Traveling

Mama and I are both traveling today. She got to Wichita about 3 pm yesterday afternoon. Once in the drive over, Mama had to follow all the traffic as it was routed off the interstate. The detour was not marked so Mama followed the flow of traffic on a two-lane road for an hour before getting back onto the interstate. She called me when I was at lunch and I was able to verify that she was on the right track. Even with that delay, she made good time. We were a little concerned about her ability to make the drive because of the pain she was having Saturday evening and Sunday morning, but that seemed to pass through the day Sunday. The draw of meeting a newborn baby is a powerful stimulant to Mama.

Mama got to meet Gailyn yesterday evening. Gailyn is beautiful. Chubby cheeks. A full head of black, curly hair. I was not told who she looks like and will not presume to make a guess based on the limited pictures I have seen. I am anxious to have my turn meeting the baby, but that will not happen for several weeks. It is enough that Mama gets her time with the newborn – and the twins. Gailyn and Brittany will come home this morning. Now the work begins. So that it is specifically stated, Mama is thankful to Brittany and Andrew for allowing her to be a part of the homecoming.

Young couples are avoiding that extended family contact early in the homecoming. It makes little difference as far as bonding of or with the baby is concerned. But it can have a huge impact where the health of the newborn is concerned. Especially as we deal with this new strain of the coronavirus. My advice. Do what is comfortable for you within the circle of family you deal with. Lord willing, there will be years of caregiving ahead of you. Get the most you can out of those first few months. As the child quickly grows, the interest of relatives and friends will diminish rapidly as an inverse function of the age of the child. I am not being cruel. It is simply the way of life.

I will be traveling later today. Victoria and I went to revival services at church last night getting home about 8:45. I had not taken time to pack Sunday, so all the packing had to be done last night after church. Not that it takes me that long to pack, it just compressed the time allotted to get it all done. I have the most important things with me, I hope. Fortunately, anything I might have forgotten can be easily replaced if it is urgent. I will be home Friday. My flight is early enough that I will need to work a half day in the office Friday after lunch. We are not sure yet when Mama will come home. Perhaps this Saturday or next Monday. I am encouraging her to make the most of her opportunity to spend time with Gailyn, Zoe and Sophia.

After feeding yesterday evening, I took a few minutes to apply the second coat of varnish to the beehive I started working on late Saturday. It did not take long. Only about thirty minutes, but since Victoria and I were going to church that evening, it made me hurry a bit to get ready to leave on time. It will be worth it this weekend when I have that hive finished and can start on the second one.

Victoria is on her own for a few days. She does not mind the solitude. She is not enamored with the chores left to her in our absence, but she gets them done. This time Mama and I will only be out for a few days and Victoria has lined up help from Grandma and Grandpa as well as Krystal and the boys. If you remember, Norman was trained a few days ago and will easily move through the assigned tasks. Like I have told Mama, the animals will be fed and watered. As long as the gates are closed properly, they should be fine. As Mama was talking with a friend of Rick and Nancy’s over the weekend, she learned that Rick and Nancy have lost twenty goats to coyotes over the past two months. Whatever inconvenience Sam and Sasha cause us, they have not allowed a single goat to be harmed by the many coyotes we have around us. Praise the Lord!

I am looking forward to the classes I am teaching this week. Having spent time accessing the need of the client, I am confident what I am presenting will be a great help to them. I typically do not enjoy the second of the two classes I am presenting, but this group needs it, so I put a lot of extra effort into revamping the class to meet a specific need they have.

On Thursday I will get to see if that effort pays off.