Some things are worth being tired for…
Luna, Janus, Imp, Elf, Tink, Benny and Bim arrived last Wednesday evening and left this morning after I left for work. The visit was a whirl of energy and light. Gramma and Grampa had to work during each day, but there was plenty of time for fun. We GeoCached at a lovely local park with a fantastic playground. Although we didn’t have anything to exchange at the geocache, we did find it and sign the logbook. I found the three LED flashlights in my backpack, still there since I got from the car dealer last time the car was serviced. So the grandchildren got flashlights at the geocache.
I couldn’t really say what else we did, just living, just being together. Imp and Elf are so grown up now, both in school three days a week. Imp thought up a new food combination and said it was very good; she took her toast with peanut butter and dipped it in a bit of pepper sprinkled onto a plate. Who would have though of it! Elf was very brave; they arrived after dark and Elf found the darkness of the forest “scary”. He and Gramma held hands and went to investigate, finding nothing but trees! Tink is a bouncing ball of raw enthusiasm! She watches Imp and Elf and is delighted when she can participate in whatever they are doing. She is walking short distances, between one set of outstretched arms and another.
Attila and I headed out to the little house on Saturday, stayed overnight and headed back home to our country house just after supper on Sunday. Attila prepared the cedar boards that will line the lower kitchen cupboards at the little house and I applied metal duct tape to designated junctions on the furnace ducts. We both enjoyed central heating with a thermostat! I’ve an obsession for thermostats. Terra and Lares came over for supper, so we got to wish Lares a happy birthday, as his birthday was Saturday. The drive home reminded us that winter is on its way; it was very, very foggy for most of the trip, so that driving required more focus than usual.
Most of the leaves have fallen and the skies are grey. Grey skies have a beauty to them, which pales as one grey day follows another. It still looks lovely to me this morning.
Last week a young aborist came to the door, hired by our neighbour to take down a tree near his cottage. It seems that the best way to bring the neighbour’s tree down is to fell it across our yard. The aborist does not “do cleanup”, which means Attila would harvest the wood; that represents more free firewood to heat the house during the winter. It was also suggested that two tall, unhealthy poplars be brought down as well, one of them growing on our property, to compensate us for allowing our land to be used during the tree removal process. We aren’t sure when all this will get done. I suppose one day I’ll arrive home to find three large trees lying across the back yard.
I’ve been looking around lately for my sense of humour. It seems to have slipped out for a break. It has told me, not in so many words of course, that it isn’t coming back until I provide it with an amenable environment. I take that to mean it is waiting at the door, until work slows down and I am no longer required to spend hours each day with a humourless negative force.
This morning I’m heading into work. I never know what to expect. Some days I meet the “Wrath of Khan” at the door as I enter. On those days I seldom do anything right or fast enough, in her opinion. Some days are easier, where the only challenge is to work hard and do a good job; these days usually only occur when my co-worker has made a mistake before I arrive and decides not to cast the first stone. What will it be like this morning? Well, that’s the fun of it, the suspense!