A Wonderful Weekend

Tomorrow morning I have a visit to the dentist, then will pack up and head back off to Houston. But today, well today was a perfectly wonderful end to a perfectly wonderful weekend.

The morning started off with gunshots as I was taking my time getting out of bed. Pardon my lack of sensitivity, but the gunshots made me smile as I realized we will soon have fresh meat, wild hog, in the freezer. When I ventured out, I found Leo under Bro. David's careful tutelage, working away at his tasks under the "hanging tree". Again, for those of you who did not grow up in the country, I'll spare what could be considered the "gory details". They tackled the largest hog first, a big black sow who turned out to yield a good bit of meat. When they got toward the end of this first animal, I was dispatched to run to town for some ice.

The sky was a bit overcast and there was rain in the distance. As I drove back from town, the dark sky rising above the golden tops of the corn stalks provided a sight that was absolutely beautiful. At the last dogleg in the road before reaching home I saw a beautiful rainbow in the sky. "This is the life," I realized.

The guys were soon ready to take a trip back near the deer stands to drop off some of the unwanted remnants of the butchering. I had never been on that side of the road and took them up on the offer to go for a ride. As we were backing in the the dumping spot I said, "wasn't there a bucket on the back when we started out?" Sure enough, we had to retrace our drive and find the bucket of entrails that had slipped off the back, pick up the spillage (I only watched) then head out again for a second attempt.

As the men worked on the next animals, Judy and I sat in the shade of the trees and watched, donated the occasional comments, and enjoyed each other's company. I worried a bit that Leo would take issue with me lazing about while he worked so hard, but that was not the case. Butchering four hogs was long and difficult work for the men, but Leo enjoyed it immensely. He even seemed pleased that Judy and I were nearby, even though we were of little help during the operation.

It was nearly noon by the time the last hog was iced down and Leo headed for a shower. After that, we went to town for a quick stop at Dairy Queen, and a few more bags of ice. Leo was sore and tired, but definitely proud of the morning's achievements. Later in the afternoon as we sat on the back porch swing and enjoyed the view, we again talked about his upcoming work in Nigeria.

As I shared with Judy, Leo and I are a bit tired of people expressing their concern over his upcoming work. I honestly think we are at a greater risk of all sorts of mishaps in our travels and stay in Houston each week. Still, I wish I was the one going, for lots of reasons. Leo is much more social than I am. Not only does he crave the interaction with people that I usually shy away from, he is also much more comfortable around people than I am. I, on the other hand, could probably lead a perfectly content existence as a hermit, something that would not suit him at all. Also, Leo is, in some ways, the heart of our neighborhood here at Six Mile. I guess I'm finally realizing how much of a hardship it is for him to come to Houston with me during the week...he is so much more comfortable here at home. And finally, I'm the one with wonderlust, the one with a desire to see the world and visit exotic places. Although Leo doesn't mind going to Nigeria, I realize now that he could easily do without it too. But, the situation is that I am obviously not in a position to take his place. It is his experience and expertise that is called for on this job. I am the one to be left behind.

So, we are both resigned to make the best of it. I will do everything I can to make sure he is prepared for the first 4 weeks without me, and he is doing all he can to prepare for excelling in the tasks that await him. We both are going to try what we can to demonstrate to the company that they will be getting a bargain if they decide to take me as well. Although our skills and experience are very different, together we cover quite a lot of territory. Hopefully, the company will see this and I'll get a chance to go along before year's end.

But for now, I am learning to back off a bit, relax a bit, and enjoy time together with my husband even without all the manic insanity that has been pushing my every move for the last few years. This was one of those weekends where I acted like a normal, laid back country girl, and just enjoyed spending the weekend hanging out with friends and family, and enjoying the good times. It was truly a wonderful weekend.