Weekly Update: 3.1.26

It’s March. I can barely believe it. This has to have been one of the quickest winters on record. I was so looking forward to some long, cozy winter days — but I felt like they barely arrived before the weight of spring started settling upon us. We could still have a little winter yet to come, but I am beginning to doubt it. Rather, we have plenty of warm rains and thunderstorms in the forecast.

This week felt like an early changing of seasons. Last Sunday, it was very much winter. We bundled up in freezing weather and drove to Springfield to celebrate our Rite of Election at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. It’s the final step before full initiation on Easter Vigil, next month. It was quite an exodus, getting our dogs all put up and whole family out the door and all the way to town, but we managed it! It was such a blessing to see all those joining the church in our half of the diocese. The diocese as a whole is welcoming more than 900 new members. Those who didn’t travel to Springfield last Sunday will travel to Cape Girardeau for the Rite. After Mass, a few of us went to Costco and picked up Chinese food from the Flaming Wok (a treat from our brother Jeremiah) which was the perfect celebratory end to a big day.

Jeremiah took Monday and Tuesday off for his birthday. We watched James Bond movies, made Vesper martinis, and ate so much good food. On Monday, I assisted while Jeremiah made the family lobster tails and pasta. I opted for chicken, but the seafood lovers thoroughly enjoyed the treat.

On Tuesday, I made Fry Bread, a family favorite since we first sampled it while studying Lakota history as part of homeschooling when I was a teen. We first tried it with taco toppings, which was yummy. However, our favorite way to eat fry bread is with pie filling, jam, or honey — topped with whipped cream.

For Jeremiah’s big birthday dinner, he smoked a brisket in our Kamado Joe. We had great success with our brisket last month and wanted to do it again. This time, the wind kicked up, making it extremely difficult to regulate the smoker temperature. At one point, Jeremiah went to check the brisket, and the influx of air made the flames leap several feet into the air without warning, burning his right hand. Jeremiah kept his cool, but his hand looked bad. We got ahold of our dad, who was working at the clinic that day. He gave us some advice on how to wrap the wound. Jeremiah had to keep it wrapped for days. Despite it being pretty painful, he didn’t let it dampen his birthday. We continued to play games — including Texas Hold’em — and watch movies. We finished the day with a German chocolate cake.

On Wednesday, I finished filing my taxes. It took most of the day to finish everything up, but I was very satisfied to have that project behind me.

While I worked on taxes, Bonnie-Jean and Grace started the seasonal process of cleaning out our storm shelter. In the winter, we use it to store items we don’t want outside in freezing temperatures— paint, caulking, canned goods, and more. We also had all the wood from our shelving stored down there during the last big snow. This year, we added to the normal chaos by storing several totes of kitchen goods (that had been in the tent). Now that spring is around the corner and thunderstorms are on the forecast, we thought we ought to have room in the shelter for people, should the need arise. It was quite the mess, though my sisters made good headway. On Saturday, the rest of the family helped relocate everything to various storage lofts and sheds.

Once the taxes were done, I helped Grace make a better spot for some of the pets in the shelter. It has been a tight squeeze all along, but we have two more dogs this year. Also, to make things more chaotic — some of our dogs don’t always get along. The last thing we want when we have 11 people in such a small space is cranky dogs added into the mix. So, to solve the issue, we decided to turn an old shelf/bunk space into a large dog crate. We were short on time, so we opted for a very simple build — sufficient for the two 14-pound dogs it will house in an emergency.

Along with the storm shelter, we did a few other small projects this week. Bonnie-Jean and Grace cleaned our vehicles. My dad and I hung my mom’s smart birdhouse, which she got from Santa for Christmas. Getting it to hang straight on the crooked tree took a bit of finagling, but we managed it. Bonnie-Jean cleaned the watercress out of our spring. Grace and I also worked on a little bit of siding.

It was a downright packed week, from festivity to brainwork to outdoor work. It is always satisfying to get so much done. In some ways, I don’t quite feel ready for spring. And yet — I felt positively giddy listening to the birds singing in our woods this week. The tinges of green grass here and there are feasts to eyes saturated by all the browns and grays. It makes me want to get serious about planning our garden — maybe next week, when all that rain keeps us inside.

Photo Credit: Grace Gage

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