Unforseen development . . .

Well, the weather has hit that humid state: the one where I pull my hair up in a pony tail EVERY SINGLE DAY to keep it off of my neck. That, along with the fact that I thought it might be nice for a change led to me getting my hair cut, just a little bit shall we say?

I know it's a little blurry, but not too bad for a cell phone self portrait. On the way out the door to get it cut, my son let me know that he didn't want me to cut it off, he wouldn't like it that way. An hour or so later, I walked in with my new do and no complaints, in fact my two girls wanted their hair cut really short too! I must interject that Jeff was not a big fan of me cutting the girls' hair, but we tried to let it be their decisions. Lily still wanted hers done, so I cut several inches off this morning:

I think it looks adorable. Grace wanted a short cut, but I'm trying to play up the fact I trimmed her bangs A LOT and took a bit off the back, I'm not sure she's buying it. . . we'll see how long that lasts. Change is nice, as the weight off my shoulders!

Young friends

Yesterday, Lily finally got to have her friends from school over for a "play-date" before summer started.  I think they spent all day in school the day before planning what they were going to do.  I was not privy to this information, and had a few ideas about what they could do together, you know, if they needed some ideas.  I needn't have worried, they dressed in fancy dresses (color coordinated, you bet), ate sweets, drank from crystal goblets, jumped on the trampoline with the sprinkler on beneath it (each wearing a different one of Lily's swimming suits of course), and just had fun being friends.  I've enjoyed watching B, C and Lily together and seeing their cute friendship grow.  C will be moving at the end of the summer, but I'm hoping that B and Lil just might make it into the same class again next year at school, and that B and her family have a smooth transition.

Oh, and just for fun, this is what the kiddos looked like for Wacky-tacky day earlier in the year.  Lil was very excited, making sure everything was coordinatedly-uncoordinated.  Benjamin chose to wear his shirt inside out AND backwards . . . gotta love each of their unique-y-ness.  

Father and Son 2010: The Deluge

The annual Father and Son camp out is important to Benjamin and I. We enjoy going, either with extended family, the ward or on our own. Two years ago we were in Oregon for the camp out, and so he and I went out on our own for a night. This year, once again, we had family plans over the stakes camp out date, so we decided to go on our own. We picked the weekend, and then watched as the weather forecast for the entire week was rain. Interestingly, those forecasts subsequently fell through as the week moved along. Finally Friday came, and while there was still a chance of rain we decided that if it had not begun by 6pm we were going to go for it.

By 5:30 there was still no rain, the forecast had significantly changed, and now there was only a 40% chance that it would start sometime after midnight. We packed up our stuff and drove to the supermarket to get our "supplies" for the evening. You could tell that two guys were camping, as we decided to dine on hot dogs, biscuits, potato chips, gummy worms, and s'mores made of cookies and cream, Carmelo and Hershey Symphony bars. I think we were hungry as we shopped. We then drove up the road to the state park that is close to our home. There are a handful of primitive camp sites at this park, all of them about a 1.5 mile hike in from the parking lot. We got there in time to check in at the lodge, pay our fee, get the best open site, and then as we left the ranger gave us the gate code-only for emergencies if you need to leave the park after hours.

I was really excited about the prospect of backpacking in with Benjamin. We took off at a nice pace, crossing the river on the swinging suspension bridge as we looked at the gently moving river. Twice we crossed little streams as they ran to the river, and stopped at the odd bridge that took up half of the path while leaving the other half completely open. We listened for birds, looked for animals, and just enjoyed joking and being with each other on the 15 minute hike into the site. We got to the spot, put on our packs and hiked in, taking time to talk and follow the map as Benjamin acted as the navigator.

We set up camp quickly, collected wood for our fire, and were able to have a nice cooking fire going with in 10 minutes (1 match!). Ben really wasn't hungry. He had two things he wanted to do: 1) eat s'mores, he was really the driving force behind our gourmet selection of s'more material, and 2) play card games (his Uncle Scott recently taught him to play Idiot/American, and he has played pretty much non-stop). So we finished up the dinner, ate s'mores and then made our way to the tent to play games.

As we sat playing cards and talking in the tent the rain arrived, much earlier than we anticipated. It started out pretty slowly and light, but it rapidly increased in intensity. It felt like the rain was just pouring on top of our tent, and that the lightning was immediately over us. About this time, as darkness filled the woods, I started getting text messages from Kathleen about how hard the rain was at home. Soon, we were in a down poor, and I could tell that Benjamin was scared.

The rain started to leak in from the sides of the tent. The top of the tent no longer was able to keep the rain out, and it started to drip into the tent and onto us. My sweet son asked if we could read scriptures, if we could say a prayer. He then asked if he could have a blessing. I was (and still am) so proud of him, that he wanted comfort and new where he should go from it. I was also struck by how he trusted me, asking me "Daddy are we going to be ok?". Soon after this I felt that we needed to leave. My inner Eagle Scout kept thinking we should stay at the tent, but the Dad in me trying to listen to the spirit kept remembering that we were not to far from the river, that there was lightning over head, and that we were getting more and more rain in the tent. Above all, I felt now was the time to go. So, we packed everything we could-leaving the tent and water containers behind, and began our hike back to the car.

