Primitive

A few Sundays ago the children surprised me. You never know what they are going to do. A recent widower, arriving for the first time since his wife died of breast cancer last year, to preach and having no way of knowing how it would be. His first time back to Washington Courthouse without his wife by his side.

It is traditional for us to have a handshake at the close of services. During this time a young girl - our daughter - slips her hand into his and stands by his side at the front of the sanctuary, bringing great joy to him and thereby supplying a need. On another occasion her sister draws a picture of the same preacher while he is feeding us with God's word at an association meeting. Afterwards I inquire whether she will give this illustration to the man, and she says, "Yes." He is delighted and says that he will put it on his refrigerator at home. Blessings!

Pumpkin promise

Last fall our neighbor gave us two big, dark green pumpkins from their garden with no promise of ripening.  We sat them on the front porch and waited to see what would happen.  Both did ripen in time, and I cooked the first one and we ate.  The second served as our fall front porch decoration up until the time it rotted.  I then tossed it on the side of our house, and there it stayed. 

This spring what I thought might be pumpkin seedlings appeared - two of them.  The vines have extended with leaves and flowers to boot and one small green bulge at the base of a stem where a flower used to be.  The promise of a pumpkin!

What We Read - June 2010

John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads by Christopher Canyon


A song we like to sing when traveling by car and also anytime we are in West Virginia.

My Dad
My Mom by Anthony Browne

Two books denoting the wonderful things about parents.

One step, two . . .
Say it!
Sleepy book  by Charlotte Zolotow

A blog directed me to check out this children's author's books at our library.  I am glad that I did.

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion

Mommies Say Shhh
The Lemonade Club
Oh, Look! by Patricia Polacco

One of my favorite authors!

Encore for Eleanor by Bill Peet

An elephant tale of a former circus performer past her prime and her future purpose in life.

Going West by Jean Van Leeuwen

A good historical fiction for children reminding me of covered wagons and Little House on the Prairie a bit.

Who Made the Wild Woods? by Scharlotte Rich

God did!

Primitive

Our family has started visiting a church in Washington Courthouse, Ohio.  This church was built in 1889 and still has the original hardwood flooring, pews, and kerosene lamps (now converted to electricity).  No air conditioning and no indoor plumbing.  

On our first visit the children needed to use the facilities so we ventured back behind the church to find the outhouse. I had been told to use the women's as it was in the best condition and that door was unlocked.  Seeing one with a rope tied around the doorknob, I assumed that that one was not it.  So we walked behind it to find another outhouse waiting.  After opening the door, I could tell that this one had not been used in a while.  The church only meets once a month.  There were leaves on the floor.  The roof was missing a few boards, and spiders had been spinning their handiwork on the holes.  The children did not even want to go inside, but I insisted since they had said that they had to go to the bathroom.  In they went and did what needed to be done.

After church and lunch, I took the children outside so that they could play while OBT and the others visited.  As I walked around the backside of the building, I noticed a small portion of fence with a shed behind it.  I had assumed that this was where they kept their lawnmower for the lawn.  Instead it turned out to be the women's outhouse, the newer one.  I tried to open the door, but it was stuck and I could not get it to budge.

When I went inside, I shared our story of our outhouse adventure, and one of the brothers stated, "You used the real Primitive outhouse."  Yes, we did, but next time we knew better!