My Best Friend

Linny will be turning 15 in May. I can't believe it. While I was in Salt Lake both Linny and her mom mentioned she will be having her quinceanera party celebrating the Latin tradition of a woman going from childhood to adulthood. Apparently it's pretty expensive. In the $10,000 plus range I've been told. They were interested in how much I wanted to chip in. I said to Linny

Me: "White girls don't have that party."
Linny: "They have a sweet sixteen party."
Me: " Right. How much is that? Five girls come sleep over and they have a pillow fight."
Linny: "Did you see that on TV?"
Me: "Yes."

Apparently I have a distorted view of how that works. So, in the end, I told Linny I wasn't chipping in. However, I need help at the lodge. She can come work at the lodge and continue her educational experience with an online school which she was doing in Salt Lake anyway and saving me the four hours of driving her to school and back and me back here and back, twice a day. Any money she makes goes towards her 15th party and I might match it, but she has to earn it.

On Sunday Linny moved back into the lodge.

By Monday she was out working on the property. I showed her some places where the last rain had washed away the road and to get a shovel and fill them in. Linny took off in the truck and Jax and I went hiking. It didn't all go as planned but to her credit Linny also got herself out of trouble with no help from me.

By sundown Linny was making pretty good progress filling in the holes and her work ethic was back to normal just like she'd never left here.