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How I Spent My Summer Vacation How did this happen? The lawns are done, plants are planted, dishes clean, beds made, Shaklee orders in the mail, bills paid and time left over to do what I want to and not what I have to do. This doesn’t happen often. I’m watching two humming birds flitting around the mallow plants. They seem choreographed. Is that you, God? This morning a mother duck and her babies made their way across our dangerously fast highway and up to the back pond. She walked with absolute confidence and they followed in complete trust, obedience and without fear. I wish parenting was that easy. I saw an ad somewhere a while ago that said, “Turn your back yard into a summer vacation.” What a great theme for grandparents. I think ours already qualifies. It must be working because the grandkids love to come here. The Burbank children were here overnight Sunday while Mom and Dad hosted a youth event at their house. Only two more days left of July and I haven’t updated much at all this month. Here’s a condensed account… Marie: She is having a good summer. The swelling in her legs look the best that they have in years. God is so good. I’ve been able to get up once a week and spend most of the day with her when I go. I take a lunch and eat with her. She loves that. She also loves to share a diet Pepsi and some chocolate. “Are you going to church tomorrow?” she asked me last Saturday. “Yes, I am.” “Tell everyone that I miss them something terrible and that I pray for them every night.” Birthdays: Katelyn turned 11 in June. She and Schylar have been busy this summer with 4-H. Her sheep was named Terry and if I added correctly it looks like she got two first place ribbons and one third. Kate is a hard worker, so it’s exciting to see her rewarded for it. Way to go, Kate. Her father Ed turned another year older a few days ago. He and the kids have been praying for gas money to make the trip to family camp in August. Birthday money and an unexpected gift for babysitting a friend’s dog has been the answer to those prayers. Many ask me how Ed has been feeling. From what I hear he’s back into some clothes that he wore at the time he and Jen got married. That’s good news for Ed as his new diet changes are making him thinner and feeling much better. Jen is fussing that he still HAS clothes from when they were married almost 15 years ago! Megan turned 12 on July 11. I got her a horse necklace like the one I got Kate for her birthday. They are both horse lovers. Megan had some of her friends and Bob and I for a birthday lunch. She and Carissa have bartered for horse riding lessons this summer. They clean stalls, etc. in exchange for the lessons and they are loving it. They, too, are hard workers. Kathy: Her birthday fell on a Sunday this year, but that didn’t stop us from gathering friends, family and kayaks and heading up to Lake George for the afternoon and a picnic lunch. We had Bob pick out the birthday cake and he decided to have it say “Happy 46th Birthday, Kathy.” She was not so impressed. The weather was not ideal, but sufficient for our time. The white caps were intense and we were nuts to head out to the end of the lake and back. It was the hardest paddling I’ve ever done. Jeremy finally worked out the balance in his new (to him) canoe and took Megan and Carissa with him. “Are you tired?” Isaac asked as he and I headed out in our Otter. “No, are you?” “No,” he lied. Within minutes his head was bobbing and he was asleep. That didn’t last long and later as I paddled steadily to get us to shore he asked, “Are you working hard, Nana?” “Yes,” I said. “I’m not,” he said matter-of-factly. He’s a sweetie. That evening we joined everyone at the VBS closing program at Kathy’s church. It was a western theme and the set was spectacular. The Burbanks all received awards for the week. Let’s eat out: We enjoyed dinner with the Dumonts at the Freedom Café. Then there was Big G’s one Sunday after church and another time when Amy was visiting. Bob, Crysten and I did the BBQ at Halifax Park just before the 4th, 10 of us went to Portland to Fugi restaurant for Bob’s 60th birthday, and did desert at Cold Stone Creamery, took Melissa, Dan, Crysten, Dave and Marge Wall to the China Dinah for Prime Rib, (Aunt Crysten babysat the Wall children) and just last night went with Cry to Governor’s. It’s been a yummy month. Hogan Pond: While Luis was here, we drove to Poland and caught up with friends who were camping at the lake. I got to meet Ian for the first time. He’s sweet on our good friend Kristen. We also did some neat kayaking down the channel – amongst the milfoil. I’ve heard of milfoil, but until you see it… it’s creepy and thick in the channel. It really looks like something out of a science fiction movie… it spooked me. China Lake: There’s a church in China that has a boat launch. They allow families to enjoy swimming there, so one hot Sunday Crysten, Bob, the Burbanks and I went out to enjoy a swim with families from our church. This is the same place where we have our baptisms. 