My sister left on Sunday morning but it was great to see her. It has been over a year since she has been here and over two years since any of us have gone to her place. We are all so busy that we rarely talk - maybe 4 times in a year - but it is interesting that there is no deterioration in our ability to communicate. We always take up where we left off (process-wise) with whatever is current in our lives.
She loves the pond and we sat there and talked several times. It's so freaky to both of us to view the now with our childhood memories.
Guy and Buddy are here working on their truck and have a work area set up in the driveway. Guy tries to work until about 1 PM and then shuts down for the day. On Saturday he had finished for the day and was sitting at his computer looking out into the front yard. I was wandering through the house doing something and heard him say "I wonder if I should still be working? Am I a wuss for quitting just because it is hot?" I looked up and noticed he was staring out the window as he talked to himself, and through the window, I could see my sister in our front yard washing her truck in the same heat he was escaping. I said "Don't worry about it. She has made us feel like lazy slobs almost from the day she was born. We find that if we ignore her, those feelings go away." He immediately said "I'm not worried. I don't feel lazy. I didn't say that just because she is still working.", but yes he did. That's the only mean thing about her, she will just keep working when everyone else wants to rest, and doesn't even care if it makes you feel bad as you lie there in your hammock.
I hate to write much about her because she is very private, but my sister is a wealth of animal and plant information (from direct experience). They live in a sort of wild place, and have two very large Great Pyrenees dogs that live in the pastures with their livestock. The dogs roam with the herds, sleep with them, eat with them, and are fiercely protective of them against the large local predators (Mountain Lions, Bears, Coyotes, etc.). She said that trimming the dew claws on the dogs had become a battle that she and her husband almost couldn't win - the dogs weigh 140 and 160 pounds. A few weeks ago she was trimming the hooves on some goats and the dogs were standing around in the pens with the rest of the animals. She finished one of the goats, thought "I wonder if this will work?", walked over to the largest dog and used the same procedure that she did with the goats. She ran her hand along his back and down his leg and tapped the back of his leg. He lifted his leg the same way the goats do and she trimmed the dew claw. Then she did the other side with no problem. The same with the second dog. It makes perfect sense that they would respond that way, but it is still completely amazing.