Future Love Triangle

All my Brunk cousins are together at camp this week so Heather, Emma and Julia met up with me, Atira and Tell at the Gardiner Plaza to carpool up to see them, as well as several friends. During the quiet of rest hour, Tell, Julia and Timmy were finding ways to amuse themselves with a rubber kickball and some hula hoops while Annah, Heather, Sue and I chatted.





Annah and I always joke about a future love triangle in the family because both Timmy and Tell have eyes for Julia. Timmy is very vocal about his affection but Tell keeps it all under wraps. Back at the Gardiner Plaza parking lot, after the Pendletons departed, this was the conversation between Tell and I:

Tell: "Well, THAT was nice to see
the Pendletons."

Me: "Yes, it was. (with a knowing
grin) So, which Pendleton
did you enjoy seeing the
most?"
(Silence)
"I know. It was Mrs.
Pendleton, wasn't it?"

Tell: (shakes his head)

Me: "It must be Emma then. She
was the Pendleton you
enjoyed seeing the most."

Tell: "No"

Me: "Oooh, I know....you enjoyed
seeing JULIA the most,
didn't you?"

Tell: (Looking straight ahead )
"I'm NOT talking about that."





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Flynn and Diva

Jim has a very generous heart and many times that results in him inviting people, whether friends or strangers, to the house without consulting me first. I've learned to roll with it and as a result have enjoyed the company of many interesting people over the years. This was definitely the case on Sunday. Jim, Atira and Tell came early with me to worship team practice because the truck was headed up to camp with Jubal at the wheel and Nolan riding shotgun. Just outside the door we encountered Sandy talking to a man with a beautiful rusty-haired dog. Nearby was a bike with a trailer hitched to it. The man's name was Flynn Donoho and his companion was Diva. We learned that he has been riding through the 48 contiguous states raising awareness and money for the American Cancer Society. While we practiced, Jim conversed and it was not a shock when, at the end of the morning service, Jim told me that he had invited Flynn to the house for a hot shower and lunch. It was a pleasure to hear how he came to salvation 7 years ago through the reading of a Bible that had been left by someone, along with some food, in a plastic bag in his home state of California. The afternoon became evening and over pizza we heard more about his three years of travels while two loads of his laundry tumbled in the washer and dryer. He carries a map with him and has highlighted all the roads that have carried him to all but three of the lower 48 states. Maine was the most recent state to knock off the list with Vermont next in line. After that, only two northwestern states remain untouched. Listening to all the ways that God had abundantly provided for him, exactly when it was needed, using ordinary people and churches all over the United States was a blessing and a tribute to the Lord's faithfulness in providing for the needs of His own. By morning, it was not a stranger, but two new friends, one furry and one not, that we fed and sent down our driveway toward Vermont.








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Since 1948

While visiting my grandparents in Buxton today, I noticed a romantic notice posted by Papa on the door frame of their kitchen. The longevity and sincerity of their love has always been a sweet thing to behold.









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Third Time Is The Charm

Well, it's a happy day in the Gilbert household. Jubal now holds a Maine driver's license. We've been to the DMV four times in an attempt to make this happen. It was getting a little old. (One of those times I didn't realize the car's inspection had lapsed and he never even had a chance to take the test...ugh!) I told Jubal afterward that if he hadn't passed this time, I would begin to wonder if his instructor's name was Mrs. Puff. (If you've never watched Spongebob, then you have no idea what that last sentence was about.)





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Trampoline For Two

Jim called me out to the yard this evening just as twilight set in. We found a comfy spot in the middle of the trampoline and looked up at the last of the fading light illuminating the sky between the trees. All was quiet except for the cool breeze rustling the swaying branches of the oaks and pines above us and the distant sound of Route 1 traffic. Atira found us after 15 minutes so that was the end of our solitude but I'm so thankful for our little plot of peacefulness here on Ledgewood Drive.






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Dr. Zappia Would Be Proud

Atira has her next retainer check up soon. At that visit, I'll have to relay the content of Nolan's recent dream to our dentist Dr. Zappia and his assistant Alice:

"Mom, I had a dream that I was brushing my teeth, and when I woke up, there was spit all over my pillow."

Thank you, Nolan. Thank you SO much for sharing that.


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Camp Firsts

Since I'm stuck in Waldoboro for a couple hours while Jubal has soccer practice, I'll put the time to good use and wrap up my week at Camp Good News.

It was a week of firsts for many. Even my very first junior counselor Heather Q., that I had in Mapleton in '81, was there serving as camp nurse.




