Farmers and Fliers

On Saturday, We Were Balloon Chasers and Home Improvers.

We got the opportunity to crew for PacHigh Balloons again. Same drill: meet Bauman Farms at 5am. Set up and launch, chase, assist in landing and packing the balloon. Except this time, we were a known quantity.

The ground crew chief greeted R that morning thusly:

"Hi, R. So. When are you going to become a balloon pilot?"

R stood up straight, looked him dead in the eye, held his index finger straight up in the air like an exclamation point and said, "TO-MORROW!"

That, actually, was a magic moment. The paying customers happened to have a six year old grandson hanging around. With that interchange, R was suddenly that little boys hero. R helped with the balloon, listened, followed directions, and took that little boy under his wing.

For us grownups, having us there a second time was great. The first time, we got told "do this..." very little explanation. But given that we came back for more, this time, the senior guys explained exactly how the pieces go together, started teaching us the names of things, and started teaching the whys and hows of the balloon components. At one point, the ground crew chief started one of these little tutorials with "when you have your own balloon, you'll want to remember...." His little bit of subliminal programming was not overlooked <grin!>

The balloon setup and launch was smooth enough. The paying customers were a married couple in their mid 80's. Turns out he had been in the Navy Air Corps in World War II. They had a great time. Our son's ethusiasm and positive energy buoyed them as well.

In the chase vehicle, the Ground Crew captain drove. I rode front seat. Everyone was balloon spotting. We taught the kids not to just say 'on the right' but to use a clock position, like: "on the right at 2 o'clock." R was spotting other balloons in the air as well. Finding a landing spot was not quite as straightforward as the first time. There was a lot more consulting of GPS maps than we needed the first time. The chief and I were pretty busy hunting landing spots; it seemed that this flight needed to land in an area where they hadn't had much call to land before; there weren't too many pre-loaded landing choices, So, the chief had some extra scouting to do.

o, there was a moment where we pulled the chase vehicle up to a four way stop, and the Chief bailed out to scout on foot. He was looking behind all the farmhouses to see if one of them had a suitable yard they could use for landing. In the middle of this scouting trip, he told me to move over to the driver's seat. I did so, and things were expectantly quiet all of a sudden in the back seat.

So, I stage-muttered "Well, it looks like I just got promoted."

"Field promotions happen quickly." C offered, supportively.

"I guess we're doing okay, then." I replied. And I could feel the kids get easy with it all. About that time, the Chief hopped into the shotgun seat, pulled his GPS off the windshield mount and started navigating. Me? I just started driving. From that point on, until we found the landing spot, I was the driver and he was the navigator. Chief seemed to be happy with how it worked out.

The ultimate landing site was - get this - a dirt road that a farmer used for tractor access to his onion fields out back. The pilot put the balloon basket onto the road, then we walked the balloon up the road, around a 90 degree bend, across a plank bridge, and onto a grass yard, where ultimately we brought the thing down. Again, the kids did great. R was called upon to hop inside the basket as we walked the balloon to the grass. He was thrilled. Once we got to the grassy spot, the Chief sent R up to the trailer to bring back the big bag for the balloon. Not only did R do so with perfection and speed, but he ALSO brought a special tool, called the paperclip, along with him. When the Chief saw that R had the paperclip, he said, "oh look at that. He thought to bring the paperclip too. That kid just went up a couple EXTRA notches." See, R had thought ahead and done EXACTLY the right thing. Very heartwarming for this Dad.

Back home, we did some more yard work. I got the treehouse roof cleaned off, and we did some much-needed tree pruning around the back yard, First time since we've had the house, so if tree limbing is always a once-in-eight-years event, I'm pleased as can be with that.

We did a bunch of other house maintenance items. All the rhodedendrons have been put in the ground. We've cleaned the windows and sprayed the dust/dirt off the shutters, wood trim and siding. With the rain finally letting up, we're making up for lost time.

C has started re-arranging the draperies on the main floor. Now that she's got a very formal set in the dining room, she's turned the living room and kitchen nook into much more casual spaces. I tease her that it's starting to look like a house from Whoville in Dr Seuss. Really, though, it's quite fun and lovely. I like the space.

We got the barbecue grill up and running as well. In fact, we had a small dinner party with Jin (our exchange student) and a new friend, T, who's in her early twenties and an art student. She came over to have dinner with us, and we all had a great time.

And so ended a very gratifying Saturday.

Then, On Sunday, We Were Farmers.

We got the garden in, up at my sister's place outside Banks. Corn, carrots, onions, pole beans. Cucumbers, squash, peppers, zucchini, 45 tomato plants, melons and --- loufa. No, really. We'll see how it goes. Oh, artichokes too. C is particularly coveting the artichokes.

All in all, I think we planted about an acre. Three-quarters over on the original site, bordered by trees. The new plot is right along the side of P's house. She's calling it the Salsa garden. That's where we put the plants that like full sun all day. They're going to get it, in this new spot....

We got a late start thanks to all the endless torrential rain this spring. Really, the garden should have gone in almost a month ago. Even still, we rushed it a bit. The ground is still almost too wet to plant. P has been tilling the garden area every other day, trying to bring the moisture to the top and dry the ground. We tilled it all one last time again before planting. That gave me a chance to learn how to use the tractor, and to start teaching my kids how to run the tractor too.

I had P give me the tractor tour. It took about five minutes. Then I tilled a couple passes to get the basic hang of it. At that point, I got R up on the tractor with me, and we worked together. I had him steer the furrows while I gave my full attention to the rototiller on the back. This worked well because the ground was still so wet that it could easily gum up the tines. We had a team going, and R seemed to stand just a little taller when the family praised him for running the tractor.

M got on the tractor, too, a little later, with P. Aunt and niece together. I don't think M was as interested in the machine operation as she was in getting a ride. But, it's good for the girly-girl ballet dancer to see my sister in action as a living example that women can do anything a man can do.

We also planted about eight fruit trees. Apples, mostly, but there's a pear and a plumb. That starts the orchard. Three generations of the family put those trees in the ground; and these trees will easily bear fruit for the next two generations to enjoy (God willing that the farm stays in the family that long). So, we were calling them the five-generation orchard. That thought seemed to make everyone feel deeply good about the work we did.

After all that, the kids got a treat -- Aunt P saddled up a horse and let the kids ride. R, being twelve and a half, and a strong intermediate horseman, rode solo for quite some time. M rode while Aunt P walked the horse on the lead line. Something tells me that by next planting day, M will be handling that horse by herself.

Akiko and Nekko are both buried in the cedar trees along the garden spot. I spent a couple minutes with them both on a couple occasions throughout the day. I'm not sure if any other family members thought to drop in on them. It's okay if they didn't. It seems that I grieve less intensely but for a longer period of time than do the rest of my family members. I needed to commune with their ghosts; the rest of the family members probably just bounded around the garden with the animal ghosts right behind them. It was me that needed a little quiet reassurance with them.