A Baby's Baptism

Being a grandmother is a special part of reaching the 'later' years! It is great seeing them grow and learn but we don't live close to our grandchildren so we focus on the special moments and try to be present for those.
Of course, it is easier for a retired Granbery to visit than it is for a working Paberry. Sometimes the best laid plans don't work out. Whenever we knew a baby was due, Larry would try to plan a visit into his travel schedule near the due date. Warren, our first grandchild, decided to set the bar high and let us know from the beginning that schedules and plans were meant to be rearranged. He was born 6 weeks early! I made the drive to Iowa and stayed with Jan for a few weeks until she was comfortable enough and Warren had settled into as much of a routine as a newborn ever does. However, Larry's plane tickets were booked for 6 weeks later. Jan and Mike decided to have Warren baptised when Larry was there which we thought was a great idea. Since I had just been there and planned on going to Florida in a few weeks for Nicholas birth, I did not make the trip back to Iowa and Larry attended the baptism alone.

That experience showed us that some things are too special to be missed. As Warren was baptised both sets of grandparents stood with his family. The baby was passed to each grandparent with a reminder that we are all responsible for his upbringing. At the end of the ceremony, each person placed a hand on the baby as he was baptized. Poor Larry. He felt so badly that I had missed it. Since then we have made a point of making that weekend a priority. No excuses. Not every church includes the grandparents quite as much, but it is still a special moment in a child's life and we don't want to miss it. When Nicholas was baptised we were there.

Last weekend, Samantha was baptized. This time it was scheduled around a weekend when we could both be there. On Saturday the family got together for dinner at Jan's and Mike's. On Sunday other relatives added to the ranks and we took up 2 pews in the church.
When Warren was baptized he wore the family gown. That gown had been worn by all of his aunts and uncles on his paternal grandmother's side. Because Samantha was 5 months old that was out of the question. I went rumaging through a cedar chest and found the dress that Jen and Jan had worn when they were baptized, complete with shoes, hat, and blanket (knitted by her great-grandmother). It just fit her.

The big question was how would Samantha respond to being passed from person to person. She much prefers her parents to any other people and is not happy with crowds. But on this particular day she made every grandparent feel like they were the most important part of her life. She patiently let us hold her, pass her, and lay our hands on her. And her smiles were abundant. It was a wonderful moment for all of us.

A special trip for a special event in a special little girl's life. That's what grandparents are for!

Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day, the day for lovers. Picture little hearts flying around like cute little birds, tweeting away......
What am I doing?
My blog. Birdwatching for Cornell Univ.'s Feederwatch. Working out. Watching a movie on TV.
Larry is away, so there won't be a romantic dinner here, tonight. Cue the 'sad violin song'. But it's not all sad. A few weeks ago my blog post was titled "Seize the Moment", and last week we did. Since he was home we went out for dinner at a nice restaurant to celebrate today, early. A nice restaurant is defined by me as one without a TV in the main dining area. For him, it's one with a big screen TV in his direct line of sight. I won!

After 40 years of marriage it has become apparent that we have sunk to new lows in the romantic department. We've never been in the habit of exchanging expensive gifts, and this year was no different. I tried to find him a pair of his favorite Corvette dress socks since his old ones had finally blown apart, literally! He, on the other hand, did find the perfect (?) gift for me. Ice Tracks. Ice tracks are elastic bands that fit over your shoes or boots with studs in them so you can walk on icy sidewalks. It's February. What could be more appropriate?

Most people would consider socks and ice tracks the equivalent of getting an iron for your birthday. Not romantic. Just practical. So maybe it's time we look for a way to bring romance back. For him it would probably be me in my old 25 year old body. For me--it's February. I'll take a trip to Aruba.

I probably have as much chance of getting to Aruba for Valentine's Day as he does of seeing me look like a 25 year old. Good thing we love each other just the way we are.

Happy Valentine's Day, Honey! I love you, near or far, wherever you are.

Deer in the Ravine

This is an addendum to the last post. When I woke up yesterday morning the deer were very visible. In fact, for the first time I was able to count 4 deer bedding down in the thicket. Hopefully you can see them in this picture.

Snow

It's that time of year when snow brings mixed feelings. Well, maybe 'mixed' is a nice way to put it. Truth is, it's that time of year when the prediction of snow makes one sigh and want to pull the covers over one's head.

The truth is, how I feel about snow depends entirely on how much we have, and how often we've had it. The first snowfall is beautiful. A heavy snowfall can be fun. Sledding, snowmen, snow days are the best parts of winter. But while kids cheer when they have a snow day, after a week of snow days they are more than ready to get out of the house and go back to school and parents are holding that door wide open! After 4 months of cold weather and snow covered ground, we are all ready to see the bulbs poke through the ground and buds appear on the trees. We may have another several weeks of snow covered ground, so before it leaves I'd like to remind myself what I really like about the white stuff.