Jubal served as a first-time Senior Counselor in the Cheyenne Cabin with Caleb Pendleton as his Jr. Counselor. I was very proud of the way they conducted themselves. They were naturals, working well as a team and giving their campers a great week.

Along with Caleb, this was Nolan's first year as a J.C., although he already had one week under his belt since he worked the week before as well. I know he has enjoyed it because, even though he has to miss Karate, he didn't bat an eye when they asked if he could work Week 5 also. Of course, Heather and I had to take our annual photo of the pair, a tradition we've maintained since their infancy.



We had some first time campers among our kids this year, Julia Pendleton, my niece Allie and Tell, which meant it was my first year since '94 that I was kidless at camp. I like it.







Camp duties are always subject to change so it wasn't a surprise when Dad asked if I would lead the songs during chapel times in addition to team teaching the Bible lessons with Heather. This was a new experience for me but it was a short learning curve thanks to over 30 years of CGN singing and watching Melanie Mulherin lead. There was only one song that I didn't know, not a bad percentage. To remedy that, I recorded Eliza singing it and listened over and over.....Problem solved. The only part of the job that I felt nervous about was making sure I did justice to the role of Echo's interpreter. For me, that job will really only ever belong to Melanie and no one could compare.




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Time to Relax

After being drained of energy by a sweltering week of working at camp, I'm not ashamed to say that I didn't get out of bed until 9:45 Saturday morning and relaxed all day until late afternoon. Around 4 we headed to the church park for what turned out to be an abbreviated cookout, due to some ominous looking rain clouds. I've never seen a picnic spread packed up so quickly!















I'm glad that Peg and I had already found the time to leave our "Welcome Home From Vacation" message for the Hodgdons before the sprinkles started.














Today we enjoyed more relaxation as Jim and I watched the last stage of the Tour de France and then went tent shopping at Cabela's in Scarborough. Supper found us at
Cracker Barrel where, in honor of the Tour finale, Jim decided on French Toast to accompany his eggs and grits. Délicieux!























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If It's Wednesday Night It Must Be......

Capture the Flag......a time-honored Wednesday night Camp Good News tradition dating back to my days as a camper. It was enjoyable to watch three generations of Romano men (and Atira) play tonight.





Dad has never been able to resist the lure of the game, and although still quick on his feet at 62, tonight, he found that by the time he ran across the field and reached the flag he was too tired to do more so he managed to finagle a "get out of jail free" card from Kristin. "You know I'm eligible for social security? No one else this old plays this game. I need a get out of jail free card." He got one.


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Box Socks

Packing for camp today meant that I needed to match up a week's worth of socks for Jubal and Jim. (The rest of us prefer bare feet. I like this because it's easier on the laundry load.) I can't remember the last time I dumped out the lot and matched any but when Atira tipped the basket onto the table, the mass of socks stayed in a solid square. I think it had been a while.




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The "Sebago" Crowd

The Buxton Crowd temporarily relocated to Greg and Annah's vacation spot on Little Sebago Lake Thursday night. By the time we arrived, the lake was already filled with the happy squeals and splashes of all the kids, with Todd Pendleton treading water as safety manager. I cannot say whether a happy squeal escaped Todd's lips or not.....let's say one did.











Atira (with Kayla Raymond) went tubing for the first time...




Greg also took his little Timmy and Julia Pendleton out on the tube for the first time. They were both reported to have had a death grip on the handles and were not fans of bouncing through the wake of the boat but despite that, enjoyed the experience. Heather took a photo of them arriving back to the dock together and I noted how cute it would look in the video at their wedding, which 5 year-old Timmy already has plans for.

Andrew Pendleton (with Dyvan Raymond) took time for some fishing off the dock and sure enough, reeled one right in...









It was a gorgeous summer evening and we were treated to a beautiful rainbow display, a gorgeous sunset and lots of fun with friends.








The only black mark on the evening was when my phone and Jubal's went swimming within 10 minutes of each other. At the moment, I'm using Jim's old iPhone while mine sits in a bag of rice. All I can say is iCloud backup is wonderful!

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Practice Makes Pretty Good

I always appreciate my friend Sandy's musical leadership at church but never more than in the summers which can leave our music team pretty sparse at times. With the Foremans and Browns gone last week, Greg and myself were the leads. Greg learned guitar not long ago and with his diligent practice and the AWANA kids as guinea pigs for a couple years his playing has significantly improved. (It could also be that I've learned to follow his playing very well....) We are used to leading at AWANA and the occasional youth event but leading the whole congregation was uncharted waters. We made sure to choose the songs that we had chosen for Adventure Camp and had been practicing for months. When Sunday arrived, thankfully Nicole, Sammy and Duane were able to follow our less than perfect way of doing things and I think it went well.

