Summer's Eve

Is there anything quite as wonderful as a summer's eve? The pool towels hang on the railing and the faint smell of sunscreen floats from them mixing with the delightful fragrance of pork chops on the grill. The lawn is freshly mowed, and the purple wave petunias almost glow against a backdrop of vibrant green. My skin is soft and my hair damp from the shower that washed away the dirt of summer chores. And as the breeze blows against me it cools the slightest sting of a sunburn. The shouts of the kids in the sandbox fill the air and, when he hears them, our old dog's tail thump, thumps the deck. I can just barely make out the sound of a far off neighbor's stereo serenading their teenage daughters as they work on their sumer glow. I smile at the memory of those carefree days. It won't be long before the sun starts to fall below the horizon and the sound of the crickets and frogs will sing me to sleep with the soft whir of the fan as it rotates in the background. No, there's nothing better than a summer's eve.

Old Love

You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love.

The running across fields into your lovers arms can only come

when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip.

Jonathan Carroll

Welcome to rest and relaxation. My DH and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary this month, and we took our yearly weekend trip to celebrate. This year we discovered the quaint, historic town of Centerville, Indiana in our annual tourism guide. They were offering 2 nights at the Lanz House B&B along with a $40 gift certificate to the Palais Royale for dinner and $25 for Webb's Antique Mall all for $295 tax included. I checked them all out on the web, and we deicded to go for it.

We departed home early Thursday afternoon, waving gleefully to our 3 children, and ignoring the look of panic on their grandmother's face. We deicded to take the "back way" because it's my DH's favorite way to go anywhere. Our back way ended up adding almost an hour to the trip when we thought we turned onto Indiana 1, but actually ended up on a road that kept getting narrower until the tractors we saw were wider than the entire road. But, we arrived in Centerville around 4:30.

We found the Lanz house, pictured above, and got settled in. We had the Garden Room which is actually in a separate building next door to the main Inn - beautiful peace, quiet, and privacy! Over the course of the 2 days we were there, we made $91 off of antiques and acrhitectural salvage we had brought with us. We picked up a few treausres of our own. We met some new and interesting people, and we have an offer to buy our barn when we decide to tear it down. This is not a town of excitement or night life, but it was slow and relaxing. We spent most of our time doing nothing and being in charge of no one. And that is what makes a blissfully perfect vacation to me.

My Little Girl

If God had given me a little girl, her hair would have been red with a soft curl. She would have been tall and lean like her mother and laid-back but determined like her father. And overprotected by her brothers.

She would have had an American Girl doll and Tonka trucks. She'd have worn ribbons and party dresses on Christmas and Easter and cut-off jeans with hand-me-down tee shirts all summer.

At five I would have given her Mandy, and at 8 my china doll. When she turned 13 she'd have gotten my diamond necklace, and someday (if she wanted) my wedding dress.

She would have learned to prepare a meal and keep a house - how to drive a stick and change the oil. She'd know how to wear make-up so it didn't look like she was wearing any, and how to use a smile to her advantage. She'd have also learned how to shoot a shotgun, and know when someone was trying to take advantage of her.

She'd have learned the joy of a very-best friend and how to love a man without losing herself. She'd have had her first kiss on the playground, but know how and why to wait for her God-given true love.

She'd have been a joy and a treasure, a frustration and a mystery. She'd have been my little girl.

The magic of a campfire

My DH is a lover of all things outdoors. Lucky for him we live in the country. Anyway, we have a very large firepit where at least a couple times a week he starts a fire in the evening. Tonight was his birthday, and we went out to the pit after diner. After watching the kids play for a while his dad showed up and took a seat with us, and I am so lucky that he did. There's something magical about a campfire that allows people to open up and share things. Maybe it's that everyone stares at the fire as it leaps and moves rather than looking at each other. Maybe it's being outside and feeling the tinyness of our lives in the vastness of the outdoors. Whatever it is, he shared with us about his life tonight. Some of the stories I've heard before, but many I had not. His mother died when he was 14 years old and he was pretty much on his own after that. He was not the greatest father to my husband as he traveled with his job, but after listening to him talk tonight I have a great admiration for what he has been able to do with his life given his beginnings. He was never able to finish highschool because he was responsible for himself. He joined the Navy and served in the Korean war. When he returned he was able to attend Indiana University and graduated with a degree in business. Apparently this was before transcripts and all that since he didn't have a highschool diploma - they asked him where he went to school, but they never asked if he actually graduated. He was recruited straight from college for a Jr. Executive program with General Motors. He married the woman he is still married to today and had 6 children. He lost his youngest child when that boy was 14. He has had a hard, hard life. I think I've posted before that he is the polar opposite of my dad, so it took awhile to get past that. But now, I love him and I'm proud to know him.