Clarion - 28. Chapter 28

Sleep came easy that night, even Cody was tired. True to form, there was a knock on our door and two boys brought in coffee and a toasted bagel with cream cheese for us. They sat down on the bed while we drank our coffee. “Thanks boys. We could get use to this. Did you have anything to eat?”

“Yes, we had orange juice and a bagel as well.”

“Good, after I get showered and dressed I’ll fix us breakfast. What would you, like pancakes or an omelet?”

The boys chose an omelet and I was in agreement with that. When they left with the empty cups and plates, I got up to take my shower. Someone else had the same idea, it took us a little longer taking the shower but it was a lot of fun. I really loved Cody and our family. For me it's a fairy tale that has come to life.

School started and life became routine again. Walks in the woods gathering nuts and berries, this time I had two boys helping. They rode the ATV while I walked. Once we started to fill a bushel, James took the ATV back to the house and unloaded the bushel. We continue to pick until all of the bushels were filled. Then as James and I walked back, Nels drove the ATV.

This continued to be our weekend activity until it appeared that the berries had all been picked and nuts gathered. We left some of the nuts for the squirrels. In the evening, I prepared the berries to be frozen, those that were not eaten. The boys spread the nuts to dry under the tarpaulin, we’ll remove the outer shells and then the boys can cracked them to remove the nut meat.

Fall is a great time of the year, warm days and cold nights, great for being outside and fantastic for snuggling at night. Abram brought over our meat, the freezers were stocked again. I did go and order more salmon and lamb from Ron. The boys went fishing on the weekend and our trout supply grew. Life was good, I had family, great friends and thanks to Stark Inc, I had a good income to be able to enjoy life. I realize that I was very fortunate and there were a lot of people who were not as fortunate. Maybe my New Year’s resolution will involve helping out some people who were not as fortunate.

That evening as I was preparing the pies for the freezer, Cody came in with 8 pies he bought from Ruth Haas. I kept one out for dinner and froze the others. I saw the boys eyes get big when Cody took the pies out of the cardboard box. I just smiled at them and winked, they knew that we would have a lot of pies for desserts.

“Cody, I think we should rearrange the great room. It would be nice to have a large dining table that could seat 12. Our list of friends keeps growing and it would be nice to have them over for either Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Our dining room would be too small. What do you think?”

“Are you thinking of a permanent arrangement or something that we can dismantle? I would hate to give up that comfy spot in front of the fire place.”

“I guess we could have a table that could be dismantled. The extra chairs can be stored in the garage. I’ll call Noah and see what he can come up with.”

As winter approached, the snow sled showed up on the patio. The boys were polishing the blades, when I asked why. They told me that Andy said it will go faster if the blades are polished. It kept them busy and they were happy. That evening they joined Cody and me in the hot tub. We had on our bathing suits, the boys came out in their shorts and when they saw us they went and put their bathing suits on also. Without saying a word, an agreement was reached that if we were in the hot tub, then we would wear our bathing suits.

“Dad, some of the boys at school said they don’t wear any clothes when they use a hot tub?”

“That’s probably true, but when grownups are around, they should wear something.”

“So if it’s just James and I, we could use the tub without wearing anything?”

“Yes, if that is what you both agree, but you might want to be sure no one else is around taking pictures from the road. With a good long distance lens, they can take pictures of the house from the road.”

“I think I’ll wear my bathing suit.”

“You could buy a Speedo which is briefer than the bathing suit you have now. Or you could wear you shorts. Just remember what you wear or don’t wear may show up on someone’s camera.”

Our family life fell into a routine. We walked the trails in Cook Forest, we traveled to Erie on buying trips, I had several meetings with Noah concerning a large table for the great room. I tried new recipes with my assistant chef. Nels took an interest in cooking, or I think he did. Thinking about his past, I wasn’t sure if it was the interest in cooking or spending time with me. I think he was closer to me than Cody, it appeared that James liked to spend time with Cody. I think in any family situation one of the children seems to be closer to one parent than the other, but they all show love to both. The difference is slight, if you watch and think about it, the behavior patterns are there.

Thanksgiving we spent at Mary and Brain’s home. I took over several pies and a bowl of blackberries. Dinner was delicious and she had a full house. I noticed she had two tables set up in their dining/living room. One small table was for the boys and the grownups ate at the larger table. Cody caught me looking at the set up and winked at me when I looked at him. He knew what I was thinking.

On the way home, “I knew what you were thinking about the table set up that Mary and Brian had. Are you thinking something like that for us?”

“Not exactly, if our boys were younger, it would seem more appropriate, but our boys are older and so are there friends. I think they should join the adults at the table. They could add an interesting perspective to our table talks.”

“When you talk to Noah ask him about building a carport on the front of the garage?”

“Why would you need a carport? The garage is large enough for my car and your truck.”

“I want to park the truck in the carport and then set up a gym in that space in the garage. The gym at the college is for students only. I would like to get James and Nels interested in exercising and body building.”

“You know of course someone else will be showing an interest.”

“That’s ok, the more participants, the more fun, it’s always good to have someone cheering you on, helps to motivate you.”

“Ok, I’ll ask him. That will be your Christmas present this year.”

“Equipment also?”

I did talk to Noah about the car port. He said it would take about a week once the lumber has arrived. I told him to order what he needed and to have them send the bill to me. We discussed the table; Noah said we could have a table that could extend itself to seat 12 easily. When it wasn’t extended it would be about the size of the dining room table. I thought that would be ok, we would just have to rearrange the room for when we had company for dinner and then we could move the table back. The kids could use it for home work as well. I asked if he could make it out of walnut as I saw several walnut trees that had died, there were no leaves on them in the spring. He said he could but it would take a while. I told him if he could work on the carport first I wouldn’t need the table until around Easter. He thought that was doable.

That evening I told Cody about the carport and it should be done before Christmas. We talked about the table and when I explained how Noah was going to build it, he was happy that it wouldn’t interfere with him sitting in front of the fireplace. James and Nels had searched Canada and found a resort that provided skiing and ice skating. I asked Mary and Brian if they wanted to go with us, this meant Andy and Jeff would go as well. Knowing Jeff, Nancy Jean would tag along. I think there will be a wedding upon them graduating from college.

We decided we would drive to Niagara Falls and cross over into Canada from there. Once we crossed over, it looked like an 8 hour drive to the resort. I would take my car and Jeff would drive his new car. I made sure we had a set of chains for both cars; I checked the tires to be sure they were all weather tires.