Years and years ago, when Kevin was in elementary school, he misplaced a cassette tape we had borrowed from the library. It was overdue, and, believe it or not, at that time our library did not charge late fees. But, we did need to find it. While he was at school one day, I meticulously went through his room, searching for the missing tape. He had some shelves along one wall, with bins that held various toys and games and supplies. He had a bookshelf, a chest of drawers, and a desk. I went through every single one of the spaces, searching for the tape. I did finally find it, in (and I am not making this up) the last place there was to look. He had a chair desk with a shelf underneath the seat, and that’s where the tape was. But, before I got there, as I searched all the other places, in every single space I pawed through, I found:
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- A crayola marker
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- a piece of Lego
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- and a Star Wars figure.
In every single space!!
I had a very similar experience while we were in Tennessee. David’s mom (who celebrated her 95th birthday while we were there), is in a rehab center now. I spent a couple of days working in her bedroom, straightening up and cleaning up the space. She had several purses. Actually, twenty-five of them; I counted. I went through every one, making sure she hadn’t accidentally left cash or credit cards in them (or who knows what). They were basically empty. Nothing valuable. But in every purse (every one of them) I found:
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- tissues
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- a pen
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- and some candy (usually mints, but sometimes lemon candies, and sometimes chocolate!)
In every single one!
It was a little deja-vuish, reminding me of the search from years before.
I also found these interesting items in my mother-in-law’s room:
If you’re not old enough to recognize them, here’s how those things were used:
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- These hair rollers were much more comfortable to sleep on than the hard rollers that had to be held in place with large bobby pins.
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- Photographers had to actually put a flashbulb, individually, onto a camera to take photos indoors, before these Flash Cubes were invented. Four separate flashes before you had to change them! AMAZING!!
Then, for fun, I got to go to North Carolina to have lunch with friends in Black Mountain, and go to the Appalachian Folk Art Center in Asheville. And then, for more fun, David and I went to West Virginia to visit my cousin, Nancy.
We went to the Monocacy National Battlefield, in Frederick, Maryland, which was interesting, and a place we were unfamiliar with.
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- Established the year that Kevin was born!
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- The obligatory cannon photo. For years, as my parents traveled, they visited *many* Civil War battlefields (a great interest to my Dad), and there were often *many* more photos of cannons than anything else.
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- We visited the Roads and Rails Museum (also in Frederick, Md.), which turned out to be really intriguing.
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- This device pulled tiny cars up, then they popped out and spiraled down through the curves.
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- There was a Lego setup, too, but not nearly as large as the train display, which filled a large, large room.
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- Even the Pepsi people are in the train museum!
Kevin took me to task last week for including the fact that, when we left town, 
there were baby birds in a nest in the garage, and, upon returning, we didn’t immediately check on them. You’ll be relieved (or, absolutely unconcerned) to know that there was a completely empty (no carcasses) and clean nest up there. Apparently, the parent birds did a lovely job of sidling in the space at the bottom of the garage door with food for their kids, and shepherding them through their childhoods until they were ready to fly away.
Live under the protection
of God Most High
and stay in the shadow
of God All-Powerful.
Then you will say to the Lord,
“You are my fortress,
my place of safety;
you are my God,
and I trust you.”
Psalm 91: 1,2 (Contemporary English Version)
Traveling is great! Seeing family and friends and visiting new places are invigorating! Now, I’m about ready to rest in my (physical) place of safety for a while.
Yay! Baby birds are okay!
(See, how hard was that to include an update :))
Yeah, I’d been worried about those birds, too! Thank you!