Allie, planning for travel

Mama and Victoria took off last night as soon as Victoria got off to deliver Allie to a home in Sherman, TX so Allie could get together with a silver dapple male. Mama said that Allie stood for the little male as soon as they put her down. The plan was to leave her there a week or so but it looks like the deed will be done by Friday evening so Mama and I will probably go get Allie that evening rather than have Victoria go back over while we are gone.

I am still amazed at the wonderful processes God set in motion; everything producing after its own kind. Even the weeds we detest have that promise attached to their seed. Now we have a heifer bred back so we will get a calf next spring and a little Dachshund being bred so she will have a little of puppies at the appointed time. It is a wonderfully, irreducibly complex process we take completely for granted.

I did not make the trip with the two of them. It was more of a ladies night out – especially since they took all the inside dogs with them. I suppose the canine company was to make Allie feel more comfortable with the little adventure. I have never learned to think like a dog so I trust Mama to let me in on those emotional needs when the occasion requires that insight. Other than that I let them eat dead things, drink from mud holes and lick themselves wherever they like.

Sometime after Mama and I leave Grandma and Grandpa are coming down. That is the last I heard about their travel plans but Grandma is hurting badly at the moment so I am not sure what the actual itinerary is. We will see them when they get here – if they are here. Victoria is hoping they come down so she does not have to leave the dogs in for the entire time she will be working each day. That is always the overriding concern for her and Mama.

Feeding schedules will have to be shifted and the normal attention the animals on the farm  receive from Mama will be absent during her absence but I think things will all go fine as long as there is water and food supplied on a daily basis. Nevertheless, Mama and Victoria are both stressing over it.

Mama has been washing cloths and packing every day. I think we will be ready when the time comes to leave for the airport. We have made arrangements for Lee to take us to the airport on Saturday morning. We are meeting him at the church at 5 a.m. that morning. Peggy will be picking us up when we return. Hotel reservations are set in Seattle where Mama and I will spend a couple nights so I can show her some of the west coast.

We would have been in a lot better position financially if the farm had sold as planned on the 5^th – which was last Friday – but we are pretty well set regardless. We are both looking forward to time with our children in Alaska.