Giving and Needing

There is a woman named Jen. She is a daughter, sister, wife, and mother of two precious girls. She works full time, cares for her home, her children and her husband. That doesn’t sound so unusual. What is unusual is that this woman keeps going and going like the Energizer Bunny. Not so much by choice, but out of necessity.

About a month ago, the love of Jen’s life, Kevin, suffered a stroke. What made it even worse was the fact that when it happened Jen was not home, not even in town. You see, this woman was visiting a terminally ill friend in Illinois and had left her daughters home with her husband.

The girls woke up around 8:30 am on a Tuesday morning and realized they were late for school. Ashlynn, 10, woke her sister, Danica, 6, and went to see why her dad had not gotten them up for school. What she found astounded her.

There in bed was her father, trying to converse with her, and unable to get up. Ashlynn quickly called her mom’s cell to tell her what happened. The conversation went something like this.

“Mom. Dad didn’t wake us up for school and we are late. He is in bed and he’s talking but it doesn’t make sense. He can’t get out of bed.”

“Hang up and call 911 right now!”  Jen said. That was the start of what Jen hoped was only a nightmare.

Today I had the joy of helping Jen and it felt wonderful.

 The other side of the coin isn’t as nice. Being the person in need of help and asking for or accepting that help is not easy. I wonder why that is? People offer, we hear them, we know they mean it, but it so difficult to say those words, “I need help.”

Finally, after many offers, Jen, my daughter-in-law’s sister, gave in and let me help. For me it was a joyous occasion because she wanted me to meet her daughters when they got off the bus and stay with them until she got home. Definitely not a big deal to me since I love kids, think her girls are darling, and knew I would truly enjoy spending time with them.

I arrived a few minutes before their scheduled bus arrival and waited in the driveway. About five minutes before the bus arrived, Jen called to tell me that Danica, 6, had missed the bus. I would only be greeting Ashlynn, 10, when she got home from school.

I was definitely disappointed that I wouldn’t get that time with Danica too but my time with Ashlynn was an eye opener. I am used to boys, three rambunctious busy boys, all wanting to talk to me at once.

Ashlynn is almost an opposite (at least this experience with her was that way.) She used her key to let us into her home, put her book bag down, took off her coat and went to the kitchen to make herself a snack. I got a kick out of watching her methodical motions as she searched the cupboards for what caught her eye.

She pulled out a bag of microwave popcorn and told me she was going to make it. Having not been around her that often, I wasn’t sure of her abilities but assumed she knew what she was doing. Her long thin fingers pulled the cellophane wrapper away from the bag of popcorn. She laid it on the counter. She read the instructions on the popcorn bag and put it in the microwave. After pushing some buttons she told me she wasn’t really sure what numbers to push on the microwave but she found the popcorn symbol and pushed that. Hoorah Ashlynn! You figured that out on your own.

Ashlynn’s calm demeanor is such a change from my house and my grandsons. It seems we are always in a hurry, cutting corners to get things done quicker. Not Ashlynn. When the microwave was almost done, she opened the door, peered in at the bag and then lifted it out onto the counter. She let it sit there for a couple minutes then meticulously picked at the bag until she got it opened. Once open, she put some popcorn in a bowl, closed the bag, and then picked up the cellophane wrapper to put it in the wastebasket.

We decided that we would watch a movie together. Ashlynn, put the video in and got the television set up (thank goodness she knew how because I sure don’t!) The t.v. volume was so low that I could barely hear any sound. She sat there quietly watching and munching on popcorn. The amazing part of this was that she had the patience and attention to sit and watch all the previews of other movies. No way! Yeah way, she did. All of them.  At my house, we fast forward through them.

In comes Danica with her mom a while later. Now this is what I am used to. A kid who can’t sit on the couch but lays, squirms, or is upside down. This pretty cherubic face doesn’t fit the motions of the active, squirming body.

When we asked her about missing the bus, she let us know in no uncertain terms that this was her “first time” ever missing the bus. Jen and I both said, “I hope it is the last time.” In her defense she explained to us emphatically that last year at least five kids missed the bus. Oh, okay, no big deal then Danica, you only missed it once and out of the whole school last year, five kids missed it.

She is just so darn cute. The eye and face expressions she gave her mother were comical. I had to hide my face so she didn’t see me chuckling. She reminds me so much of Austin, who has “big eyes” like hers. And like, Austin, she could worm into my heart and have her own way without me ever knowing it.

I am blessed with three beautiful, perfect grandsons who light up my life, brighten each day that I get to see them, and make all my worries or bad moods disappear when I am around them.  Since I don't have any granddaughters, being around these two charming girls this afternoon was a delight. Danica is almost a replica of my daughter-in-law, Marissa, and I couldn’t help staring at her and seeing Marissa as a child.

Now that the door is open, I hope Jen will not hesitate to ask us for help again.

Sugar Does Photo Shoots

I’m not sure but I think I might be a model. You know, one of those gals that someone is always snapping her picture?

Sometimes they pose, sometimes they don’t. That’s me. Most of the time, the photographer has to be quick to get my picture.

But don’t think I don’t know when Mama is trying to get a good shot. I’ll sit real pretty for a second or two but she still has to be fast.

So, anyway, today, she puts my leash on and we head out like we are going on a walk. Only this time, she has her camera and Papa decides to tag along. I’m really excited because I like when Papa walks me.

