Walking the dog in rural
A dog on a leash
with a human trailing behind is a rare sight on the gravel backroads
in Plymouth County Iowa. I expect the
local dogs and their humans were a bit puzzled when they saw Mark and me out
for an evening stroll long after the sun went down. In fact the duo could be considered
suspicious. I hope none of them have
their shotguns handy.
The weather here
is unexpectedly cool for July, but walking the dog during daylight hours is
still an invitation for sunstroke. Trees
are few and far between in farm country.
The clean white graveled roads stretch long and straight, cutting a
bright swath to frame the patchwork quilt of corn and beans that dominate the
landscape. Roads are laid out in a grid
pattern marking one mile intervals, so once you begin a walk “around the block”
you are committed to at least four miles.
We have been doing our dog walking early and late to avoid the heat.
We are not the
only ones out and about at night though.
Last night Mark and I followed along as Miss Zoë nosed along eagerly
exploring all the new smells the
Suddenly up ahead,
we saw a cat scurry across the road, tail swishing in the moonlight. The cat apparently had a change of heart and
scampered back to the other side of the road.
Perhaps she was a new mother and was attempting to dissuade us from
finding her nest of kittens. Zoë caught
the animal’s scent and tugged eagerly on her leash. Meanwhile the cat continued to run back and
forth on the moonlit road. Zoë tugged
and sniffed excitedly.
As we drew closer,
we admired the cat’s fluffy, plume of a tail.
The tail raised high in the air and the cat stopped and struck a pose,
looking over its shoulder at us.
A lightbulb (finally!) went on in my head. “That is no cat!” I yelped pulling Miss Zoë
away. “That’s a skunk!”
Fortunately we
escaped any dire consequences from our
In the country,
dogs are allowed to ramble around at will.
Most dogs seem to stay pretty close to home or at least on their own
turf. One handsome local dog decided to
accompany us on our walk one night. He
was a roguish young dog with some husky blood in his lineage.
When this rakish
fellow caught a glimpse (or scent) of sophisticated Miss Zoë, he was as smitten
as a kitten. He trailed after her for
the remainder of our late night ramble.
He did take a few detours to check on the status of various things out
in the fields adjacent to the road, but he always returned to trot along
companionably by our side.
Miss Zoë did not
seem overly impressed with his attention, nor was she disparaging.
When we arrived
back at my sister’s farm, we bid goodnight to the young gentleman and assumed
he would find his way home. What a
surprise it was to find the lovesick dog waiting expectantly outside the
kitchen door. The local farm cats were not amused to find a stray dog
dominating their home and neither was my brother-in-law. A few quick phone calls later, Zoë’s swain
was loaded into a truck and shipped home to his own farm.
A plot twist – inviting the children…
A plot turn in or
life as we know it…Cameron and Miranda will come for an extended stay with us
while their mom and dad make the move to their new home in Phoenix. Moriah and Chip met in
So now Moriah is
scrambling around preparing the house for sale, cleaning, sorting, packing and
making all the preparations for the big adventure. NCS Pearson is not footing the bill for this
move so the Howards must be innovative and
frugal. This kind of problem-solving
adventure is nothing new to our sweet daughter who was brought up in a home
where mother’s mantra was: “…it’s not about the money…” Moriah will be job hunting in
It was Mark’s idea
to invite Cameron and Miranda to come stay with us during the transition. Of course I feel some trepidation, but mostly
I am very excited about the prospect of having two sweet grandchildren in our
nest. The timing is wonderful since I
haven’t committed to a job yet and our Peace Corps adventure is on the horizon
for March 2005. We plan to drive to
My morning walks
with Miss Zoë always stimulate creative thoughts or at least to-do lists and
sometime just plain fantasies. Today I
came home with lots of mental notes to transcribe into the yellow graph paper
notebook I use to record my lists and plans (my external mind!). Most of the thoughts involve tasks to accomplish
to make the house more of a home for the grandchildren. The diningroom will
convert nicely into a delightful, bright girl’s room and our TV room (with the “penthouse” lounge space) is well suited for a 12
year old boy to hole up in and thrive.
I enjoy the
challenge of re-arranging furniture and finding ways to make it function more
effectively. Long before I was an adult
I would move the bedroom furniture or even the living room furniture around to
find better ways to make the room attractive and functional. I have always had an interest in how space is
used and these days I still continue the habit.
My father did not like my hobby, but my husband shares it (usually) and
recognizes the gleam in my eye when I get in the mood to move things. I am content to do the heavy work myself so
in the past, he has often come home to find the
furniture shuffled around. For me, these
creative moods are a sign of good mental health. (Obsessing over hair or cutting it is a sign
of impending depression)
The
grandchildren’s extended visit requires some furniture juggling so I am in a
state of euphoria.
I will take the
bus to
While the children
are here I hope to start a website for them so they can chronicle their
adventures here. They can post photos of
their rooms and school teachers and they can journal, etc. It will be a digital scrapbook they can share
with their parents (and others). I think
we will make it a weekly project…they can work on their website and I can work
on mine.
I have neglected
the updates for the CALEB Library site all summer, but not because I have been
lazy, just busy living life. A letter
from Byron arrived this week and it is clear from it that the site is working. He mentioned books arriving from many places
and lots of correspondence too.