We were drenched in one minute after leaving the tent. The hard Carolina rain soaked our packs, Benjamin was worried about his tennis shoes, if they would be ok. Our flashlight only illuminated two feet in front of us, and the rain felt like a curtain. As we began walking from the tent we walked through 6 inches of water, that quickly got higher. The path, that had seemed so clear as we hiked to the camping site, seemed to be completely gone. It felt like we were walking through trees with no path, if it were not for the blazed trees every so often.

The hike took much longer going back. I held Benjamin's hand tight. We made it to the first stream. It was now waist deep. I wrapped my arm around his arm and through his pack. The odd little bridge now made perfect sense as we were able to bypass a deep area. We could feel the water rushing down the hills we had to hike, and we felt the current going down as we descended the hills. By the time we got to the river, we couldn't see it but we could hear that it was much higher and much faster. We crossed the swinging bridge, Benjamin first, me holding him through his pack as we tried to get off the metal structure as quickly as possible through the rain and the wind.

We finally made it to the car, 50 minutes after leaving the tent. We drove, soaking wet, to the gate and I punched the code and we went home. It was good to sleep in our own beds, dry and warm. The next morning I went back and collected the tent, people stopped me and asked if we had camped in that storm last night, looking at me with incredulity. The tent had two inches of water in it when I got to it. There were trees knocked down along the path. I kept thinking back to 12 hours earlier and thinking about my complete inability to see and my desire to deliver my son and I home safely. I remembered being the boy on excursions with my Dad, and trusting him implicitly even though I was scared, because I was with my Dad.

Ben and I didn't get the priesthood talk that I am sure was at the stake camp out. We didn't have our friends around to talk to, and we didn't have the nice outdoor rest and early morning pancake breakfast. But we did have an experience that I feel helped me understand my son's wonderful spirit a little better, and understand what my father must have felt as he helped bring me back safely to my mother on so many excursions. I don't know if I ever want to have the midnight run from the camp again, but these memories and experiences are priceless. Love you son, thanks.

What could I have done more....

I really like flowers. I think I may like them more than Kathleen likes them, although I suppose we can debate this point. I have tried to plant flowers the last few years in the garden and around the yard. I have even attempted, without succeeding in growing daisy's from seed (Kathleen's favorite flower).

Last year Kathleen and I planted some yellow tiger lily's. The bulbs quickly grew, and four of the five had flowers for a few days last year. I was very sad when the flowers soon wilted. I was very anxious to see if they would come back this year. Once again, the plants sprouted up very quickly this spring.  I was happy to see that there were many more plants this time, and I anticipated the flowers coming back again.

I watched for a few weeks, seeing the flower buds slowly becoming more mature, and patiently waiting for ours to blossom. Then last Tuesday I noticed deer prints. They had eaten a few of the little plants, but had spared the large ones. I took it as a cue. I tried to protect these flowers, with the only way I know. Irish Springs soap, cut up and in the flower garden. It seemed to work, or at least no more of the plants were eaten. Then finally, last week, much later than the other lily's that we have seen in the neighborhood, ours blossomed. I was so excited. I remember seeing them as I got home from an early morning run, they were wide open and beautiful.

That feeling was short lived. Sunday morning, as we left for church, a bunch were gone. New deer prints were in the garden. The newly opened blossoms had been eaten, although there were still some unopened ones that were spared. As I backed the van out to drive to church I was sad and mad and frustrated. We only got to see them for a few hours before they were gone. We talked about what we could have done. Benjamin asked on the way to church if he could have a bow and arrow, you know, to get the deer. We pondered having Herman sleep on the front porch, but as his mad hunting skills leave something to be desired I don't know if it would help or hurt. I have to say, that as we drove to church I fought the urge to cry over the eaten flowers. Embarrassing.

 This experience made me think about the allegory of the olive trees. It made me appreciate the feelings, of course on a different scale, of what the Lord of the vineyard must have felt upon seeing the results of his trees and their fruit. I was willing to do what I could to protect those flowers. I was just so excited to see them grow and to blossom. It made me happy to see them opened up, such beautiful colors. There was no grafting for me. I am sure that I could have come up with other options to get rid of the deer (human hair, nets over the plants, cayenne pepper spray). As I thought about it I kept wondering "What could I have done more " (Jacob 5:41).

The picture is from today. More blossoms have opened, and they are just as beautiful as the first. I noticed them before my early morning run today. I took the time to run my hand on the leaves, hoping that my stinky human man smell would scare off any deer. I took some time to look at them before Herman and I left. We saw a few deer on the run, and both times my mind went back to what was happening in our little lily-yard. After the run I took more time to really look at the flowers, and to appreciate them. I don't know how long they will be there, so I made sure to at least take a picture today.

And maybe, Benjamin and I do need to get some bows and arrows.

Donut Day

Friday was Donut Day. It was also music on the lawn. We decided to celebrate both by eating donuts at music on the lawn. We listened to a band called Uncle Earl. None of the musicians were uncles. Some may have been aunts. They were all women, and most of them didn't even live next to each other. One of them lives in Sweden, one in Boston, two in Brooklyn. As Kathleen pointed out, that must make practicing very difficult, I think they probably use Skype. The kids had their fill of donuts, Grace was pleasantly surprised by the yellow "stuff" inside hers. She kept saying "its lemon". Ben wasn't too keen on the idea of going, and had to bring a Star Wars book along to read. He also didn't believe me that there was such a thing as Donut Day (which there is, I didn't make it up, it dates from the World War I with the Salvation Army). Anyway, the combination of good music and fatty food is always fun.