Home Life

Letter 19 {Storms + Being Alone}

May 19, 2017 by Rachel

Dear Candace,

If it’s not flood water, it’s high winds.

Last night I woke with a jolt at 3:00 a.m. “Oh no!” I thought. “Please not another 3 hours of insomnia.”

My unwanted guest, insomnia, has been showing up on occasion, despite the UNwelcome mat. I wasn’t plagued with insomnia, though. I soon realized I was dealing with a headache from the changes in barometric pressure. Within the hour, the storm hit and and I could hear the incredible whooshing of the wind. I grabbed my phone to check the weather radar. A bad thunderstorm, but no tornado warnings I could see. I told myself that if I heard the sirens go off, I would move downstairs to the basement. Otherwise, there was no way I was leaving my squishy Purple mattress. Plus, being alone in the house, the basement seemed extra-scary and dark.

The idea was that while Tom and the kids were off adventuring at the family farm, I would get some needed rest in a quiet house. I ended up laying awake in the early morning hours listening to the rain hit the window like gravel two feet from my bed. Eventually I did go back to sleep, and woke to a white yard covered in my neighbor’s catalpa blossoms! The storm downed an electric wire (draped across the street in front of my house, of course), with trees and heavy branches littering yards and streets. I’m thankful I never lost power!

I just finished The ZooKeeper’s Wife, and now I’m reading All the Light We Cannot See. Both take place during WWII. The first is the true story of a Polish couple living in Warsaw and how the war affected them and the zoo they managed. The second is historical fiction and intertwines the lives of a Parisian girl and a young German soldier-highly recommended by all my friends who’ve read it! I have very well-read friends; they advise me on what to read next (and boy is my list long).

Today I finished nearly all the laundry and put four lemonade pies in the freezer, so I feel very pleased even though my to-do list is still quite long. Lemonade pies and fresh blueberries signal all things summer-can’t wait to share them with friends and family this weekend. Come have a slice!

I just noticed something. The house creaks an awful lot when you’re the only one in it.

Hoping I survive another night alone in Kansas,

Dorothy

Letter 18

Letter 20

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Letter 17 {Puddles & Plans}

May 5, 2017 by Rachel

“The rain, rain, rain
Came down, down, down
In rushing, rising riv’lets…”

Dear Candace,

What a week. What a rainy, rainy week! Rivers, rising and falling. Highways and roads shut down, fields under water, businesses and homes helpless to withstand the deluge. I heard that in 9 days St. Louis received 2 months worth of rain. We are still drying off-quite literally! A little seepage and dampness occurred in our basement, but thankfully no standing water. I’ve got the fans running constantly. My heart goes out to those who lost homes and goods. Hosanna spent some time volunteering in Pacific, one area in which the flooding was especially bad, and it has been remarkable to see communities serve together during a difficult time.

As the rain came down, we settled into a routine of school here at home. Due to all the re-routed highway traffic near us, I stayed off the roads as much as possible. There were multiple cups off coffee and tea to be had, books to read, and office work to accomplish. With the near daily, constant rain and chill in the air, it felt like February! However, we’re getting back into the groove of spring again and I’ve been dreaming about pulling up our ancient, boring shrubbery and redoing the flower beds. I don’t love everything mid-century.

I am very illiterate when it comes to gardening. Once I cultivated a raised flower bed with all the solicitations of a nurse until I realized I was nurturing not hollyhocks, but cornstalks.

Tom’s vegetable garden is flourishing! We have a lovely mix of sweet salad greens picked fresh daily. Although, I hate washing lettuce. I know I shouldn’t say “hate” but I do feel strongly about cleaning greens. Perhaps because I’ve done so much of it in my life and am getting petulant? At this point I’m fine with a little dirt. Furthermore, I shall be rotating the children through the job of Washing of the Greens this spring.

Wash your clothes,

wash your greens,

and don’t forget to wash your face!

It’s my new song.

Happy May!

~Rachel

Letter 16

Letter 18

Letter 16 {Spring Exclamations}

April 28, 2017 by Rachel

Dear Candace,

Every spring when the Missouri hills dramatically debut with dressings of green, it feels like I’m seeing it again for the first time. The children are used to my exclamations of “Do you SEE this!? Do you SEE how much green there is now?!” when we are driving. It’s no exaggeration to say we live among the rocks and rills, hills and valleys that make this state beautiful. Two turns from my house and we’re among it all; a feast for the senses!

There is a church not far from us that I call “the church in the dell.” It is literally nestled in a valley with hills expanding upwards around it. It’s so green and picturesque right now that you have to wonder if it sprang from a fairy-tale.

I opened up the windows wider this week (for like 5 minutes when it wasn’t raining) to let in some of this gorgeously perfumed air, and very quickly everything was coated in a yellow pollen. Ah, yes. The other part of spring. So much dusting to do, so little time.

Today I worked with the boys cleaning and organizing in their bedroom. How to put this experience. Let’s just say I told them they would receive a daily parental inspection henceforth. I may have also thrown out phrases like “army beds” and “white glove dusting” and “do not forsake your mother’s teaching.” The boys swept, dusted, mopped, and thoroughly cleaned nearly everything. We still have some drawers to go through, but I already feel more emotionally stable. Three bags of trash are now gone, plus one box marked for Goodwill. Caleb’s snake, Mango, is doing quite well in his aquarium and Drew’s potted plants are thriving. There is hope in the world!

Let there be light in the darkness.

Love and green.

Rachel

Letter 15

Letter 17

How to get your white sink sparkling!

February 8, 2017 by Rachel

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White. The color of my life. Irish white is the color of my skin, about which I have been teased all my life. Freckled white Irish girls, unite! If the world looks hard enough, they’ll be able to see us. We just need to make more noise.

My kitchen cabinets are white, my bed, sheets, and duvet are white. There are white walls in my home, white furniture, white towels (MISTAKE), white dishes. It’s a love affair. Once, I hosted an outdoor Midsummer’s Eve dinner party and dressed the entire family in white. Also a mistake because hello, toddlers.

I wanted a white kitchen sink in this house so bad that I cried at the thought of cold, heartless stainless steel. I had a previous experience with a cheap white sink that was a horror to clean, but stubbornly insisted that white sinks and I were bound together; I could have no other.

We upped our sink game with a new-to-us-via-Craigslist white Kohler sink when remodeling this house. After it was first installed, it was perfect. One week and 40 million dishes later plus all the hard abuse that we give our kitchen (me to children: “why are you washing rocks in my sink?”), its gleam was a little off. I, however, was undaunted. I knew the secret to restoring a white sink, and fast-forward a couple years later, continue to follow the same magic routine. I will now bless you with this knowledge, so you may go forth and let your white sink shine brightly to all the world. Let it not be hidden.