Ohio trip

At the beginning of the month we went to see my parents. It is always a welcomed adventure when we go. We have things that we always do, every time...time honored traditions, like eating at Young's Dairy.
We also enjoy nature. Sometimes we go canoeing, which we all love, but not so much in November. They have several amazing state parks in their immediate area, so this year we headed to Glen Helen. We had a picnic lunch then went to a Raptor center where they care for injured raptor birds. This year we got there just in time to hear the presentation students get.

Piper kept raising her hand every time a question was asked. It was pretty cute.
By the way, did you know that owls never sleep? They just rest. Now that you learned something new today, use that to justify spending all your time on the blogs.
:)

We also are usually a little silly at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Somehow Grandma suggests things most adults would not.


This time, we had some new experiences. Like listening to an octogenarian play her guitar. It was very sweet and I loved every minute of it. This woman, Nanny, plays her guitar just for herself, by herself. She will occasionally call up Mom and play for her over the phone. And, Mom, being the woman she is, always listens. We went to meet Nanny and received our own concert. At the end of every song she said in her thick, "holler", been-smoking-her-whole-life accent, "You like that one?" And we did like that one.

The main reason we visited my parents in November is because my dad was running for House of Representatives for the State of Ohio. He is not a politician. As far as I know, he never dreamed of running for office. But a series of events made seem obvious that he needed to do this at this point in time. He campaigned for about 7 months with his heart and his head. And I think he had a really good time. He didn't win the election; there were lots of things stacked against him. But he ran a winning campaign. He was dignified, honorable and challenged the young incumbent he ran against to think about some things in a new way. I loved being there for even just a little bit to be a part of that with him. And we all did our part while we were there.

My dad would have been a great asset for Ohio. He would have truly acted and voted in a way that would have brought good things to the state. But instead good things will come to OUR state. Since he wasn't voted in, he gets to retire from his career at the end of year and he and Mom will arrive in THIS great state sometime in the spring. Hard to get too sad when living near grand babies is the consolation for not winning the election.

As usual, it was a great trip. I will miss visiting Ohio, but I'm sure we'll go back from time to time.