Homefront...

It just seems so good to be spending the summer back home after being away the past two, and RV'ing here and there in the fall and winter as noted by previous posts. This rural, northeastern Indiana town, where I moved to 12 years ago, is just so cool. The Saturday morning farmer's market theme is "Don't panic, it's organic." I bought tonight's supper from an old Brethren couple, selling heirloom tomatoes, butter crunch lettuce and radishes at the end of their driveway. I told them that they're probably selling the only "safe" tomatoes and should be very busy as grocery stores and restaurants have pulled theirs due to salmonella warnings. Here it is, not quite mid-June, yet abnormal temps have us thinking that it's August already. Today we got a break weather wise, and it was a joy to be outside for the first time in weeks. I decided it was a good day to spread mulch. Yesterday I potted the last of the plants and threw around a cup full of 4-o'clock seeds our neighbor was passing out. People are so dog-gone nice here. The library in the summer is the hub of the town. I signed up for summer reading, and will try to win the dog book bag that I've had my eye on for several weeks. A calico cat sleeps in the fiesta bowls at the local hardware store, or will come rub your leg as you wait in line at checkout. It's just a nice place to be.
Life without Jim around is different. I pursue my old passions....planting, puttering, and "creating" cuteness through the house. Today I signed up for a scrapbook class for later this week, and Josh and I will take a card making class, given at the public library in Warsaw, about 18 miles away, in July.

Jim has been having fun at White Pines. Yesterday he worked out of the park office, calling local churches near the park, updating service schedules. He's also updating the bulletin boards outside the shower house with bug/poison ivy/park information. He cleans the campsites when campers leave. He said they had three campers over the weekend due to all the stormy weather. He helps campers set up tents, or with the fire grates, and is kind of the go-to guy, freeing the rangers to do what they need to do in maintenance, mowing, or painting duties. He'll work in the permit office Saturday night to cover for the new camp hosts, who have family coming in. His electricity hasn't been hooked up yet, so he's still using the generator as needed before 10 p.m. for power; but they are digging the trenches and leveling the site. So the wheels are turning, and he'll soon be in his spot for the season.

Mom spent a few days over the weekend here. Josh goes to camp for a week on Sunday. The time for the corgi kids and I to go to White Pines will be here before we know it.