While the Sun Shines

The beautiful weather today was energizing. I always feel invigorated on sunny days, and our glimpse into spring encourages me to get out in the yard and play with my niece, walk the dogs, or do some needed yard work.

Since Mom was babysitting Olivia, my middle niece, we went outside for a good walk just before lunch time around the yard to pet the horses and back. It was so pleasant that we started to get out the Little Tikes yard toys that were garaged for the the winter. Livvy was in her element; she even got a long ride around on the wagon. We were having such a good time, that when my sister returned from her appointment, we told her to get my grandmother and bring her over to our house to enjoy the sunshine and Livvy's backyard enthusiasm. Granny mostly just sits in her house complaining about how bored and lonely she is, so here was a perfect opportunity to get out and have some fun.

It turned out to be more fun than she anticipated!

Mom's been wanting to haul away some debris (from our home renovations) to the dump, and with the nice weather, we figured we could load up the pickup truck while Livvy played in the yard. We started tossing pieces of old paneling and chunks of crumbled concrete into the bed of the truck, joking that my grandmother, sitting in her chair, was our job foreman. Getting it loaded is a two-person job, and that's only half done. There's still the unloading at the dump. Mom and I felt bad that Granny was really enjoying herself and here we were about to leave, so we piled her into the middle of our mini-pickup and took her with us!

She had the difficult middle spot, with her knees up near her chin; she's so petite, its better her than us! She had a bag full of envelopes--my 300+ newsletters to go out--on her lap until we could find a big mailbox. We all had to suck in to shut the doors, but we managed, and then we were off. At the dump, Mom and I unloaded the wood, while Granny sat in the truck listening to a bluegrass CD. We pulled down to the concrete section and started heaving out the chunks. Some were large, but many were softball sized. At the concrete area, a huge mudpuddle had formed with recent rains, so tossing in the chunks made a very satisfying splash. I called to Granny to come help, which earned me her "are-you-kidding-me?" face. But she climbed out the truck and started throwing the concrete balls into the mudpuddle. I'm pretty sure she even thought it was fun. We joked about the dump employees thinking we brought our 80 year old Granny to do heavy work, which made her laugh.

We had to squeeze ourselves in the truck again, but we were having such a good time, it wasn't hard. Our family has a long tradition--nearly 30 years--that dump runs are followed by a Frosty from Wendy's, mostly because there is a Wendy's right across the street from the Glen Burnie landfill. (When we were little kids, Dad would let us get a Frosty as a treat when we went to the dump with him, and for the longest time, our unsuspecting mom wondered why we were always so eager to go to the disgusting dump.) We stopped to get Frosty's today to reward my grandmother for her hard work, and headed home to eat lunch and have our Frosty dessert. Mom had changed the CD to a classic hymn collection and the hymn, "No, Not One" came on. My grandmother started to sing along quietly in her deep throaty voice, "Jesus knows all about our troubles," and Mom started singing a soft harmony, "He will guide 'til the day is done." I sang a higher harmony, "There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. No, not one."

I think my grandmother really enjoyed herself. I know I did.