A Journal of Sorts

Friday, 23 April 1999

My Alex

She wasn't sure if she wanted to be with me or not at that point, but we quickly became absorbed in a game of sorting candy into colors. She tired of that rather quickly and suggested that we go outside. Um . .perhaps DEMANDED would be a better word. In any event, she made it very clear where she thought we needed to go, so we did and quickly became involved in picking flowers for Mama and Daddy.

There's not much I like better than picking wildflowers and there were an abundance of them readily available to us. We picked and picked and picked until I was completely ready to go sit down somewhere. Although Alex was willing to go into the house to put the flowers in water, she was not willing to sit and admire them for long before she demanded mo fow wa. Out we'd go again.

We soon had three big glasses full of daisies and verbenas on the kitchen table, but she wasn't finished. She picked one more handful of special flowers and delivered them to her dad while he was working in the barn.

Then there was the visit to the goats. She doesn't like the dog that watches over the goats at all, so I had to carry her for this trip. She was content to watch the goats for a very long time (as long as the dog didn't come sniff at us - the dog is HUGE, as large as some of the calves). She especially liked the baby goats. She did eventually let me sit down for a minute in the porch swing (she likes swinging). Whenever the goats would walk past, she'd wave at them and say bye bye baby.

Shortly after we visited the goats, naptime FINALLY rolled around. She threw an absolute fit at the prospect of going down for her nap with me. Gaspar, who was home for lunch, picked her up and she immediately fell asleep against his shoulder. Talk about rejection . . boy were my feelings hurt.

By the time she woke up, I just had time to get her changed and prettied up again when it was time to go to the gate (a mile or so from the house) and pick up the boys after school. Then we drove into town to get another calf baby bottle and some salt lick.

Back at the ranch, we all went up to the big house. It is a lovely home, with gorgeous views of the surrounding hills -- a glass front opening onto a large patio. It is the owner's home and I love it. A stone wall surrounding the grounds has this plaque:

That is too funny. Although the lawn was well tended, Gaspar trimmed around the edges with the weed eater and Tony swept up while Alex and I walked around and played in the swing . .yes, the big house has a swing, too. Rodney gave me the tour of the grounds and Eric (and Rodney) took pictures.

At bedtime, Alex threw another fit but this time, she ran straight to her grandma to get picked up and cuddled. She quickly fell asleep against my shoulder. I held her sleeping self much longer than I needed to. Before putting her to bed, I cradled her like a little baby and looked into her innocent, peaceful face. I don't know if she bonded with me, but I sure bonded with her.

I found a few minutes to quiet time in the evening to sit out on the porch swing, listen to the mockingbirds and talk to my Tom on the phone.

I think the birds sing just a little bit sweeter at home.