Brittany and Mama, happy animals

Brittany and Mama made it back safely – and in time for church last night. They walked in just as the service was about to start, but they made it. I am sure more details will emerge but they had a productive time looking at properties in and around Wichita. The realtor that answered Brittany’s call turned out to be a delightful, Christian woman who made an immediate connection with both Mama and Brittany. She will be a very valuable resource in the months to come as Brittany and Andrew finalize the date of the move and get more focused on a house purchase. If the plans work out as Brittany has told us they will be in the Wichita area for about five years. It is a relatively easy drive for me and Mama, straight up I-35 about five hours driving time. About the same time and miles as a trip to Amarillo. I am certain we will learn the way by heart over the coming years. Maggie and Aaron, by contrast, will be about twenty hours east of us. Almost due east, about 1300 miles. Not necessarily a difficult trip by car but not a leisurely one either. That too, is a trip I am sure Mama and I will make on occasion. They will be easier to reach than in Juneau and flights should be a lot cheaper and easier to coordinate than getting to Juneau. I see a lot of travel in our future.

Brittany is going to work with Mama this morning. She has schoolwork to get done and wants to practice piano as well. (It will be interesting to see if she has a difficult time adjusting to US time since she is normally six hours ahead of us.) We will meet up for lunch – as Mama and I normally do and enjoy the pace of this weekend as things start to get very busy. It will be a busy time for all of us next week. We have revival meetings starting Sunday that will run through Wednesday night. We will have Thursday evening off and head to Chappell Hill on Friday to be there for Dad’s memorial service on Saturday. After the service Saturday morning, we will head back home, go to church on Sunday morning and head back to Wichita that afternoon to get Brittany to the airfield so she can hopefully, get on a flight home Monday morning. Mama wants me to take the time off to make the drive with her. I have not asked about the time off, but I have a week to pray about it and get it arranged if needed. I am not enamored with the idea of her making the drive by herself again, but I am not thrilled about taking the extra time off either; especially with limited vacation for the year which could hinder us having the time off for the birth of the twins. I am sure we would like to be there for that event.

The animals will be happy to have Mama back. When she is gone even for a night they are well aware of it. Neither Victoria nor I feed or tend to them the way Mama does. Don’t get me wrong. They survive in our care but they do not necessarily get all the extra attention, or the special feed items Mama loves give them. She will crumble bread for the chickens, feed leftovers to the pigs and make sure all the goats have fresh hay every day. The cows get alfalfa and cubes every other day. All the animals will call to Mama every morning when they are alerted to her presence. Sometimes it is how she opens a gate into the coop yard, but usually it is because she starts talking to the menagerie as soon as she enters the back yard from the sun room. When they hear her voice, all of them start making noise, clucking, bleating, grunting and bawling. The cows being the loudest of the criers, with the pigs coming in a strong second.

Whoever said the farm life is a quiet life did not have Mama to stir thing up.