Monday Morning Thundercloud

So...I officially feel like a big baby wallowing in self pity after all the comments in response to my pitiful complaint...gag. Oh well, moving on.

This morning I awoke as a black thundercloud, ready to drop on the kitchen when I came downstairs, puffy eyed and bedraggled, to breakfast. The main theme of my thought processes at the time was, “Sncthgugagurgasnchatukagurgasntc” which translates to something to the effect of “Why do we have to live in the morning?” Complaints and gripes roiled and seethed like so many menacing storm clouds, ready to drop. A few hailstones plummeted before I had the presence of mind to snatch them back, but I think the full bulk of the storm rolled on through without much more than a few showers.

My airline ticket finally went through, after several debit card problems which we had to leave hanging in the balance while on the camping trip. The airfare people (bearing such a promising title as “CheapOair”) assuring me they had taken care of things by the time we left Thursday morning, but the absence of a confirmation email when we arrived home Saturday night told me that it wasn’t so. But this morning, after a mercifully short encounter with a really nice lady whose accent I could actually understand, it was straightened out. So, come July 31, I’m gone! Eleven weeks, three days…five hours…no, I’m kidding about the hours. I'm so thankful it’s settled, though. I mean, as settled as anything of this nature ever is.

I spent what seemed like the rest of the day on the phone with the bank, trying to get acquainted with what my dad calls “real life.” I think I’m with C.S. Lewis. Reality is what we can’t see, not what we can. Otherwise…let’s all just curl up and die. No. The Bank People were very nice. The Music Played While On Hold was not the nicest. I don’t have a head for numbers, even just remembering the four-digit one the nice Bank People gave me last week when I went to visit. Nevertheless, I found out what I needed to know, and all’s well that ends well, I guess.

After helping weed the garden, I went upstairs to think and read in a quiet spot, but was so overcome that I just went to sleep instead. I don’t even know how long I slept, but I must have needed it. When I was mostly awake, Catherine, Jane, and Mary came down and Mattie came out of her lair, ahem, her room, and we all read The Girl of the Limberlost together in the yard.

On a retrospective note...Camping was really nice. We canoed and kayaked the Caddo one day. We got a canoe and some kayaks and took turns in them. Actually, the kayaks were just “Funyaks,” which are kayaks for greenhorns, I guess. You sit more on top of them than in them, so there is no barrel rolling or other life threatening maneuver necessary, and no real skill required. It does help to know which side is right and which is left, and to have a little coordination between the brain and limbs, but it’s not entirely necessary. I’m living proof ;)

We got to see plenty of wildlife, including deer, foxes, centipedes, snakes, rabbits, a saucy raccoon, man-eating turtles, and a deadly looking spider that met a violent end in the upturned cuff of my jeans, after it jumped into it from the passenger side visor in our van. I thought it was a black widow, but it wasn’t after all. Oh, and Ethan saw some “tadapolts.” I suppose they’re like baby frogs, only they jump farther.

I think the camping trip was enjoyable more on the basis of what we didn’t do than on what we did…I loved kayaking and would readily do it again, now that I can paddle, but it was especially nice to be away for a bit and have the rushing river sounds constantly in my ears. I read that
The Lord’s voice is “like the sound of rushing waters” (somewhere in Revelations) and hearing it was truly like hearing Him speak. Not really certain words or phrases, but an overall sense of calm and comfort and an urging to rest in His power.

When we returned home, Leyla met us at the door, and let us know, in a series of irate, overwrought kitten mews, that we had better never go off and leave her again! She trotted all over the house, following us, running into us, climbing up us. That night I went to bed with wet hair after a much needed shower. About 2am, I woke up giggling. I’m not sure I’ve ever giggled in my sleep before, but I was doing it then, and soon discovered the reason to be Leyla, who was nested in my half-dry hair, purring warmly and kneading my head affectionately with her paws! She nuzzled my face, kneaded my hair, and then went over and curled up with Mattie. And then she came back…and it continued for several hours. She’s definitely a cuddler. The perfect cat for Mattie. I hope Mattie won’t be jealous for my borrowing her a bit. Leyla’s just so irresistible.

I go around grabbing her up just to feel her silky fur and listen to her comforting purr, calling her names for fun. By the look in her eye, I think she takes them as compliments. A few days ago, when Mom saw me scoop her up, she said “I do believe you’re getting attached to that cat.” And I said, “Well, by the time I go to Ukraine, she’ll be grown up and I won’t care about her anymore.” and she said, “I don’t know…” and I said, “Hmmm…”