Pilgrimage


Girls at the beach
The four shorties enjoy a day at the beach.

It was Red River week this week.  We left on Monday and returned on Friday.  Everything was pretty much as we left it and we enjoyed the mountain air.  There was some rain on Tuesday but otherwise we stayed dry.  Except for when we went swimming.  They have a nice pool where we stayed, which is the main reason we stay there, that being one of the granddaughters’ prerequisites dating back to when Abigail was knee high to a chipmunk.  Then, I had to get in the pool because Kari was busy with Rebecca who was too small to participate.  Now, all five GD’s are aquatic.  Can’t say as I mind not being required to get in the pool.  The older I get the less inclined I am to want to get in what amounts to a large bathtub with strangers.  And there were plenty of strangers, more than other times it seemed like to me, especially of the short, screeching variety.  But as luck would have it, after we came back from a longish hike, when a dip in the pool seemed inviting, there was no one in it but the members of our party who had returned early, so I took advantage and slithered in with the rest of them.  I managed to avoid drowning at the hands of an exuberant granddaughter and emerged refreshed and ready for lunch.

Abigail outgrew the fish pond in town that is limited to children 12 and under so we went to the fish hatchery near Questa.  There is a fish pond there but we found it is limited to 12 and under and 65 and older.  Abigail tried fishing in the stream where there is no age limitation and I assisted by offering tips on how to fish a stream, which requires different technique than pond fishing.  Abigail did an excellent job of presenting her bait where it might be seen by a hungry fish, but she did manage to get hung up once in the brush lining the creek, which required Grampa to shuck of his shoes and socks and wade to free up the tackle.  The rocks were murder on my tender tootsies and it was only by the grace of the Almighty that I didn’t wind up floating down stream on my face.  Abigail and I had gone ahead of the rest of the pack and after they showed up, and a bit of lunch, she and I assisted the shorties in fishing in the adjacent pond.   We caught a couple and, this being our fist day, were greatly encouraged.  Unfortunately that was the high point of the fishing for the week.  Not for lack of trying, though.  Rebecca and Kaylee proved remarkably persistent in trying to catch something and Abgail enjoyed helping them.  I enjoyed it too, until the biting flies nearly drove me nuts.

Joyce has been scrambling to reclaim the garden from the bugs since we got back.  I also had some bug problems on my vines and I had to do a lot of trimming even though the growth has slowed down.  From all the bugs and the growth, it seemed like we were gone longer than four days.  Here’s hoping we get some rain this week.  There is a reasonable chance we will and the place could sure use it.