Monday Memories— A-Z Abridgement of August

Old Dan, Calvin, Little Ann

Ann and Dan. Make that Little Ann and Old Dan. Calvin has always wanted a mountain cur dog, the kind Old Yeller was. Several months ago he tried to convince me we needed one. He said, “Jane, they kill mountain lions and grizzlies.”

I said not-so-understandingly, “Yes, yes, because we have so many mountain lions and bears around here that we need protected from.”

Undeterred he said, “We need a good dog to protect us. Seemore runs up to every stranger that pulls in the yard, licks his hand, and jumps in the back of his truck.”

He has a point. Seemore is a friendly dog, a puppy brain in a dog body, which is exactly how he found himself his current owner – two boys looking for a happy bird dog. Seemore introduced himself.

So the kids bought Calvin a female mountain cur for Father’s Day and, well two dogs are as good as one, so when we picked up Little Ann the owner asked us to take Old Dan and see if we could find a home for him. Abe and Grace took Old Dan. Even if the two dogs never kill a grizzly, they’re valuable. Calvin's right again.  We needed them as much as they needed us this month.


Basin Air and Refrigeration. For the vast majority of my life, I’ve relied on open windows for cool air. No more. Shawn, one of the owners of Basin Air and Refrigeration, asked Calvin if he’d like to make a swap. Shawn would see that we had central air if Calvin would build him a black powder gun. Calvin didn’t even have to think on it, he loves cold air. I didn’t know what we were missing. It’s been a lifesaver with all of the company we’ve had this summer. And, who knew your house didn’t always have to be dusty and have stray flies?

Clara, Grace, Calvin, Ande, me, and Abe on Skype

Clara. Summer’s pinnacle. Such a love-filled and sacred experience. When I start to get sad I think back to that incredible opportunity of being a part of her life on earth and everything goes back into perspective.


Dreams.  Lots of them this month.  The ones where the kids are little again have been especially sweet.

Ty and Michelle

Engagement. Ty called the other night to tell us he and Michelle have set their wedding date. They had two dates to choose from – the day before mine and Calvin’s anniversary or our anniversary. They chose the day before ours. I said, “Ah shucks Ty, Dad and I wanted to renew our vows with you.” Ty snort-laughed, he wasn't expecting that.  We’re not a renewing-vows kind of couple as much as we are a hang-in-there-and-make-it-as-good-as-you-can-and-leave-a-candy bar-on-their-pillow-every-now-and-then kind of couple.
 
 

Cali, Cortney, Michelle, Nikki

Fudge. Trevor’s family stayed a couple of days after Clara’s funeral. The day we took Ty and Michelle to the airport everybody wanted to go, so we caravanned with a side trip to Cabella’s for fudge. Somehow the boys misunderstood and thought we stopped to look at guns.
   

Grace introducing her niece Adrian to the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Grace’s family. Six of Grace’s siblings and their families and her mom came to visit. It was great spending time with them. Celeste taught me what real walking is while she was here. She’s a good eight inches shorter than me but has a stride just as long and twice as fast as mine.

Happy times and a hamburger. There are some moments in life that time does not dim. I suspect that the early morning walks taken with Grace and Abe while Abe was home will be one of them. I also suspect the night Calvin, Abe, Grace, and I combined Clara’s bouquets into one and took them to her grave will be another. We sat and visited and imagined and then went to Woody’s to get hamburgers and french fries. We crossed the street and went down by the lake and ate on the grass and talked some more. We ended the evening with an ice cream cone. Hamburgers, fry sauce, each other – happy times.

Charlie, Bruce, Chris, Jake

Idaho Spuds. Whenever my sister Chris comes to visit she brings me a dozen or two Idaho Spud candybars. E.v.e.r.y.t.i.m.e. I love her visits for more than one reason - Bruce, Charlie, and Jake being some of the other reasons.   (Oh ho.  Chris always hopes that Legacy Chocolates is open when she comes.  She was not disappointed this trip.  We both secretly bought each other boxes.)


Jaynes, Fred and Lynn. My sister and her husband came to Washington. We, the Jaynes’ and the Payne’s, lived 100 yards apart for ten years.  Summer Sunday night hide-n-seek was a regular. It’s always fun to catch up with them, so fun in fact I didn’t even think of taking pictures.

Ryan, Haley, me, Calvin

Krumblis, Ryan and Haley. My niece and her husband came and stayed a few days with us. Haley has been teaching high school in Alaska while Ryan was deployed to Iraq. Now they’ve moved to Idaho so Ryan can finish his schooling.


