Nate, Cori and the kids left the farm Saturday afternoon,
but it almost did not happen. When they left for Honduras last week, Nate and I
took their vehicle to Roger to have him repair the a/c. Though Roger had the vehicle
all week, he did not get started on it until Friday morning. Mama and I still
had a high degree of confidence that Roger would get it done on time for them
to leave by noon Saturday, but just to make sure, we all packed up and went to
Bowie to visit Grandma and Grandpa Saturday morning – and to check in with Roger.
Nate and I visited with Grandma, Grandpa and Norman for a
few minutes, then took our leave to go to the shop. When we got there, their
vehicle was in the shop, so it was being serviced. That was good. When we got
into the shop, Roger began apologizing. He had been so confident that the leak
was in the rear a/c condenser unit that he had ordered the parts earlier in the
week, but when he got the back unit exposed, there was no evidence of a leak.
He was really embarrassed that he had not started on the repair earlier, but at
that point, there was little he could offer other than to assure Nate that the
leak was in the unit under the dash. That was a repair that would take him two
days to make and he knew we did not have that time to offer him. We went back to
Grandma’s and let everyone know the prognosis. The bottom line was that the a/c
was not going to get fixed, but, on the bright side, we had about two hours to
kill – so we went to lunch with everyone.
Nate and I left from Golden Chick to get the vehicle after
Nate had said his goodbyes. Roger charged them $60 for the time he had spent on
investigating the leak. I could tell, he hated asking for even that much, but
he had used over a pound of Freon to find the leak – so the money was to
replace the chemicals used. We all headed back to the farm. Nate and Cori packed
up the camper, hooked up the camper and headed out for Houston about 2 pm. Not
too much later than they wanted, but still without a working a/c. We all gathered
and prayed before they left, and the older kids realized that this really was
goodbye. They are not planning to see us again before they leave the country –
at least, not at the farm. No one was crying. We made a game of hugging one
last time, one more last time and so on. Cori said that Savanna is beginning to
understand the separation and the fact that she may never be back to Grammy’s
farm again. She is struggling with that, but we have pictures and videos that
will preserve those memories for her – and for us. Such is the life of
missionary children.
In the process of doing normal chores on the farm, Savanna
and I had gone to feed the cows Friday evening. With Daisy still in the corral,
I have to keep vigil on her feed and water – especially her water. The issue is
that the yard hydrant at the barn does not completely shut off. The amount of
water it allows to leak through is significant, so I installed a shutoff valve
at the well. That means that every time I need to fill the trough, I have to
open the valve at the well. When I have filled the trough, I shut the valve at the
well. Well, Friday evening, Savanna and I were in a big way of talking and I forgot
to shut that valve when we put the feed buckets back in the well house. I did
not go back to check on Daisy until late Saturday afternoon. The water had been
on the entire time. The corral was a mess. The stream I had created flowed all the
way to our stock tank. I was pretty upset with myself but, what, what can you
do? The ground will dry out. The well will recover, and Daisy did not run out
of water.
Such is the life of a hobby farm owner.
No comments:
Post a Comment