Red Room Where the Writers Are

Back to school supplies are out along with Halloween/Thanksgiving items at some of the stores at the mall.  Everything is reminding us that summer is winding down and the school rush is about to begin.  Unfortunately, summer has been a rushed season for many people.  I have already marked off a number of things on the mental list I had of what I hoped to accomplish this summer.

It  worked out good for us that our son-in-law Rick had a one-week class he needed to take in Vienna and it was preceded by a weekend reunion of old college friends in Carbondale.  Thus, he was able to bring down his youngest two—Elijah and Cecelie, and they got to spend five days at Woodsong with cousins and visit their aunts and uncles down here.  

After class Wednesday, Rick took Elijah, Cecelie, and Sam up to the Taylors in Lake Saint Louis to spend more time with Trent and Brianna.   He left here Friday afternoon and spent the night there and picked up Elijah and Cecelie for the trip back to Freeport.  Brian wanted to see his crops down here after the rains, so he and Trent brought Sam back to Marion Saturday afternoon.  

Being grandchild-less on Thursday, I enjoyed an evening at Latta Java again and finally got to hear Ken “Fog” Gilbert read his poetry accompanied by Eric Mandat on the clarinet.  Impressive.  It was a good evening at table with Jari Jackson and her friend Bonnie listening to Erika Hookham, Mary Ann Sexton,  David Bond, and Jim Lambert also read their original poetry.  Jim’s poem in memory of young friends who died at war was one of the strongest I have heard him read.  A young girl, whose name I didn’t catch read a poem she liked, and so did a John A. Logan College student who shared her photographs of trees found in the Marion area and appropriate poems to enrich the photographs.

Saturday started with a very late breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Gerry’s family—probably one of the last times we’ll be eating there with them for awhile.  They rented a house in Watkinsville, Georgia, near Athens the day before and were home for Geri Ann to participate with big sis Tara’s 16-and-under Southern Force practice games before they headed off for Owensboro, Kentucky, for the ASA Nationals. So breakfast with great grandson Aidan and his clan was a special privilege. 

The hot afternoon was spent watching two back-to-back games against the Saint Louis Chaos team also headed to Owensboro.  I would have enjoyed the games better if my sunscreen had not somehow joined the sweat that ran into my eyes. 

After a cool-off at Subway, we were all back at the ball diamond at 7 p.m. to see Southern Force play against a team that Erin spent the week gathering  up through numerous phone calls. Several of the Southern Force alumni now in college were joined by high school players and others.  They were able to start the game with l0 players and were having lots of fun, but were reduced to nine when Candace Carter broke her thumb (I think) and had to drop out. 

When the day’s games were over, there were a lot of hot sweaty players in dirty white uniforms.   I bet they slept good in Owensboro last night.  Aidan was properly dirty too, but if the heat slowed him down any, we couldn’t tell it.  He kept Grandma Vickie hustling taking care of him. Great Grandma Shirley and Marie Miller also put in some time chasing him.  My evening job was holding a tiny calm adorable puppy for the young man who volunteered to ump at one of the bases.  K.J. Coonce, one of my favorite grade school acquaintances, who was watching her big sisters play against each other, also helped with the puppy. 

Brian had picked Trent up from Sam’s house and they were grilling out at their camper up at Wayside Farm last night.  They had plenty of wood there as our pastor had filled their wood pile for them.  We got an invitation but were too enmeshed in ball games to join them.  They joined us after church this morning with an entire meal Mary Ellen had sent down left over from her cooking for the gang while they were at her house.  It was a delicious lunch which I quickly heated for the four of us before Brian and Trent had to travel home to Lake Saint Louis. 

Tonight our church hosted Danny Ward and his friends Mr. Ervin and Paula (Kinsey) Kelly, who gave us a beautiful concert.  Paula’s mother and others from the area joined us, and after the service, we had a feast of home-made ice cream and an abundance of cakes, cookies, pie, etc. to accompany the ice cream.  As usual, Shirley Butler had made the dining room tables beautiful and prepared tea, ice water, soda, and coffee for us to choose from. 

Home-made ice cream used to be one of our frequent summer treats, and it seems strange that I don’t make it anymore.  But I know that I shouldn’t.  I gladly loaned our freezer to Jeannie for an upcoming gathering she is having for Leslie’s college departure.  Gerald did indulge at his cousin’s house earlier this month, and I had my first dish tonight.  With August almost upon us, I figured that was one of the things I needed to accomplish before summer ended.