Sons, Rivers and... lost dreams of the Super Bowl.

Our son came up to visit this weekend. "M" lives in Oakland, down in the Bay Area. We loved having him come up even for a couple of days.
I made some beef stew.

And baked a pie.

It should have been a cherry pie (our son's favorite), but cherries were a little out of season so I used  frozen mixed berries. It turned out fine and no one turned their noses up at it.
On Sunday "M" took us out to breakfast (a real treat) and we showed him some of the local changes that were in progress..

We try to impress our grown children with the new advancements in our small town. We try to find entertaining possibilities to brag about. Well, Tractor Supply Company is coming to town.

Hey, we live in a town where construction of anything is an exciting event. They had to rearrange a creek to do this. The Prospector has been wanting to take his gold pan down there and check out the piles of dirt that are being moved around. The signs say "no trespassing". That hasn't stopped him before. Gold Fever is a dormant, itchy illness that never goes away.I have to keep an eye on him for outbreaks.
I don't think "M" was that impressed with the possibilities of this new store as we were, but he was polite about it. He asked us if there were that many folks that needed "tractor" supplies in the area.
We told him it was more than just tractor supplies. It would be a comprehensive farm supply store. This store would offer a lot more than tractor parts. We laughed at our excitement over another farm store coming to town.
"M" and his dad were joking about our level of expectation over a new store in town and I thought about how far we had come from the years of living in the suburbs and how our expectations had change.
I can remember when they covered the small, outdoor "MALL" in the town where we raised our boys. It was a big deal. They expanded Sears and brought in Gottchalks. It was so exciting. We didn't have to drive to the big mall an hour away anymore. We  were coming up in the world.
Now, when I drive through that town on the way to the Bay Area I see all the stores that I wanted when I lived there... and more. Now, I don't look at all the "choices" as exciting.
I see traffic. I see highways under construction for the hundredth time and chaos in this small town that has grown expeditiously in the 18 years since we left it.
Now, there is everything I wanted... then.
There is even a SEE'S Candy store. I could have really used one of those back in the day.
So, we choose to move even further up into the boonies and now we get excited about the new Tractor Supply store that's being built. How far we've come... backwards.

We decided that we better take "M" to the RIVER. So we drove south out of town and, even though rain was threatening, we thought that a walk across the Clinton Bridge at Middle Bar would be the one beautiful place to share with our son. It was.

This river, the great Mokelumne, always impresses. It makes all other man-made achievements pale in comparison.
The old Clinton Bridge at Middle Bar is being threatened by folks who want to make a bigger damn,

...but we have some dedicated people who are fighting this tooth and nail.
This bridge and the surrounding area will all be under water if some people have their way. The expansion of the Pardee reservoir would cover one of the most beautiful parts of California's river system.

We joke about having water front property without moving from our mountain top, but the reality is that it could happen and all of this would be gone forever.
"M" was much more impressed with this whole scenario than with the building of a new store in town.
We took a walk across the bridge.

And he discovered a walking trail on the other side of the river. He does a lot of jogging and running in the hills of Oakland so this was new and interesting territory for him.  I'm sure he will be back to run the trails here.
The river worked its magic and we could feel its spirit flowing beneath us.

 This rain will bring more water to fill the reservoirs "up river" and then the water will rise and cover the gravel beds and bedrock that show themselves this time of the year.

I have bonded with this river. The Mokelumne is now my "bedrock". I feel more alive and HOME here than any place  I have ever lived.

"M" left last night after supper. We will miss him. Come back soon, son.

We watched the sad game between the 49er's and the NY Giants.
Oh, well. Not everything can be perfect.
They tried.  They were tied. They went into overtime. They lost.
Damn! Now the Super Bowl belongs to the East Coast.
Maybe next year....

"Son"shine Weekend

Our oldest son was here for the weekend. "M" came up to celebrate Father's Day with us. He brought his cat, Lucky, with him. She is a sweet old cat who needs medication twice a day. Lucky is a very nice cat to have around. She is quiet, content to sleep on the extra bed and doesn't seem ruffled by the Pupster and Cutter, even through she doesn't live with dogs at home.
I told you that the dogs would set up a vigil in the hallway while she was visiting and , well, as you can see.... Carl did.

Poor Carl just about wore himself our being vigilant. I got that "Why I'm I having to go through this" look constantly. It helped that our son gave both dogs a lot of attention. Still, Carl was determined to see this threat to his way of life, that had taken over the extra bedroom, as an invasion of the grandest proportions.

We were in the guest/computer room yesterday morning. Our son was bringing us into the advanced computer age with directions on how to use an iPod suffle that he gave his Dad for Father's Day. We were all in the room, with the cat, with the door closed. The cat got up and walked over to the door. That's when I heard a loud sniffing sound from the other side. I knew who it was so I opened the door just a couple of inches. Guess who? (above).... He backed away and sat down looking like we were all being traitors, but with an edge of despondency too. "Oh, Carl. Come over here. Come see Lucky. She's a nice cat." I said, quietly, through the crack in the door. He just sat there and looked at me. I guess there will never be an indoor cat in this house. Cutter had given up and spent most of his time outside.
We had a lovely weekend with our son. I wish our other son and his family could have been here too, but they were here a couple of weekends ago so I guess I can't have everything I want.... and The Prospector got a phone call from "J" with best wishes.
What we really need is the two story, 4 bedroom house that we sold 15 years ago. I NEED MORE ROOM!! The boys are very good about the "no room to spread out" situation here. I guess I worry about it too much. So, to compensate for tight quarters, I baked brownies and made some orange buttermilk ice cream. This always seems to work.One has nothing to do with the other but, somehow, it makes tiny spaces seem more tolerable. Isn't that weird !

We are so fortunate to have two sons that still like us after all these years. I had many moments when we were raising them when I thought that we were doing all the wrong things and that they would regret their upbringing.... but hang in there, all of you who think you don't know what you're doing. Your best efforts will be rewarded. The rest is water under the bridge....and it seems that children can be forgiving too. We all like each other. What a nice result for all the anxieties of parenthood.