Yesterday’s trip was a lot of fun. We left Sunday evening to head down to Hoyleton. During Bible class I’d stopped by the store to get food. I originally went to Aldi but when I saw their parking lot was close to full I turned around and went to County Market instead. I didn’t want to deal with the lines and the people. County Market is more but they at least bag your groceries and believe me when I say that every little bit helps.

We cleaned out the fridge and had leftovers for lunch. There was a perfectly good chicken and rice soup in the back that would’ve gone to waste if I hadn’t pulled it out and seen it. I bought enough to hopefully get through most of the week. In addition to the normal things I had some food for the trip. I’d told our hostess not to worry about feeding us but she made us breakfast and had a crock pot of sloppy joes for lunch.

After resting for a while it was time to load up. The kids asked why we had two cases of water bottles. I told them it was for if we happened to get stuck in traffic and were unexpectedly stranded for a few extra hours or day. Last time the traffic was bumper to bumper coming home. We’d asked my mother-in-law if she wanted to come along again but she said she was going to just stay put at the house and watch from her porch.

She’d given us the package of leftover glasses. Someone looked up online somewhere and they supposedly were still going to be okay to use. I’m kind of a purist when it comes to eclipses and don’t care as much about the glasses parts, so I’m glad someone else was thinking about that. After passing through Litchfield I called my parents to see if we could stop by since we were basically right there. We drove to Irving to see them.

I’d invited them too but Dad had to some work for a job training and Mom wanted to spend the day in the garden. They gave us a tour of the chicken coup and gave us a dozen and a half eggs to take home. Mom has a start on her onions and garlic and multiple shelves of seedlings that are growing inside. She has a plant hospital outside for the ones she doesn’t know what to do with or that aren’t growing like the rest.

We arrived at our hosts house around 9PM and visited for about an hour. I tried to write a blog post then and actually did but then deleted it. I’ll write when I’m tired, but I don’t like writing when I’m super tired. I slept until morning and woke up to check the weather. The Hoyleton skies were looking clear but it was the Texas ones I was worried about. I sent a picture to my son from the inside looking out, so far so good, I said.

Later I asked if he’d heard anything from Laura. About what, he asked. About eclipse stuff, I said. He said he hadn’t. I later asked him if he could ask her what her weather was looking like. From my weather app Waco was looking better. He said that she said that it was partly cloudy but the sun was actually kind of poking through so they might have some hope. That was the last I talked to him until later when he said she’d seen it.

Diane, our hostess, was also expecting Tony’s cousin. He’d called and asked if he could bring his two grandkids over and watch. She was supposed to be going out to meet a friend for lunch in New Minden. After that she and Tony were going to meet another couples friend for the eclipse watching. Around 11 or so she started to wonder where they were. She wanted to be there when they arrived. I told her I could welcome them.

But she stuck around and eventually the cousin came with his wife and his niece. There were more on their way. A brother-in-law, another friend, and a daughter with two children. Diane served up a dessert platter and I told them they were welcome to take the second table on the deck. Josh, the kids, and I had already taken up the little one. It was great to see them, the more the merrier as far as I was concerned, even strangers.

The kids played pickleball on the concrete slab where the above ground pool there used to be. Pretty much anytime we go to their house, and we start our way down the long country road, I do have to mention the memorable time when I walked seven miles round-trip with four boys. Three and a half out, three and a half back, and while we were there the boys stripped down and swam. Elianna was with Grandma that day.

I called my sister-in-law to see how things were going. She didn’t answer right then but later she called me back to see if everything was okay. She was in the middle of an accreditation visit. Their schools had closed but there were still things going on. They were going to stop during eclipse time and hopefully see it. My sister called me around 1:30 to see what was happening. She didn’t have any glasses but it was looking hazy.

Josh talked with the other visitors for a while. I really didn’t spend much time with them. They all seemed to me fine and to be enjoying themselves. Once the haziness started I told the boys they needed to get situated if they really wanted to be out on the water during eclipse time. We brought the lawn chairs over from the patio. I don’t think they got used much. Diane brought a blanket out for her and anyone else to sit on the grass.

My brother-in-law Facetimed from somewhere in Texas where he was coaching a track meet. He did it in the family chat so my mother-in-law picked up and then my sister-in-law and myself. They’d temporarily stopped the meet and he could see it through the clouds. We just laughed and said hi to each other and looked at each other through the screen. I was ecstatic this was happening and that Jessica had been able to see it too.

I told him thanks for sharing and that I would get a video. My mom called sometime in the hazy window of time when things were leading up and the sky started changing colors. She was just checking in to see how things were going. We talked for a little bit and then we hung up. Tony had come home for a short while but then had to leave to go back to a concrete project he was working on in town to get it done before it rained.

She didn’t end up going to lunch. So we ended up watching the eclipse with Diane, and she and Elianna sat on the blanket. Josh was standing next to the chairs. The boys were out in the water and I took pictures and a couple of videos. I yelled across the water once or twice telling the boys not to be staring at the sun too long beforehand. I suddenly had this feeling like maybe I should’ve been paying more attention to all that.

They had their glasses but still. People say the scariest things sometimes. It really does make you wonder why God would design or allow the eclipses in the first place if the one of the points wasn’t to actually see them. I kind of think we’re supposed to look and be amazed. And maybe not stare the entire whole time. My oldest son stretched his arms and ran in circles during the first one. When I mentioned it he didn’t remember.

And I wondered how something like that could be such a core memory of mine but not his. He was the only one I’d marked down as far as noting anything else of the people around me. The more things happen like this the more I become okay with children being different. They’re not all going to be the same and that’s okay. I have lots of love to give and share and it’s enough that can be spread around to the others around me.

In the earlier day while we were still waiting Josh and I had packed up while the kids were playing. This way we’d be all ready to go afterward when things were over. If possible I was wanting to get back for my class. The teacher had said it’d be fine if I miss and we could figure something out but I didn’t want to have to do that. I emailed him and asked if class was still on and he said yes, that the eclipse did not eclipse the class.

We made it back in time to go. I laid down for about a half an hour. Elianna ran since she’d missed her practice. Josh and the kids planned to meet his mom in town for supper. I tried to call my mom back but the it called MomT instead. It was very hard to stay awake and I was starting to get concerned about having to drive home. Thankfully he didn’t do any lectures and he said we could cover chapters 9 and 10 next time.

The traffic wasn’t bad. With the exception of some congestion in Carlyle, the roads were normal and clear. None of us talked much on the way back. Dad listened to podcasts. I sent and texted my documentations. We drove by the concrete project on the way out of town and said goodbye to Tony. I’ve already told Diane we need to come visit more. One of the kids mentioned how he’d never realized how great Diane’s house was.