A Walk Wown the North Country Trail
It’s never a trip home without a walk on the North Country Trail. As usual, I had the trail to myself. I really miss having this in my backyard. One thing I miss a lot in Bethel is a place to slip into the woods, walk and not see another human for miles.
Sunset on the Summer Solstice
Keenan is renting the trailer at Sean and Britton’s farm on Feeney road. They have fixed it up nicely with wood floors, a new stove and fresh coats of paint.Sean decided it was time to clean some outside odds and ends at the farm too. He has cleaned out the foundation of the hose that burned down and is planning to build a root cellar there. He also had bunches of wood scraps to burn. Some of these included the old siding from our house. So the gang gathered on Solstice Eve to welcome the summer with a big bonfire.
In the backyard with Keenan
The old house foundation
There couldn’t be a better place to hang out in the summer than a woodland lake. Jack and Mary Wichita were gracious enough to let me stay at their beautiful place on Marengo Lake. They were not even there the weekend I arrived. Quinn, Sean, Chris, John, Claire, Mary and Buffy all stop by. We hung out and enjoyed the summer rain and shine.
Another hot day in El Paso
Two days after the last day of class and I was off to Minneapolis. I arrived to a beautiful 70 degree day with trees in full leaf and green grass. I was even happier to see Britton, Quinn and Oona pull up in their black Toyota Prius. It only took us a few minutes to figure out how to stuff my stuff into the car loaded with goodies for a summer in El Paso. Britton is continuing her work at Maternidad La Luz.
Our first stop was in Woodward Iowa were my Dad now lives. It was great to visit with the kids. They had not meet Oona yet. This gave us a great place to crash too.
Day two and we drove through Iowa to Council Bluffs where we stayed with Uncle Kate. She gave us a great tour of the Omaha Zoo and a relaxing night out.
Day three was more prairie and scrub. We all thought Nebraska would never end. We were so relieved to get to Denver that we didn’t even go out to dinner. Quinn and I did hit the pool though.
On my first 12 hour shift, I took Quinn and Oona hiking in the State Forest. We were trying to hike to some caves, but I got scared with Oonna on my front. Actually tired too. Quinn is a natural though.
Of course my favorite part of the journey was swimming. I miss pools in Bethel. Quinn is learning to swim quickly. He would go under water with his mask and no life jacket. He does the in the bath too. :-)
Quinn and I flew back to Minneapolis on June 12. We were both happy to be back in the Northwoods. Britton will be in El Paso until September. Next Oona care shift is Grandma Jane.