Maralyn and Ed
will be leaving for their trip in about two weeks so there have been many
preparations for that. I still must
prepare a photo of Caleb suitable for the library wall. I also am working on remarks for Maralyn to
read on my behalf.
Byron asked that
they bring some of Caleb’s ashes which he will release in a ceremony on the
mountainside. He plans to build a brick
bench and plant some flowers there. Byron wants his own remains to be buried on
this site.
The quilt for Mawingo…
Updating data
bases always sounds like an easy task, but it takes so much time. I decided to “clean up” the address books at
the Thompson and Jeys Yahoo sites. By the time the mail carrier arrived at
mid-day, I was very happy to take a break.
I had several
letters, a rarity in this age of cell phones and e-mail. I sat on the front steps and sipped black
coffee while I perused the mail. One
note, from cousin Cleo in
Maralyn will handcarry the quilt to Byron. It is a rainbow quilt for him to enjoy and I
am certain he will.
Books for CALEB Library & the farmer’s
market…
Two of my former
students stopped by last night with an unexpected “gift”…many boxes of used
books. The two young men carried the
boxes onto our porch and then lingered to gossip a bit about their former
classmates. It was nice to see them so grown-up
and moving happily forward with their lives.
Many of their
classmates have failed to find employment and are not in school. Several of them, gifted students with so much
potential, have managed to make some really poor choices. In some cases abetted by their parents who
cannot stand to see their children leave the nest to achieve an education or
explore the word. Their fears have
handicapped the young people and now some of them have made irrevocable mistakes
out of buried bitterness and anger.
In the past I have
joked that living in
Our Saturday was
idyllic. The sun was hot and high in the
sky by the time we reached
The state run
farmer’s markets are not too much fun here in South Carolina so we seldom go to
them, but the Saturday Market in Greenville is staged April through October
just off the main street of this progressive city. There are craftspeople, flowers and produce
too. It is a “yuppified”
market.
At the market, I
delighted in a conversation with a spinner whose handsome teenaged son sat by
her side working his chain mail projects and chatting with us. We bought a few items, listened to the music
and later enjoyed a lovely picnic on the banks of the
Summer days & working on PCV plans…
Ernest Hemingway was
quoted as saying “Never confuse movement with action.” Of course he was probably speaking about
writing and plot movement, but he could be talking about how one lives ones’
life.
This past month
has been one of activity, but no forward movement, just action. I am still wrestling with my emotions and
attitude over the loss of my computer files and all the associated creative and
psychological baggage associated with the documents, photos and files I will
never be able to conjure up again. I am
grieving. When Caleb died, my grief did
not see to go through the classic steps, but perhaps I learned something about
how tenuous our hold is…that tremendous life-shaking event, so unfair, so
unexpected has changed irrevocably the way I live my life. I will not strive to get the lessons on paper
(or should I say digitized?) but will move forward.
I have been
delinquent in writing here (or anywhere really) because I feel vulnerable
somehow…somehow this computer loss has gotten under my skin and at times I think
maybe it is time to just move on and forget about writing. (I can hardly touch this keyboard with
feeling resentment, anger and dark emotions…sigh.)
Here’s a recap of
some of our activities in June.
We took a quick
trip to
A friend of mine
(Kathy Hodge) from my JROTC Leadership Camp days sailed down the highway in her
sleek red convertible to pay us a visit one afternoon. We had Marty Hahn and her friend Pat over for
dinner one evening and Jacqueline and Domer dropped
by and stayed to enjoy an evening under the pergola with candles lit.
The fourth of July
marked the end of the month and the beginning of the next one. Our celebration involved an evening in
In between all
this activity we also worked at the Festival of Flowers Master Gardener’s Booth
and I coordinated some activities with a group in
And of course I
walked with Miss Zoë twice each day.
The Zoë-walks have
become more important lately. We walk
faster and longer now and most days Mark comes along too. He is dropping weight quickly because he is
serious about his diet and exercise. I
am watching my fats and Cholesterol so I can avoid taking medication so proper
diet and exercise are part of my regime too.
We had a myriad of
doctor’s appointments in June too. The
Peace Corps application process requires a thorough medical exam and because we
are over fifty, we have additional tests.
We squeezed in an early morning appointment in
The trips to
Looking ahead, I
should consider taking a job until our departure. I started to apply for one, but my resume
materials and job history documents were among the items lost so I have yet to
come to terms with re-constructing them…sigh.
I am also not excited about losing my freedom, but I could negotiate a
tradeoff for something part time or flexible.
I am considering substitute teaching.
The idea of purchasing sleeping bags and a camera, etc motivate me to
consider this.
I am also
considering the wisdom of applying for a “real” job for next summer. This would be a backup plan in case our Peace
Corps adventure fails to materialize. I
am more inclined to head out to
So, our life in
June and so far in July has been one of action, but not movement. The inertia of daily life makes us feel like
we are making progress, but we are really just hanging on.
I did work on an essay for the local paper,
wrote some letters and worked on a couple data bases and a school project
too. I am working on a collage of photos
of Caleb for Maralyn to take with her to