All In A Day’s Time

Before I start, here is a picture for Songbird . . . our little Dogwood finally graced us with a few blooms this week. We’ve had her for quite a few years and these are her first. It was a small showing, but we are thrilled just the same. Especially considering the long cold winter.

Today I drove from the county considered a “Suburb of Chicago” deep into the “Rural White Counties” of Indiana. At least that’s the way they are summing up the Hoosier state on CNN right now. It was really a beautiful drive down to the location of my conference. Just South of Indy there were Redbuds and Dogwoods galore. In fact I’ve never seen so many in one place as there were in Paoli. I’m going to sneak out of this conference and try to get some pictures before I head home. This picture is somewhere between Bloomington and French Lick. I was taken by the deep gold color of the field, although this picture does not do it justice.

The polls closed in my end of the state an hour after they closed down here and within minutes they were spinning the numbers. I’m holed up in the hotel room watching the results of what has been a very exciting month in our state. Willi and I tried to beat the lines at the local church by voting early on Saturday, but as fate would have it, the electricity was out at the government center. Indiana moved to computerized voting machines last year, so no vote. We left an hour early this morning so that we could vote on the way to work. By 6:20 a.m. there were already two rows of chairs filled with voters waiting their turn. This probably sounds pretty hokey, but I get such a thrill out of voting. And pushing that button today seemed more important than it ever has for me.

I got kind of choked up (don’t laugh) as we walked to our cars. Willi asked if I was thinking of my mother. She used to work the polls. Because we live in the same precinct as I grew up, we have over the years seen some of my mother’s friends working the polls still. I can always tell if they knew my mother because they call me by my full name, as only people do who knew me as I was growing up. Actually I wasn’t thinking of my mom so much, but it was a chuckle to think that she probably wouldn’t be too happy with me, once again, as I picked up that little card with the “D” on it.

Doesn’t this hallway remind you of Jack Nicholson in “The Shining”? This whole place does. Glad it isn’t snowing here. Anyway, I’m listening to Senator Obama give his speech in North Carolina. He just congratulated Hillary Clinton on her win in Indiana. In the mean time, CNN says it’s too close to call, and her lead has just gotten a little smaller, now 4%. I wonder if he counted us out too soon, with only 76% of the vote counted. Our little county is still colored white on the big map in the newsroom. I wonder what the heck is going on there, that the votes still have not been counted. In the end, I suppose it doesn’t matter how you spin the numbers. I think he will be our candidate. And as exciting as it has been to have a part in this decision, I’m glad it’s just about over.

So, tomorrow this Primary Election will be history and I will spend the day soaking up rules and numbers of the business I am trying to learn. And plan my escape out into the sunshine. Ah, there is a heaven…

WWC: Looking for Peaceful Waters

This week’s words are One and Water
thanks to Tink over at Pickled Beef.

I’ve trolled through my folders of pictures trying to find some that best depict Tink’s choice of topics for this challenge. In the background I’m listening to the pundits analyze the latest distraction to the issues our country is facing. In my mailbox today were two more pieces of propaganda, both of which probably cost an ungodly amount of money in an effort to win my vote. And in the mean-time the clock ticks seconds to minutes to hours to days.

If you’ve been visiting Back in the Day for awhile, you may have seen this collection of pictures taken over the past year. This home sits squarely across from the entrance to our church. Every Sunday as we pull out of the parking lot, this is what we see. It is a stark reminder for me, that lives are in the balance. So my choice to depict One are these two pictures, taken one year apart.

One

and on a more peaceful note…Water

Rescue Mission

I’m not sure what the temperature is outside. It’s been spitting rain most of the day and it didn’t take long to figure out this morning that I should have gotten my winter coat back out of the closet. This evening we sat and watched the rain turn to snow and pile up on the cars outside the restaurant window while we ate dinner. The same thing happened last year right about this time. Just when the tulips started to bloom we had a cold snap and snow, and by morning everything was wilted and gone. We never got a chance to really enjoy them.

So tonight when we got home, with Willi and his flashlight to lead the way, we set out to bring in what we could salvage. Many of them were laying over on the ground with the weight of the snow. Ice had filled the leaves and crowned the tops of many of the blooms.

Hopefully we got them in time to extend their beauty just a little longer. Three vases full in all, snatched from the jaws of Mother Nature. What a cruel trick she played on her children this April day!

Grandbaby Update

We have some good news this evening! An ultrasound confirmed today that our mother-to-be is doing well, and baby is, too. The due date is September 14th-ish, as Sarah puts it.

I continue to be amazed at how prenatal care has progressed over the last 30 years. It doesn’t seem that long ago, but so much has happened in that short period of time. Today Sarah and Mark were able to see the baby move it’s arms and fingers. The organs are developing as expected. Just a whole bunch of wonderful information that tells us all to relax and enjoy the ride.

And to answer the burning question… the one that says go forth and shop… the answer that Willi repeated with great voice and ferver after I gave him the good news long distance… to all within earshot… “We’re having a boy!” Yipee!

Ah, ah! Oh, no

When it rains, it pours. And sometimes it comes in through the roof. Last weekend I had the occasion, don’t ask me why, to look up at the ceiling high above our stairs down to the family room. What I saw were two areas about 18 inches in diameter that were obviously water soaked, but still intact. There were no drips, just ugly messes in the plaster ceiling that we so lovingly patched after the last problem. Which had been fixed about nine years ago. It’s so high up we have to rig a scaffold just to get to it, so I haven’t actually got my hands on it yet. Actually I don’t know that either of us will this time. We’re not quite as fearless as we were back then. So in addition to the roofer, we will probably require the services of another to tear out the wet spots and repair them. Glad we got our vacation in, otherwise we might have called it off.

It’s funny what you think of when something like this happens. The kind receptionist at the roofing company assured me that no-one needed to be at home when their representative came to measure. I told her I assumed the leak was where the two portions of the roof were joined, at the rear of the house. I didn’t tell her this, but I also fully realize that it may be time for a new roof in general. As I laid in bed last night thinking about the cost of college tuition for two kiddos, combined with the cost of a roof, my mind drifted to someone planting a ladder in the back of the house. I immediately began to worry about the Trillium that have tripled in number on the ground directly beneath the culprit sheets of roofing. I’m sure that is where I would set my ladder if I had to climb up, so it only goes to figure he will do the same. This morning before I left for work, I made a makeshift sign warding off any trampling of the Trillium. Hope he sees it.

My mom would have appreciated my concern for her old roof, but more importantly, our precious Trillium. After all, she was the one who first brought them to my attention. As I drove off to work, I found myself singing an old song we used to sing together. I figure the Serendipity Singers would forgive my changing the words as little.

Ah, ah! Oh, no, don’t let the rain come down
My roof’s got a hole in it and I might drown
Oh, yes, my roof’s got a hole in it and I might drown

There was a crooked man and he had a crooked smile
Had a crooked sixpence and he walked a crooked mile
Had a crooked dog and he had a crooked spouse
They all lived together in a crooked little house

Well, this crooked little man and his crooked little spouse
Saved their crooked sixpence for roofer for the house
He’ll bring some crooked nails and a crooked little bat
And try to fix this roof with a rat-tat-tat-tat-tat

So this crooked little man and his crooked dog and spouse
Will all live together in a crooked little house
That has a crooked door with a crooked little latch
And a crooked little roof with a crooked little patch

Ah, ah! Oh, no, don’t let the rain come down
Ah, ah! Oh, no, don’t let the rain come down
Ah, ah! Oh, no, don’t let the rain come down
My roof’s got a hole in it, my roof’s got a hole in it
My roof’s got a hole in it and I might drown