Early dismissal, the 4th, Walter’s bad day

Wednesday our company allowed everyone to go home at noon. A pre 4^th of July accommodation. Mama and the grandkids had been out that morning but were getting home about the same time I did. Instead of doing a lot outside – since we had church that evening – I used the extra time to take a nap. A rare use of time during the workweek. At the service that night, Pastor showed a video taken from YouTube. It was titled “The Star Spangled Banner as you have never heard it”. It was a very powerful presentation of what the words to the song reflect. What was seen by the author from the prison ship he was on during the events of that fateful night. The sacrifice made by American patriots to keep our flag flying in the face a brutal onslaught by the British Armada. It is worth the eleven minutes to watch it.

While Mama and the grandkids went to visit Grandma and Grandpa late on the morning of the 4^th, I worked on the new goat shelter. Instead of finishing the roof, I worked on getting the railing up on a little area within the shelter where I planned to put two barrels: one for the feed and one for the hay. I needed a gate and railing to sequester the goats from that area. I must have been working very slowly that day because it took me all day to get that completed. But, cleaning the barrels took over an hour. The two barrels I had to clean came from the barn. One had been used for feed. It should have been clean, but a possum had died in it and melted to the bottom of the barrel. The other barrel had some medicated feed in it – or I thought that is what it contained. When I opened it, I nearly vomited. The stench was horrific. When I got all the nasty contents removed, I found a lot of other things in the bottom of the barrel. Bridles, lead ropes, curry combs, etc. All of it ruined. I had to throw away the gloves I had been wearing when I cleaned that barrel. I had to scrape, bleach and scrub both barrels in order to reuse them. The worst of the two still sits unused, but the goat shelter is now set up for Mama – and whomever else is tasked with feeding the boy goats. Mama liked it. That’s what counts.

For the second day in a row, we all napped that afternoon. In fact, we slept so well we had to rush through feeding to get ready to meet our Chinese family for dinner. They had invited us over to celebrate the 4^th with them. Their first dinner at their new house. The food was wonderful. The company was great. In fact, Walter was enjoying himself so much that he forgot to go to the bathroom and was sitting in the yard playing with the rest of the gaggle of children when he peed his pants. He soaked himself thoroughly. Mama and I were embarrassed, but no one else seemed particularly bothered. However, when Mama, the other kids (all girls) were disgusted. When Leslie, Mama, Victoria and all the kids went to the park near the new house, I did not allow Walter to go along. That was punishment enough. While everyone was playing at the park, Alex and Yan searched for a pair of shorts big enough to let Walter change out of his wet clothing. By the time that was done and we were on our way to the park, the entourage was coming back from the park. Walter seemed satisfied to be back with the group. They all ran back to the house together.

To finish out the evening, Alex bought some sparklers. Mama had looked for sparklers but had not found them.
Both Cathryn and Walter were so worried as the sparklers burnt toward them that they almost dropped them. But we convinced them to hang on to the stem and watch. In each case their faces turned from sheer panic to absolute delight as the fire burned out – as promised. Later however, having been repeatedly warned that the sparklers were hot even after the fire had gone out, Walter reached down and touched one of the sparklers and burned his index finger and thumb. Yan applied toothpaste to the burn – which was not bad – and Walter was sufficed momentarily. I am not sure if it will blister, but I should hear later today. Whether he learned his lesson or not remains to be seen, but his only remark was, “I want to go back to my city.” Interesting statement.

I would like to know how that little mind works.