We get to this great pile of leaves that I love to play in, and Mama says, “I want to get a picture of her in all those leaves. I think that would be cute.”

So I saunter into those pretty leaves and Papa says, “Sit!”

“Sit? I don’t want to sit in these leaves. I want to ruffle through them, see what I find. “

Man I really love the way they crinkle under my feet. Then they start to stick to my fur like I’m some kind of Velcro toy or something. “Get off me!” I twist and turn my head around to pull at those darn leaves.

 Then I find a special one on the ground and decide it is mine to carry.

Mama tells me again to sit, so I do so she can get just the right shot. Cheese! I think to myself, rather bored. 

We get through that and I think I am off for the rest of my walk with Papa and Mama.

We come upon a bunch of things called pumpkins. I’ve never seen these before. They are kind of cute but not round enough for me to roll around.

So then I am told again, “Sugar sit!” and Papa puts me by these new things in my life and expects me to sit there real pretty. I’d rather go sniff them out and see why I should sit in front of them. They don’t move, they don’t make a sound and I can’t pick any of them up with my teeth. Darn…these things aren’t that great.

Then the modeling photo shoot really starts. Papa gets me to sit for a second, but Mama didn’t snap soon enough. By the time she did, I had turned back to look at Papa. “Can’t you get me out of here Papa so we can continue on our walk?”

Nope, it is not to be. I hear “Sit” again and again until finally I submit and do so. Finally Mama gets the picture that she wants, or close-enough, and I am allowed to get up.

“Okay guys. Let’s get on with this walk.” Wait, we are not going to finish going around the block like we always do? We’re heading back to the camper from the way we came? No, this can’t be!

What about that frog I know is up there by Dan’s driveway? How am I going to pick that up and have Mama make me drop it if we go back the way we came? This isn’t fair! I do all the modeling and then we have to go back to the camper! Geez.

On the way back, we came across some Halloween decorations. I’m not sure what that is all about either but I know Mama and Papa got me a costume to wear.

Mama says pics of me by these will make some nice Halloween cards and then Papa goes crazy! “Are you out of your mind?” he asks Mama. 

No she is not out of her mind, she just loves me and thinks I am so darn cute, which I am.

Sparse Crowd

Things are coming to a season close here at Leisure Lake Campgrounds. Some of the full-timers who stay here for the summer and early fall months have now left to go south. The other full-timers are getting their sites prepared for the winter before leaving. Each week, there are less and less campers here.

The water should be shut off at the end of October or early in November. I would assume that will be the time that we only camp occasionally in the winter. Last year we had high hopes of being here a lot in the winter but didn't make it. We had a mild winter here in Oho last year but we still didn't come out  much. I think part of the reason was that at the time we were still "newbies" learning our way around winter camping, Leisure Lake, and making friends.

We have had a great summer here and have met so many people. There is always someone here to talk to no matter where you go in the park. Campers are such friendly people and when we are at the campground, it seems that people are here to relax. There is no one upsman stuff going on here. I truly appreciate that because after a long week of working (sometimes stressful and sometimes not) I just want to kick back and let my blood pressure return to normal.

Ken and I joke about how when we get here, we feel like our bodies just say, "Ahhhhhh" like a sigh of relief. Do you feel that when you are at a campground?

Another set of twins in the family?

Sugar has a certain look on her face when she is just staring at me. Her mouth looks like a straight line and she reminds me of the Muppets.

She has a poof of hair above her lips and of course more below.

There is another member of the family who also can make the same look, has hair above the lips and more below.

Their hair coloring does not match perfectly but they both have white and that peachy-caramel color mixed in.

I’ll let you decide if they can pass for twins.

Plop Plop Now but Bing Bing Bing later

We ordered a Carolina Carport to cover our camper. The main reason we are getting one is to protect our roof.

There are plenty of trees in this campground and the majority of them are nut trees or oak trees. Recently large branches have fallen but luckily none have landed on any trailers. There was a rather large branch that fell next to the camper which now occupies our former site here at Leisure Lake.

A few weeks ago we filled out a form to have some dead branches near our camper removed. This was done about two weeks ago.

We have lots of acorns and nuts falling here in the early fall. It is like a concert of Plops, plings, bangs, and bings.

When they land on our neighbor's wooden roof over his deck it is more a hard hitting sound. When they hit our camper roof it is more of a thud. But when we get the carport which is metal, it will be more like bing bing bing.

Our lot is pie shaped, narrow in front and wide as it goes toward the back. But right in the middle of our lot are three trees in a line. Between the angle of our lot and the trees which are in front of our camper, we had a tough time figuring out how to make the carport fit. Todd, our local rep from Carolina Carport, came out and measured and figured that out for us. After showing us all the styles, sizes and changes we could make, we narrowed it down to a 20W x 31L carport. Next was to choose the color. We chose barn red to match our shed and picnic table. Once the carport is in, we will paint the deck to match.

There is a second advantage to the carport. It will be wide enough to cover our deck. We won't need to use our awning which we have to remember to roll up before leaving or when it is going to storm.

Ken started getting ready for its arrival which we were told would be three to six weeks. He removed the decking and some of my flower pots. We are now sitting outside on gravel but at least it is level.

Hopefully the carport will come in the next week or two before it starts getting much colder.