Our visit with Aunt Diane
Hope's Aunt Diane Pruden flew into Little Rock on Wednesday. We picked her up there (note: we are happy to pick up any visitors that fly into Little Rock...) following Hope's most recent doctor's visit in Pine Bluff--both mom- and baby-to-be are fine... Diane's plane got in a little early, so she was waiting for us by the baggage claim. We then drove to west Little Rock to an Italian restaurant before making one last pit-stop at the Home Depot (I finally bought myself that cordless framing nailer I've been longing for). We arrived home that evening after driving through some stiff rain--it always seems like Hope's family brings rain with them...
On Thursday, I returned to work, and Hope, Diane, and the kids toured around the countryside a while, going as far south as our experimental forest in Crossett, Arkansas. I took the day off on Friday, and we drove north towards Hot Springs. On the way up, the clouds cleared, and we had a beautiful spring day to enjoy. At one point, while driving through a wooded area south of Malvern, we were startled by a large ball of fur streaking across the highway--a bobcat running full tilt to avoid being clipped by our car (both of us got away unscathed)!
The picture above is of Diane, Hope, and the kids near one of the many hot springs flowing out of the ground in the National Park. Diane later had a close encounter of the sidewalk sweeper kind--she was concentrating on taking a picture of some redbuds in flower, and the guy driving the little sweeper was watching the edge of the sidewalk, and neither noticed the other until they had a low speed bumping! Diane was a little surprised and shaken, but seems fine otherwise.
We then drove to an overlook above the city of Hot Springs, enjoyed the view for a little bit, before driving northward again to the Russellville and Dover areas (also in Arkansas, near I-40). Hope's great grandparents (Diane's grandparents) were originally from the countryside near Dover, and moved to Michigan in the 1920s to work in the auto industry. We visited several cemeteries that had some ancestors, and saw some of the old churches that they attended, but it was hard to visualize the lands as they would have seen them, given how much has developed over the years. Still, I know Hope and Diane felt a strong connection to their past while strolling among the daffodils.
Diane flies out tomorrow (Sunday), and today while the kids are attending a birthday party for their little friends, I will take her out in the woods to see if we can find some plants for her to relocate to her home in Michigan (she's a big fan of flowering plants, animals, and fungi).
On Thursday, I returned to work, and Hope, Diane, and the kids toured around the countryside a while, going as far south as our experimental forest in Crossett, Arkansas. I took the day off on Friday, and we drove north towards Hot Springs. On the way up, the clouds cleared, and we had a beautiful spring day to enjoy. At one point, while driving through a wooded area south of Malvern, we were startled by a large ball of fur streaking across the highway--a bobcat running full tilt to avoid being clipped by our car (both of us got away unscathed)!
The picture above is of Diane, Hope, and the kids near one of the many hot springs flowing out of the ground in the National Park. Diane later had a close encounter of the sidewalk sweeper kind--she was concentrating on taking a picture of some redbuds in flower, and the guy driving the little sweeper was watching the edge of the sidewalk, and neither noticed the other until they had a low speed bumping! Diane was a little surprised and shaken, but seems fine otherwise.
We then drove to an overlook above the city of Hot Springs, enjoyed the view for a little bit, before driving northward again to the Russellville and Dover areas (also in Arkansas, near I-40). Hope's great grandparents (Diane's grandparents) were originally from the countryside near Dover, and moved to Michigan in the 1920s to work in the auto industry. We visited several cemeteries that had some ancestors, and saw some of the old churches that they attended, but it was hard to visualize the lands as they would have seen them, given how much has developed over the years. Still, I know Hope and Diane felt a strong connection to their past while strolling among the daffodils.
Diane flies out tomorrow (Sunday), and today while the kids are attending a birthday party for their little friends, I will take her out in the woods to see if we can find some plants for her to relocate to her home in Michigan (she's a big fan of flowering plants, animals, and fungi).
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