Rainy Day

 It is raining again this morning. Most likely dad is out in it. Drawn to rain as if he was still a little boy. Needing to feel the water running in his face and to splash in the mud puddles. He NEEDS running water for some reason. He spent many hours at the spring in Arkansas. What we saw was little ditches dug back and forth across the bottom. Routing the spring water through those channels and making it flow where he wanted. What he saw was a great experiment that had a profound effect on the land, causing the pasture up on the hillside to produce better and the entire farm be more productive.
 Now he is here in Missouri. Taken away from his beloved spring. Longing for running water. He will turn the garden hose on and let it run if he has no other. He discovered the wet-weather ditch/creek behind his house and began to work on it. He worked happily for hours after it rained. Damming it up and trying to keep the water from going away. Finally he came up, dejected, one summer day and said it had dried up. But he doesn't give up easy. Every year since he's been here (3 years) he has worked on it. He has spent many hours making dams and rearranging the dirt. It dried up again this year but now it has been raining again so he happily announced his ditch was full of water again. This time he thinks he can keep it there. I know, almost without fail, that if it is raining, dad will be out in his mud boots working in the rain. He is sure that one day he will bring a spring up and water will be there year around. Hopefully it will work and make him happy and save him from running the garden hose in it like he did earlier this year. Trying to keep the cat fish alive that had washed downstream out of a pond.
 Mom is very tired today. I gave her a bath and washed her hair yesterday. That really wore her out. She keeps her sweetness no matter what but she looks so haggard. I tucked her in under the cover on the couch for a nap. Dad insist she use an electric blanket because her feet are cold but soon she throws the covers off because she too warm. Mostly we let dad do things his way if he is not hurting her. It has been hard to teach him how to do safe transfers with her and how to assist her with walking like we were trained to do. Susie works with the elderly all the time and knows how, but he resist her showing him things because he wants to do it his way. He does love mom and can be very attentive to her but wants very much to be in control of things.