It Was a "Grand" Time!

It was a GRAND time! We spent several days in Topeka with the girls while their parents had a quick getaway. 

This time, there were two lists of instructions: One was for our granddaughters' schedules and activities. The other one was for Summer, the dog. Thankfully, Randy handled most of the dog duties. Other than a brief time when we lost the red collar that's supposed to keep Summer in the yard, we had minimal mishaps. Summer was a good girl and stayed anyway. Whew! That's on Randy. 

But ... oh yeah ... the broken plate is on me. 

Still, Kinley and Brooke got to all their activities and were fed. Summer also survived the week with the novices left in charge.

Before the parents departed, we got to see Brooke's volleyball team in action, led by Coach Jill. This is the third graders' first year playing volleyball. This is also Jill's debut season as coach. They don't keep score. But, the Attack won, I'm sure. It had to be due to the superb coaching, right?

Many of the girls are already serving overhand. Of course, they don't serve from the regulation line and they get two chances to get it over. But, we were still impressed.

Having a team cheer is vitally important to success.

The girls had an early release day on Wednesday, so we went bowling. 

Grandma lost. Of course, they had bumpers and I didn't. But, as I told them, there was a reason I took bowling in college pass-fail. Back in the olden days, we had to take a lifetime sport to graduate. I chose bowling. And I sure didn't want my lack of skill at the bowling alley to affect my GPA. I was bad. And I didn't improve much, even with some input from the instructor.

Then, on Friday, we took Kinley to her tennis lesson. We're always amazed in her improvement. You'll have to take my word for it because the video won't upload, for some reason. And she's one of the younger ones in the class and I sure wasn't going to make her pose for a Grandma photo when she was surrounded by her older friends. That would be a Grandma fail!

It wasn't all sports. Brooke was working on her X6 multiplication facts. And she passed and has moved on to the X7s.

She also got her pet rock decorated and turned in early - just one less thing for Mom and Dad to help with when they got home!

We got to see some of their artwork come home. They did not get their artistic talent from me.

We were proud to clean out book bags and find positive notes from their teachers, too. Brooke was honored for collaboration, going above and beyond and respectfulness during the Friday assembly. I was ready to go and cheer, but I was informed that parents (or grandparents) did not go to these assemblies. And Kinley was recognized for including others and welcoming others to her group. While I'm also a firm believer in working hard on school subjects, those character traits get an A+ from Grandma, too!

While the girls were in school, Randy golfed at three different courses around Topeka. And I read my book.

The first day, we were at Forbes Field.

The second day, we went to Lake Shawnee. Randy survived golfing with three KU fans.

The third day brought chillier weather. Though he'd planned to golf 18 holes at Western Hills, we quit after 9 when it began sprinkling and the wind was blowing.

He thought it was easy to give the "Play Better" advice. It's not as easy to do.

Randy and I needed to be back in Stafford so I could take photos at the ribbon-cutting for renovations and donor recognition for the Nora Larabee Memorial Library during the Oktoberfest celebration. So Uncle Brent and Aunt Susan were the pinch hitters.

I asked Jill yesterday whether we all got good grades from the girls for our role as stand-in parents for the week. We did - Bonus!

While at Oktoberfest on Saturday, we were told (yet again) that farmers aren't supposed to retire. However, if we hadn't retired, we would have been home planting wheat at this time and we wouldn't have gotten to spend the week with the girls. 

Hmmm ... sounds like a good decision to me.

RIP: Big Cat

  

Sometimes, things come into your life and you don't realize how important they will become. 

Once upon a time, a yellow cat arrived at The County Line. At this point, we don't remember the details. He was likely a member of a litter of kittens. His siblings are no longer remembered. If I have photos of him as a baby, they are buried in plastic tubs in the basement. 

But that little yellow cat grew to be Randy's favorite. Eventually, he became Big Cat. 

Randy and I both grew up with farm cats. Those cats come in and out of your life fairly frequently. Life on a farm can be dangerous - for people and for animals. We don't know exactly how old Big Cat was. Brent thinks that Big Cat was part of the family when he was still living here at home in high school. (Brent graduated in 2006) And our son-in-law, Eric, confirms that Big Cat has been around as long as he has been. Eric probably had his first visit to the farm in early 2007.

But we are sad to report Big Cat's passing. While we were at the high school football game Friday night, a couple of roaming dogs came into the farm yard and killed Big Cat and our newest kitty. Since the girls haven't been here to name that smallest cat, it didn't have a formal name. But I guess, as it turns out, it's appropriate that we just called it Little Kitty. 

