Chapter 3: Family Activities

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Today I woke up about fifteen minutes before the alarm was set to go off. After getting dressed in Grandpa’s coverall he had loaned me for chores, I gently shook Tom. On my way to the kitchen, I knocked on Rose’s door. When I got a response, I let them know I was up, but not Tom. Going downstairs, I wondered if I would have to make the choice between having to wait for my first cup of coffee or trying to figure out how to make some myself.

Fortunately for my taste buds, Grandma followed me into the kitchen.

“Grandma, could you teach me how to make coffee?”

I was shown the amount of water and coffee Grandma usually put in her coffee maker. As the coffee was being made, she told me, “I would appreciate it if you are making coffee for more than one person here that use that recipe. You might want to experiment in the future, but some people don’t like their coffee very strong, others don’t like it very weak,”

Tom, Jessica, and Rose arrived downstairs just as the coffee finished brewing. After our first cup of coffee, we headed out to do the chores. Since Jessica, Tom, and I had been reminded of some of the tricks involved in doing the chores the previous day, it did not take long to finish today’s chores. Like yesterday, the four showers I knew of in Grandma’s house were available for the four of us to use to get ready to go to church.

Today I hurried a bit more than usual in my shower, thinking of seeing again some friends I have made among the youth in Rose’s church. Breakfast today was homemade blueberry muffins. The recipe Grandma uses tastes better when we have it during our second summer visit since she can use fresh blueberries. Still, the only complaints she gets is that she did not make enough. The frozen blueberries Grandma used today were picked from her garden towards the end of last summer and frozen the same day.

Once breakfast was done, we all chipped in to ensure the kitchen and dinning room were clean before we left for church. When time came for us to leave, we loaded up in two vehicles just as we had yesterday. We soon arrived at Orient Drive Baptist Church, where my grandparents have attended practically since their birth. Tom and I got out of the car and went over to talk with some of the youth who were visiting outside the building before it was time to start Sunday School. It was interesting meeting up with several of the youth I knew. To my surprise, Rose introduced Phillip Walker, who was one of my better friends at her church, as her boyfriend. His twin sister Janice also stayed near Tom and me during Sunday School, the morning worship service, and the lunch afterwards.

When we got back to Grandpa’s we changed from our church going clothes into shorts and t-shirts. Jessica, Rose, Tom, and I started to look though the boxes when May gave us some marching orders, “Jessica, Tom, and Robin, how about the three of you take advantage of the nice weather outside this afternoon. Rose, I know that as your sister, I can’t tell you what to do, but it might not be a bad idea to do the same.”

We talked a few minutes about possibly doing something together. Jessica whispered a couple of suggestions to Rose who refused them due to a promise they had made. After listening to at least four suggestions, besides the ones Jessica whispered to Rose, being rejected by at least two of the others, I made a decision.

“I don’t know about you three. I will be reading up in the tree ... house.” I announced. I then went to the stack of books I had collected while going through the boxes in the attic that I was planning on adding to my library. Picking one, I headed outside and made my way to the treehouse that initially had been used by my moms and Uncle Jim.

Arriving at the treehouse, I went upstairs and grabbed one of the hammocks, setting it up on the porch closest to the swimming pond. I got distracted enough by the story that I didn’t realize that Jessica, Rose, and Tom had followed my example and were also reading while relaxing in a hammock.

The tree-house itself was four meters by four meters, with a two and a half meter wide porch on every side. One thing I noticed as I passed through was that it was now set up so that it would be possible to spend the night.

I got lost in my reading, not noticing the passage of time which is something that often happens when I get interested in a story. I only became aware I was not alone at the treehouse when I heard two cell phones ringing. Rose then called out, “Robin and Tom, Time for chores.”

When I went back in the treehouse with the hammock I had used, I noticed that there were four coveralls folded on the table. “Why are you just standing around? Go ahead and put on your coverall on top of your clothes,” Jessica said as she entered through the door to my left.

After we had slipped on the coveralls over our regular clothes, Rose had us fold and store the hammocks. As we climbed down, I wondered if someday I would get a panties shot from a girl either climbing or going down the rope ladder while wearing a skirt, with me holding it steady. I would not mind even if it was Jessica or Rose, although I thought it might be a little strange to be picturing looking up at Jessica’s pa.

While doing the chores, I voiced my curiosity, “Why were there four coveralls in the treehouse?”

“Once you told us what you were planning on doing, Jessica and Rose decided that was not a bad idea,” Tom replied.

“Just Jessica and Rose?”

“Okay Robin, I admit that I also thought you had a better idea than some of the suggestions that had been made before you got frustrated. Anyway, Mom April intercepted us as we were headed towards the door, and asked where we were going.”

“Go on,” I commented.

“Once we told her we would be spending the afternoon in and near the treehouse, she suggested we take the coveralls, with me picking up both of ours. She mentioned that someone would call either Jessica’s or Rose’s phone when it was time for chores, as a reminder. We could then just put the overalls over our regular clothes and go straight from the treehouse to doing the evening chores,” Tom replied.

