We have been sitting on lot #3 at the Deer Creek Motorcoach Resort (The one in Galax, Virginia) for about 18 days now, give or take a day. For most of the last five it has been raining hard. If there was ever any question about how well our coach roof is sealed, we now have the answer ... it is definitely waterproof. I performed maintenance on it just before the monsoon arrived.

I washed it, resealed some of the seams with self-leveling Dicor sealant, the kind that needs a caulk gun to apply, and repaired some holes and rips in the slideout toppers. I also spray painted the chassis rails with black rust killing paint. That operation was more for cosmetics than anything else.

This visit to Deer Creek has been a bit of a strange one. It started out with the promise of sunshine, golf and walks in the woods. Two days after our arrival, tragedy came. It forced us to change our plans and make new ones. Diane flew to Florida from Greensboro, North Carolina, on May 4. She returned on Mother's Day. Teddy Bear and I met her at the airport. It was clear from her expression that it had been a rough trip. The flight was okay; it was the event itself that was so tough to go through. Watching your grandson be born only to see him die a few hours later is not something that I personally want to be a witness to. I suffered the loss from the comfort of my coach, surrounded by God's countryside and with friends close by. Diane was right there with our daughter and husband. There are no adequate words to express the sadness that fell over all of us, but for those in the hospital it was such a deep emotional experience that it drained some of the life out of them.

Now comes the questions, most of which have no answers, or maybe they have the same answer and that is, "We can't know why some things happen, just trust that the Lord is in charge." What else can be said when it comes to the death of a newborn baby? What else can be said when a pregnancy goes wrong and forces a child that can't survive to be born early? It seems like a simple, almost-cliche answer, but it is the only one that will allow the one asking it to have any peace. "Just trust the Lord."

Now we are trying to get on with our lives. Diane lost a week, so to speak, here at Deer Creek, so we added another one. That would have been fine if it wasn't for the fact it has rained and rained and then rained some more. We have managed to make a quick trip to Mt. Airy for some walking and shopping. We did have a picnic up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and hike one of our favorite trails. I lost a camera lens hood during that trip. I dropped it in a swift flowing creek and it disappeared downstream before I could get to it. Normally, losing an expensive camera accessory, which has happened a couple of times over the years, would bother me to no end, but this time it annoyed me for only a few minutes.

Now I am just sitting here in the coach, looking out the bedroom window at the dark clouds still hanging over our heads. I am asking God to move them on, blow them away, the clouds in the sky and the ones in my heart. Pour on the Sunshine because we need to know that sunny warm days still are possible. They are, of course. Everything passes and most of the time it gets better. It takes just that ... time.

Family helps.

My Mom and Dad drove up from Lexington for one day. We took a trip north on the Parkway to a quaint little place called Fancy Gap. We ate sandwhiches a a great little deli ... the Gap Deli, as a matter of fact. Then we went shopping at a gift/garden center. I bought a large concrete Wren for one of our flower beds. Diane bought a hand painted weathered board from a barn. It has flowers and Welcome painted on it. We later added the number 3 to it. After visiting the gift shop we went to a clothing outlet. Both Mom and Diane found something really nice but still really cheap or should I say low priced.

We drove back to Deer Creek in a hugh downpour.

Friends help.

The day after Diane left for Florida, Gordy and Bill, two of my fellow owners and neighbors, convinced me to go golfing at Gordy's club. I didn't feel much like it but Diane told me to listen to them and go. I played with some distraction but the fellowship was really good.

While Diane was away I attended a Derby Day Party and Fish Fry at our clubhouse. I provided a large salad made of white and red grapes, blue cheese crumbles, walnuts, red cabbage and romaine lettuce. I dressed it with a home made fresh vinaigrette made from fresh lemon juice, chives and light olive oil. It contained no vinegar so maybe it should have been called a lemongrette.

I bet on the favorite horse "Dialed In" to win but I lost a buck to the person who bet on "Animal Kingdom" the 34 to one long shot. Good thing I didn't have to pay out according to the odds.

Keeping busy helps.

I extended the the Wi-Fi to the back of the resort. It wasn't that hard to do.

I installed a wireless repeater. Due to the rain I have not permanently mounted it. Hopefully I can do that before the week is out.

There are plenty of ways to keep busy when owning a motor coach.

I washed the coach last week.

I have washing and waxing the coach down to a science.

I use Blue Coral concentrated car wash and a deck brush on the roof of my coach. It is a stronger detergent based cleaner and has brighteners in it. It does a great job of cleaning a white fiber glass roof and will remove stains from chalking and rubber really well when applied at full strength. It will steak the side of the coach so always wash the roof first. Don't wash it at all unless prepared to clean the whole coach.

For washing the coach I use the Mr Clean Pro system. It is no longer in production which keeps me from buying the filters and the special cleaner for the system. They might be available online but I don't feel like going to the trouble of buying that way. After some experimenting I found easily available substitutes for the water filter and the cleaner. I use an inline water filter readily available at Wal-Mart and for the cleaner I found that Armour All Extreme Shine car wash, the orange stuff, and a long handled soft bristle brush works very well.

I prefer to use Protect All when waxing the coach. Unfortunately, it is not as easy to get as it used to be. Wal-Mart's RV section has shrunk to almost nothing over the last few years and they had the best price. Now they don't carry it at all. The next best thing is once again an Armour All product....Extreme Shine Detailing Spray. It is made with Carnuba wax, sprays on easily and wipes right off. Just like Protect-All it can be used on all surfaces including chrome, clear coat, rubber and glass.

I removed the non working wet bay heater. I directly connected it to my chassis battery and discovered that the heater functions fine. I still have a problem. I spent one day cleaning the inside of the coach which included repairing my wife's Dyson vacuum cleaner. I repaired a rattling bedroom speaker. Just a bit of Elmer's glue around the copper braided wires that pass through the paper cone of the speaker stopped the noise. I purchased an old fashioned foot edger. That tool and a bit of foot work improved the looks of pad #3 It now has a nice clean edge, full of standing water, all the way around.

Writing helps.

I wrote a letter to my grandson. I can't reread it without crying, but it still helped to write it.

I am writing now and it feels pretty good to be doing so.

Reading helps.

After delivering Diane to the Airport, I purchased a book in a gift shop/bookstore. It is "The Art of Racing in the Rain." It is the sad and happy story of the life of a dog written from his point of view. That is an idea not foreign to me at all....

I finished reading it in one day. The same day Daniel was born and died.

The book made me think that it is just possible that my grandson is playing catch on some beautiful piece of very green grass somewhere with Nickolas my dog.

I will be with them one day.

For now, I will enjoy being with Diane, my kids and grandsons, Teddy Bear, and my friends.

I will also keep busy until one day gets here.