Sunday Morning

No post last night...too tired really. I went to bed at 9:00 and got up this morning at 7:00. I have been having some congestion, but I am faithfully taking my allergy medicine and with that and taking care of myself, I hope to escape any bronchial infections that otherwise would be looming.

I didn't do much yesterday but I did get some of my patio furniture put together; the serving cart, the two reclining chairs and one of the dining chairs. So that leaves that table and the other 5 chairs. I also need to sand and paint the porch furniture.

Normally I would enjoy these types of activities, but with feeling draggy and congested, it is kind of an effort.

The weather has been cooler and rainy/muggy. With a lot of mosquitoes. Anne was complaining yesterday that the bugs have been awful on the front porch and while I was assembling the furniture yesterday I killed about 4 mosquitoes trying to dine on me.

This morning is foggy. I always think about my grandparent's farm on foggy mornings. I have such good memories of waking up there when the mornings were cool and looking out of the window towards the creek. It was always foggy in the early mornings at the creek. It is so easy to go there in my mind. I can hear the cows mooing and smell the coffee and bacon smells from the kitchen. I spent a lot of time there when they were alive. My mom always took us for at least a month in the summer and when I grew up and had my own transportation, I went at least a couple of times a year. I am so grateful to my grandparents for the heritage they gave me.

Even now I feel a kinship with them. When I garden I feel a connection with my grandmother. She always gardened and canned/froze produce. It's funny that my mother did the same things but it is my grandmother that I think of. She also loved to read and that has passed down to my mom and also to me.

From my grandfather I think I got my love of making things. When my mother was young, he would repair their shoes. They only had one pair of shoes which they would wear until they were too small. When the shoes would begin wearing out before their time, my grandfather could repair them.

He also did his own blacksmithing work. He was a carpenter and a farmer. I think he was typical of a generation that made do for themselves and didn't rely on a lot of outside help. I remember when he found out that we had a mortgage on our house. He was a little shocked and cautioned me against owing money. I remember telling him that everyone had a mortgage now; you couldn't buy anything without one, but he felt like it was better to avoid it and just buy straight out.

In many ways my grandfather stood in for my father even though he wasn't as involved with me as a father would have been. But he was someone I could look up to, someone I could emulate, someone I could be proud to be related to.

My grandfather died in November 1987. Anne never got to meet him. The last time I saw him, I was pregnant with her. My grandmother died in August 1993, during the Galax Fiddler's Convention. I drove up for the funeral while my family was at the park and drove back that day.

I am lucky to have had people in my life who were decent and good, who gave me a good work ethic and who I could look to for role models. So many people don't.

I feel that I am a very lucky person in so many ways. Sometimes I think that I have been too lucky, but then in many ways, I think we make our own luck. So, I guess my good fortunes are a combination of both.

Rachel is doing well in Kenya. I called her yesterday and she called me today. She said a beggar kept asking her for money while she was waiting for a driver to take her back to her hotel from the city center, so she called me, thinking that if she were on the phone, they would leave her alone! Apparently she was right, because they did leave her alone. She took a lot of photos and she said that she'd post those on Facebook tonight. I'm looking foward to seeing them.