HOUSE GUESTS
The frost has been on the pumpkins. The wondrously hued fall leaves have been falling like snow. Turkeys have been about. We have had deer browsing literally in front of our bedroom window. And our houseguests have returned to their homes in Georgia. Here is Rebecca's report of some of the highlights of their visit.
My sister Ruth and her granddaughter Savannah came to visit us for a week. It was a lovely visit. My sister is nice in that we enjoy talking about old times, our families, our silly husbands, our health problems. I suppose it is because there is so much shared love. Silly husbands some of you might say, I defy anyone to be married 38 and 40 years without feeling their husbands are a bit silly. (Or if so I REALLY want to meet the husband in question!)
Ruth showed me pictures of her latest grandchildren. She has fifteen! A bit excessive I know but there you are. They live in rural Georgia. One of her latest is a black boy named Terrance who was adopted from Nashville, Tennessee, and when her pretty granddaughters suddenly appeared with him and called him their cousin I guess some eyebrows were raised. Hopefully this will be a growing experience for the whole community. Terrance is doing well but still a trifle alarmed by the cows who rush towards him when it is time for them to be fed. Her granddaughter Mia is a cute little baby with red hair.
I enjoyed showing Ruth our beautiful little new house. She cleverly timed her visit and came when the leaves were just turning. We both love the fall colors. With Savannah I guess I had forgotten exactly how energetic teenagers are. But she had a really sweet disposition most of time, although perhaps a mite giggly and squeally. Savannah went swimming with me and she was really a little mermaid turning somersaults in the water and racing beside me while I swam laps. Savannah tries to be tactful and when we were discussing dyeing hair (she is trying to convince her mother to let her dye her hair blue) I asked her if she thought I would look good with purple hair. I do like purple. "Well, Aunt Rebecca I think you look good in natural colors," Savannah replied. Ruth and I laughed.
We visited the museum in Marietta, Ohio, where one of the exhibits was about coal mining. As our father and grandfather, not to mention various uncles etc., worked in the mines we tried to relate this family history to Savannah. We also visited family cemeteries with flowers for the graves of our parents and grandparents.
Another day the three of us visited a conservation park called The Wilds where they breed endangered species. My favorite was Rustus the rhino who lay there ignoring us as the bus stopped right beside him so we got a really close look. There were all kinds of animals and the bus drove though the fields where the herbivores were which was nice. The carnivores were penned but in very large pens. It was amazing to see the cheetahs loping along.
Some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157608171895706/
We spent much of the visit just lolling around and talking. Ruth is as voracious a reader as am I and we compared favorite authors. Savannah who is home-schooled did a few lessons and spent a fair amount of time emailing her friends and trying out our hot tub. Where was Dan in all of this? Well the three of us kind of overwhelmed him but he did cook us delicious dinners at the end of each day.
We hope none of you have been adversely affected by the apparently worldwide turbulence in the financial markets. Perhaps things will be back to some normality soon.
Keep in touch.
Dan and Rebecca
http://www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com/
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