A Randomly Pleasant Morning

This morning I awoke and tried to orient my mind to the day, thinking about what everyone had going on. Older Son is home for the weekend from his summer internship, probably with plans to spend time with his girlfriend. Daughter will sleep late and attend more graduation parties this afternoon and evening. Younger Son needs to be driven to a friend's home for a "paint-ball war".

I shuffled through my usual wake-up routine of making coffee, eating a banana and a trail-mix bar, and heading out to the barn to feed calves. I can't sit down and eat breakfast, not right after getting out of bed......I must keep moving. About the time I finished with the calf chores, Husband informed me that he needed me to take a manure-spreader part to get repaired. Quickly, I cleaned up and jumped into the pickup. My son drove to the site of the "paint-ball war" where he would spend most of the day, and I headed onward down the road.

The town I was taking the part to is about 40 miles away, and is a town I don't get to very often, so I was happy to be driving on roads seldomed travelled. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Fluffy white clouds in the deep blue sky were suspended over endless young cornfields of brilliant green. The green tones this time of year, when the corn is maybe 12 inches in height, is the most lovely green that could possibly be. In another couple weeks, the color will deepen and become less luminous for the rest of the summer, although it will still be beautiful in its own way.

Finally, I found my way to the implement dealership. Recent road construction in the area had led to me taking a couple of wrong turns. Anyway, being a woman and going for repairs and parts is always an interesting experience in a mostly male domain, and this time was no exception. I walked into the dealership building, and into a circle of farmers seated in chairs having a yap session. They then shut up for a minute or so, as if struck dumb by the entrance of a woman, and I thought, well, for goodness sake, don't stop talking on my account. Good grief! Sheesh. I felt like saying, "Please, guys, just carry on." Instead, I just pretended to be very interested in the machinery booklets hanging on the wall. Anyway, finally the guy behind the counter waited on me, and I gave him the part to be repaired and he said it would take about an hour or so to fix. Good, that would give me time to go back into town and snoop around.

It's a town of around 4000 residents, and has some stores downtown, so I headed that way. First, I filled the pickup with fuel.....what a joy, with these high gas prices.....the tab was $76! I noticed there was a Dollar General across the street, so I went there next. Truly, I would just as soon shop for supplies at a small store like Dollar General than at pointlessly gigantic places like Walmart. And I buy most of my greeting cards there at Dollar General, too. After picking out laundry detergent and drain cleaner, I wandered into aisles I don't normally look at in Dollar General....stationary and children's books. I was amazed at all the cute, inexpensive children's books, not like I need them or anything, but it was nice to know they are there. They would make good gifts for younger Sunday School students. They even had regular Bibles there. Anyway, I almost lost track of time, and soon I needed to check out and head back to the implement business. The wait in the check-out line took awhile.....many people were in town for a girls' softball tournament, and they were shopping between games, I guess. Sports for young kids keeps parents running and helps support small town economies, it seems. I'm glad not to be part of that rat race.

The part was all ready when I got there. The mechanic was very courteous and pleasant when he loaded the part onto the pickup. A credit to his gender. I don't mean to be critical.....guys just make me laugh sometimes.....they can be so predictable. Like that yapping bunch from earlier.

It was nearing noon, so I quickly made one more stop, at a Pamida. I like Pamida stores, but I hardly ever get to one anymore. Then a Subway across the street caught my eye, and I went in there expecting to walk out with my usual turkey sub sandwich. But, guess what......I walked out with a pizza! Must be something new Subway is trying. I chose the cheese pizza, topped with tomatoes, olives, green peppers, and onion. It was very tasty and I enjoyed munching on it most of the way home.

The road I was driving home on has always been a major link in this part of Iowa, always known for its heavy traffic. That is easing a bit, as slowly the road is being developed into a four-lane highway. It goes by the farm where my husband's mother grew up, and what's kind of sad is that the house and most of the buildings there were torn down a few years ago due to the road construction.
Ah, well, that's progress.

Not far from her old home farm, is the cemetery where my mother-in-law is buried, also right along the highway. I pulled in for a quick visit. I had put a flower there before Memorial Day, and I was kind of irritated to see that it had been removed already.....probably by my father-in-law. He must go there on the day right after Memorial Day and take away all the flowers, even though many of the graves still have flowers adorning them. I don't understand why he does that. Oh, well, its really not that important, I guess. My mother-in-law has been gone for thirteen years now. So much family stuff she's missed out on. There's times I feel like pounding on the ground above her grave and hollering, "I'm sorry! I should have been a better daughter-in-law to you!" We just didn't seem to connect very well.

I walked over to Husband's grandparents' gravestone, also. The flower I had put on that one was still there. I never knew the grandfather, but Grandma and I had been good friends. Someday, I'll blog an interesting story concerning her.

Anyway, what a wonderful morning, full of random interesting moments and lovely late spring Iowa scenery to enjoy!