The Pasture

by Robert Frost

I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;

I'll only stop to rake the leaves away

(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):

I sha'n't be gone long.—You come too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf

That's standing by the mother. It's so young,

It totters when she licks it with her tongue.

I sha'n't be gone long.—You come too.

The best business to be in come fall is the school business.

Amidst many lists of people's favorites about fall, I offer my own abbreviated version by theme, all having to do with school.

When I get out of my car in our driveway in the early evening, in the distance, I hear the faint pounding of drums and blowing of horns as a nearby high school's band practices.

New notebooks. And pens.

School supply lists for Erin and Jeb. Yes, Caleb has a list, too, but he's thirteen and doesn't care about it. Erin is enthralled. Jeb cares because he wants his folders to have Spiderman or some other super hero on them.

By the way, we purchased a t-shirt tonight for Jeb's birthday on the 14th. On it are these words, "I do all of my own stunts." Perfect.

Students showing up at school before the start for volleyball practice, football two-a-days, and cheerleader sign painting. The kids are all bigger, more grown up, and the boys are sporting long hair for just a little longer.

Boxes filling the foyer of the school all filled with new things.

High school football previews in the city newspaper.

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Today is Leslie's birthday. She is thirty-ten. We have had a wonderful day.

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The Bourne Ultimatum.

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Gigi Mason - Thanks for the letter.

Observations at the close of summer.

On vacations, those traveling should eat only in local restaurants. No chains.

The "continental breakfast" phenomenon is strange to me, but I take advantage of it when available. I do not, however, choose a motel based on the availability of it. Most often, I choose a hotel based on price, pool, proximity to where I am headed come morning and proximity to Sonic (For Leslie) in that order. Cleanliness is assumed but the lack thereof or a smoking room advertised as non-smoking one will make me balk on the deal.

Stay off major roads. Interstates are antiseptic, mundane, filled with people in a hurry, "nice", and lukewarm.

Whenever I see country roads, park roads, dirt roads, I have to force myself not to travel them. I want to see what great places they lead to.

A 6-year old should grow his hair long in the summer.

Fall is tingly. Fall is great at a school.

Whenever I visit another place, I imagine living there and all of the wonderful things that can be experienced only there.

I will go to Lost Maples State Park this fall.

I am not kidding. I want to be a park ranger.

Outlet Malls are terrorist attacks.

I like people who do things though most think it stupid. Carhenge, for example, a place near Alliance, Nebraska, where a man stuck cars in the ground modeled after Stonehenge. See picture.

Don't pass up the opportunity to go to church when on vacation. We love visiting churches on Sunday when traveling. We plan around it. We have great memories of churches in San Luis Obispo, Pagosa Springs, some little town in Arkansas, Fort Davis, Ruidoso, some town in Nebraska near Offult Air Force Base, Savannah, and Covington. Just as much, though, we love having church with just the five of us gathered.

I think Christians should leave hotel rooms nicer when they leave. Stack the towels. Flush the toilet. Put trash away. Make it as easy as we can for the maid.

Alan Jackson's CD called "Precious Memories" was enjoyed by us this summer. Track 7 - "Are You Washed In The Blood Of The Lamb" was our favorite. We played it on the Alpine Loop in a rented 4X4 jeep. Track 7 sparked conversation about garments that are spotless and white as snow.

Riding in a boat in the summer at the close of day on calm water with a tinge of sunburn and a meal of pork chops, green beans, garlic bread, homemade ice cream, peach cobbler and Diet Coke waiting for you back at the house is a good thing.

Sea World with one child at a time so that he gets all of the attention is a good thing.

Singing "Abide With Me" with extended family as the sun sets over Possum Kingdom Lake out of song books is a good thing.

Enough

Custer State Park is 71,000 acres of beautiful land. It has the facilities more of a national park and the scenery, as well.

We entered the park driving their Wildlife Loop. The "guarantee" is that you will see some wildlife. We have driven it twice about 15 or so years apart, and the guarantee has held true. How about that statistical data?

There is a large herd of Bison, and we drove through the herd after pulling off for some gazing and pictures and waiting for some very large animals to decide to walk out of the middle of the road. We saw Mule Deer, Pronghorn Antelope aplenty, and Prarie Dogs barking.

The park has four lodges that are centers of activity, services, and accommodations. Blue Bell Lodge, Sylvan Lake Lodge, Legion Lake Lodge, and the State Game Lodge. Two are by picturesque lakes circled by granite walls.

After the loop, we were in for a bite. First, we stopped at the State Game Lodge because we had heard a little about it, it was the first we came to, and it was a building that invited a walk through. Well, we walked through the restaurant and decided that the food and service there were for the well-dressed, well-heeled. The buildng, though, would be a great get-a-way with a big porch and a lobby with a fireplace and surrounded by a meadow and forest.

We headed on to Legion Lake Lodge and grabbed a substantial bite there before heading back around to the western exit headed to Custer, South Dakota.

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We are still at the lake. Yesterday, we each took rides on Leslie's father's boat. The boat could be driven to the bottom of the cliff located behind the house we are staying at. Some of us yelled down at those in the boat, and the kids loved that. We ate more homemade ice cream, sandwiches, peach cobbler, some kind of chocolate cake. This morning the traditional bacon and eggs.

Last night, we also watched the deer eat the corn and watched a Brian Regan comedy routine on DVD.

Today, I don't know what the activities will be, and that is a good feeling.

I know. The Needles Highway and Custer State Park. But this is where we are tonight.

Through the generosity of a family at FWC, we are sitting on a covered porch, fire pit providing most of the light, at the top of a ninety foot cliff overlooking Possum Kingdom Lake. We are here for three, four nights with Leslie's parents and her brother's family.

Highlights of the evening have been:

Homemade vanilla ice cream. Recipe from Zora Mae Kendrick, my grandmother.
Cousins playing Twister.
Quiet. Quiet enough so that on the lake way away a boat passes by following the beacon lights leading them through the deepest stretches of the lake, and on the boat people talk. We hear them as whispers over the water.
Citronella candles.
Soft furniture beneath the fans on top of the rock porch.
Deer. Turkey. A lot of deer.

Right now, I hear talking from others with me and bugs.

Pictures are from The Needles Highway. The highway leads into Custer State Park from the northwest. This was a favorite place. A place where we could spend a long time climbing and exploring.