We are having a hot and somewhat dry summer this year. The afternoon high temperatures have been around 95° F all week. Then we had a weather system blow through Friday night to bring us some much needed rain and some relief from the heat. I don’t think the temperature even reached 80° F Saturday.
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF DOGS. Tuesday evening I was trimming the ditches by the highway when a man, herding two puppies, walked up and asked for a glass of water. It turns out this fellow has no car and was walking home from Springfield. The two puppies saw him and followed him. He was trying to keep them from becoming road kill. I took him home but he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) tell me where the dogs came from. The next day we called friends who work in the classified sections of two papers to see if anyone had placed an ad. I also visited all the houses for four miles up the road toward Springfield. No one was missing any dogs.
They are cute puppies--a mix of Brown and Black Labrador Retriever. I’m guessing they are about three months old. The kids have really taken to them, but they haven’t been around dogs much so it is taking them a bit to get used to how dogs love and play. We have named them Starsky and Hutch and they kids have fallen in love with them.
Sunday morning, as we were getting ready for church, there was a knock on the door. The guy who owned the puppies just happened to make a wrong turn up the road and was turning around in our driveway. That’s when he noticed his dogs in our yard. It was a sad parting for the kids. I found Jenna upstairs in tears. It looks like we’ll need to start looking for a dog now.
SWIMMING LESSONS. The kids are taking swimming lessons this week. Jenna can get across the pool really well but needs to work on her breathing when swimming freestyle. Ben had lessons last year and is eager to jump in and learn new things. This is Nate’s first year of lessons. When I asked him how it went he proudly exclaimed, “I jumped in and swam great!”
UNEQUAL TIME. Friday night Nate spent the night with Mom and Aunt Mar (Jenna and Ben stayed with Pauline and Vicki and I went out on a date). As we were packing Nate grabbed a Thomas the Tank Engine DVD to take with him. After supper he wanted to watch his movie so Mom put it in for him. Then Aunt Mar invited him to sit in her lap. About half way through the DVD Mom, feeling a bit left out, asked Nate if he wanted to come and sit in her lap. He was quite happy in the lap he was in. Later, at bedtime, Mom walked by my old room where Nate was sleeping and saw Aunt Mar sitting on the edge of his bed scratching his back and talking to him. What was so funny was that after getting Nate in his pajamas Aunt Mar suggested that Mom go get ready for bed herself. I think Aunt Mar wanted to have time with Nate all to herself.
A NIGHT ON THE TOWN. While the kids were enjoying time with their grandmothers Vicki and I got a chance to be a couple. We ate at the Depot in Springfield and then went to see the new installment of Pirates of the Caribbean. If you enjoyed Curse of the Black Pearl you will enjoy Dead Man’s Chest, just pick a theatre with comfortable seats as it is a long film. Our one recommendation is that if you have trouble remembering the details of the first movie you should rent it or at least read the plot summary on Wikipedia.
TO TARA AND BACK. I have finally seen Gone With the Wind. We rented it and watched it this weekend. I will have to say up front that if this were a recent production I would not have been the least bit interested in the story. But as it is a classic from 1939, I am glad I have now seen it. I was aware that several of the idioms we use in our speech have their roots in this movie and am glad to have fuller understanding of these expressions. It was also neat to see the acting style of that time. And quite frankly, I feel like Rhett was a gentleman for not speaking more of his mind when he left Scarlet at the end of the film.
Joe
