Remember the fable of the ant and the grasshopper? ( http://www.umass.edu/aesop/content.php?i=1&n=0 ) The ant industriously uses his summer hours to prepare for winter’s storms. The grasshopper frivolously frolics his summer away, thoroughly enjoying the moment.
It’s been a grasshopper summer for us. The list of things we did not do this summer is filled with tasks. The list of things we did do is filled with memories.
We did not:
§ Re-roof the chicken coop. It appears the chickens will be dodging leaks for yet another year.
§ Repair the zip line. Perhaps it will be done in time for grandchildren…..
§ Clean the carpets. Our cream colored carpets look gray. Gray is a nice color, right?
§ Scrub the cupboard doors. Fortunately their textured, dark green paint hides filth well.
§ Thin the peaches. Lots of small peaches taste just a good as fewer, larger ones…
§ Spray the apples. Wormy apples have more protein…
§ Read 1,000 pages (Miles). There are still two weeks before school starts for him… Perhaps if I don’t let him play on the computer until he finishes……
§ Run during June and July to train for cross country (Grace). She has been running with the RHS cross country team for the past two weeks though, and loves it.
§ Take two classes online that she needs to graduate but does not have room for in her schedule (Tanah). Hum…
§ Re-write the EHS Earth Science class curriculum (Teresa). DANG!
§ Remove the old carpet from the orchard. (Lance) He started……
We did:
§ Swim, boat, run, hike, chat, eat, work, and do dishes with Noel cousins, siblings, aunts, uncles, parents, and grandparents at Zion’s Camp.
§ Stand in awe, amazed at the grandeur of the Redwoods
§ Sit in awe, amazed at the magnificence of the Calgary Stampede
§ “Oooh” in awe at the glacially carved cirques in Glacier National Park and “Eek” in amazement (and alarm) as two male mountain goats raced past us on a narrow mountain trail there.
§ Listen to rain pound our tent top at night, look at Lone Star Geyser erupt just minutes after we’d completed the 2.5 mile hike that lead us to its base during the day, and linger at dusk, watching a black bear meander in a meadow in Yellowstone National Park.
§ Relish two days at Daniel’s Summit Lodge with 250 other former missionaries (and their families) from President Sorensen’s era in the Dominican Republic where we shared testimonies and memories, Teresa danced merengue (it will never happen again), Lance absolutely stole the show with his performance as a six star general running the S.S.A, i.e. Secret Service Academy (“My apologies to those of you who are dyslexic…”), and Miles spent $27 of his own money on arcade games.
§ Drive with Michael Drago to Maryland and then flew back in a three-day, transcontinental blitz. (Lance)
§ Swim (break-taking), bike (butt-breaking), and run (leg aching) in her first (but probably not last) triathlon. (Teresa)
§ Fly to Washington State and Las Vegas, attend Girl’s State and Girl’s Camp, and participate in the Roy High Leadership Conference and the Chamber Choir Retreat at the North Fork Environmental Center. (Tanah) No wonder she did not have time for her online classes!
§ Get her Learner’s Permit and start driving. (Grace)
§ Backpack into the Uintah’s for a three day fishing trip (Miles and Lance) and start football practice (Miles).
Tomorrow Lance and I have to report back to work. Exit grasshoppers. Enter ants. May the memories of our grasshopper summer sustain us through the toils of our ant fall, winter, and spring.
It’s been a grasshopper summer for us. The list of things we did not do this summer is filled with tasks. The list of things we did do is filled with memories.
We did not:
§ Re-roof the chicken coop. It appears the chickens will be dodging leaks for yet another year.
§ Repair the zip line. Perhaps it will be done in time for grandchildren…..
§ Clean the carpets. Our cream colored carpets look gray. Gray is a nice color, right?
§ Scrub the cupboard doors. Fortunately their textured, dark green paint hides filth well.
§ Thin the peaches. Lots of small peaches taste just a good as fewer, larger ones…
§ Spray the apples. Wormy apples have more protein…
§ Read 1,000 pages (Miles). There are still two weeks before school starts for him… Perhaps if I don’t let him play on the computer until he finishes……
§ Run during June and July to train for cross country (Grace). She has been running with the RHS cross country team for the past two weeks though, and loves it.
§ Take two classes online that she needs to graduate but does not have room for in her schedule (Tanah). Hum…
§ Re-write the EHS Earth Science class curriculum (Teresa). DANG!
§ Remove the old carpet from the orchard. (Lance) He started……
We did:
§ Swim, boat, run, hike, chat, eat, work, and do dishes with Noel cousins, siblings, aunts, uncles, parents, and grandparents at Zion’s Camp.
§ Stand in awe, amazed at the grandeur of the Redwoods
§ Sit in awe, amazed at the magnificence of the Calgary Stampede
§ “Oooh” in awe at the glacially carved cirques in Glacier National Park and “Eek” in amazement (and alarm) as two male mountain goats raced past us on a narrow mountain trail there.
§ Listen to rain pound our tent top at night, look at Lone Star Geyser erupt just minutes after we’d completed the 2.5 mile hike that lead us to its base during the day, and linger at dusk, watching a black bear meander in a meadow in Yellowstone National Park.
§ Relish two days at Daniel’s Summit Lodge with 250 other former missionaries (and their families) from President Sorensen’s era in the Dominican Republic where we shared testimonies and memories, Teresa danced merengue (it will never happen again), Lance absolutely stole the show with his performance as a six star general running the S.S.A, i.e. Secret Service Academy (“My apologies to those of you who are dyslexic…”), and Miles spent $27 of his own money on arcade games.
§ Drive with Michael Drago to Maryland and then flew back in a three-day, transcontinental blitz. (Lance)
§ Swim (break-taking), bike (butt-breaking), and run (leg aching) in her first (but probably not last) triathlon. (Teresa)
§ Fly to Washington State and Las Vegas, attend Girl’s State and Girl’s Camp, and participate in the Roy High Leadership Conference and the Chamber Choir Retreat at the North Fork Environmental Center. (Tanah) No wonder she did not have time for her online classes!
§ Get her Learner’s Permit and start driving. (Grace)
§ Backpack into the Uintah’s for a three day fishing trip (Miles and Lance) and start football practice (Miles).
Tomorrow Lance and I have to report back to work. Exit grasshoppers. Enter ants. May the memories of our grasshopper summer sustain us through the toils of our ant fall, winter, and spring.
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