Cori, Grandpa, gardening, signs of Spring

Monday night Mama, Victoria, and I picked up Cori at DFW airport a little before midnight. She and Nate had talked at length while we were with them in Honduras and they decided that it would be better for Cori to come and visit with Grandpa while Grandpa was still in passable health. We do not know how many of those months we have left, so now is better than later. Leaving Nate in charge of all the little details in her absence is both a blessing and a curse to the household. Some of the differences the kids really like. Schooltime is easier since Nate is less focused than Cori and tends to be a bit more generous in allowances for work to be done and help offered on work Cori requires each child to do on their own. Mealtime is less organized and requires more participation from the kids. They each rise to the occasion in preparation and presentation of those meals, but the simpler meals definitely show that Cori is not in charge. Several calls for advice on ingredients, amounts required per meal, and cook times required for each of the food types have made me aware of just how much Cori does for each meal. It is fun to see things from that perspective. Fortunately, I will be taking Cori to the airport very early tomorrow morning – leaving the house at 4 am to be exact. It has been a brief but very enjoyable visit. Our church family will be very glad to see her tonight.

Time will tell, but Cori’s hurried timing for this visit seems to be very well chosen. Since we have been home, Grandpa has been a little more forthcoming about how he is feeling, and those comments are worrisome. Over the past two evenings, Grandpa has been feeling very weak, spending most of the late afternoon and evening in bed. He told Mama yesterday that he was having fleeting pains in his heart accompanied by shallow breathing. Not good. Each of those brief episode leaves him feeling very weak. He is also often mentioning the loss of feeling in his legs. That numbness has now crept up past his knee on his right leg. Also, not good. There are times as well that his speech is noticeable slurred. Nevertheless, he is in good spirits. He puts on a brave, humorous front and tries to do as much as he can around the farm.

Yesterday afternoon, Grandpa fired up the tractor and used the brush hog to mulch leaves in front of the well house. Unfortunately, that is an area that is booby trapped with stones, wires, and hoses. In using the brush hog Grandpa caught the hose I use to water the goats and got the hose thoroughly tangled in the equipment. I will have to take time tomorrow night to see if I can get the hose unwound from the blades. It will take an hour or more to unwind and cut the one hundred foot hose away, but it is not the first time I have had to cut a hose out of the brush hog. I have run over a hose more than once over the years. Grandpa felt bad about it, but the entire incident was mostly my fault for not keeping the area free of such obstacles or being a little more aggressive about keeping the leaves cleaned from that area. I have had several months to do so but have not found the energy to do so.

In the time Mama, Cori, Victoria, Grandma, and Grandpa were out shopping yesterday, Mama made sure that Grandpa was with her as she went Decatur Garden Center so he could help her make the proper selections of plants, seeds and potatoes to be planted in our garden this week. I have been less than enthusiastic about planting this year due to the very poor harvests we have had in the past. It seems like a lot of work and worry for the relatively few fruits and vegetables it tends to yield. So, this year, Mama and I are going to try something different. We are going to use the Aggrand products Norman has left with us at the farm to fertilize the plants. I will give it my best effort but am still less enthusiastic than in past planting seasons. Planting will begin tomorrow evening. I will restrain my doubts and await the actual outcomes.

Signs of Spring are everywhere around us. The peach tree, the nectarine tree, and the pear trees are all starting to bud and will soon flower. The blackberry bushes, both wild and domesticated, are putting out leaves. All the oak trees around us will soon bud out and flood us with pollen and fronds. That shedding is the one problematic Spring issue we wrestle with after the flood of leaves we deal with in the Fall each year. I still have too many leaves to deal with because I have been procrastinating in doing so. Saturday evening, I burned the leaves still accumulated near the fence flanking the driveway. That took several hours, but that mountain of dried leaves is gone once and for all. That little accomplishment was very satisfying. A little late, but satisfying, nonetheless.

The very late nights and very early mornings are taking their toll on me this week. At least, by Friday, we will be pretty much back to normal. Sad as that longing may be, it will be a nice respite.