4th of July – America’s Birthday Day: Everywhere around the world Winslow always has lots of activities planned for the days surrounding this holiday. This year our church decided to put a float in the parade. Curves decided to put in an entry, too. That evening we met at Halifax Park to enjoy the fireworks. I hadn’t been in several years because we’re usually at camp. Perfect sky – fabulous fireworks. We are so blessed that these family oriented events are all free. God does bless America. Amy Martindale: Amy is someone we met on our first mission trip to Guatemala. She is now a missionary to Muslim women. We’ve been blessed on many occasions to have her here as a guest. She has come home (Texas) for a few months to visit with family and her supporters. I was scheduled to pick her up at 2:30 PM in Portland, but the plane came and she didn’t. She had been bumped in New York. Bummer. She had such a short time to be here, it was disappointing to have it short changed. I drove home for prayer meeting because Dan and Melissa were giving their report of their time in Guatemala. Crysten rode back to the airport with me for Amy’s 11:30 PM arrival which ended up being 12:30 PM and no luggage. Poor thing. Poor us. We didn’t get to bed until 2:30 AM. To Delta’s credit, they had her bags to her by 11 AM the next morning. I woke up around 8 AM and remembered that I had told a customer that I would be home for her to get Shaklee. Though I promised to be home, I hadn’t promised I’d be awake. Thankfully, she made me her last stop so I was up and dressed when she needed me. Bob got really sick during our lunch at the Walls, so he didn’t join us for Big G’s and the driving range that evening. Amy and Crysten followed me home after in her car. As I crossed the Carter Bridge, I noticed an older woman there. As I passed by an uneasiness came over me – something wasn’t right about what I saw. Should I stop? I looked in the mirror and noticed other drivers just passed her by, so I shrugged off my concern. Crysten did not. She and Amy stopped. Crysten tried to convince her to let them drive her home, but she refused. The Curves postman happened by and took things into his own hands. He called the police and they soon came and rescued her. Two weeks later this was the report in the local paper: WATERVILLE SEARCHERS FIND BODY WATERVILLE -- First responders recovered a woman's body from the Kennebec River Tuesday morning after a report of a person missing from an apartment at an assisted-living facility sparked a search involving a seaplane, search dogs and a large number of officers and wardens. This was the same woman that they had tried to save. She had left a suicide note. We all feel very sad about it. For the first time ever – and in memory of Grammie Gower who loved Moxie – Lisa, Erika, Crysten and I went to the Moxie festival in Lisbon Falls. Dr. Augustin Thompson’s Moxie Nerve Food is what it was called back in the late 19th century when the drink was born – long before there was Coca Cola and Pepsi. (Isn’t it amazing that it’s still popular 125 years later with so many new products to compete with?) The primary ingredient that gave it such a unique flavor was gentian root. On Dr. Thompson’s trademark application it stated that Moxie was “a liquid preparation charged with soda for the cure of paralysis, softening of the brain, and mental imbecility and called ‘Moxie Nerve Food.’” My grandmother believed in its medicinal properties. Even though it tastes like medicine, most of us have our doubts. We are not Moxie drinkers. It is a drink like no others.
But, the festival piqued our curiosity and we found it to be a pure slice of Maine-style Americana. People who come take their Moxie very seriously and we felt improperly dressed since we were not wearing a Moxie T. That won’t happen again. Moxie has a cult following. Grammie and Aunt Marge would have loved that. Because we had all come off very busy schedules, we couldn’t get up in time for the 9 AM parade which is the highlight of the festival. To be continued… |
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Posted by Ohun1111