Travel, friends, little extras

Mama had to meet Brittany and Andrew in Wichita Falls yesterday to get some big luggage pieces from then. With the move now a sure thing – Andrew having completed his last tests – they are living out of suitcases. Those that they have packed were too bulky to fit in only one trip into the car they are driving. So they met Mama to give her the overage. They will bring the rest, along with Lucy, today when they come.

They will have to make two trips to the airport as well. One to drop Lucy off so she can be prepped for the flight to England and one to get themselves to the airport so they will be there to get Lucy when they arrive. Fortunately Brittany has been to England before so the culture shock will be minimized somewhat but they will still have to navigate the difficulties of getting their dog-child and their vehicle after they arrive. That should be loads of fun for a couple of Yanks fresh off the plane.

While they are packing to come to the farm, Victoria is packing to leave. She got home too late to go to church with us but when we got home she was at the table making a list to follow as she plans for the trip ahead. It should not be a difficult trip for her because we have made it numerous times in the recent past. However, it is still a little worrisome to Mama and me to have her traveling so far by herself.

Add that to the fact that I will be traveling for work next week and you have a very worried Mama. I will only be gone Tuesday through Thursday but Mama is not looking forward to being in the house by herself. It may a portent of times to come if I get the Licensing job; which will keep me out of the house for a couple weeks at a time. We’ll figure that out as we go.

Today, while Victoria is off she and Mama are going to get some pictures from our trail riding trip printed to make a collage for Danny Benson. He paid for the house we stayed in for the weekend there on the ranch and provided horses for us to ride. I know he is not expecting anything in return but since we have the pictures and he had asked for copies, it seems an appropriate gesture.

The only caveat is that he will have to meet Mama and Victoria in Decatur – or somewhere nearby – to give Victoria her camera. She left it at the ranch house when we left. If not for Kelli searching the house for misplaced items I do not know if we would have discovered the loss until too late. The truck was packed so full when we left the house and traveled to the restaurant for dinner that we could not have noticed is anything was missing. Fortunately, we live close to the friends we shared the weekend with.

This morning as I left the house the birds were especially vocal. The dogs were barking idly into the noise and the donkeys in the neighboring pasture were braying along with the cacophony. It made for an interesting backdrop to the coming dawn. It was no less so when I got to work. In fact one of the coworkers that usually arrives about the same time I do each day told me he paused at the door to take it all in.

It’s one of God’s little extras.