Grandma Henke

These pictures are taken from the window of the motor home …

We are at a very nice RV park … probably the nicest for setting up that we’ve had.   Everything is level.   The pad to park on is cement, there is a paved little patio,  beautiful palm trees at every spot, a nice brand new picnic table and a big pot of pretty flowers.    We are in Bakersfield and next to a highway with a freeway above that … so we expected a bit of noise but part of what I have enjoyed about moving around is hearing the noises.   

There was something we didn’t know …

Ohhhh, the railroad runs through the middle of the house, The railroad runs through the middle of the house.   The railroad runs through the middle of the house and the trains are all on time.   Here comes the 5:09.

The first time the train came by I thought it was an earthquake and was ready to dive under the table!     The tracks were well hidden behind the ten foot high fence behind us.

I don’t mind the sounds of trains.   I grew up in Draper when the trains pulled around the base of the mountains regularly and I loved to hear them blow their whistles and chug around our little town.   These tracks are much closer than those in Draper were.    I thought the sounds might interfere with my sleep, but they didn’t … I slept like a baby.

Until …

Early this morning I heard the vrummmm … vvvvrrrruuummmm … vvvvrrrruuuummmm … of someone trying to start a lawnmower … over and over and over.    I looked at the time … "Good grief!   There isn’t even a lawn here to mow!"

Finally, my awareness made  me realize the noise wasn’t outside.  It was inside our bedroom.     "Lynn is playing some kind of electronic game," I grumbled to myself, irritated that he wouldn’t just get up and take it to another room.    After about twenty minutes of hearing it over and over and over like a broken record I decided to go to the other room myself.  

When I sat up, I looked over at Lynn intending to give him a good, nasty "glare" and to my surprise he was laying with his back to me with the covers pulled up tight around his neck and ears.   

"What is making that awful noise?" I said in a loud enough voice to startle him awake.

"Somebody is outside trying to start a chain saw or something," he drunkenly muttered in his half sleep.

"It is not outside!    It’s right by your head," I retorted looking past him and zoning in on his innocent looking iphone.      "Don’t tell me you set your alarm to that noise," I begged.

He started laughing and trying to talk … and laughing harder and trying harder to talk until he had tears in his eyes.

"How long do you think I have been laying here trying to block out that noise so I could sleep," he finally choked out.

"I can tell you exactly how long," I said as I looked at my clock one more time.    "Twenty-five minutes!"