Rainy days and Sundays

It is raining and rather colder than yesterday but it is amazing what I can see from my window.   In the next door piece of turf is a stand of trees.  These trees during the winter were spectacles of ice sculpture that defied description.  The sun hit them and they looked like spun silver.  After about 20 minutes of sunshine the silver was gone and we were left with leafless skeletons of trees.  They now sport new green leaves that are so tiny that they appear as a green mist covering the trees.  There is a light wind blowing and the trees appear to dance in time to the tune the wind dictates.  They are gracefully balletic in their movement and I know that they creak and groan when the wind blows but they do not fall over because of their intertwined root systems, all vying for nutrients from the earth.  The tiny white violet type wildflowers have increased in numbers and look like little puffs of powder on the green lawn.

I am waiting for the May Apples to appear.  Each year in Pennsylvania the May Apples put forth their pretty white flower and then the May Apple itself appeared.  Do not know if it was edible, but it was an endearing symbol of life in the woods of the Eastern USA.  I hope that we are not too far north for them to grow.  Jack-in-the-pulpit is another plant I like to see as well as Indian Pipes which both grew in Pennsylvania.  When we were out at Longfellows greenhouse they had Pitcher Plants as well as Venus Fly Traps.  I am fascinated by these natural ‘fly’ controllers but Bill thinks that they are macabre and will not have any of them in the house.  They tell me that this is the beginning of Black Fly season here so it would be fun to have these natural fly traps in the house.  I think they are much more functional than having the chemical fly sprays in the atmosphere.  In my house a fly swatter is a necessity not a luxury.  My mother hated flies and we had more than our fair share of them in Toowoomba – especially when someone had a horse stable close by.  Those flies were so large they could almost carry off a baby.  Well, not really, but they were very large – more than ½ inch long and they buzzed as they flew and were called “blowflies”.    They often attacked an open wound of an animal, and laid eggs in the wound and soon maggots would appear and eat the flesh of the animal thus causing the demise of the host.  Truly, nature has its cycles and each cycle has its difficulties.

Yesterday Jacob took Ethan hunting Turkeys.  I have not heard if they got any for their efforts, but the important fact is that Ethan will have these wonderful memories of time with his dad in the outdoors.  Jacob also takes the children fishing when it is the season but they only do catch and release.  I try to imagine my grandchildren going sport fishing in the ocean and catching a huge Marlin or something and having it stuffed and mounted on the wall.  I really do not think they do catch and release on Marlin.  One day Lyla told me she has her own fishing pole.  That reminds me of the times I went fishing with my grandfather, Papa Lockyer.  I caught all the fish because he spent his time either baiting my hook or taking the fish off the hook.  I did not like the slimy worms or the wiggling fish, but loved the time with Papa Lockyer.

I did not think I would have house plants while on this mission.  The apartment is very small, but some weeks ago Bill bought me a Begonia and it was below freezing at the time and so the plant did not fare well getting from the supermarket to the house, and as a result, all the flowers got frost bitten and turned brown and fell off.  I notice that it has grown a lot since we brought it home and it now sports a pretty pink flower.  I keep hoping that as the weather gets warmer, that it will have more blooms.  I re-potted it and there must have been some seeds of some sort in the potting soil, because they have sprung up and are doing well, for the moment.  The African Violet (does it really come from Africa?) is doing well also.  In Pennsylvania as well as in Mesa, we had a real problem with white flies on the African Violets.  I hope that they do not invade this violet that I have here;  One more reason to have a Venus Fly Trap or Pitcher plant.

While Bill went home teaching in the rainy weather, I stayed home and made phone calls.  I love it that the phone company does not charge us minutes on Sunday.

When he came home, we left immediately to go to eat at a member’s home.  They are in the middle of remodeling their kitchen area and had put the leaves in the table to accommodate all the guests – 5 in all.  I can barely fit the missionaries, Relief Society President, Ward Mission leader and ourselves around our little table here for the Friday missionary meeting and certainly cannot fit plates, cups, eating utensils and food on that table if we all ate here.

In the conversation at the table last night, I learned about Lobster fishermen, blood worm gatherers, clam diggers and about Moose.  Perhaps it is just as well our experience with Moose is limited to the fiberglass Moose at the Kennebunk tollway plaza

It is now Tuesday and it has rained all day yesterday and heavily last night.  We went to Mary's house for dinner.  They had a big pool of water in their backyard that they assured me would dissipate.  As we left her home, after dinner, I heard the peepers making their calls in the night. 
This morning when we drove to work, the little trickly stream near the house was a raging torrent and the Kennebec was anything but serene.  In fact the water level was almost to the parking lot on the riverfront.  the current was very strong and I doubt if any migrating fish could stand a chance against this swollen river.