The Wabash Floods

The home I grew up in and where I had my first horses is on the Wabash River. Talk about a wonderful way to grow up - horses, a beautiful river, living in the country... I was fortunate.

But living on the river posed some unique challenges, one of which is occurring right now.

Flooding.

A river or creek over its banks is very, very dangerous. The current is fast and often carries debris such as uprooted trees and other items it has swept away. And sometimes the current is not going in the normal flow of the river due to the topography of the land it is flooding. You can get caught in a cross current before you know it.

I know this road very well - that's my parents' property on either side of it, but there is no way I would drive through that water. I could see there was a cross current running across the road. The drop-off off the sides of the road is about three feet; if I got caught in that cross current and went off the road, I could be in real trouble.

This gate and pasture are on the property adjacent to ours. All through junior high and high school I cared for the horses our neighbors owned and kept here. More than once I had to cut fences to rescue horses when the river came up quickly and the gate was underwater.

The neighbors no longer own horses and have donated this land to Niches, a land trust that preserves pockets of land and ecosystems in their natural states.

Another view of the neighbors' old pasture. The black marks on the tree trunks are actually a good sign. They're water marks - wet places that show how high the water was. The fact that they show indicates that the floodwaters are receding.

Sure am glad I don't have to fight that water and muck to feed horses today!

Extended Family Christmas

Yesterday we held the extended family Christmas in our home, and all my siblings and our moms were able to be there!

 After all the family had arrived, we handed out the gifts and began opening them.

 Ian was very excited about the Thomas the Train potty chair we got him!

 He even sat on it, although he doesn't yet know its true purpose.

Millie could sniff out the packages that held her treats.

Lisa let her try a few.

Then it was time for the Dirty Santa game.

Curt helped pull the table with those gifts out, and then we drew numbers to see what order we would be choosing.

 Ian enjoyed helping us open our gifts.

I didn't get any pictures of dinner, but we had a ton of food - fried turkey, ham, corn casserole, broccoli salad, macaroni and cheese, roast vegetables, green bean casserole, lima bean bake, two kinds of rolls, cranberry sauce, jellied cranberries, maple scones, cheeseball, tossed salad, Christmas Jello, Christmas cookies and candy, pumpkin pie, and cherry pie.

After gifts, Dirty Santa, and dinner, we sat around the house and enjoyed each other. I caught some pictures of my mother reading to Ian from an Eloise Wilkins book - a favorite author from both Curt's and my childhoods.

She read to her children, to her grandchildren, and now she is reading to her great-grandchildren.

I will treasure these photos forever.

Granny Slash Reads to Ian

Merry Christmas 2015

I had some trepidation about this year's Christmas. It was the in-laws' turn to have their kids/spouses with them, and with Lisa having moved into her own home, it was the first year since 1976 that we'd not had one of our children sleeping in the house! Lisa kindly solved that dilemma by packing up a suitcase and coming over. (Thanks, Lis!!)

Then, my sister Jenny got sick (and Lisa was recovering from pneumonia.) That meant we had to postpone celebrating the day until Sunday when everyone would hopefully be well and not expose my mother to respiratory illness.

It looked to be a very quiet Christmas. But it wasn't. It was WONDERFUL.

The tree and house loved lovely (I love my house, and decorating for Christmas is a favorite.)

We opened gifts later than usual, although Lisa threatened to pull the old tricks she and her siblings had done when they were young (such as repeatedly flushing the toilet) in order to wake Craig and me up.

To thank our kids who weren't here...

... we took pictures of ourselves with their gifts....

... and texted it to them.

We also spoke to all of them either by phone or FaceTime during the day. I didn't get screenshots, so I am posting pictures they took of their own celebrations.

Cole, Emily, and Julie were in Canada with Emily's side of the family.

Sarah, Todd, JC, and Trinity had a sunny Christmas in Tampa, Florida with Todd's folks.

I love this picture of them baking Christmas cookies together.

Jessica, Andrew, Cambria, and Titan are in Washington state with Andrew's family.

Cambria is mesmerized by the tree.

I think Titan liked the lights!

Our meal was simple - Pooma joined us.

I went to visit my mother after dinner. While I was there Kyle called and we had a nice three-way chat. It made my mom's day!

Kyle and his family continue the tradition of watching Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.

A lovely picture of an excited Corinne hugging Santa Claus.

Kyle asked me to take and send some pictures of Granny Slash's holiday decorations.

