Small moves, skunk issues, party at church

Friday night at RU we had a new couple come to the program. That is always an encouragement to Lee and Laura. We were very late getting home that night. I am not sure why. I guess we just stayed there visiting longer than usual. It was a good night even though Mama and I were very tired.

Saturday was a busy day. I took down the ceiling fan in the living room of the house in Chico and replaced it with the one Mama and I had put up in the apartment at the farm in Bowie. I am hoping that fan – which has followed us in all our moves beginning in New Jersey - has finally found its final home. The apartment is completely cleared out. It looks very much like it did when Mama and I moved into it a little over a year ago. I am praying it will be a blessing to Danny Benson in the years to come.

We did not have a lot of items to move on Saturday so we were done pretty early. That was a good thing since we are weary of moving – and we are running out of space to put the boxes we are amassing at the house in Chico. Victoria started putting some things away; mostly books. Mama is still not wanting to arrange the kitchen because of the pending work to be done on the cabinets.

As we unloaded Saturday afternoon, I was working on items in the truck which was parked at the garage while Grandpa, Mama, Victoria and Grandma unloaded the trailer, which Grandpa had backed up to the front of the house. All of a sudden I heard everyone screaming at Rosie –who is pretty hard of hearing. I did not react too quickly because I am used to such commotion. (I did get a call from the Chico Emergency Response Center about the commotion but I told them things were under control.)

When I did round the corner of the house Mama let me know that there was a skunk on the driveway and Rosie was getting too close to it. When Grandpa and I looked closely we saw that the skunk we just walking around in circles between pointless dashes in one direction or another; obviously rabid. I had to get the rifle and shoot it. Oddly enough, even Grandma gave me permission to do so.

I should have gotten the 410 shotgun but I got the .22 rifle instead. I say that because I cannot see the front sight of the rifle without my bifocals; however, with the bifocals I cannot see anything clearly past the front sight. It took four shots to kill it (because three of the shots were misses – before I got my glasses out) but I did finally succeed. Fortunately, it had wandered back across the road by the time it was put out of its misery.

We are seeing (and smelling) lots of skunks by the roadside these days but this one was a little close for comfort. Mama and I counted the dead skunks along the road on the way to church yesterday morning and I think we got to eight between our house and Hwy 380. That is a distance of about six miles.

Victoria, Mama and I went to church Saturday night for the Adult Sunday School Christmas Party. We had a really good time. I think that at this Chinese Christmas everyone got something they could live with if they were not pleased to have it.

The dinner was Mexican food and there was an abundance of it. It would have been very easy to over indulge but I had not eaten anything that day – on purpose – and I was not about to get full that night. Mama and Victoria took home two plates of leftovers but I was disappointed to discover that it was all desserts, no real food.

Peggy, who usually does not attend such functions, came to the party because Mama and I were coming and we had a great time during dinner.