There are 4 things I really like about snow.

1) Snow fall softens the world. Stand outside while it snows and the world is silent. Snow doesn't make a sound as it falls. The birds and animals are quiet. And when it is over, the edges of the world have been smoothed over in a blanket of white. (I'm referring to a gentle, normal snowfall, not a Blizzard so keep that in mind!) When the sun comes out, the world sparkles.




Deer in the ravine



View of the ravine below our house.

 2) I can see the deer! This is probably my favorite thing about snow. There is a small herd of deer that travel around and through our neighborhood. They usually move at night and bed down during the day. Frequently they settle in the ravine below our house. I rarely see them most of the year, but when the snow is on the ground I can sometimes pick them out in the underbrush. Their camouflage is very effective, but I've learned to look for the 'rocks' on the hillside and pick out the ones that change location from day to day. There is one tree stump with underbrush that can look remarkably like a buck, but I've never seen a buck down there and it never moves. Rarely can I see all 4 deer in the herd, but I know if I see 2 the other 2 are there somewhere. When the snow is gone, the 'rocks' are well hidden in the underbrush and my deer viewing is over.



Close up of  ravine hideaway. Deer like to hide in the thicket during the day. Sometimes I can see them. Other times....not so much!

3) The exercise--The first winter we were here I was really annoyed by the daily inch or two of snowfall. By the end of that winter I had to admit all that shoveling helped keep me in shape. A little snow fall is as good as a 2 mile walk for getting the blood moving. After enduring 3 heavy snowfalls last winter, this year we bought a snow blower. I still shovel when we get just an inch or two. The snow blower on the other hand is a psychological boost when we get a good snowfall. So far this year, it has kept my primal scream at bay and proved it's value.


4) At night my view of the neighborhood reminds me of a Currier and Ives picture. We live on a hill and when I look out our window I have a great view of the town below. Houses line the street as it winds down the hillside. The night view is one of lights; lights in windows, by front doors, on lamp posts. The lights tie us together in a sense of community. Cover the terrain in white snow and the night takes on a brighter glow. It reminds me of the old Currier and Ives pictures of New England neighborhoods, minus the horse and buggys.


I've lived in the sunny south too long for winter to ever become my favorite season, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy certain aspects of it. So for the next few weeks, I'll continue to watch the deer and get my workouts, even as I count the days until I head to Florida for a two week warm-up!

15 Minutes of Sun

Today we had sun. After spending a winter here in this part of the world, I learned it was important to notice the sun when it came out. The second winter we were here I put a blue line on the calendar every day we had a few hours of sun, and a blue circle every day that was mostly sunny. It definitely made the winter easier to deal with.

Today is also February 2nd, Groundhog day, and the day of the Storm of the Century. The news is full of stories about record snows, record cold, record ice. The storm is massive. The satellite shows cloud cover from Texas to Maine. It reminds me a little of hurricane coverage. In Chicago the storm had hurricane force winds, but this isn't what caught my attention. The graphics on the weather map show a curving line between the cold, northern and western edge of the storm and the warmer, southern, eastern edge. A hurricane has a windward and a rainy side. Whichever side you are on as the hurricane passes by affects whether you should prepare for high winds or flooding. In the case of this storm the line was the delineation between extreme cold and heavy snow, or warmer temperatures and lots of rain.

We are in the southern, eastern side of this storm. In Dallas they had temperatures recording -2. Oklahoma had ice so thick people were ice skating on neighborhood streets. Chicago Airport can't move. People north of us had snow. In Pittsburgh, yesterday it rained all day. This morning the sun came out. It was 49 degrees!

As I looked outside the window dark green grass was visible in large patches. The sun lit up a glorious blue sky. It was so easy to think spring was right around the corner. I finished getting ready for an appointment. As I pulled my coat on, I looked out the window again. The horizon was dark...very dark. The sun was blazing through borrowed time.

I pulled out of the driveway and viewed a gray sky through the windshield. Banks of clouds scudded across the sky. The wind had arrived. Thirty minutes later as my hairdresser cut my hair we watched the snow blowing horizontally outside the window. The rest of the day the wind rattled the siding and taunted the birds as they held on to perches on bushes and feeders. By tonight the temperatures will once again be buried in the 20's.

 



It's Groundhog day. For 15 minutes we had sun! I saw it! Punxsatwny Phil says that means Spring is right around the corner. I hope he's right. I'm ready for more than 15 minutes of sun. But I've learned that weather is a fickle friend.