The purple and white arrangement was from me last year. I found the cardinal this year. (I wish I'd bought one for myself!)

Christmas cards are arranged around her ornament tree along with a Christmas teacup and snow globe. The ornaments Cambria, Julie, and Ian made her at Thanksgiving are also on the table.

After visiting my mother, I stopped by the cemetery to see my dad. Cindie always does such nice headstone decorations.

I walked up the hill to visit my Honeywell grandparents, too.

Then it was back home for more fun - Curt and Vanessa had gone to a movie with Vanessa's folks, so we had Ian for a couple of hours.

Pooma had fun playing with Ian and his new toys.

When Curt and Vanessa returned, we opened gifts with them.

Ian LOVED his lawn mower!

It had a few pieces that had to snap together...

... but between his parents and Aunt Lisa, the job was done.

Aunt Lisa got Ian a train book and some Hot Wheels cars - both big hits!

It may not have been our usual family Christmas, but it was still wonderful and certainly better than I had dreamed it might be.

Merry Christmas!

Licking the Flagpole, Abby-Style

"Stuck, stuck, stuck, STUCK!!" yells Flick  in A Christmas Story when triple-dog-dared to lick the flagpole.

 Well, Abby wasn't dared...

... but she did lick the bars of the metal gate this chilly Christmas Eve afternoon! Luckily, it wasn't cold enough to cause her tongue to stick, though.

Merry Christmas!

The Clarion Call

When I was about seven or eight, I heard a clarion call from the Lord.

Oh, come, all ye faithful!

I was watching TV in my parents' bedroom, so I had to have been ill. It was December and I was viewing a holiday variety show.

Joyful and triumphant!

What show was it? I have no idea. Nor do I know who was doing the singing, although I remember it as a choir of some sort.

Oh, come ye, oh come ye, to Bethlehem!

I remember feeling something like a vibration or shock running through me at the words. The yearning to join the crowds of believers onscreen was incredibly strong.

Come and behold Him! Born the King of angels.

I know now that I was feeling the Spirit, perhaps for the first time in my life.

Oh, come let us adore Him.

I wanted to jump off that bed and join the throngs I saw on the television who were walking to a tiny stable visible in the background of the screen.

Oh, come let us adore Him.

I remember thinking, "Yes, yes, I'm coming! Wait! I'm coming, too!" But of course, in reality I was not, nor did I even go to any church at that time.

Oh, come let us adore Him,

I am older, wiser, and more spiritually seasoned now. I have had many spiritual experiences and have learned to listen for the whisperings of the Spirit.

Christ, the Lord!!

To me, that clarion call represents the beginning of my spiritual journey, a time when I felt the Spirit, and realized that there was something bigger that awaited, an arm outstretched just to me. 

I know now that it was the voice of the Good Shepherd calling one of His sheep to the fold.

Wrapping Up Cambria

Jessica and her family left today. They're flying out of Indianapolis to Seattle to spend Christmas with Andrew's family. Craig and I are feeling kind of listless and sad this evening - we miss the joy that comes from having family in our home!

I thought I would wrap up the visit with a variety of photos of Cambria. Titan is still pretty tethered to his mama, but Cambria is independent and we were able to do quite a few things with her. These are from this past weekend.

Saturday afternoon Boompa and I took her out to Hershey.

 We headed straight to the gym...

 ... and shot some baskets with Boompa.

 She tried out one of the adaptive bicycles.

 And loafed a bit in the 4th grade hallway reading lounge.

 Cambria checked out my desk, too!

Sunday was a busy day. We spent the morning at church (Cambria LOVES going to Nursery!)

 Then we decorated sugar cookies together.

  Jessica helped Cambria get started.

 Cambra preferred eating the decorations, not putting them on the cookies.

 The finished cookies were beautiful as well as tasty.

Then we packed some of those cookies up and headed to visit the great-grandmothers.

 Titan and Cambria donned reindeer antlers for the occasion.

And we sang some of our favorite carols.

 Cambria charmed the ladies in Pooma's dining room, plopping herself into a chair at the table.

 Pooma was delighted to have us there and enjoyed hearing us sing to all those eating with her.

But, we still had activities to accomplish! Curt, Vanessa, Ian, and Lisa joined us for Sunday dinner...

 ... and a gift exchange with Jessie's family since they were leaving the next day.

Aunt Emily sent Cambria a scarf to match her mama's.