She startled me when I came up the stairs. I saw her standing outside the door, bent over petting the cat. I’d told the boys we had to clean. I rested for about a half hour and gave them tasks to work on in the meantime. Tidy the shoes. Sweep the mudroom and kitchen. Empty both of the downstairs dehumidifiers. Vacuum the school room. One even cleaned the bathroom without me having to ask.

I opened the door for her, not sure how long she had been there. She said she was trying to not let Dipstick inside. He still hangs out close by the front. He’s also had two recent abscesses near his tail. One recently healed and now there is another one. We still need to take him into the vet soon anyway, I just have not gotten around to doing that. She came inside and I told her the boys were downstairs.

Dad and I drove into town to pick up the pizzas. This whole thing has me wondering how involved we’re supposed to be. I would love to be the one giving all the advice. Asking, “What are you going to do?” You should take her on a walk, down to main camp where the lights are. I suppose there’s room for some of that, but then thought too, that so much of what’s special is going on your own journey.