If you're a long-time reader, you know I'm not an animal person. (Yes, I know admitting that causes people to question my humanity.) Before we got married, I did not offer any false advertising about my stance on animals in the house. I didn't grow up with them, and Randy did. As I like to say, it was part of the pre-marriage negotiations. 

However, even I modified my stance - to a certain degree. Yes, during the summer when he shedded unmercifully, Big Cat was relegated to the outside with the other farm cats. But come wintertime, Big Cat could come in for an evening of TV viewing with his favorite person - as long as he stayed on his blanket.

I joked that Big Cat was a one-person cat. I was more often than not on the receiving end of what I called Big Cat's "evil eye." 

However, even I would greet Big Cat when I returned to the house. In recent years, it seemed Big Cat spent most of his day snoozing near the back porch. Sometimes, I'd have to nudge him aside to get down the back steps. 

As Big Cat aged, he spent more and more time taking naps. (I suppose the same could be said of cats' human counterparts.) 

Big Cat was definitely the Patriarch of The County Line Cat Kingdom. And while Randy did his best to tame new baby kittens - especially before visits from our granddaughters and our daughter-in-law, Susan - Big Cat was still Number 1 in his heart.

It's not like we thought Big Cat would live forever. In fact, Big Cat had probably used all nine of his lives and a few more for good measure. Randy had mentioned several times that Big Cat was probably living on borrowed time. 

But both of us hate that Big Cat didn't have a peaceful death, gently falling asleep, dreaming his cat dreams. 

Randy wanted to find a fitting place to bury Big Cat and Little Kitty. He chose to lay them to rest among the lilac bushes south of the house.  

We know we'll long remember Big Cat. But maybe those memories will be especially poignant when the lilacs bloom.

If you're somewhere nearby and have a yellow kitten you'd part with, please let us know.

 

Scenes from The County Line

Hey, it's the Lone Ranger. 

Nope, he had a friend or two. 

These two "bandits" were hanging out in the trees near Peace Creek Sunday evening. They didn't stay long enough to visit before skeedaddling up an old tree and hiding in the upper branches. 

On first glance, they are pretty cute, but the rascals can cause some damage. They steal food from the cat bowls. For awhile, they didn't think we were offering a large enough buffet at the Fritzemeier Farm feed trough. They were bound and determined to get into the wash house to help themselves to the food. They were pulling wood planks off the wash house, so it's still hard to be hospitable to scoundrels that make such a mess (though these particular individuals were probably innocent).

 

They weren't the only wildlife on our drive. While at the Rattlesnake Pasture, we could hear the coyotes vocalizing before their nighttime serenade. The Rocky Mountain beeplant made for some pretty scenery shots.

 

After driving through our pasture, we took a detour home through Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.

The light was just right to capture these two birds and their reflections.

The duck wanted in on the scene.

 

 

The setting sun seemed to be reflected in the goldenrod near the kids' fishing pond, so abundant at this time of year. 

 

The temperature may not reflect fall yet, but the colors are trying to convince us. The milo field across from the house is turning, getting ready for harvest.

It was almost like the colors of the sky were reflected in the ripening field.

 

Not a Good Kind of Rainbow

 

I like rainbows - most of the time. But when "rainbows" are in creek water, it's not a good thing.

We were notified Wednesday, September 13, about an oil spill that impacted our Rattlesnake Creek Pasture. The "rainbow" in the creek water was the sheen of oil floating on the surface of the Rattlesnake Creek. 

Google map - From www.hutchpost.com

On September 12, the Kansas Corporation Commission notified the Environmental Protection Agency of the oil discharge to Rattlesnake Creek in Stafford County, according to Ben Washburn, Public Affairs Officer for EPA Region 7.

Google map - From www.hutchpost.com

An article in The Hutchinson Post said that the responsible party reported 90,000 gallons of brine, or salt water generated during oil production, spilled from a disposal well line that transects Rattlesnake Creek approximately 0.25 mile east of NE 90th Avenue. The brine contained an estimated 600 to 700 gallons of oil.

This Haz Mat vehicle was in the pasture, and we met another Haz Mat trailer on the road as we were leaving.

The oil company and the EPA responded quickly. Once on site, the  EPA On-Scene Coordinator observed areas of sheening and small pockets of oil up to 2.1 miles from the source of the spill, including our pasture. Responsible party contractors have recovered approximately 160 barrels (6,720 gallons) of mostly brine to date. The responsible party contractors are continuing oil containment and recovery operations under EPA oversight. On Friday, small amounts of oil were observed up to 4 miles downstream of the spill location, according to Washburn. They reported no observed impacts within the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, which is a few miles away from our pasture. 

Randy talking with a Haz Mat crew after they'd built a dam over the creek in our pasture.

