Moving the Kids Out

Two of them, anyway. I drove the family van up to visit my father last Friday, followed by our #2 daughter in her car. She was packed and ready (more or less) to get back to studies. After a visit with grandpa, of course.

I'm glad I went, although I slept 12 hours Friday night, and Saturday morning, after a slight intestinal event.

That was really odd. Sure, I've been short-changing myself on sleep for the last few weeks, but that's nothing. When I was in our daughter's position, a college student, my schedule demanded crazy hours, and I could do it standing on my head: no problem.

Wait a minute. That was - let's see. Thirty. Years. Ago.

Looks like my wife is right: I do need more, and more regular, sleep.

Then, just to keep my life interesting, my body decided to keep me awake most of last night. I relaxed all of today: which didn't take much of an act of will on my part. I very sincerely didn't feel like doing much, aside from letting my eyes blink, and twiddling my fingers over a keyboard and mouse once in a while.

Tomorrow morning, our #1 daughter and I will go through about the same routine, except not over such a long distance. In her case, it's a move down the road to a town where she got a job.

Driving up to my father's home, in the Red River Valley of the North, brings me back to the area where I grew up. I'm a town boy, but the edge of town wasn't that far away, and the family went from town to town fairly often.

I'm used to a landscape that's a bit on the roomy side. In the half-century since I got started, the Red River Valley has gotten built up quite a bit. Most of the shelter belts and wind breaks weren't there when my mind was establishing how the place "should" look. Just the same, this picture gives you a little idea of how much elbow-room there is.

Sauk Centre, on the other hand, is a very pleasant place. It's a bit on the crowded side, though, with farmsteads less than a mile apart, and a horizon that's often not much farther away. Still, it's a nice place to live. This picture is of fields between the west side of Sauk Centre and the Interstate.