It's the day after the Fourth. Whew! What a fast-track weekend this was!
After working four ten-hour days, I left our pied-a-terre late Thursday evening to head back home to the pine trees. Friday morning was filled with cleaning out the Volvo, vacuuming, vacuuming, vacuuming mounds of dog hair from the back area of the wagon and using the Rainbow's crevice tool to get out seven years worth of crumbs, old movie ticket stubs and other detritus of the gypsy life from my old car. I must say it looked pretty good by the time I was done.
I picked up Ruth at a local shopping center after she had lunch with her sister-in-law, Carrie. Bless Ruth's heart, she was content with "running" with me Friday afternoon, to the Secretary of State's office for an instant title on the Volvo (where did I put that original title???), picking up the loan check from the credit union and listening to me worry and fret about getting the Volvo to the dealership in good running order.
We hit Meijers, stocked up on bloody Mary ingredients, as well as some sushi and headed home for happy hour! Yeah! Ruth made us some damn good drinks and we sat out on the deck, listening to the fountain and letting our hair down. Ruth laughed and said she was in nirvana. This was what she had been waiting for all week! S arrived a little later and she joined us for another round of happy hour drinks. Ruth and I talked and talked, like sisters do, until at midnight, we hit our beds.
Saturday morning, I took a couple of pictures of the old Volvo, we jumped in and headed for southern Michigan, near the Indiana border. Suffice it to say that the trip was uneventful (thank you, God!), we got there in good time and good shape, the new car was pretty much what I was expecting, we exchanged cars, money and handshakes and Ruth and I headed back. It was a gorgeous morning, cloudless and sunny, and I kept telling Ruth over and over how much I appreciated her going with me for this anxiety-filled transaction. I'm usually a much less-stressed person. For some reason unknown to me, I was really worried about the old car. I guess in mind, it had definitely crossed over some invisible line to an unreliable and overly costly state. What a relief to leave it there at the dealership.
We got back into town and immediately headed for a local department store that was having a sale on Fiesta dishware. Ruth bought twelve (12!) small dessert/cereal bowls in SIX happy colors. She also bought S and me four bowls, two in tangerine and two in shamrock green. (Hey, that rhymes!)
I dropped Ruth off at her in-laws house, where Paul was waiting for her and we said our good-byes. It was a great 24-hour visit! I hope Ruth felt, as much as I did, that each of our "wells" had been filled with sisterly love and concern.
Upon arriving at home, all my earlier anxiety caught up with me and I was ready to crash. I felt so-oo-ooo tired! To S's credit, she was understanding and patient. We took a nap for about an hour and then headed out to her sister's house, almost an hour southwest of us.
Becky lives in a quaint little town and has a lovely home that backs up to a river. It's really an idyllic setting. There were lots of folks already there. Grandma and Sally and Jim and Michelle had traveled downstate from Grayling and were camping in Becky's backyard. Andrew and Rachel and their two small children, Noah and Emily, came from St. Johns. Becky's older daughter, Tiara, and her fiance, A.J., had just arrived from Indianapolis. They were setting up a tent to spend the night, too.
We sat on camp chairs in Becky's lush backyard, drank beer, caught up with each other's histories, told stories and did a lot of laughing. About nine o'clock, we walked into town, to a local pub where Becky's middle son, Justin, is working. We drank more beer, ordered food, shot some pool and just had a high old time. S and Joe shared breaded gizzards and dared others to try them. I tried one and that was enough. (A bit chewy for my tastes.)
Little Lydia and Corey, in the nine-to-eleven year range, were happy enough after S emptied her pocket change purse out on the table and helped themselves to quarters to play foosball and buy animal stickers out of a vending machine. Even Grandma, at 89, seemed to be enjoying herself amidst all the activity. S and I left about 12:30 and headed home to the pine trees.
Sunday was a far more relaxed day. I slept in until 10:30 or 11:00, walked right by the computer here and headed out to the deck. It was gorgeously sunny, hot and heading for another humid day. We cleaned out the fountain which had gotten amazingly greener with algae and played in the water, keeping cool. I decided that we both needed new paint jobs on our toenails, so I got "Juicy Tomato" while S stuck with her traditional dark purple-y "Currant." The sun was hot and my white, white skin started turning pink rapidly. I got an okay amount of sun on my arms and legs, but the back of my neck and upper back got red. I later complained to S that that was her job to watch my back -- literally!
We wrote out a birthday card for little Lydia who, as a firecracker baby, was about to turn ELEVEN! (Caroline, do you remember going to the hospital with me on the day that she was born?) S ordered five grinders that we picked up enroute and headed back to Becky's.
This time there was another crowd, a whole different crowd of family visitors. Jim and Michelle had headed back up north, while Tiara and A.J. headed back south. Grandma and Sally were still there. Matthew and Sarah arrived right after us, with Tim and their pitbull puppy, Tonka, in tow. Then Mark and Lindsey pulled in with baby Preston. Everybody circled around the baby, oohing and aahing. Grandma held Preston while we took turns taking pictures of them.
Becky's neighbor has a great horseshoe pit so the guys started pitching horseshoes. The rest of us took turns holding Preston and talking about the upcoming wedding plans. S took Mark and Lindsey for a walk down to the nearby local park. She talked turkey with them about their upcoming wedding plans, finances and what they needed.
Later in the evening, Matt's friend, Joe showed up and a bunch of 'em started fishing from the river. Lydia and Corey were as excited as ten year olds can be! They pulled in little catfish and bullheads, one right after the other. Meanwhile, S and Tim had built a roaring campfire in the firepit and we sat around watching the fire. Iin Sally's camper, Mark and Lindsey took turns lulling Preston to sleep. It was a beautiful night, dark and moonless, with the sky full of stars. We could hear people setting off the occasional firecracker or Roman candle. The air felt full of family conviviality, contentment and an all-around sense of well-being. Those are the moments we live for.
No comments:
Post a Comment