Dear Kids,
It’s getting colder and colder. The nighttime low is forecasted to be down to 18 in a couple of days, and it’s supposed to snow on Tuesday. We turned off our sprinklers last week, and Dad blew out the lines with John’s compressor. He and Donna did her yard, too. So we’re all ready for winter. Scout is getting ready, too, by eating all the time. I’ll soon need a forklift to carry him. Sonia plans to stay petite, and keep inside. Scout doesn’t have that choice, of course, because he’s an outside fellow. So he needs to get fat. We haven’t seen anything of our old friend the raccoon, or any of his fellow creatures. Just the neighbor cat, who comes in at night and eats anything left in the cat bowl. She’s gearing up for winter, too.
John’s family drove to San Diego for fall break, and Heather and the kids are going to fly back on Wednesday. John’s going to drive their car home, and since he needed company, and a fellow driver, he invited Dad to come and drive home with him. Of course Dad is up for that! He’s flying down there Tuesday afternoon and staying over just one night. I’m sure they’ll have a good time driving and talking. And me–I’ll be home alone for a day and a half. That’s OK. I have my memories of Arizona to console me. I’m not surprised our ancestors left freezing-cold Idaho and drove their wagons to beautiful Arizona. Most of the year it’s just like heaven there, and they can forget the 115-degree days they had during the summer.
This Wednesday it’s my turn to give an ancestor story at DUP. I think I’ll talk about Willis Coplan. He’s the one who was involved in the “black beans of death” incident. He and a bunch of others were taken captive by the Mexicans, and instead of shooting them all, the Mexicans decided on one out of ten. So they filled a jar with 10 percent black beans and the rest white, and each prisoner had to draw one out. All the men who drew black beans were shot, and the rest of them were let go. Naturally our guy wasn’t shot, or we wouldn’t be exactly who we are (since he wasn’t married yet. At least not to our ancestor lady.) This story ought to make my fellow DUP’ers sit up and listen.
Two weeks from today is Super Sunday at John’s, at 4 pm this time. Make sure it’s on your calendar!
Lots of love, Mom
