A BITTERSWEET WEEKEND

Family and a few friends will join Mike and me this weekend as we bury Milo’s ashes at the Gilbert Cemetery. This is an old cemetery that seldom sees a burial these days. Twenty-two members of my dad’s family are buried there and now Milo, too. Mike and I bought a plot a couple of years ago, little thinking that Milo would occupy it first. (Yes, up to six individual ashes can be buried in one plot.)

On the plus side, it will be good to have the Warnocks together – our children and grandchildren (ranging in age from 2 to 29), as well as Mike’s sister Carol, his only sibling, and her husband. Life is for the living. It can’t be otherwise.

Meanwhile, Mike and I have been here at the farm, whipping the house and grounds into shape, planning and preparing meals.

On a recent morning, sitting here at the diningroom window, I looked out to see a coyote between the barn and the pond. It was strange to see one so close as they generally keep their distance. The coyote stealthily hunted around the pond for a while, and as it came back around to the barn, Bess spied it from her perch on the porch and took chase – not far, though. She just gave it a piece of her mind and marched back to the porch. That was a good thing! But – as friend Chris has pointed out, the coyote is our friend when it comes to rodent control.

The new Whirlpool washing machine sounds fairly obnoxious. It makes an electronic sound rather than a sloshing water sound as it runs. Mike was startled and wanted to report it to the dealer, but before he called, I checked online and found a YouTube video of a running washing machine (here).

The photos here were taken ten days ago when we identified serviceberry trees in bloom behind the house. KW