Some strange happenings have been going on up and down the gravel,
or at least they have on our little plot of the gravel.

Several months ago, maybe around the time Chappell was born, Kent
and I returned from a trip (probably to help with the grandies in St. Charles.
When Kent went to check on the cows, he stepped out on the porch to put
on his boots...but there were no boots there.  We looked in the house, in
Hattie's room, in the shed, on the carport, but they just weren't anywhere.

We asked the boys (Joel and Tyler) and Hattie, but no, they hadn't used them.

They just walked away, seemingly, into never-never land.

Then we left town again.  I think it was to Arkansas to spend a few days
with Oma and Opa at Horseshoe Bend.  We stopped on the way home, by
the mailbox to check for mail before we turned into the driveway and it
(the mailbox) was all wonky.  It was wobbly and wouldn't close right.

I just put it down to being 25 or so years old and figured it was time to buy
a new one.

Then a few days later in church Debby made a true confession.  She said that
Mike had a long something or other in the back of the truck and he hit our
mailbox with it while driving down the gravel.  Well, now that explained a
lot!  No wonder our box was wobbly and wonky.  Anyway it was old, I figured
it was time to buy a new one.  But, a few days later, Mike worked on the old
box and now it is unwobbly and unwonky.

A week or two later, Mike mentioned to Kent, during one of our gravel-road
dinners, that he had borrowed Kent's boots at some time or another and still
had them.

AHA!  Another true confession.  And with that, the mystery of the missing
boots was cleared up.  However, cleared up or no, they still haven't showed up.

Today, during Fellowship Dinner at church, 6 year old Paxton, who was sitting
across from me, said, "There's a spider on you."

And, boy howdy, there was one.  It was big and brown with a huge creamy
abdomen.  I am not afraid of spiders, but he (or she) was really quite large.
So, I stood up and shook my top and it fell, but they I couldn't see it.  I
am not afraid of spiders, but I didn't want it crawling around on me unchecked.
So I shook my skirts and got down on the floor and finally found it.  Really,
I am not afraid of spiders, but I did send it to a squishy death.