Fall Evenings

At our house, fall nights are pretty long. It gets dark at 7:00 p.m., and dark means no work around here. So, once the dishes are all done, it falls to most of us to amuse ourselves for about two hours until bedtime. So, what do we do?

Caleb and Timmy think that fall evenings are the perfect time for wrestling matches. So you can usually hear them, at about 7:30, proclaiming the rules in loud voices. Give them about five seconds and then comes an cry of, "You cheated!" That means, naturally, that somebody has been pinned to the floor much against their will.

Both of the boys enjoy listening to various kids programs. Having discovered the world of archived programs on the Internet, they have fun listening to their favorite programs over and over. The three main programs they listen to are 'Adventures In Odyssey', 'Down Gilead Lane', and their newest discovery, 'Paws and Tales'. (I can't recommend 'Paws and Tales' enough! It's an innocent, excellent program for kids, centering around a bear-cub named C.J. and his friends. The age levels are from 4 or 5 to 10, but even I enjoy the episodes I hear! You can hear 'Paws and Tales' online at www.pawsandtales.org, www.oneplace.com, or www.hiskids.net.)

Timmy clowning around with Caleb's hat and sunglasses. Photo by me.

Matthew spends most of his fall evenings doing school-work. With his faithful dog Buddy playing or sleeping in his room, he works away on his computer. Every now and again he emerges, carrying a clip-board which he brings to Dad, and they have a nice mathematical conversation about circles and angles and ratios and X times Z equals N.

Beka enjoys her fall nights in a variety of ways. Sometimes she'll take a long bath. Other times she'll turn on a radio program of her own to listen to while she embroiders or does paint-by-number in her room. But at some point during the night she ends up in Matthew's room, playing with Buddy on Matthew's bed. Matthew does school and carries on a one-sided conversation with her, since she insists on being absolutely silent, so she won't distract him. The minute I walk in the room, however, the conversation immedietly becomes two-sided. I don't share her opinion on distraction.

Matthew gets in some late-night training with his faithful pal, Buddy. Photo by me.

And what do Mom and Dad do on fall nights? Mom invariably has some correspondence to catch up on, some desk-work to do, some company to call, or something to clean somewhere. Dad is usually in his office until around 8:00, when he comes over and they read together, watch a movie, or just talk. Sometimes the whole family ends up in their room at this time, and EVERYBODY talks (all at once most of the time).

Having discovered years ago that reading helps pass fall evenings, you can usually find two or three of us searching the bookshelves around 7:30. Each person, in turn, wails to everyone else, "What am I going to read?" Anybody fortunate enough to come across something fresh and inviting scrambles for their room to read in bed as late as possible. Those who aren't quite so fortunate continuing pulling books off the shelves and reading the titles. Up to half-an-hour can be spent in this book search. Most often the searchers will retire with a worn book under their arm after that time, but every now and again they will leave the field defeated.

Beka playing with K-nex with Caleb. Photo by me.

So what do I do on fall nights? Oh, lots of things. But no matter what I do, I end up in Mom's room sitting at this very computer for at least five minutes every night (depending on how long her computer is free). There I sit and write hurriedly for a few minutes, maybe edit a few pictures, and sometimes post a whole Weekly. If I'm lucky I'll get ten minutes before another person appears and says,
"Rachel, can you get off now? I have so-and-so that I need to do RIGHT NOW. It'll only take a minute. You can get back on as soon as I'm finished."
That, of course, is the end of my writing time for the evening.

Once I've completed the above ritual, I can feel free to do other things. I tidy my room up some nights, and read in bed for a few hours on some others. Sometimes I have letters to write. My cat always needs playing with at night, so I brush, feed, play with, and cuddle her until she is completely fed up and leaves. Then I go to annoy somebody else, usually Beka.

Yes, there's lots to do on fall evenings. Mine are always pretty full. But whenever they happen to be empty, it's nice just to do some old-fashioned lazing around. What else are fall evenings for anyway?

No matter what the rest of us may think, my cat believes that fall evenings (and all other kind of evenings) are great for sleeping! Photo by me.

The Weekly Bible Verse

Psalm 68:19: Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation.

Bits and Pieces

Things are moving right along with the roof work. The last piece of sheet metal went on late Saturday night, and now we are counting the hours until we are completely finished. I can't wait for life to get back to normal...if that is at all possible. I have a feeling that a new normal is going to be created when Beka steps back into 'civilian life', as she expressed it. Dad is looking forward to having some time to do other things besides nail, saw, cut, and drive screws all day! Beka looks forward to some time off, and maybe even some time to clean her room every day. Mom and I are excited about the extra help that Beka will be, and Timmy and Caleb are ecstatic that in just a few days they won't have to do the lunch clean-up any more!

This picture of the harvested fields and the pretty cemetery near us was taken from the north side of our roof. Photo by me.

A Word About The Weather

Amazingly, it has been quite chilly, and even cold all week. Every day as Beka and Dad go out to work on the roof they put on numerous layers. It's been funny watching Beka walk around on the roof wearing a huge coat that makes her look like an Eskimo! After months and months of T-shirts and shorts, it's been a refreshing change!

A Word Of Wisdom

It's okay to be wiser then other people...just don't tell them that!