Road Trips

1990- 2010 was the Era of Epic Road Trips for our family. We made multiple runs to the East coast from our Kansas home.  We thought nothing of buzzing up to Door County, Wisconsin with semi-frequency.  We loaded up our own wagon and traveled to every location where Pa Ingalls had settled the Little House gang.  From the Grand Canyon to the Statue of Liberty we saw the USA, and we did it while preserving quite a bit of the domestic tranquility.

We were blessed with three easy going kids which made the traveling feasible, but we also had a secret weapon…the little girl in this photo, Daughter #2 age five.  By this point she could out-pack me for the journey.  Those indoor/outdoor sunglasses are a tip-off that this young lady was ready for anything.  Wherever we traveled, she brought along a backpack filled with the most obscure items which we inevitably found ourselves needing.  Tape, chigger bite cream, a flashlight, a permanent marker, a bungee cord, all manner of safety items could be found in that red calico bag.  But she wasn’t merely practical, she also packed creature comforts.  Snacks, drinks, lotion, chap stick, stuffed animals, fuzzy socks, and most likely that set of Uno cards amusing her in the photo, all were things she could be counted on toting along as well.

The mere mention of an item one of us might find handy sent her riffling through her back pack.  Nine times out of ten she could lay her hands on the very item we were wishing for.  She wouldn’t say a word, but simply grin and hand it over.

She and I  make fewer epic road trips now that shuttling her back and forth between home and college not to mention our summer vacations have ended.  The last road trip we made was Kansas to North Carolina where she settled into her adult life.  Even on that trip she still thought of things we needed that I had forgotten, and still pulled them out of her bag with that same sly grin.  She is still a world class traveling companion.  In fact, the only that has really changed is her taste in sunglasses.

Mama Kat:Road Trip

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Love vs Hate: TToT

The world becomes much easier to understand and much less terrifying if you divide everything and everyone into friends and enemies,  we and they, good and evil.  The easiest way to unite a group isn't through love, because love is hard.  It makes demands.  Hate is simple.  
                              Fredrik Backman Bear Town

The world is filled with so much hate these days.  Battle lines are drawn, sides taken on so many issues each and every day.  We have a tendency to approach the world with our heart set on war.  A heart at war sees others not as people, but as objects to either overcome or to use.  My own heart has been veering more towards hate than I want it to of late.  So, I spent the week looking for signs of love.  Love is hard, but it is very much worthwhile.

Ten Signs of Love/Things of Thankful

As the week began my husband and I were wrapping up a road trip from NC to KS.  I enjoyed every minute of our time together.

We added an unexpected detour and stopped at my sister-in-law's for a wonderful bonus visit.

When I spent a day in bed feeling puny, my son brought me a chocolate shake and TLC.

No cost dental care was provided several of our students at school this week.

Our pastor sent us into the week with the challenge to recognize a heart of love vs a heart of hate and to foster the heart of love.

The presentation of Bibles from my church to the 3rd Grade Sunday School class.

A spontaneous family movie and dinner night that brought me joy.

Friends who selflessly cared for their beloved family dog and ultimately recognized when the time came to let her go.

The peaceful demonstrations and calls for change led by young Americans last weekend.
Good Friday

Ten Things of Thankful

TToT: The Garden Gate

Flashback one year...

Last weekend my daughter, Le Professeur, planned to host an open house at her new condo in Durham, North Carolina.  Instead, she was housebound by ice and snow all weekend.  Sending good thoughts for a warming trend her way with these shots taken last summer at the garden on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

I have been so thankful for light this week.  The days feel longer and spring feels closer.  I gathered potting soil, peat pots, seeds, and all my supplies.  Any day now  I will get some seedlings going.

I finally parted ways with my Odyssey van after eleven years and 185,000 miles.  Having a new car is fun, though it requires greater computer skills than I currently possess.  Still, I was sad to part with the old van.  I am thankful it was so reliable–it kept us safe, it delayed us from adding to a landfill by running year after year, it kept us from having car payments for a nice long time.

A wonderful counselor at one of our high schools died unexpectedly. So, I transported some of my former students to the funeral.  It was a joy to spend time with these kids, and to witness how they have grown up.  A reminder once again of how lucky I am to have a job that allows me to walk along-side so many terrific young people.  A career in education may not make a person rich monetarily, but the perks are fantastic.