We have been enjoying the best fall weather! It seems like the fall colors have lasted longer this year (it appears the trees didn’t all peak at one time). I’ve really enjoyed taking some walks around Springfield on my lunch break.
TRUNK OR TREAT. We had our third annual Trunk or Treat in the church parking lot this year. Vicki got the idea that she and the kids would dress up as bees and I would be the bee keeper. Vicki made an awesome queen bee and I borrowed a bee keeper’s suit from a friend (complete with dry ice in the smoker), however, the kids didn’t go for the idea. Jenna dressed as a witch, Ben was an alien, and Nate was Anakin Skywalker.
There were a lot of people at our trunk or treat. I was behind our van most of the time and could hardly look up from passing out candy, Vicki was working a table where she was passing out information about AWANA, and the kids were hanging out with their friends. Everything was going really well until someone ran up to me to say that Nate had fallen off a wall.
Nate and Ben were with several of their friends playing in the grass right behind the church building. The yard does not slope down to the back door so there is a retaining wall to hold everything in place. Nate was near the wall and backing up when his foot caught on the top of the wall and he tripped over it. He fell about five feet to the asphalt below. Vicki got to him before I did and helped him walk inside the church. When we didn’t see any external swelling we decided he needed to go to the emergency room.
To be brief, the CT scan showed no damage so he simply had a hard lick to the head. Nate was lucky that he fell on his left side which softened the blow to his head. He was also lucky that he didn’t have his arms out trying to break his fall. By the next morning his headache was gone and he was a bit worn out with everyone at church asking him if he was okay. I am thankful to God that it came out like it did and I can crack jokes like “the Force sure wasn’t with young Skywalker that time” or “we’re looking for a Humpy Dumpty costume for next year.”
INSULATED. The walls in our house are insulated now. This is something I’ve wanted to do for years. One thing that held me back was knowing that many old houses like ours were built with cross bracing in the walls making it hard to blow insulation in. After pulling some clapboards off we discovered our house was built with storm bracing making the cavity between each wall stud completely empty from top to bottom. Storm bracing is where 3/4 inch tongue and groove flooring was nailed up to the outside of the wall studs before the clapboards were put on. These boards are set diagonally eliminating the need for cross bracing through the wall studs. The storm bracing had the side benefit of allowing us to pull a row of clapboards off right under the eave, blow in the insulation, and easily put the clapboard back. We didn’t even have to plug any holes like you see on some houses where the insulation is blown in later!
Our house feels cozier now, but the true tests will be seeing our heat bills through the winter and sitting in the living room on a 20° night when the wind is blowing.
A TASTE OF TURKEY. Why is it every year I feel like we’re ramping up for holiday activities earlier than the year before? Mom invited Pauline. the boys, and myself to the Byrum-Porter Senior Center in Orlinda last night for their annual Fall Harvest Dinner (which is a fund raiser for the center). They served turkey and dressing with all the trimmings. I enjoyed it, but the boys and I felt a little out of place -- we were among the youngest people eating there (most of the people my age were getting take out plates).
If you are wondering where the rest of the family was, Aunt Mar was a little under the weather and stayed home, Jenna was spending the night with her friend Mackenzie, and Vicki was in Chattanooga for an AWANA Commanders College. (From the sound of it Vicki has had a great time and has picked up a lot of ideas.)
I had to laugh at me and the boys as I went to bed. We came back from our meal at the Senior Center, watched a movie, and turned in by 9:30. Maybe we were in better company at the Senior Center than I first thought.
Joe
