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Will wonders never cease?

By Staff | Aug 13, 2009

I hope you’re not too grown-up to be fascinated by the whimsical rambling of a blue-eyed blonde child. No, I am not talking about myself – but rather Lydia, our daughter! This summer we have had an ongoing dialogue about white, feathery clouds. We can be riding along in the vehicle and from the back seat I hear this adorable little voice say, “Those darker clouds are going to bring us rain, Daddy.”

It makes me smile way down deep inside. It proves to me that she is making measurable progress towards connecting to nature as a four-year-old. As parents, we feel it important to interact with nature daily. I am not saying that we are going to run off and hike the Maah Daah Hey Trail in Medora. We do, however, involve Lydia in tending our flower gardens, in walking to the parks, and kicking the ball on the substantial green, velvety lawn of Minot State University when hanging out at our apartment in Minot.

During outdoor activities she is magnetized by an ever-changing, immeasurably beautiful canvas our wide-open North Dakota skies. Once again, we are the proud parents, even though we said we would not brag what the heck! She is now capable of looking at the sky and relating to it.

A pet peeve that Jan and I share is when folks don’t pay attention to the weather. For example, take the time we rode with a couple to Bismarck. Getting ready to return home Jan called the weather report and learned of a wicked snowstorm brewing north on Highway 83. Jan shared this important information with our driver. “Mr. Cavalier” responded by saying, “Oh, but it’s nice here in Bismarck.” Let me tell you-this farm gal wife of mine has been known to be the leader of her own projects many times. When her instincts are strong, look out! She barreled out of their sedan and booked us all another night at the then Kirkwood Motor Inn before they had the chance to get out of their daily fog and lost in a blinding blizzard!

Currently, Lydia is on the same cloud as her concerned parents. This deluxe harmony with our natural world comes from the reality that we enjoy clouds as a family. Many of you have played the cloud game. You know, the game where you see different shapes in clouds. With the highway miles we travel, we notice everything from dolls to combines in the limitless clouds above the vast prairie lands. My wish is that Lydia will always be aware of nature and to know how wonderful it is to be engaged with the environment.

Now that I have shared with you that bit of Repnow madness on clouds, hang on, because we are going to create some clouds in the kitchen! Last week Lydia asked if we could open the kitchen windows and let the pretty, fluffy clouds come into our kitchen. In a nonsensical way I wildly open the windows and pretended to wave them it. It was a truly laughable moment, and it got me to thinking about recipes that look like clouds. I can perform miracles, according to Lydia, because when her baby blue eyes noticed this dazzling pie on the counter, she said “Mama – come quickly – Daddy knows how to make clouds!”

Repnow is a Rugby resident.