Sunday, August 21, 2022

Sunday's Opportunities

Look who enjoyed an early morning cuppa with me! Josiah, Jamin and Jared are off to Red Shirt Lake to fish for pike. This trip involves a 6-mile hike and a lot of canoe paddling. Carrie is at work. We were thrilled to have Olivia spend the day with us.  We began with hot chocolate and tea while we watched Encanto. 


I neither encouraged nor discouraged this...it simply is. 


Mostly we talked about characters and themes in Encanto rather than watched it. About 20 minutes in, Grandpa rang his bell. This was eye-opening for Liv. Dad had a bad morning and decided he didn't want to leave the house. His sugars were high Saturday and Sunday; his blood pressure was riding a roller coaster. We see the doc this week to discuss the results from his echocardiogram. 

Alex is usually o.k. with spending time upstairs with GG. The rest of us headed to church. We met Jesus there - and also Luke and Krista. Luke's parents have attended our church for decades. After church, we went out with Mark, Mona, Luke and Krista.  We raced home with just enough time to get Allie ready and off to work. 

When I got home, everyone but Liv and Stacia were napping. The girls made hot chocolate (we DID feed her nutritious food between drinks). Liv asked to watch "The Sound of Music." What??? Stacia and I had been talking about finding time to watch it...when the guys wouldn't have to endure it. This was the opportunity. 

Around 6:30, the guys showed up with stories of pike, canoes, and kayaks. It was a fun day with Olivia.  I got GG some dinner; he said he wanted to go to bed. Michael went to start a fire in the fire ring outside. We love sitting around the fire. It hasn't happened much this year due to rain and Dad.  GG doesn't want to go outside, and it hasn't felt right for everyone to sit outside while one person and he are inside. Alex works the 0500 shift at work, and we don't want to ask him to stay up at night...though most nights he is up, anyways. 

Another opportunity...it wasn't raining, GG was safe and secure, Michael built the fire, I sliced pieces of cheesecake. Cheesecake at the fire - along with visiting, flowers, garden watching; we never did open the campfire book we planned to read. 


I am just learning all things gardening. I've tried sunflowers for 5 years with no success at all. All the traditional mammoth yellow seedlings died before I figured out where to plant them.  These smaller ones are doing well and I'm enjoying them. 



Nolan got home from work. I'd sent he and Allie the picture of cheesecake by the fire in response to a text Allie sent; he came out and found us.  We enjoyed a couple of hours of connecting. 9:15 p.m. and it's still light. It was dark by 11:45 p.m. when we went in. Fall/winter is on its way. Nolan mentioned he LIKES the dark season more than the summer. Allie prefers the winter, too. I've heard other Alaskans say the same...last year I made an intentional choice to embrace EACH season in Alaska...breakup was a breeze this year, and I'm NOT dreading winter this year. I'm sort of looking forward to it at this point.  Summer has gone way to fast - but winter will have its own pleasures. 

Millie is skitterish around the fire. I think a spark must have landed on her as a pup. I KNOW there have been loud crackling noises from time to time.  We never envisioned her as a lap dog - but here you have it. 

It turned into a Sunday of opportunities: from early morning tea with Olivia, lunch out with family and friends, Sound of Music, a campfire with Stacia and Nolan, and late evening conversation with Nolan.  A good day.