We then continued with some small chat, doing what I had assumed was the normal list of evening tasks. As we came in from doing the chores we were sent to the showers, with Rose and Jessica sharing the one between their rooms and Tom and I using the other two showers on the upper floor. After some sandwiches with vegetables on the side we spent the evening inside. Initially everyone was involved in playing UNO^tm. As the evening went on several of us got tired of playing. I had been watching others play when April decided to stop playing for the night.

April went over to the stack of boxes that Jessica, Rose, Tom, and I had not opened yesterday. When she looked into the first box she opened, she blushed, “I think it might be best if May or I open the rest of the boxes.”

April then sealed that box back up and rushed it to the basement. After fifteen minutes, she returned with empty hands. She and May ended up taking at least a quick glance inside all the other boxes that evening. They found another three or four other boxes they had either Steve or Henry take downstairs after they had been resealed.

When either April or May would declare a box to be ‘safe’ they would set it aside. Jessica, Rose, Tom, and I eventually started checking the boxes that passed our moms inspection. One of the boxes I checked Sunday evening seemed to consist of two sets of dishes, like the one I had grabbed the previous evening. When Grandma noticed me looking through the dishes, she came over to take a closer look,

Grandma leaned over my shoulder, “Those look like some of the dishes Mom used to have.”

“I wondered who might have owned them. That box also has two incomplete sets that have been combined,” I mentioned, pointing to the other box I had selected.

“Could you take these two boxes of dishes to the office as well?” Grandma asked after thinking for a moments. Louder she continued, “If any of you find any dishes, please take them to the office. Robin has found several complete and incomplete sets that are old enough to possibly contain lead. George or I will take them to be tested next week to make sure they are safe to use.”

I whispered to Grandma, “Since your mom and possibly mother-in-law used several of these, wouldn’t it be safe to assume they are not dangerous?”

Grandma whispered back, “Better safe than sorry.”

April and May each located a box containing serving dishes that matched those I had taken to the office. They had me set those boxes on the stack of crates of dishes I had made in Grandpa’s office. The rest of the evening saw each of the seven of us separating a few items. Grandpa and my dads mostly spent the time putting the contents of each person’s square into boxes. They also combined the contents of the full boxes, sometimes selecting an item or two as well.

Most of what I had selected these past two days were books. Besides the books, I picked out a few small items that I found out had belonged to one of my great-grandfathers or Grandpa. Looking through some of the things I had considered adding to my stack when I first saw them but then changed my mind Grandma spotted several items that had been on the list of things that Uncle Jim had wanted if they could be found.

Grandpa eventually said, “It’s my bedtime, see you all in the morning.” before heading off to his bedroom. That prompted the rest of us to follow his example. This evening, just before I turned off the light, Rose opened the door to the connecting bathroom and without looking in, said, “Forty-eight hours.”

I lay down for a while wondering what Rose had meant by that. At one point, before falling asleep, I thought I heard a door open into the common room. I waited for a while, trying to hear any more door noises. As I was falling asleep I wondered if the sound I heard had existed only in my head.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Today, Tom was the one who woke up slightly earlier. He actually waited to make sure I was moving before leaving the room except for a quick visit to the restroom. We quickly got dressed. As we headed downstairs Tom knocked on Rose’s door. Once in the kitchen, I tried to prepare following Grandma’s instructions, but it ended up a little strong. That was solved by adding some water after I had poured my first cup of coffee.

Grandpa had joined Tom and me and we visited a bit while we drank our first cup of coffee. When Jessica tasted her cup, she looked over at Grandpa, “Grandpa, you didn’t need to make the coffee weaker just for me,”

“Sis,” I interrupted, “Blame the coffee on me. I tried making it, but initially it came out a little strong. I then added a little too much water.”

After the chores, Tom and I had to wait until Jessica and Rose were done with their shower before we could take our separate ones. As a result, I was the last one to sit down for breakfast.

When we were almost done eating breakfast, Grandma got our attention, “I want to start with the garden today. I know Steve has something planned for this morning along with either Robin or Tom and George has something planned for the other one. I would appreciate it if the rest of you could help me in that project.”

Once the food and dishes had been taken care of after breakfast, Grandpa announced, “Steve, Robin, and Tom, please hold back for a bit.”

After Grandma and her crew had made their way outside, Grandpa continued, “Robin and Tom, I have talked to your dads, and they have allowed me the privilege to give the two of you driving lessons today.

“Thanks Grandpa,” I replied with a mental cheer, echoed by Tom.

Grandpa held up a coin showing us one side, “This is heads. I am going to flip this coin and today I believe it’s Robin’s turn to call out either heads or tails while it’s in the air.”

As Grandpa flipped the coin, I called out, “Heads.”

After retrieving the coin from under the table where it ended up after the flip, Grandpa looked at me, “Heads it its. Do you want the morning or afternoon session?”