It was nice to only drive a few miles today.

I woke up at 6am… the earliest yet for the trip… to have breakfast with my uncle before he left for various rancher duties and my cousin before he left for high school. After a hearty breakfast the guys left and my aunt and I sat in our pajamas until nearly 10am catching up on life. Then I dressed and worked on catching up my blog because they have dsl and Grandma doesn’t (by the way, Peter and all other computer aficionados reading my blog, my cousin’s high school gave every student a brand new laptop and they aren’t allowed to turn in paper homework… only email it in to the teachers for grading… who knew in the middle of no where South Dakota they were so technically savvy?)

Then I headed to the Hugh Ingalls Centennial Ranch… in other words ‘Grandma and Grandpa’s house’. Yes, the little house on the prairie. Only they added on since I was last here six years ago and it isn’t nearly as little as it once was. It is a bit different to be writing you from the guest room that was once their master bedroom with all of their original furniture still in it. Once when we were kids visiting in the summer they wanted me to take a nap. I remember lying on their bed with Grandma and she told me I didn’t have to sleep, I could just “play possum “. I had never heard of this before and she demonstrated for me. I think I ended up taking that nap under the guise of ‘playing possum’. Grandma’s are sneaky like that.

The after noon was spent in sweet conversation with Grandma. We talked a lot about memories she had and her brothers, some of our cool homesteader relatives and their stories, the droughts and good books we had read. It was a wonderful afternoon with Grandma all to myself. I did manage to go for a bit of a walk to take a few photos (I didn’t want to get out of practice). The cold prairie winds were whipping around and I was thoroughly chilled by the time I came back in.

I head out for a long day on the road tomorrow to see my friend Amy T. I have high expectations of a rousing time with my spunky red-headed companion.

PS Jenny, I got to see my special buddy who first dubbed me his ‘birthday present’. It was a very sweet visit as he is 81 and still quite charming.