Restful Weekend

Finally, a restful Memorial Day weekend after such a hectic week.  Mike and I joined Amy and Don on a short trip to the Buffalo River area to do some hiking.  The first place we went was Hawk's Bill Crag.  Beautiful, but windy day.  Mike was braver than I was, standing out on the crag.  I felt the need to keep a tree between me and the edge.  What a fraidy cat. Ha!

Later in the day we did a short hike to Twin Falls.

 It's called Twin Falls, but in the rainy season has three falls.  It was very beautiful.

The next day we did a short hike to Hide Out Hollow Falls.  It was a little over one mile to these falls.  We were the only people on  the trail and it was very peaceful here.  The biggest noise was the 13 year cicadas that had hatched.  It is amazing how loud such little insects can be.

Mike and I on a bluff on trail.

Amy and Don on the same bluff.

Overall this as a great way to spend Memorial Day.  I think I am ready for the last 7 1/2 days of school for the year.

Finally, Saturday

Well, finally the Saturday after a very stressful week.  It was a wonderful, sunny day so Mike and I decided to take advantage of it.  We planned to drive toward White Rock Mountain and hike to waterfall views.  Mike thought he remembered an alternate way to White Rock so we took that way.  The problem was he remembered Wrong.  The good news was we found a really nice place.

We had a picnic lunch here then just sat and enjoyed the quiet.  We then found the way to get to White Rock Mountain from this location.  It took a long time, but was a nice drive.  Since the road home took us close to Ozark, we went to see Gary and Sandy and the debris from their house that got hit with a F4 tornado this past Tuesday.  I truly believe that the Lord has a plan for them, it was not time for them to leave this earth.  The only room left was their pantry where they went for safety.

Lots of things to think about, new scenery to enjoy and the destructive force of a tornado.  Glad this week has come to an end and hoping for many better in the future.

What a Week! (and it's only Wednesday)

Wow! What a lot has happened in the past three days.  Monday, rain, rain, rain.  Students were let out of school early because of the rain and flood possibilities.  When I drove home the water was running over the highway and was truly scary.  I didn't fear for my life, but was afraid of getting pushed off the road into the ditch.  All this after hearing about the horrific tornado in Joplin.  How awful for all those people.

Then Tuesday, there was a lot of talk of upcoming tornadoes.  I sat up late watching to be sure we would be safe.  We had a tornado warning, but the bad weather went north and south of us.  We were really relieved, only to find out today that Mike's cousin and and his wife's house was blown away.  Thank God they were warned and were able to get into a room in their house that escaped damage.  This was their dream retirement home that they designed and built themselves.  The good news was that they were fine and their RV was left in good enough shape that they can live in it.

Tonight we had a power outage caused by a blown transformer by the highway.  Not much compared to the other situations.

All of my problems are so minor compared with the losses caused by tornadoes.  I am so ready for all this bad weather to end.  I need to realize how fortunate I am.

Here's to hoping for much better weather in the near future.

Sunshine Saturday

What a nice day.  Finally had some sunshine so decided  to go for a hike. Since it had rained so much we wanted to see some waterfalls.  We picked up Eric and Isaac and took them to see a waterfall we had hiked to last weekend.  It was really full of water.

It had rained so much in the past couple of days we also saw other waterfalls  that were dry last week. Both of these waterfalls are on  the Cummings' property next to Devil's Den.  Lee Creek was overflowing and running fast.

On our way back to our vehicle we saw this black snake.  It was next to the trail, and didn't seem to mind posing for pictures.







Then to make  the day perfect, we got to spend time with Caroline.  She was in a fine mood, talking and smiling at us.

So, we went from Stormy Friday to Sunshine Saturday.  What a difference a day can make.

Stormy Friday

I seem to do most of my blog writing on Friday evenings.  Probably because I have time after a busy work week to sit and think.  Tonight I am sitting listing to the rain hit the metal roof and to the thunder of a distant storm.  So relaxing after a crazy day at school.  Storms knocked out the computer server at the school on one of the few days when my plan involved having students work on computers.  So I had to wing it and students got a rare day without much to do in chemistry.  Lightning also caused a fire on an electric pole next to the middle school.  Quite a day for those teachers who had to move children to another building and then sit for 3 hours without electricity.  Easy to understand why sitting at home listening to the rain and distant thunder is relaxing.  So I think I will just spend the rest of the evening reading a good book and looking forward to vacation days in the near future.

Mothers

Tomorrow, Mother's Day.  With a new granddaughter and another on the way, I have been thinking a lot lately about mothers.  First, my mother.  I remember when I was a junior homecoming maid.  After working 8 hours each day, my mom sewed a formal gown and 2 informal dresses for the homecoming activities and dinners.  When it started raining that day, she spent money that should have gone for something like, maybe food, and bought me a wonderful raincoat. No one would have known that the dresses I wore were home made rather than store bought.  I also remember when Eric was sick with chicken pox, she came to our house to take care of him while Mike and I worked.  During that week, she taught him to play canasta while caring for him and loving him.

I also have been blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law.  She raised a wonderful, caring son who is the best husband a woman could hope for.  She has always treated me as another daughter, loving me as she loves her own.

Now my daughter-in-laws.  One is already a mother, loving and caring for both of her children while working as a nurse. The other is is a mother-to-be, waiting for the arrival of grandchild number three for us.  I am so fortunate to be a part of these miracles.  And I am so fortunate to have the most wonderful daughters (Mike is correct in saying they are our daughters, not daughter-in-laws) who take me into their lives the way they do.

Mothers.  I pray that every child has a loving, caring, wonderful one like the ones I know.

Endings and Beginnings

Another end of the school year for seniors.  Any high school teacher has mixed feelings on the last day of school for seniors.  We get them started on their journey through high school when they enter as ninth graders and then see them leave for the world after high school.  Many go to college while others are looking for work.  We are glad to see  them set out on their life after public school, hoping that they accomplish all  their goals in life.  But we are also sad, knowing that there are many who we will not see or hear from after this day.  As frustrated as we get with them, we will miss their smiles, laughter, and friendship.  For the seniors at Prairie Grove High School who I have gotten to know and love, best of everything in all you do.  May all your dreams and goals come true.