Adding Some Color

Twenty seven days is a long time. Not in relationship to a lifetime, or even when considered in the context of the 365 days that form a year, but for my family the past 27 days marks the longest time we’ve neither seen nor heard from Isabelle since the day she was born. Mostly things seemed pretty normal around here during the month of June. The lawn mower decided to take an extended vacation so we’re seeing what our yard looks like without being mowed – it’s rather pretty. Shawn went out to Chicago to celebrate the 100th birthday of a friend. The septic system needed emptying, which is a job I’m sure the guys driving those honey trucks do not get paid enough to do. Oliver the dog decided to tell a visiting buck whose yard it was, only to be sprayed with something pretty nasty (I didn’t know that deer could do that). He came yelping back to the house for a bath. The deer got to spend the night bedded down in our pink flowers. For Isabelle though June meant Air Force ROTC Field Training month (well 27 days to be exact). Which, in this age of being in touch 24/7, dialed the clock back to the pre-cell phone, pre-texting, pre-Skyping, pre-Facebook, pre-Instagram, even pre-phone calling days. In order to communicate we had to take pen to paper and let the USPS shuttle our missives back and forth.We did get some letters, which were read again and again. Then an actual call last night after her graduation ceremony. It was lovely hearing her voice, and reassuring to find out she hadn’t melted into a puddle in the Alabama heat. I’m sure there are stories, some which can be shared, and others which cannot. The main thing I’m grateful for is that she made it through and came out smiling. After nearly a month of military food I thought our Cadet could use some color in her diet. So before driving down to pick her up from the airport we stopped by the farmer’s market to get some vegetables and fruit. It should make a change from MREs. The other touch of color she requested was to stop for dinner at our favorite local vegetarian restaurant Paul & Elizabeth’s on the drive home, followed by ice cream at Herrell’s. I guess she’d been dreaming about ice cream a lot while down in the south, can’t imagine why. Herrell’s was super sweet and had a free sundae waiting for her. Here’s to a summer filled with rainbows of color and no more MREs. 

P.S. Here is the pile of mail she received while at FT. It’s incomplete as there were many letters which hadn’t arrived by the time she left. We’re expecting they’ll be forwarded to us or returned to sender. All in all a huge stack of happy mail.