Invisible Foes

Well, another good morning to you! Today is the anniversary of two of my favorite people: Grandma and Papa. I hope you have a wonderful day, Grandma. I think Papa must be nearby.

Amena’s 6^th Grade Recognition was last night. Joanna and I watched the whole thing. The boys each ended up outside beginning with Seth and ending with Cedric. It wasn’t bad. Mrs. McComb gave a welcome speech that was more like a goodbye speech which, in all honesty, makes sense, I just think it’s silly to call something one thing when it isn’t really. Then there were yearbook dedications to those who are retiring broken up with a song. My favorite part was next: the “Then and Now” slideshow. Amena was the second student and of course the cutest baby. Then a composting presentation which was interesting. Those students who helped with that saved, according to Karen DiFranza who is in charge of the program, 2 tons of waste from going to landfills. That is a lot of waste. Holy cow. It really is nice that they put it to good use; I think every school should have a composting program and a garden. Next was another song during which the students gave their parents carnations. That was kind of nice. Finally was presentation of certificates. Lastly was the Hubbardston Center School song and then the student recessional. Amena and Joanna stayed so Amena could mingle. Cedric went in and got lots of booty for his brothers, and then the boys and I went home. Two more years and we get to do it again. I really wish I remembered more of Daniel’s. At least I have his silhouette and now Amena’s.

Yesterday I did the fat burning Pilates and I can feel it today. That’s good. Change is good. Today I’ll ride the bike and finish The Return of the King. Then I am planning on going to the library in Gardner. But that’s about today; I need to finish yesterday.

I did some reading and went to a couple of stores yesterday. I needed to get some allergy eye drops. It was my experience in the past that they would help with the nose as well (which is completely logical as they happen to be in such close proximity). I ‘borrowed’ some of Joanna’s eye drops and they seemed to be doing the trick for the eyes and the nose which is why I wanted to get my own. I don’t see any reason to keep taking pills that aren’t going to work the way they are supposed to when something as simple as eye drops will take care of most of what needs to be. In the meantime, I will keep playing with other things and see what happens.

Speaking of those other things, I tried the cucumber, lemon and mint in water. It is supposed to clean your body of toxins so I figured that’s got to help with the allergies. It tastes good and must be doing something because my urine has not been the pale yellow that it had been normally. Lemon, peppermint and lavender are supposed to help with allergies so I thought that if I put a spring of lavender in with the rest of the stuff it might be good. I haven’t done that yet because my lavender is so small. I know someone who has lavender in their yard so maybe they’ll let me have some. One thing I have learned in the few days I’ve been doing this is that you need to keep it in the refrigerator. If not, the third day it’s a bit off and after drinking it yesterday I felt a bit off.

I didn’t get any writing done yesterday. I guess what I’d done the day before was enough for two days. I need to do an outline for the rest of the story and I need to check a couple of books out of the library so that I can read some good battle scenes. I read those in The Lord of the Rings and I know there are other good ones out there so I want to read them before I write my own.

This morning I went out to milk and Amena was already out to take the goats out. I saw Cedric and Seth with the kids last night; it looked like they had them and were on their way to putting them in the crate but this morning they were in the pen. Go figure. Needless to say, it would have done little good to milk under such circumstances so I didn’t. I did go out prepared to trim more feet so I did that instead. I’d done Snowflake’s right front foot yesterday as well as Princess’s right front and back feet. Today I did Snowflake’s back feet and Goldilock’s right front and both back feet. Tomorrow morning I should be able to finish up which will be nice. Trimming goat hooves is NOT my favorite part of having goats. Because there was no point in milking this morning, I had Amena leave the boys in the pen. They are old enough they don’t need to be with their mother any more anyway so I’ll milk this evening.

Even though 6^th graders don’t have to go to school today, Amena wanted to. I guess her teacher said they couldn’t but the principal said they could so she and the triplets are all going. At least according to the plan they hatched last night. Daniel went on the last day of 6^th grade as well but he rode his bike with some friends and they stopped and ate pizza on the way home.

Currently, four children are out waiting for the bus which as of this moment has not arrived. The kids are crying. Paul is making noise upstairs which means he’s done with his shower and is getting ready for work. Laura and Joanna haven’t stirred yet that I am aware of. And I forgot to feed the dogs. So, I’ll take care of that and be right back with some lessons learned.

Gimli and Legolas have a running competition of foes felled. When Legolas brings down a mûmakil, Gimli says, “That still only counts as one!” Before that, you see them each hewing down orcs and counting: “Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen.” We are in a war. Anyone who believes we are not must have no values or morals. Even if the war is very personal; we are at war. It would be nice if we could count our foes as did Gimli and Legolas, but more often we cannot. For example, in my battle to eat better, every time I resist eating a container of Ben &Jerry’s ice-cream, a foe is defeated. Every time I ride the bike when I think I don’t want to, a foe is defeated. And so it goes. Our foes might not be visible as were the orcs but they are there, and we can defeat them.

That is the first lesson for today. Second is this: when you give your word, keep it.

Aragorn told the King of the Dead that if the dead would fight for him, he would hold their oath fulfilled. After the battle on the Pelennor Fields at the foot of Minis Tirith, the King of the Dead confronts Aragorn. “Release us,” he says.

Gimli, as you may recall, thinks what I likely would have thought in a similar situation. He says, “Bad idea. Very handy in a tight spot, these lads - despite the fact, they're dead!”

The King of the Dead reminds Aragorn, “You gave us your word.” These simple words indicate that if Aragorn cannot keep his word in so simple a matter as this, he really cannot be trusted to be a good king as is his right as Isildur’s heir.

However, Aragorn, being who he is, says, “I hold your oath fulfilled... Go. Be at peace.”

Obviously, this was the right thing to say, the right thing to do.

And that is all for today. I hope you all have a spectacular day!