A Treasured Visitor

On Sunday, for the first time ever, a Downy Woodpecker visited our bird feeder. He appeared again yesterday. We've had lots of Red-Bellied Woodpeckers at the feeders for the past few years, and I occasionally saw a Downy in the tall trees near the house. But it was as if the tiny woodpeckers never saw the feeders.

I'd like to think that the Downy Woodpecker came because of the beef fat we put out recently, but he never ate any of it that I saw.

A new bird at the feeder always causes great excitement inside the house--if I'm here, at least. Meanwhile the bird outside is completely heedless--going about his business--in the limelight or hidden away--happy either way.

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We're sending approving looks and extra pats Brandi's way, ever since she deposited a dead mole for us to exclaim over next to the drive. Late last summer we saw lots of tunneling in the yard south of the house, and Grant uttered many vile threats whenever he saw new tunneling activity. But we never got very serious about trapping, poisoning, or repelling them. I personally think the dog disposing of the moles is a perfect arrangement.

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Is there a volunteer substitute teacher for the high school on Friday? All of us teachers and about eight students want to attend Alvin Yoder's funeral or Liz Hershberger's funeral in Indiana. We'd really like to count the day as a school day so that we can have a day off at the end of the quarter for figuring report card grades. We're having a lot of trouble thinking of someone who might be available. Almost everyone has a connection to Alvin Yoder's extended family or is gone right now and unavailable for that reason.

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We need a new kitchen stove. Does anyone have a warning or a recommendation for what we should consider? I'm not convinced that electronic control panels are a wonderful thing, but it may be the only thing available these days. In an active weather zone such as is true of this region, electrical storms can zap those control systems in a flash. We could use either a 30-inch or a 36-inch stove.

I'm considering a Frigidaire if we buy a new one, since that's apparently one of the few domestic brands that isn't made by generic-gendering Whirlpool. I really like the idea of an oven that allows a setting low enough to act as a warming drawer or a proofing chamber. We probably need a gas range, since electricity is quite expensive at our Trail West house (Wires running through many low-populated square miles has that effect on rates.). But propane is expensive too, and the cost gap has probably narrowed considerably in recent years. I also like white instead of stainless steel for kitchen appliances, except I think black is a nice touch for the top. I can think of better things to do with my time than buffing the silver finish on my appliances, or mopping up or scrubbing off spills on a white top.

There's probably not a range out there that would be just right, and I could probably be happy with an imperfect one if it worked right and didn't cost a fortune. If my appliance store cousins lived here I'd gladly buy from them, but I'm not sure that buying a stove in Iowa to use in Kansas makes a huge amount of sense. My parents often did something similar though.

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Somehow the talk in the typing room today got around to spankings--most recent, most memorable, favored parental administerer, avoidance tactics, accompanying admonitions, spankable offenses, merits of crying promptly, having to wait till Dad came home, begging not to wait, bending over requirements (the hamper or the bed--toe touching is to be avoided at all costs), hands or paddles or wooden spoons or yard sticks or glue sticks (!). I listened without comment. And no one pretended that this discussion was incongruous in any way with the task most of the students were in the computer lab for--doing a written report on Othello. This was not during class time--more like a study hall--obviously not a very strictly managed one.

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Most of the students ate outside today. It wasn't that warm, but it was sunny and dry and calm, and warmer than any other days recently.

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The sophomore girls and Mr. Schrock had one very funny science lab experience today, judging by the peals of laughter which went on for quite some time.

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Kerri entertained everyone in the computer lab briefly with a near-topple off the backless task chair she was using at one of the computers. She momentarily forgot the "backless" part and leaned back to relax. A wild grab for the table, a little yelp, lots of giggling, and everything was soon back to normal.

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Yesterday during school Grant called to ask if those dried apples I sent for him contained anything other than apples. "Not a thing," I assured him.

Just as I walked in the door at home I remembered the "Fruit Fresh" I had used to keep them from turning brown while I was peeling and slicing them for the dehydrator. I was pretty sure he was asking because Clarissa wanted to know if they were safe for her "potato-free" diet.

So I checked the ingredients and sent Grant the list. Clare responded promptly: "Well, I ate the whole bag, so I guess we'll see what happens." Nothing on the list obviously contained potatoes, but she has learned that the starch hides in many dry ingredients, added as an anti-caking agent.

I haven't heard anything further. I think it would be nice if such accidents served to broaden her list of allowed foods. I don't have any plans for future "intentional accidents" though.

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Shane and Dorcas are in Chaing Mai getting some urgent pampering and shopping and tailoring tasks out of the way between their in-the-jungle stint with Craig and Rachel and their next stint in Burma. Then Japan, then home.

Hiromi is a little worried about how everything will work in Japan. It's a pity he won't be there to accompany them. That would make everything so painless.

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My brother-in-law Marvin showed a rental house yesterday to several young men who lamented that their previous landlord "who was such a nice guy" didn't have any other rentals they could move into. (I think they had to find a cheaper place when one of their number moved out.) They incidentally mentioned the landlord's name: Shane.

Marvin was floored. They ended up giving him a key that one of them had forgotten to turn in to Shane when they left. Marvin dropped it off here this morning.

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Hiromi's penchant for terse communication backfired recently when he sent Shane an email telling him he had been at the Abbyville house to look for a tool he thought Shane might have borrowed, and "there was no water" when he tried the faucet.

Shane read that in Thailand and panicked. He couldn't remember that he had turned off the main water valve as he intended to when he left on a -3 morning. He was visualizing burst water pipes in the basement and all pressure lost upstairs because of water filling up the basement.

He called here on Sat. night while Hiromi was at work at Wal-Mart and begged for him to go check things out. When Hiromi got home, he said he meant to reassure Shane that the water was turned off as he wanted it to be. "I guess I'll have to write him back with longer sentences," he observed.

I heard a great deal of rooster crowing going on when I was talking to Shane. "There must be a rooster close by," I commented.

"Oh, there are approximately 100 roosters close by, and they all crow at this time of the morning," Shane said.

I doubt that sleeping late would be a possibility in that place.