January 31, 2014

Farm & Fleet is an interesting place…quite eclectic, really, for a store that goes by that name and that is nestled in a town of a little over 12,000. You can buy everything from Himalayan Pink Salt, to Licorice Jelly Beans, to black-oil sunflower birdseed, to inflatable mattresses. All of which, by the way, we have actually bought there.

Eclectic mix.

On the way back from buying our new inflatable bed, I unfortunately got behind not one, but two trucks, plowing the highway and spreading salt on the newly fallen snow. So much for that $5 car wash this morning that transformed my 4Runner from a dirty grayish white, back to black.  In anticipation of the need, I did buy 3 wash tokens. Always…have a plan B.  I learned that from a former colleague of mine. She was generally right.

While I was driving back, I was thinking about how nice it’s been, really, to have family so close (physically in the same place) for a change.  It’s been fun to spend time with my sister and her children, and her children’s children.  My sister is a grandmother of eight (and just two years older than I am.) She married out of high school and had 4 children, who all have children. She lives across the street and into the woods from my Mother’s house and her children are always stopping by for one reason or another. It’s also been nice to spend a little time with my brother too. He’s lived in a few different places, not always in Wisconsin, but he’s been in the area for some time now. He starts that new job in Chicago, the first week in February.  I was explaining that to Harry on our way to school this morning.  “Uncle Bruce is moving to Chicago and starting a new job next week. He’ll be living and working in Chicago.” “Well,” said Harry, “He’ll just have to come visit on weekends.” My mother will be happy to hear that.

Grandkids.

Most of all, even though Mom has come to visit me many times in both Dallas and in Boston, it’s nice to spend time with her; and to have her spend time with Harry. And so far, we are coexisting without much effort. 

We are, by no means, a perfect bunch, but thinking of all of them made me smile.

When I returned to my Mother’s, I filled the afternoon - until picking Harry up - with chores. The birdfeeders needed filling. The paths and walkways needed shoveling (3 inches of new fluffy snow and another 3-5 inches on the way). I didn't shovel the driveway, because the last time I did that, my nephew (with the snowplow) showed up the next day. There was laundry to do. Waste for the compost pile and for the deer. And I needed to put drawstrings in the canvas toy bags - an almost complete little side project - that I had sewn for Harry. (Bright orange, sunny yellow and grassy green drawstring, also found at Farm & Fleet.) I had to deflate the old mattress (although it was doing a pretty good job of doing that all by itself), and inflate the new mattress. The new one is shorter in length and barely holds my 5 foot 10 inch frame without my toes hanging over the end of the bed, but it's comfortable and works much better - so far - than its predecessor. I've issued a new rule to Harry...unhappily...no jumping on the new bed!

When I was driving to get Harry from school, I passed the beautiful red sumac trees that line the road.  Trees that I have passed a hundred times already, always thinking about how beautiful they are against a blue sky or covered in snow. There is a picture to make there, I thought. So today, after the new snow, I stopped the 4Runner in the middle of the small country road that Harry calls “Grandma’s road.” I hesitated for a quick moment, because there is a lot more traffic on that small country road then there used to be when I was a kid. I flipped on my flashers, rolled down my window and framed the sumac tree with my iPhone. I touched the little imitation shutter release once and looked up. It was chaos, in an instant. A red car passed me, hurriedly, on the right. I was technically on the right. I watched the little red car scream by me, then glanced up to see a school bus barreling toward me. "Geez," I thought. I quickly adjusted, flipped off the flashers, repositioned the 4Runner on the small country road - more to the right than middle - and drove on. I waved to the driver of the school bus. She didn't wave back. 

One frame, but it’s a nice one.

Sumac tree (belonging to the genus of the cashew family).