A Missing Papa Day

Good morning! It is a beautiful day here. Funny thing, though, August 2^nd marked the first anniversary of the accident and Daniel’s death and I thought about it so much that the day itself wasn’t bad. I knew today was approaching but with life and everything going on, I didn’t give it much thought until just now and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I miss Papa so much. I miss is quiet, but very real, presence. I miss how he could teach so much and yet say so little. He truly was a man who taught by example and when he spoke, you knew you needed to pay attention. My only regret is that I did not get to see him for the last five years of his mortal life. As much as I miss him, and know that he is missed by all, he is at least in good company now. And, I have so many wonderful memories.

Yesterday was a pretty nice day. We were scheduled to get up in the low 80’s but never made it over 80 that I am aware of. I checked a couple of times throughout the day and once we were 76°, Bonners Ferry 88°, Yreka 99°. I mentioned to Joanna that if we were one degree higher, we’d be 77, 88 and 99. Later, the same would have been true but for 80, 90 100. Later still, I noticed that Yreka was 103°. I think I’ll stick with what we’ve got because the humidity isn’t that bad at the moment. Right now we are 69°, 55°, and 64°.

Because it wasn’t overly hot or humid yesterday, I decided it was a good day to get some laundry out of the way. The only things that went outside were towels and the delicates that can’t go in the dryer. Everything else, about five loads worth, went in the dryer. There is a load of towels in the washing machine yet but they’ll go outside when I get around to it. There are three loads to fold and I know some children who are really good at that and if they want ice-cream or popsicles or whatever, they’ll do it.

Joanna puttied the closet yesterday and plans on painting it today. Once that is over, she’ll be all done with their room. She’s done a really good job. She told Joseph yesterday to tell me that he wanted his room painted for his birthday. That’s so she can paint it. I think it would be good to happen after school starts.

Speaking of starting, the boys should be starting soccer soon. That should be interesting. I’ve never done anything like this before. Daniel wasn’t all that interested, at least that he let on. The girls weren’t either and since we did homeschool, I really didn’t know to whom to speak in order to find out. Laura did do track one year in Bonners Ferry but we never did go to watch her run. So I think this year having three boys playing soccer might be something of an eye opener. I really kind of hope that soccer is all they want to do because I am not a run-around-like-a-chicken-with-its-head-cut-off kind of person. I do not do well with that. One solution, I suppose, is to tell them that they can choose one sport each year. I wouldn’t mind music lessons, too.

The van is done and home. I get to take the Jetta in to get its new tires put on today or tomorrow. Today is good because I also need to get grain for the goats. As well as return another very overdue library book. I went to the library yesterday and the last book was found after I got home. That’s about the way it goes around here. Other than that, Paul and Laura have work. Joanna has work. We have missionaries coming over again today for supper. If they come over early like they did last week, I’m going to have to tell them that we need more weeding in the garden. This time I should be able to go out and help because what we’re having will need to be in the oven for half an hour before we eat. We will see how that goes. The plums that are left after breakfast are going to get turned into jam today so that’s another thing that will happen.

Yesterday afternoon Seth and Cedric were having a terrible time picking on Joseph and Joseph was screaming and crying (overreacting because they never actually hurt him) so Seth and Cedric got to finish cleaning their room and Joseph got to take a nap. He only took about 10 minutes to fall asleep and slept for almost two hours so I know he needed it. I had him lay down on my bed to keep him out of the boys room and so I could keep an eye on him and make sure he actually didn’t get up. It gave me a good excuse to finish one of the books that I’ve been working on. It’s about the Lincoln Memorial Highway and the convoy that traversed it in 1919. Very interesting. We have it so much easier than they did. It took them 63 days to go from Washington, DC, to San Francisco. Now I’m reading a diet book that is very interesting because it explains all the reasons why different foods and nutrients do what they do. Also a book about natural childbirth that has essays written by different women who have given birth naturally with a midwife, with a doula, and in a hospital. I think that covers it. I just really got into it last night and I was so sleepy by the time I went to bed that I only got part way through the introduction. It promises to be good. Plus, I’m working on a midwifery workbook which is just generally about midwifery—what they do and why. School starts, for me, in September so whatever leisure reading I want to get done needs to be in the next couple of weeks.

Grandma, your letter came a couple of days ago; I just kept forgetting to let you know. Paul thought that it said Paul Flint on the envelope so he opened it. I guess an ‘m’ could be mistaken for a ‘ul.’ Anyway, it wasn’t a big deal since it was kind of to all of us anyway. It is rather nice that you are about halfway between Debby and David, isn’t it? I hope you have a good visit with them and Skyler this weekend.

AD, I hope you have a good visit as well. And isn’t it nice to visit with sisters upon occasion? Granted, it’s difficult for me to visit mine but it’s nice when Becky and Jay come out. The kids really like their visits too. It would be nice if it would be possible to visit with Marie but it currently does no good to email and I don’t have her phone number any more (and I’m not asking, either).

Well, everyone, have a wonderful day!