Mr. FixIt and I took Little out to the field a couple days ago for the “Annual Blueberry Harvest”. It was a bumper crop this year for our one little blueberry bush. We didn’t get any last year. I think the year before we had maybe half a teacup. Each year the bush gets bigger and bigger and will soon outgrow the cage Mr. FixIt built over it to keep the birds out. There were still several on the bush that haven’t ripened so we are enjoying fresh blueberries…a few at a time to make them last.

Big and her mama got up at 5:30 yesterday to get to town to swim with the local team by 6:30. They came home and I soon had them rounded up to head out to the farm. This was their “goodbye” trip. The kids have only been there once that they remember. The farm has been a part of my daughter’s life since she was five months old and we returned from England where she was born. She’d never seen it empty…or nearly so. We went through every room and the basement. She told me she’d never been down there before. Grandma was afraid she might get hurt on something.

Big is allergic to clover, is no fan of dirt and bugs, and the thick vegetation makes my Colorado girls a bit claustrophobic. So, this isn’t the highlight of her trip. Little, on the other hand, loves the woods and how green it is. She says it looks like a fairy could pop out of the woods at any second and call us on a quest! The girls and I stood on the front porch and my daughter took our picture. That’s as close as we could get to a photo with them in front of the snowball bush. Mainly because the snowball bush is half dead and I haven’t trimmed it in some time. But also because, if you stood real still and listened, the yard was buzzing with honey bees on the white clover. I mentioned Big is allergic to clover, right? Poor kiddo…West Virginia is just not her favorite place.

When we were finished at the farm, we went to the cemetery where my family is buried. We didn’t stay long as it upsets Little. She has such a soft heart. The next stop on our little trip was at Berdine’s Five & Dime. They remembered being there before because there are lots of toys that you can’t find very often these days. We spent a good bit of time in there sorting through bins and letting Karen, the shopkeeper, tell us all about the toys and how the puzzles work. 

With their bag in hand, off we went to get some picnic food at the Shop-n-Save. We had a blast in there. I had my hands full and turned to Big and said, “Honey, go over there and get us a buggy, will ya?” Apparently, when I turned back around, she mouthed to her mother, “What the heck is she talking about?” My daughter said, “That’s West Virginian for shopping cart.” She thought that was a hoot. But what really did her in was the tub of ham salad her mom showed her. Big’s eyes about popped out of her head. First, because she didn’t even know they made such a thing. Second, it was this bright pink pasty stuff that didn’t look at all appealing to her….because, third…she’s a vegetarian. That was enough to push her over the edge and she was really ready to leave all this quaint country stuff behind and get to a real city. 

We made our selections and headed to the nearby state park. We stopped at an empty picnic table and had our lunch. All was going well till the hairy yellow caterpillar had the nerve to invade our space. I made the mistake of saying the caterpillar can “sting you”. We flicked it away, but it ended up on me. It doesn’t sting, but the little hairs can be really irritating to your skin and I can definitely feel where it was on my neck. Needless to say, that was the end of the picnic.

One of the things that flatlanders have a little trouble with here are the twisty turny roads. When we finally made it home, everybody laid down and took a nap. I wore them out. Plus, yesterday was Day 17 on this magnificent adventure of theirs. They have a lot more to do before they get to go home. Little and I ended the day with a swim in the pool and watched the sunset. It was a beautiful day and I loved every minute of it. One more day and two of them leave then Little stays on for another couple of weeks. This is a special time for us all.

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“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”

Romans 12:9 ESV