January 2/3 - Peace and Quiet

The whole family left on Saturday morning, 14 of them. They were all driving and had 10-hour trips ahead of them before they were stopping for the night. Sue and Mike's groups left by 9:45 and Beth and Mark left at 11:00. Everyone stops at Cabela's in Post Falls, a two-hour drive. It was hard to watch them go. Before they took off, I had you photograph all of us. First you took pictures of me and my three siblings. Next we did the four siblings and their spouses. And finally we had the grand finale: all of the kids and adults. With the camera timer set, you were able to be in the photos. I hope my siblings were as happy as I was. We sure looked happy in the photos. Except for Chris. She looked grumpy and was grumpy for most of the time

At 8:30 we had a special treat. We finally saw the herd of elk. They came walking across the field on the other side of the road. There were about forty of them. They walked leisurely across the field and then, after a few minutes, went into the woods beyond. We were so excited! This was the first sighting we'd had all week. About five minutes later, five juveniles wandered into the field. The leader seemed to be calling out as if looking for the main herd. Then they quickly ran across the field and went off into the woods.

When all the family had left, you went for one of your mega-naps. I sat down at the kitchen table to illustrate some reading books for my classroom. Within a half hour, there was a knock on the door. I was surprised to see two young men dressed in hunting gear. Since the door is glass, and I am a city girl, I spoke to them without opening it. They said they had seen elk tracks nearby and wanted to know if they could have my permission to hunt on the property. "It's not my property," I said, "so I can't give you permission." They wanted to know if I knew if the neighbors were home. I didn't. They left. I went back to my illustrating. Twenty minutes later, there's another knock on the door. It's another pair of hunters. This pair is in their forties. They tell me they are in the 'elk contest' and thought this looked like the kind of place elk would like. They wanted to know if I had seen any elk on the property or in the field across the road. I felt like hit men from the Mob were asking me where my little brother was. No way! I thought. This can't be happening within minutes of everyone blowing out of here. This was definitely creepy. I lied like I haven't lied in ages. I told them I couldn't ever remember seeing elk around here. They left.

You slept until almost 2:00. You had wanted to do so much during the day, but it's hard to get a lot done when the sun goes down by 4:00. We went to Three-Mile for lunch at the Bread Basket but they were closed. Then we headed into Bonners Ferry because Lisa had said there was an Italian restaurant that made good soup. We couldn't find it. You asked a woman coming out of the post office and she said there aren't any Italian restaurants in Bonners. Then we went across the highway to the Indian casino. They had a restaurant that looks over the river. We had a good meal. We came back home and had a quiet evening. This house is great when it's full of people and great when it's empty.

On the way home from dinner, I asked you if you would go to church with me in the morning. You said you would.

I felt the bed move in the middle of the night. My breathing must have changed because you said, "Are you awake?" That cracks me up Why would you ask that if I were asleep? I didn't answer. You turned and put your arm around me, turned again, tossed. After about five minutes I said, "I'm just messing with you". We were up for about a half hour to forty minutes.

In the morning I woke having slept well but not knowing what the time was. We had moved into the master bedroom and it had neither morning sun nor a clock. When I went downstairs I saw it was after 9:30. Oh, no! I thought. Church starts at 10:30. I have to shower, do my hair, my makeup and we have to eat. We'll never make it. You had been up since six and had already added an electrical outlet to the microwave in the pantry. I thought you would be going back to bed. The phone rang. You said, "I suppose you want to answer it." I said, "Yes". Then you got up and answered. I heard you say, "Yes, this is. Yes, we're coming to church." By then it was 9:45 and Rebecca was on the phone. I hadn't shared my internal monologue with you. And now I know why.