Oraeley: My Site

On Monday, Darren took Deeder and me out to the flat lands of soybeans and sunflowers. The fields are brown, and, to the untrained eye, it is desolate. In the distance we saw buffalo and cattle. It was the cows that Deeder could spot a mile away; he sure has a good eye! Boy, was he excited!

Darren pointed out little farmsteads, talking either about someone who had owned them but had to sell; or about a relative who had led an active and full life, but after his death no one had taken a care to keep the place up. On other pieces of land, Darren asked me to guess: “What’re they asking for it?” To me it all looked empty and lonely, unwanted under the forever gray of the sky that late Monday afternoon.

Darren’s eyes, though, said, “I really wish we could live here! Isn’t it beautiful?” He took so many pictures of what looked to me to be empty horizon. We talked about how different it is from Vermont. I think we’ll always talk about Vermont. But, for now, I’m learning to appreciate the flat.

(GrammaMomma here. Laura called me this evening from North Dakota, giving me this post by dictation. She promises to create an album of the trip for all of you once they arrive here. I think they have decided to finish the cross-country trip as a family, rather than having one of us drive out there to fetch Laura and the children home more quickly.)

A picture a day to keep me on Blog365!

A picture a day to keep me on Blog365!

A picture a day to keep me on Blog365!

You’ve all wished us luck on this cross-country trek, all knowing that it would be tough. Some of you offered advice, having had experiences traveling long with the young.

None of you told me that I would consider holding off a diaper change for “another hundred miles.” Yes; that’s right - That’s what I did when, in the middle of nowhere we lost all those traditional means of measuring time.

Mommy sits in the back with baby, and Daddy drives with Deeder as co-captain. That way, the need to stop for breastfeeding is eliminated. Deeder sleeps as Daddy drives. If someone feels restless or perhaps has to poop in their pants, we can push it for “another hundred miles,” at which time we fill up and buy a coffee.

(Note from GrammaMomma: Laura dictated this post to me over the phone, since she is still computer-less at Darren’s folks’. Maybe that’s all for the good, so she can get in a good visit with them. I’ll get another post from Laura when I call her today.)

Good Morning, Laura’s friends! GrammaMomma here, with a little more moving news for you.

Laura and Darren, with the lovable Diederick and Carly, are resting up this week with Darren’s family and friends in North Dakota. I believe Darren is planning on taking his little family to the church he attended for many years in Carson, ND, next Sunday, which is about three hours west of Jamestown, ND, their current location.

Darren is busy putting new shock absorbers on the truck, and making sure that all is ship shape with the vehicle. One idea Darren and Laura have that might prove exciting is for one of us here to drive to Billings, Montana (where the little family is headed to visit one of Darren’s sisters), a journey of about 14 hours duration, to pick up Laura and the children to bring them here more quickly. With the mountains to traverse, Darren is foreseeing a slow road ahead (poor guy!), and wants to spare Laura so much time in the vehicle with the little ones. Grampa Rick (or should I say GrampaPoppa) is ready to make the trip, so we’ll see what happens.

Now, just for fun, I’ll show you an old picture of Laura.

That’s Laura on the left, and her twin Sarah on the right. :)

A picture a day to keep me on Blog365!

A picture a day to keep me on Blog365!

A picture a day to keep me on Blog365!

Hello, Laura’s friends! GrammaMomma here, with the good news that Darren, Laura, Diederick and little Carly have arrived safely at Grampa and Gramma Harr’s place in North Dakota. Congrats, Darren, on doing all that driving from Vermont, hauling a houseful of possessions in that huge trailer.

I can’t wait to hear Laura’s account of the journey. I understand from some quick conversations with Darren that the children enjoy traveling. It will be great to hear some details about all that, from the mommy’s perspective.

I do believe Laura is going to do a little blogging while they are in North Dakota, as a matter of fact. :)