Randomly on Sunday

I'm not in Minnesota, teaching at Shepherd's Harvest, like I thought I was going to be, and that sort of derailed my mental train this week. It's not bad that I'm not there- I was tired and needed a break. But for someone who likes to know where I'll be several months in advance, this was a rather quick change in plans. I'd geared up for a few days of final prep, a long drive, and then a weekend of teaching... and now, I'm here. So I'm a little off-kilter. Which is why I forgot to write anything for the blog for the last few days. Sorry.

Not that there's a lot to write about. Spring finally sprung, and we took our first long Sunday walk this morning. I used the RunKeeper gps on my phone to track our distance and speed and learned that we walk just under 4.5 miles on our round trip from the house, out to the highway, down through the back entrance of the State School, through the park, over the bridge, into town, past the Post Office, down to Casey's, where we buy the Sunday paper, and then along the highway and back home. My legs are not used to that kind of distance, but it was a lovely morning for a walk.

Speaking of RunKeeper, it's a free app and it's pretty darn handy. I use it to track my morning jogs (which are, unfortunately slower and shorter than I thought they were). It works wonderfully for runnning, walking, and other forms of exercise. Unfortunately, trying to track distance as you mow your lawn makes the gps go all crazypants.  But for a free app, it's pretty amazing.

Speaking of apps- I've made a fairly seamless transition to the iPhone already. I love being able to check Facebook and e-mail when I'm on the go, and the camera is nearly as good as the Nikon that I generally use. Unfortunately, I've discovered Angry Birds, which just might be another reason why there has been no blogging, or anything of a useful nature done, this week. Beware: this game will take over your life. And your dreams will be filled with green pigs, mocking you.

I have done a little knitting- I finished one Happy and Healthy Thoughts sock, and am just about to the heel of the mate. I want to give these to my friend on Friday, so I'd best let the birds find their own eggs for a couple of evenings, and knit instead.

And since this is Mother's Day, I've been thinking about my mom, and my two grandmas, all gone now.

This is my Grandma, Mary Jane Leib Moyer Smith Robbins, who died in the early '70s. She was an Inupiat Eskimo who lived above the Arctic Circle until she was in her early 30's. She moved to the Pacific Northwest before my mother, the second youngest of her six children, was born. I remember when Grandma went to Everett Junior College and got her LPN degree. She used to let us wear her nursing caps, and she brought old hypodermics (without the needles, of course, and sterilized) home for us to use as squirt guns. We called them "shotters".

This beautiful lady was Mildred Minerva Mooney Prater. My grandma grew up in South Dakota, where my father was born, before moving to the Pacific Northwest, within a mile of my other Grandma. My parents were neighbors, and grade school sweethearts who married very young. For most of my life, I thought I resembled the Moyer side of the family- the roundishness and early gray hair convinced me that I had very little of the Prater genes. And then, a few years after her death, I saw a picture of myself, and I realized that I am nearly the spitting image of my Grandma.  In fact, here is a picture of me and my Dad (the oldest of seven children), which proves the dominance of the Prater DNA.

Speaking of dominant genes- this is my oldest son, and my father...

Back to Mother's Day...

Here's my very young mother, with me (at Grandma Prater's house- I recognize the root cellar behind us). Mom had four daughters by the time she was 23 years old. She crocheted beautiful lace and doilies. She was a voracious reader, she sewed our dresses, and she drew wonderful paper dolls. Mom sparked our creativity, insisting that we design and make gifts for our Grandmothers. Mom died in '01.

All three were wonderful women, and I miss them all!