Monday, November 21, 2005
JULY....1999
It was stormy the first day of July and the power was off for a while. The next day turned hot and the humidity was at high peak…..I stayed in with the AC all day. I managed to cultivate my flowers and weed them by working early in the mornings…otherwise it was unbearable. Mid-month John Kennedy was reported missing with his wife and wife’s sister. They had been on their way to a family wedding at Martha’s Vineyard. John was flying the plane and most said he was not experienced enough to be flying into dusk with low visibility.
Hopes to find them alive were dashed when luggage began washing up on shore. A massive search went on to find the bodies and the nation at large grieved over such an untimely death for a couple who had everything ahead of them. It seems the Kennedy family is plagued by the curse so often spoke of.
On a Friday late afternoon, John, Barb, LJ and some extra boys arrived on their way to the KU Basketball Training Camp again. I fixed Mexican and boys being boys, they ate heartily and watched TV……..a boyhood friend of John’s came to visit after supper and they had a good time catching up with each other. They boys slept at Becky’s and I slept John and Barb here. They were wanting to get away early the next morning and left by 8:00am.
Becky and I were to meet John and Barb at George’s where they were staying on Monday. We put our pets in boarding, loaded the car and drove to KC by 1:15. The kids were just leaving the driveway when we arrived so they helped us unload the van and then we all went to eat. The next day George grilled burgers for us and then we drove to Lawrence to see the boys play ball. They were in an air-conditioned gym and it was interesting to watch the teams play against each other. LJ’s team won both of their games so it was fun to watch. After we told the boys goodnight, we stopped at a Perkins for pie and coffee. The night was clear with a million diamonds in the sky……..away from the city the Kansas sky was ablaze with twinkling lights.
It was pretty much the same the next day. We shopped the malls and ate out….then later drove over to Lawrence to see the games. LJ’s team split that evening. Barb, Becky and I managed to catch colds from George so it was getting difficult to enjoy our outings. The next day Becky and I loaded up and came home……our critters were glad to see us and happy to settle in at home again.
John and his group arrived on the following Saturday, this time on their way back to Louisiana. I fixed potato salad and baked beans to go with burgers…..and I made a pecan pie. We spent the evening looking at photo albums and laughing over old times. They wanted to leave early in order to get home at a decent hour so I got up at 4:45am and made enough biscuits for everyone……Becky came and helped make sausage gravy, all of which disappeared pretty fast. They had a safe trip home and we enjoyed our time with them. We grab our chances to be together whenever it’s possible and no matter how short, it’s always worth the effort.
July pretty well burned up everything outside. We had practically no rain and being out at all was just plain miserable. The older I get the more I appreciate air conditioning…..I don’t know how we made it all those years ago when we were gardening and canning in the same kind of weather. I well remember steaming jars of beans and tomatoes in big kettles as we “cold packed” them in boiling water for winter’s food. Why they called it cold packing I’ll never know…..nothing cold about it. Later we were proud owners of pressure cookers but they only worked faster…..not cooler. I guess it goes without saying that when we’re young our comfort zones are much kinder than with the advancing years.
Well, woman’s work is never done and I must stop with July and roll up my sleeves for a few chores around here with what’s left of today. Thanksgiving will soon be here and there is much to do before Thursday. I’ll never understand why being retired doesn’t add more time on the clocks…..I don’t know how I ever managed to be employed and keep it all going. Maybe that “younger” thing had something to do with it…..it’s true I’m slowing down. I think I hear Old Father Time calling…..Ha!! I’m not going to answer him just yet…………
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
Hopes to find them alive were dashed when luggage began washing up on shore. A massive search went on to find the bodies and the nation at large grieved over such an untimely death for a couple who had everything ahead of them. It seems the Kennedy family is plagued by the curse so often spoke of.
On a Friday late afternoon, John, Barb, LJ and some extra boys arrived on their way to the KU Basketball Training Camp again. I fixed Mexican and boys being boys, they ate heartily and watched TV……..a boyhood friend of John’s came to visit after supper and they had a good time catching up with each other. They boys slept at Becky’s and I slept John and Barb here. They were wanting to get away early the next morning and left by 8:00am.
Becky and I were to meet John and Barb at George’s where they were staying on Monday. We put our pets in boarding, loaded the car and drove to KC by 1:15. The kids were just leaving the driveway when we arrived so they helped us unload the van and then we all went to eat. The next day George grilled burgers for us and then we drove to Lawrence to see the boys play ball. They were in an air-conditioned gym and it was interesting to watch the teams play against each other. LJ’s team won both of their games so it was fun to watch. After we told the boys goodnight, we stopped at a Perkins for pie and coffee. The night was clear with a million diamonds in the sky……..away from the city the Kansas sky was ablaze with twinkling lights.
It was pretty much the same the next day. We shopped the malls and ate out….then later drove over to Lawrence to see the games. LJ’s team split that evening. Barb, Becky and I managed to catch colds from George so it was getting difficult to enjoy our outings. The next day Becky and I loaded up and came home……our critters were glad to see us and happy to settle in at home again.
John and his group arrived on the following Saturday, this time on their way back to Louisiana. I fixed potato salad and baked beans to go with burgers…..and I made a pecan pie. We spent the evening looking at photo albums and laughing over old times. They wanted to leave early in order to get home at a decent hour so I got up at 4:45am and made enough biscuits for everyone……Becky came and helped make sausage gravy, all of which disappeared pretty fast. They had a safe trip home and we enjoyed our time with them. We grab our chances to be together whenever it’s possible and no matter how short, it’s always worth the effort.
July pretty well burned up everything outside. We had practically no rain and being out at all was just plain miserable. The older I get the more I appreciate air conditioning…..I don’t know how we made it all those years ago when we were gardening and canning in the same kind of weather. I well remember steaming jars of beans and tomatoes in big kettles as we “cold packed” them in boiling water for winter’s food. Why they called it cold packing I’ll never know…..nothing cold about it. Later we were proud owners of pressure cookers but they only worked faster…..not cooler. I guess it goes without saying that when we’re young our comfort zones are much kinder than with the advancing years.
Well, woman’s work is never done and I must stop with July and roll up my sleeves for a few chores around here with what’s left of today. Thanksgiving will soon be here and there is much to do before Thursday. I’ll never understand why being retired doesn’t add more time on the clocks…..I don’t know how I ever managed to be employed and keep it all going. Maybe that “younger” thing had something to do with it…..it’s true I’m slowing down. I think I hear Old Father Time calling…..Ha!! I’m not going to answer him just yet…………
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
