"Dear Teacher: It was raining."

That was Daddy's version of an absence excuse to my teacher, when we lived on the Mountain. I had the hardest time getting Mama to do things like write excuses when I was absent from school. Daddy said, "All you have to do, Merry, is write, 'Dear teacher: It was raining.'"

That wasn't just a random thought. It was my excuse for sleeping most of today. I got up early and got a few things done, and then it started raining, and I just couldn't resist a nap. So about 1:00 I lay down on the sofa and slept till after six. Then I received an order for an old Stephen King book (The Bachman Books) that will cost at least as much to mail as the money I made. At least the book will have a new home with somebody who wants it.

When my dad and I meet again,
A word or two will do
For all that can be spoken,
Just, “Pa!” and, “Hello, Jo!”

But our hands that were so alike,
The big hand and the little hand,
Will catch in a hold unbroken
For a thousand years or so,

And all the words we ever
Needed to say to each other
Will go on being spoken
By our hearts, which have never let go. - (Written in May 1994)