A Wonderful Week

               Like the rest of the country, we have been restricted from visiting family and friends for the past year or so. One of the things I missed most was my grandson who was only around 5 months old when I saw him last. This was a constant ache in my side!

                Zoom meetings are great but as I’m sure you know, IT JUST AIN’T THE SAME!

                Ann Marie and I were both vaccinated and so were his parents, Chelsey and Jaime. After our two week safety period had passed, AMB and I were on the road. Heading across the state to see Mateo! (and his parents…)

                I wasn’t sure how he would react to me, a flat face he had been seeing on a smart phone or lap top. I shouldn’t have worried. He was open to us as soon as he saw us! I imagine he was just as starved for human contact as everyone else!

                We played with my notebook and pen first. I let him draw in it and both of us were happy! Then he discovered my watch. When he pushed the stem, the dial would illuminate. (Plus I made a funny (?) sound…well, he thought it was funny and that’s what’s important!)

I showed him my camera and how it worked. (You’re never too young to learn old technologies!) He looked a little puzzled, “Don’t pictures come from your phone?”

                Over the next couple days we read books and we told each other stories. We built things with his blocks and played with his stuffed animals. He showed me how to cut the grass. We laughed a lot!

We explored the near-by cement overflow structure and discovered if you bang on the grates with a rock, it makes a ringing sound. (Won’t Mom be proud?)

We watched movies, he helped his Mom cook lunch and I took lots of pictures. The days sped by!

                I don’t want you to think that we ignored Chelsey and Jaime while we were there, far from it. I missed seeing them also. It did my heart good to sit and talk with them, to catch up on all the things that have changed in their lives since we last were together. It made me so proud to see what great parents they are and how well they are raising their child.

Before long it was time to go and we packed the car and said our good-byes. With every fantastic memory there always seems to be something sad included. I hated to leave! It is tough leaving the ones you love!

                We left Sunday morning and spent the day driving to New Hampshire to visit with Jim Clark. It was a long drive but it was worth it! Sitting in Jim’s living room we talked about “the good old days” and our thoughts about the future. We talked about Pam, his wife who had recently died. Even though she wasn’t there bodily, she was definitely there in spirit. She is a part of Jim; I’ve only known the two of them as a pair, a couple. I really miss her.

Jim was watching the neighbor’s chickens while they were away.  We picked eggs after we fed them. Do you have any idea how many eggs 26 chickens lay a day? (LOTS!) Do you have any idea how difficult it is to count 26 moving hens? The morning count was easy; I’d count them as they walked up the ramp and out the door. It wasn’t as easy when they were rushing to get back in or scattered around the feeding trough.

 I made friends with ZoZo, the farm dog. He has to be the friendliest dog I’ve ever met. I took a walk around the pasture and into the woods, he would follow close by, coming at a run any time I’d call him. He was happy to be outside and running around but still he stayed near-by. Oh, how I wish Red had been like that!

                All too soon it was time to get ready for our return journey. I got up early and went outside to watch the International Space Station pass almost directly overhead. It started its flight in the west beside the full moon and disappeared into the brightening dawn behind me.

                Even though the moon was full, a Super Moon no less, I could still see more stars than a dark night in Glenshaw. The weather and the scenery in New Hampshire and Vermont were spectacular, but the best thing about this part of the trip was seeing Jim again. You just can’t beat the feelings you get with close friends!

                It was a long trip back, a little over 11 hours total. Surprisingly it was one of the fastest trips I’ve taken there or back! The weather was wonderful, the temperatures were in the 80’s and almost all the way across the mountains of Vermont, we chased a rainbow! It was just that kinda trip!

                Now we are back, the “real” life begins again. But we are both renewed. Refueled, ready to tackle the world and anything it might toss our way. Perfect weeks have a way of doing that!