Wrapping up 2014

It’s been hovering around ten degrees below zero every morning for a few days. The cows need fed regardless of the weather and especially so in severe conditions. Mark is finding out the downside of the new used diesel truck we bought which is not wanting to start. The old '73 International and the '77 Ford fired up just fine though! I’ll even forgive the passenger door on the Ford that won’t open from the outside. Actually reaching across the seat to open the door for the feeder person is second nature. 

Callie made her way back to New York City, catching a plane at 5:40 am on New Year’s day. This followed a celebration the night before at her grandpa’s dance barn. I imagine she had quite a culture shock when she arrived back at La Guardia Airport. It was 48 degrees there on the east coast which only scratches the surface of the differences between the two places.

Gary’s dance barn, an old milking facility with a hardwood floor in the free stall area and a bar in the milking parlor, usually hosts a New Year’s Eve party. The dance was a good one this year because of all the young adults that showed up. Someone said dancing is a time honored “safe” way for males and females to come together. There wasn’t much mixing though until our kids got them involved in the Virginia Reel, an old folk dance where the boys line up on one side and the girls on the other. After much do-se-doing and sashaying and “swing your partner” they got mixed up right good.

There were lots of little kids too, young enough to dance freely without all those annoying insecurities that emerge at about 11 years old. We don’t dance enough in our world. Mark’s grandma and grandpa as young marrieds danced every week at one venue or another, changing partners throughout the evening. And you didn’t go home early just because you had little kids. Grandma Bonny says the kids would play until they fell asleep on benches along the edge of the dance floor. And if you ask me, that is much healthier than insisting they go home at 9:00 pm because “it’s their bedtime.”

My favorite part of any dance is watching my family out on the floor together. Seth is good to dance with his sisters and Mark can still cut a rug with Callie and Anna at the western swing. They don’t get dizzy like I do! 

a new year dawns