Summer Heat Returns

The normal summer heat and humidity has reasserted itself in the last two weeks. Some days I walk outside and the humidity takes my breath away. There’s a of tobacco being cut right now. I usually get behind a couple of loads going to the barn on my way to work and the smell of tobacco barns being fired hangs thick in the air. The heat may be back, but only for a short time now.

CANOEING THE BUFFALO. Last weekend Ben went with the Scouts on a weekend canoe trip down the Buffalo River. They started at the Grimes Canoe Base where they spent Friday night. Saturday they floated the majority of their trip before stopping for the night to camp out again. They finished the rest of their trip on Sunday and were picked up and taken back to their vehicles so they could head home.

This trip was more of a backpacking trip, even though they didn’t do any hiking, because each Scout had to carry his own gear. Normally all the troop tents, stoves, etc. are kept in a trailer and Ben only has to pack a few things. Since they couldn’t bring the trailer along that increased his packing list and we had to go to Bass Pro Shop the previous weekend to get some gear he didn’t have.

Ben came back saying they had a great time. I know they stopped and swam a lot. They got credit for a 25 mile trip though they think it was more like 21 miles. I really wanted to go but I had already promised to do the scores at the Fairest of the Fair so I had to stay home.

FUND RAISERS. Whatever students are selling I think we have it between our three kids. We’ve got smart cards. We’ve got popcorn. We’ve got mums. The one thing we don’t have any more of is barbecue. The Boy Scouts had their third annual barbecue sale this weekend. Ben and I got up at 3:00 Saturday morning to go and help with the cooking. By 10:00 the shoulders were getting done and the rest of the guys were showing up to chop and package the meat. I have no idea how much the 36 shoulders we cooked made but Ben sold 46 pounds (well, actually Ben’s mom and dad did the selling).

SHE’S A GO GETTER. I have to admire my daughter. That girl knows what she wants and goes after it. I mentioned the classes she is taking this fall when I last wrote. Advanced Biology alone is demanding enough and it’s the textbook I see the most. She certainly does a lot of studying.

Jenna also got the opportunity to do some babysitting the other night. Her friends, Makenzie and Katie, invited her to go to the fair with them that night which made this a hard decision at first. It became a no brainer when Vicki said, “You can either go to the fair and spend money or take this job and make money.”

I think Jenna may have her sights set on going on a mission trip to Haiti next summer if the opportunity arises and that just may happen. Three folks from our church have recently returned from trips to Haiti and we have begun sponsoring an orphanage in the city of Jérémie which is located near the end of the southern peninsula of that country and is very isolated. If she keeps having opportunities to babysit she’ll be able to make a major contribution to her expenses.

MAGGIE, THE WATCHDOG. Maggie has made herself quite at home here. She is well behaved except that she is so happy to see us when we come home she tries to hop into the vehicle with us. She is quite fast.

The other day Vicki texted me to say that Maggie was really barking. When she went to the window to check it out there were about 15 turkeys in the yard. They left before she could grab the camera. I was home a few days later when I heard Maggie barking some. It wasn’t constant so I didn’t go to check it out for about an hour. When I finally did I discovered that she was protecting me from a plastic bag that had blown into the yard. The breeze was blowing just enough to make it look like it was breathing which would get Maggie stirred up. She just wasn’t brave enough to go investigate the strange, white creature.

A FUN OUTING. We decided to go do something fun yesterday afternoon so after lunch we all piled in the van and headed to the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville. They’ve had an exhibit on display there since mid-June called Sensuous Steel: Art Deco Automobiles which features about 20 rare, cool looking cars (and a couple of motorcycles) from the 1920s and 1930s. The cars made you think that you were looking at a collection of manufacturer’s concept cars except that they all had limited production runs. One car I read about was almost completely handcrafted and as a result all of the cars in that line were similar but not identical. When we left the Frist we headed to the movie theater where Vicki and I watched The Butler while the kids watched Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.

We stayed around the house for Labor Day since we went out yesterday, but we will grill hamburgers and take our meal over to share with Mom this evening.

Joe