it on my special 'fish' platter. We both murmured 'yum' when biting into that fresh fried trout! On our way home we stopped at a Rest Stop where Sam got his last look at the high desert. I think he has come to really appreciate the desert.

 Once home Sam helped his Papa out by mowing the lawn for him, and we got busy cooking and packing up our trailer to take another trip South to East Lake.
We found a great camping spot, close to the lake, and Sam and the insurance man rented a boat.

 They spent one afternoon and morning on the lake.....

 with the result of netting a fairly good sized brown trout. Another bout of cleaning, frying and enjoying the fish ensued.

 After a refreshing dip in the lake....do I remember Sam saying 'frigid'? We gathered our things together to head home.

 Sam found hundreds (if not thousands) of these tiny hatched frogs at the edge of the water. He wanted a picture for his siblings to see. They would have enjoyed catching them.

After getting home, we turned around and headed back to the Willamette Valley, where we spent the night with Joy and her family before taking Samuel back to the airport on Friday. It all went so fast...but was so much fun getting to know Sam better and the young man he is turning into. We couldn't be more proud of him. He is back with his family again now...but I hope with some memories to last a lifetime.