The inside scoop

The boys have the inside scoop on today's stories.  Yesterday, we missed church (Jeremy seemed sick on Saturday night).  So I decided that since we couldn't worship God at Immanuel like usual, we'd worship God by being outside, in the beautiful sunshine, taking care of the property that He's given us.  Amid groans and protests, we eventually got outside.  Michael got the big trash can, Jeremy got the recycle bin, and we headed to the pasture.  I had the match-book in my pocket, with the intent to burn just a few of the branches that were scattered under all the big trees.  Quite a few of the branches and small trees that Russ cut last June (when he put up the fence) were still in various piles around the acre, too, needing to be cleared out. Jeremy lit the fire with his tried-and-true method of getting dry white pine needles and continuing to add them to the little fire until it really caught.  I worked on getting some brush piles un-piled and into the fire-pit (this is the BIG pit in the pasture--12 feet in diameter, ringed with stones, visible from a satellite.....well, at least visible if the birds'-eye-view maps showed a current photo!)  Michael joined in, helping me with moving branches.  Then he really dug in, and before long, there was a roaring bonfire and all the small brush-piles and larger branches were being cleared up in no time.  He'd be embarrassed if he read this, but.....sometimes a Mom looks at a teenage boy and wonders where her little boy has gone.  Michael  impressed me with his attitude, his consideration (Hey, Mom, you shouldn't be lifting that heavy branch.  It will hurt your wrist.  Let me get it!") and the way he carried himself with confidence as he scavenged the whole acre for any big branch that could get tossed on the fire.  Jeff's comment when he got home and saw Michael and me tearing into the back-yard messes was "You two are CRAZY!" After the fire died down just a bit, I opened the gate for the cows to come out.  Took them a while, but they eventually ambled out to chew their cuds.  Jeremy approached Lucy with his head down (something she usually enjoys, so that she can snuffle his hair) and she surprised us all by tossing her head and dancing away.  My motherly instincts kicked in at once, because I still don't know when to take the cows seriously. I watched with eagle-eye as Jeremy tried to pet her again.  She dodged away, ran a little farther and did a rodeo-kick off to the side.  We realized that she was PLAYING!  Rocky got into the act, but he tried stalking her, and got himself head-butted a few times.  Lucy was snorting at Jeremy, tossing her head back and forth, prancing and trotting and throwing a few bucking-bronco kicks in for good measure. By that time, Michael had climbed up a tree, and was maybe 7 feet up on a branch.  I looked up when Michael yelled "She got snot on me!"  and sure enough, Lucy was dancing away, after sticking her nose on Michael's shorts and leaving a bit of cow-slime.  Both boys were laughing, and then it came out:  "Hey Mom, is that going to go in your blog today?"  I had no idea that they even cared what went into the blog, much less thought  about it.  But yes, I had to admit, Lucy playing with the boys would make the cut.  A while later, we were still out in the sunshine, enjoying the day.  The cows had settled down (Bess hadn't joined in, but did her best impression of "I'm keeping an eye on all of you, so you'd better watch out!"), Rocky had gotten his fill of cows'-water from their trough, and we heard the strange calls of sandhill cranes.  For the rest of the afternoon, cranes flew over.  First they were soaring in their miles-wide circles, then towards dusk, they were flying in their "V" formations, heading north (maybe towards Fran and Joel in Madison!)  Again, Michael asked "So Mom, is THAT going in the blog?"  And of course, it was too perfect NOT to put it into the e-mail/blog/daily summary.  I couldn't help thinking, "This would never have happened if we were still in Palatine".  Michael and Jeremy would have been either in front of the video games, or whining because we'd told them that they couldn't play.  I might have been working in the yard by myself, trying to get the boys interested in coming out to see the cranes and feeling disappointed when they didn't care to share my enthusiasm.  Jeff might have been thinking about grilling something for dinner, or reading through the Chicago Tribune Sunday edition.....but the whole afternoon yesterday was another crystal-clear moment for me:  "THIS is why we moved from suburban comfort to a property that needs so much work.  THIS is what our family was missing for so long."  Growing our own food, milking our own cow, gathering our own eggs--all that is great, but coming together as a family is so much better than all the "homesteading" things that we can do here.  On that happy note, "Have a good Monday, everyone!"  And.......if you hear a weird sort of chortling sound in the sky, look up.  If you think that you're seeing geese, look again.  The cranes fly higher up, they don't honk loudly, their necks and legs are stretched out farther than how geese would fly, their wings flash white as they soar.  They catch the air currents as if they are simply enjoying the experience, before flying on to the next destination at dusk. Laura.