Beneath the Wraps

                Quite recently I found this link on friend’s facebook post.   “Oh, great!” I thought.   Guess which airline carrier we used? We were supposed to come back by way of Atlanta, but Delta isn’t even flying into Atlanta right now.   We stopped in Detroit both coming and going.           We left the house between 3:30 and 4:00 three weeks ago on Wednesday morning.   I don’t know what time we arrived at Medford.   Roland dropped Jenna and I off while he went and parked.   We sat down in a chair and waited as I thought he would have   to be present when we checked in the luggage.   Too bad.   There was no line when we had initially gone in.   When Roland walked through the doors a line had formed.   Where had all the people come from?   And why had they picked that time to get on a plane?   Perhaps they hadn’t chosen that earl...

On our last full day we took two cars to the ”beach”.   I had purchased a pair of jelly shoes to wear in the sand.   I could have worn my sneakers and been okay.   Jenna wouldn’t have.   She definitely needed the flipflops we purchased. I don’t know how long we were at the lake.   I think we spent just as much time on the grounds across from the lake.   It was a nice day to end our vacation. Carrie said that (prior to Covid) that this area would be open each summer as a fair run by volunteers; it was fortunate that there were some places open funny how these viewers were open at the lake but not at Niagara Falls Jenna had no idea that a large would be that large

On our fifth day was two weeks ago today.  We were at the house Randy put us to work.   Who doesn’t love doing yard work during their vacation?   Better than being cramped up in a plane or a car I suppose. Also his corner lot yard is much easier to manage than the wilds of our backyard.  Devin doing dishes Roland mowing lawn Jenna looks overly thrilled in all of these pictures happy to have recruited family to do chores I was certainly not dressed for the part "This is NOT how I wanted to spend my vacation" holding the cord of the lawnmower Me with my youngest grandson This is how Roland and I would vacuum at the church.  He would push the vacuum and I would hold the cord.

Evelyn had called last night to make arrangements for Jenna and her friend to meet at the gate instead of driving through onto her property.   Roland seemed weirded out as he asked why I would allow her to work on the Sabbath.   We’re in quarantine.   As with so many others, I have lost track of the days.   Jenna has rather enjoyed not having to go to young women each week as she has little in common with the rest of the girls.   It’s usually a chore just being there as she often feels out of place.   I fully relate.   I didn’t feel like I ever fit in with the young women either – not as a youth.   Certainly not as a leader. Each individual has his or her own interpretation of what accounts for keeping the Sabbath day holy. For me, it is making an effort to make it more special than any other day.   When I was a youth, it was playing games with family, visiting grandma, taking Sunday drives on occasion. Wonderful World of Disney was on ...

On Sunday Randy took us to Palmyra.   We had passed the Palmyra Temple and Hill Cumorah in Manchaster.   I did not take pictures as we hadn’t stopped.   The plan was to visit the sacred grove in Palmyra and hit the other sites on our return.   Once again Randy played tour guide as we led ourselves around, read signs and took many pictures.   Jenna is so great at taking selfies Love this picture that Jenna took of her brother and niece LaTiesha, Randy, Devin, Roland When the missionaries finally showed up we were told that the visitor center was closed (due to COVID of course) but that virtual tours were offered.     We decided we would forgo the tour as Randy had done a good job and we were all hungry and wanted food.   We drove through the city of Palmyra but did not find food there, but some interesting sites.    four churches are located at one intersection I could not capture all four churches in one photo.    This p...