Pa Joe’s July 2009 Memories

On the fourth we had Grandmas Miller and Moffitt join us at Rocky River. We had nice visits and Mom didn’t get in any big hurry to leave. As I was taking her home later, she told me I was driving too fast so I slowed down. It was a nice time. Later in the day some of Debby’s kids came along and we watched grandkids play in the river. Eric’s family already had plans so they couldn’t join us.

Then on to the main event! Camp Nonnanee!!!! Debby plans for these few days and nights for a long, long time. She is the biggest kid in the mix and I look forward to it as well. It is so good to watch the grandkids have fun playing together. Mandy’s family was able to come in from Virginia for the week so we had Layla, Katie, Madison, Kennedy, Elizabeth, Mikayla, and Ashley. Next year we will be joined by Ally, Olivia, and Kyndal! Fun, fun, fun!

All the girls spent the first night in tents. Nonna, Katie, Kennedy, and Layla were in one tent and the Shepherd girls and Madison were in the other. I was forced to sleep in the house in the bed. It was part of my role as the man on duty. I hated that there was no room for me in the tents and had to stay in the comfy bed! The second night Elizabeth suggested they sleep in the house and Nonna jumped up and down at Elizabeth’s great idea. No one objected so the campers moved inside.

All the girls got along well. The bigger girls were so good to help the younger campers. Everyone was safety conscious in the water and shared and played and had a great time. Katie found a fossil that Elizabeth took to a geologist to have examined. It was a fossilized flower that was thousands of years old. The girls found lots of other interesting “crystals”. We ended the camp with families coming to eat with us and listen to us sing for them.

Our little garden has produced lots of food for us. We have had broccoli, cabbage, onions, tomatoes, peppers, lima beans, green beans, and potatoes. We have eaten and frozen so much of this stuff. I think Debby is ready for me to plant some cheeseburger seeds so she can get back to regular eating habits. I planted some purple hull peas a few days ago and plan to plant some lettuce, some more broccoli, and perhaps some summer squash a little later. We also have some butternut squash, cantaloupe, and watermelon coming along.

I spoke at a funeral for the wife of a friend, Oley Buckner. She was 86 years old. He comes to church with us but his wife never had. I had met her a time or two when I had been at his house. He is a very nice man. He is a great tractor mechanic and has come to my rescue several times.

The city of McMinnville has free concerts on the lawn on Friday nights during the summer. We went to two of those during July. The last was by a group called Time Line. They play rock music from the 60’s and 70’s. I really enjoyed the show and was not anxious to leave (like I was the week before when there was a group playing squeaky-squealy stuff).