April 8, 2014

My son is on his way back to Seattle as you are reading this, but we got to spend just over a week with him and it was really nice.

My son is on his way back to Seattle as you are reading this, but we got to spend just over a week with him and it was really nice. Of course, several days of that time involved traveling to northwestern Illinois to visit our family up there. It was a long trip, but really good to see the nieces and nephews again.

I had read the article a couple of weeks ago about flocks of eagles along the Mississippi River up that way, but I really did not think about it much until we got about 30 miles south of Hannibal, Mo., and suddenly the sky was full of them. Eagles, I would say hundreds of them, soaring through the skies above and around the river.

Those of us who have been to Big Lake have, of course, seen those mating pairs out there. At times there have been as many as three mating pairs at a time out there. But that is nothing compared to seeing a sky full of those majestic birds.

On the way back, we ran into some difficulties. A barge hit the southbound I-64 bridge over the Missouri River, and officials had to shut down that section of the interstate. I heard it took a couple of days to clear that barge, but the shutdown came just in time to stop us from driving into St. Louis County over that bridge. We had to take the scenic route through Defiance, Mo. (yes, there actually is a suburb of St. Louis called Defiance) on all the surface streets. It took nearly an hour to get back over to I-70 and on our way back south again.

So the day we got back, my two sons decided to spend the whole day Saturday building their mother a dog pen. We had taken the puppy Jingle to stay at Doggone Pretty while we made our trip, and the puppy did not want to leave when we went to pick her up. So the boys decided to help mom out and give the puppy a place she could run and play without being tied up to a chain every time she went outside. If you are a friend of mine on Facebook, go to my wall and check out the photos. They did a professional job, and the puppy loves her new outside space. Plus, we can again have Cheyenne, the old shepherd, and Jingle outside at the same time without worrying about Cheyenne killing the puppy out of frustration.

We kept all five grandkids that afternoon and night so they could play with their cousin Alyssa, who is four now and whom they had not seen since she was two. I had bodies sleeping all over my house that night, but it worked out and everyone actually got a bath and a good night's sleep. I took the little kids to Sunday school with me to the First Christian Church, and then Mick met me at church with the older two. Alyssa absolutely loved it, and we all had a great time and an uplifting spiritual experience.

It will probably be another two years before I see Mick and Alyssa again, and I was very sorry to see them pull out of the driveway. But we all enjoyed each other's company while they were here, and I am always thankful for any time I get to spend with my boys.

plenbooks@live.com

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