 To corral the oil, they placed a boom along Rattlesnake Creek to prevent further oil migration. 

The disposal well line that was the source of the spill was isolated and is no longer actively leaking, according to the EPA.

Sunday night, we were back in the pasture to see the progress made.

Ironically, it wasn't the only oil leak in the pasture. We were in Topeka and Kansas City celebrating birthdays when we got a phone call from the Millers, who care for our cattle and their own at the Rattlesnake Pasture. A different pumping unit was spraying oil. Todd got the unit shut off, but it did leave behind some oil.

 

On Wednesday, Randy went back to the pasture and found that the oil company had already cleaned up the site and the well was up and pumping again.

The booms are still in place on the creek, though, and he said there were plenty of Haz Mat Response team vehicles supervising the progress. (Unlike me, he didn't take any photos.) They told Randy that they'd likely remove the booms and the dam in a few days.

 

Every Day Beauty

Looking west, toward the sunset

This summer, a daughter who had lost her mom unexpectedly asked people to send photos of the sunset. Her mom grew up in Stafford and had maintained her ties with her hometown, my PEO group and our church.

I made a mental note to pay attention as the evening progressed so I could go out and honor this family's wish for their mom/wife/grandma.

For awhile, I thought a rain shower was going to derail my plans. We need the rain, so it was welcome anyway. But as the sun was setting, the sky cleared enough for a beautiful sunset. Later, as I've examined the photo more closely, I'm reminded of a song that meant a lot to me when my mother-in-law, Marie, died unexpectedly. It is called Holes in the Floor of Heaven by Steve Wariner. It's told from the perspective of an 8-year-old boy, which was Brent's age at the time of Marie's death. (Jill was 11, so our granddaughters are that age right now. Brooke just turned 9 on Monday.) Anyway, when I look at the right side of the sunset, it looks like holes in the floor of heaven. I hadn't heard that song for years when it began playing as I drove to town for Brent's homecoming assembly his senior year of high school. It was like a God wink that day.

On the Facebook post, I wrote:

We had a storm a little earlier. This was as the sun was setting on the Stafford/Reno line. I thought about how you are currently going through a storm, but there is still light breaking through. I will pray that for all of you.

When I turned to look at the sky to the south, I found it compelling in a different way.

As is usually the case, the view was dependent upon where and when you looked. Isn't that a metaphor for life itself?

At sunset isn't the only time you can look at things differently. In July, I noticed a sunflower field blooming south of 4th Street Road, which we take to and from Hutchinson. It was worth a short detour for a closer look.

From afar, the sunflowers looked like soldiers at attention. 

But a closer look revealed some differences. This one wasn't quite ready for its closeup, even though its neighbor was preening in the sun.

 Others were already starting to dry down and starting to wilt.

Sunflowers grown as crops for seeds and oil don't stay pretty long. These days, there's not a yellow head to be found. 

But I don't have to drive down the road to realize that beauty can be fleeting. The day lilies in our backyard brighten our days while they bloom each summer. 

But they, too, bloom in their own season and then fade until they return the next year.

 The corn field across the road looked so green and vibrant in late June.

Earlier this week, our neighbor cut the corn. All that was left at sunset were the stalks.

Not a great photo and not a sensational sunset. But I guess it still illustrates the difference in just a couple of months.

 These fleeting moments remind us to appreciate the little things as they come.

I thought about it again as I contemplated what to play on the piano at church this Sunday for prelude, offertory and postlude. I always try to tie the music with the Bible readings and liturgy. In those efforts, I look at a UMC Discipleship website for inspiration. In the materials this week, it talks about God sightings. 

We are the ones who are trying to be tuned into God’s wavelength, listening to God’s broadcast. Therefore, we look for the signs that God is at work in and around us always. ... We might be surprised by where and from whom we encounter God’s presence when we open our eyes to what is around us. We are more than passive observers, however. We are active presenters, active signs of God’s presence in the world. We commit ourselves again this week to presenting the goodness of God in the world around us. We do that best by how we care. We care for one another and seek reconciliation whenever possible. We care for God’s people everywhere by giving and helping and loving. ... We care and are called to care as a way of being a sign of God’s care for creation. What is the sign? It is us. 

Rev. Dr. Derek Weber, Director of Preaching Ministries from UMC Discipleship Ministries

 

 Let’s come before him with thanks! Let’s shout songs of joy to him!

—Psalm 95:2

A Time to Think

All the world is an utterance of the Almighty. Its countless beauties, its exquisite adaptations, all speak to you of Him.     –Phillips Brooks, clergyman and author

A Time to Pray

Dear Lord, please help me to see the beauty of every day. 

From the Daily Devotional email from Guideposts