I will begin with an update on the Roycroft family. The short answer so far is that they are in wait and be patient mode. Tyler is still with Brent and Cindy.
Vicki talked to Brent this afternoon and he said he has more of a peace about things today than yesterday. He went on to say the adoption agency is working to schedule a meeting between the agency and the birth father. Another meeting with all parties involved will follow after that. The good out of this right now is that the birth father has time to get past making an initial reaction decision and really consider whether he truly can be the father Tyler will need. My prayer is that he won’t be too hot headed to study all the options objectively.
With one week of winter officially remaining we have sprung forward into daylight saving time, we’ve got spring weather, and we’re on spring break. The tree frogs are awake and serenade us each night. I’ve also noticed the bees and wasps have come alive with the warm weather. The trees are just beginning to put out their buds for this year’s leaves and many of the Bradford pears are starting to bloom.
PTO PROGRAM. The kindergarten class put on their program for the ERES Parent Teacher Organization Thursday night. We, of course, went to see Ben. The ironic thing is that they put on the same show that Jenna’s class did when she was in kindergarten (the kindergarten class does not do this program every year, we just happened to catch a rerun of it). The program is built around the Dr. Seuss poem Many Colored Days. Ben’s performance made us proud.
VOLLEYBALL SEASON. While the kids are between sports (soccer starts in a few weeks), Vicki is playing church league volleyball. She had to miss the first game because of the PTO program but she did play Monday night and she complained about being sore the next morning. She really enjoys the camaraderie, competition and the fun way to exercise.
SOME TIME OFF. I worked three mornings this week as there are several things I needed to get done at the office while the phone is quiet. But I am glad to say that I did get the chance Monday to burn off my brush pile. It was a bit dry but the wind was almost calm and I could easily control the fire with a rake. Yesterday Jimmie Pitt came over and ran a disk over the garden. This was a lot better than having to break up the ground with a tiller. And once I get the mower’s oil changed and blades sharpened I’ll be set for the growing season.
The kids have really enjoyed having the week off and being together. They have gotten along surprisingly well all week.
UNDERGROUND ADVENTURE. Today we decided to make a road trip to Mammoth Cave National Park. With over 350 miles of explored passageways Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world (but with all the twists and turns the cave system stays within a 20 mile radius of the Visitor Center). We took the Historic Tour and only explored about 2 miles of caverns. This tour goes through the least active parts of the cave (so we didn’t see any stalactites, stalagmites, flow stone, etc.) but we did see where DuPont mined saltpeter during the War of 1812 and several impressively large chambers. I think the kids had a great time, although I’m not so sure it was what they were expecting. They sure were good through the whole tour. Ben enjoyed watching me and Vicki get through Fat Man’s Misery (18 inches wide) and Tall Man’s Misery (42 inches tall).
A CAVE STORY ON MYSELF. When I was in high school and college I loved to go spelunking and I was fortunate to know people with caves on their farms who would let me and several friends go exploring on a Saturday. We would come home so muddy that we had to throw away our clothes. But even though I had these opportunities I never turned down a trip to tour other caves. One year we took a group of 4-6 grade boys from church to Mammoth Cave. A couple of weeks later our youth group went for their own outing. Of course, I was up for both trips.
At that time the rangers would stop on the tour and demonstrate total darkness for the group. When I went with the youth group I knew where this was going to happen since I had been on the tour just a couple of weeks before. When I knew the ranger was about to turn out the lights I positioned myself behind a girl in the youth group I was flirting with and memorized my surroundings. When the lights went out I reached out, ran my fingers through her hair and then stepped back about 10 feet. When the lights came back on this really pretty girl I did not know was combing her hair with her fingers and looking behind her. Her 6’ 4“ boyfriend didn’t look too happy either. I certainly didn’t own up to my deed, but I’ve often wondered if she still talks about the anonymous wacko that was in the cave with her.
Joe