Late.  Calvin asked me again yesterday if I would please try to be on Vince Lambardi time instead of Jane Payne time.  He said all I have to do is reverse which side of the clock my fifteen minutes is on.  Sounds easy enough.


Marcia and Krista. My sister, Marcia, and my sister-in-law Krista came to visit. It was eight and fourteen hour drives respectively and they were able to stay less than 24 hours. We didn’t know they were coming and it was the best surprise to see them walking down the hall at the church – such a surprise that I never even thought of taking a picture.

Necklace. A string of pearls with a matching set of earrings to be exact. Ty brought them home as a gift from China. A beautiful gift indeed, I’ve always wanted a strand of pearls. Always.


Organist. Calvin was released from the Singles’ Ward Bishopric a month or so ago and we are now attending our home ward again. I was asked to be the ward organist. When the member of the bishopric asked me if I would play I said, “Sure! But you do remember how well I play, right?” He got a sober-ish, sick-ish look on his face. Later the bishop thanked me for being willing to play and I repeated, “You do remember how well I play, right?” He said, “All I remember is you play fast and . . .” Yes, that would be true. Fast is the quickest way through the rough spots.  If fast is requirement enough I can fill it, but heaven help the congregation be deaf to the sour notes.

Garrett, Calvin, Tanae

Pay back. The day Calvin and the boys pulled into our home twelve years ago, Tanae and her dad were waiting to help unload our things. Calvin called on their way home and said, “There’s a little girl about ten years old with the cutest smile that lives close to us. She’d been out helping her dad change water and was still in her irrigating boots when they came to help us unload. She’s a worker – she carried box after box after box. You’re going to love her.” Tanae has been a sweet friend to our family ever since. Calvin was more than happy to cook the meat for her reception to thank her for all that help twelve years ago, and her friendship.


Quit. I sent the last Neighbor Jane Payne newsletter: #305.  That’s a whole lot of verbiage.  I've made wonderful friends through the six years of sending them and am grateful for the experience.

Calvin and Bruce

Rock and talk. Talk and rock. Occasionally they threw a game of gin in.

Sunsets. We have gorgeous sunsets. Ask any local and they’ll tell you so. Saturday’s sunset was trapped in the clouds and changed every 30 seconds or so.

“To Save a Nation.” My friend Deidra, a fellow native Idahoan, sent me this print. It’s beautiful. It’s wonderful. It's meaningful.  It’s very humbling to have received such a gift. The picture was painted by her former bishop, Larry Winborg.

me, Grace, Ande

Underwater.  Ande, Grace, and I went swimming at Becky's pool a few times.  If I hadn't already used "R" I would have called this memory "restorative."  Those swims felt so good - relaxing and restorative. 

If I hadn't already used "F" I would have called this memory "fun".  On one of the swims, Becky was home and sat by the pool edge to visit.  She is a fun conversationalist and a great listener.  She laughs at all the right things and makes you feel funny. 

If I hadn't already used "M" I would have said mermaids because that is what Grace said we should try to swim like. 

Instead this is an Underwater memory because that is where Grace and Ande played a game.  They each got in opposite corners of the pool, put their head underwater, and took turns saying the name of a candybar.  After the word had traveled underwater they'd both pop their heads out to see if they'd heard it correctly.  Most of the time they did!  It was pretty incredible because from where I sat on the side it was just a bunch of bubbles and whale sounds. 

Ande took this picture using the camera timer on the opposite side of the pool.  No small feat.


Vehicle. Our tires are officially bald. Calvin told us we absolutely cannot go over 70 miles an hour. We also have 161, 000 miles on it.  I hope this car never wears out.

Wind. It’s been a windy summer. Thursday’s wind blew two bags of mulch away from the new lavender plants, and threw a branch at my head when I was out picking flowers in the garden, and blew this apple out of the tree. I’ve been checking on this apple regularly for the last month. I’ve just been waiting to pick and eat it when it got ripe. It has no worms or pock marks, and now it has no branch to ripen on either.


Xtraordinary Measures. The movie. Calvin, Grace, and I went into town and each picked out a movie and some candy -- Rolo’s, Junior Mints, caramel popcorn, salted nut roll, and sour apple rings.  It was a great movie.

Yields. Our red potatoes have the highest yields this year that I’ve ever remembered. And the new hens are laying eggs. They’re miniature, but they are still eggs.


Zoom.  The summer of 2010 has flown by.  When I was young I remember hearing the oldtimers talk about the cold winter of '18 or the wet spring of '83 - years that stuck with them.  I must be an oldtimer.  I will always remember the summer of '10.


**Hello and thank you to my friend in Alaska that made Cali feel so welcome at church yesterday.