This coming Sunday's group of songs required two practices, one of which Don decided to crash....always an encouragement to whatever I happen to be doing....ahem.








Greg picked one of the songs, Shout To The Lord, because both he and Jen really like it and it has been known to bring her to tears. I hope if that happens this Sunday, Jen's tears will be because of the lyrics and not our poor attempt at leading worship!

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Life Lessons From A Daylily

I love to have gardens and plants in the yard but I am horrible at maintaining them so the hardier the specimen, the better. That is why daylilies and I are great friends. The clump in my garden had become too big, so last fall I divided some out. Instead of carefully replanting them elsewhere I lazily tossed the plant near the edge of the woods and said, "If it grows, it grows..."
Sure enough, that tough plant took root and blossomed beautifully. I've heard the saying, "Bloom where you're planted." many times but sometimes this sinful world is not kind, we're not always carefully planted and nurtured by others and conditions are rarely ideal so, maybe, the example of my daylily would be better. "Bloom where you're tossed."




Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

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Today and Tomorrow

Today I decided to procrastinate no longer on a couple of unfinished paint projects. I love to paint but there were always things higher on the To Do list. The first project tackled was Jubal's wall, which for the past year has said "MO". What it should have said is "MOXIE", and now it finally does.





Jubal's room also doubles as a guest room when we have company and I think this is just the right touch for a Maine bedroom. I know Aaron Hutchins and Mike Morrill would agree. Feel free to kick Jubal out of his room and visit anytime!

The second project brought to completion was the painting of my "Family Tree". The bottom portion, as high as I can reach, (no need to snicker) has been done for about a year. Now I finally have my top branches.





The tree still needs many more frames and family member photos.....look for that next year.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Early Sunday morning I found out that our friend James Pray had been in an ATV accident. On that summer Saturday afternoon, his plan for "tomorrow" had been to go skydiving. Instead he was lying in ICU at Maine Med. I'm so thankful that God has answered all the prayers for James' recovery in the affirmative and tonight he is out of ICU and will probably go home in the next couple of days. It'll take awhile to get there but what a blessing that he still has a "tomorrow" to go skydiving.


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Water Splashes

The house is quiet except for the blessed hum of the air conditioner. Everyone else has gone to bed as I wait for Nolan to be dropped off from his day at Funtown/Splashtown with Ryan Morrill.
Atira, Tell and I participated in a much less expensive way to cool off last night. The event actually began as a civilized VBS Appreciation cookout.









     

Thanks to some pictured below, however, it soon deteriorated into an all out water fight. I'm quite certain that the first splash originated from the styrofoam cup in Greg's hand.

 I will admit that things may have escalated after Peg and I stood behind James Pray and casually poured the water from our cups down his neck.






And then to the delight of the kids, the Hodgdon hose was wielded.

By far, the funniest sight to me was Tell chasing after Big James to soak him with his little cup.
This was after James had drenched Tell's head under the water cooler.




Generally kind-hearted, in matters of combat James shows no mercy. Tell learned this when his wet clothes became muddy clothes as James rolled him in the dirt.


























Eventually we traded water for fire and settled down for some S'mores around the blaze.



























Of course, the perfect ending of the day for Atira was a pink sunset which she captured going over the Kennebec on the car ride home.


















And perfectly timed, Nolan has walked through the door as I finish the last of my post and I can now hit the sack.

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Red-White-Blue

Unfortunately my Independence Day began with some red. They were the shards of plastic from my van taillight after I backed into Jim's truck in our driveway this morning.



Thankfully, the day only improved. We missed the Foreman's company at the parade but still appreciated the use of their driveway for easy parking.


The family and Aunt Suci waited at the courthouse corner watching for Nolan to appear in his white gi with the other students from Five Elements Mountain dojo.



The parade finished, Jim and the kids headed over to the Morrill's. Suci and I picked up Nolan and back at the house, loaded our working lawnmower onto the truck to bring to Dad. Wanting to rest in a cool house, Suci stayed behind while Nolan and I made our delivery before driving to Bowdoinham. Don was the lone Fisher representative and carried out his responsibility of annoyance perfectly.



The bickering between Don and I is always at least slightly amusing and Mike frequently comments that he is pulling up a chair and grabbing the popcorn. Today was no exception and Mike was heard to say, "Wait, can you hear that?, it's the sound of my truck delivering my movie theatre popcorn!" What we did hear near the end of the day was the rumbling of distant thunder. Luckily, the blue water of the pool had already refreshed everyone on this hot July 4th.







Even I got a splash of water and was able to capture Jubal's guilty face afterward.






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