Dieting again, celestial events, fun times ahead

Mama has come around once again to the idea of getting her diet and thereby her weight under control. I am all for it and I will go on whatever diet she chooses. So far we have not made any drastic changes other than a serious refocus on what we really are eating – and not eating. Sugar is the main enemy at this point because the overarching goal of the entire process is to beat the candida issue she has constantly dealt with over the thirty one years of our marriage.

Victoria is fully on board and has lost over six pounds already. She and Mama were quibbling about some article of clothing Victoria was going to wear to church last night. It was something of Mama’s; something that she liked but has not been able to wear recently, something she was saving for when she could wear it. Finally Victoria looked at her and said, “I’m gonna start feeding you cookies.” For some reason that struck me in a way that confirmed that the change of attitude was real and could be lasting.

We got home from church a little later than usual because there was a young missionary couple there who had a very young set of twins in the nursery. Mama cannot ever resist twins. Sometimes I can talk her away from a baby she wants to get a hold of, but I never try to run the same interference when it comes to twins. She enjoyed herself as long as I could bear to wait and then I had to drag her away.

Anyway, when we did get home we had to troop out to the chicken coop to shut them in for the night and while we were out there we got to see a shooting star. It is a rare event for either of us so it was nice that we got to share it. Many months ago while I was on my way to Borger from Amarillo I saw a shooting star (a meteorite) that was so large that it lit up the sky as it streaked from very high above the horizon to almost touching it – at least from my perspective. The whole event, on that occasion, took about four seconds. Last night was the normal brief, fleeting flare that disappears before the mind can really register what just happened.

The moon was full and very bright. It was one of those nights that the moon looked much larger than at other times. I was looking at it through the large oak tree we have in the front yard trying to figure out how to capture the image – I do not know if it would be possible. At one point it drifted into a perfect opening in the branches of the tree that framed it entirely while the light filtered through the foliage around that opening; a void in the view we would not see during the day. It was a nice moment. A nice evening on the farm.

Victoria is off today and through the weekend. She and Mama have some chores they plan to tackle on the farm but they are conspiring with one of the young moms at the church to sneak off to Decatur and take her younger children out to do something fun. I have no idea what is planned but they are both excited about it. Tomorrow Victoria has been asked to watch those kids for several hours and Mama plans on coming along and shopping.

She is already imagining new outfits to compliment her new smaller figure.