Rest in Peace

My sister called me this morning to tell me that my father's younger sister passed away during the night. She was only 63, not much older than myself. My extended family members are scattered and because my grandparents are gone and because of life's circumstances, or whatever reason, it's hard to get people together, unless there is a wedding or a funeral. And that is where I usually run into a cousin or aunt that I haven't seen in years. It's sad, but true.
Now there will be another funeral to go to.

 You hear about people having a hard life. That was my aunt. Like many poor, Southern girls of her era, Aunt B. got married at 15. She had her first child at 16 and another one at 18. There was another one, too, in between, another boy, that died soon after birth. I remembered the day they buried that little baby, in a little country cemetary, up on a hill. It was raining and we children had to wait in the car while the grown-ups huddled under the umbrellas. And my aunt, only a girl herself, sobbed for the loss of her child.

Rest in peace, Aunt B.

Country Roads

It is chilly this April morning. I put on my pink fleece robe to go out and get the paper. It is a bright, beautiful, sunshiny morning.
Chilly mornings remind me of childhood visits to my grandparents' house in Tennessee. .
There was no central heat and air in their little house in the country. Grandma would get up early and rekindle the fire in the fireplace. We quickly got dressed in the morning and turned our backs to the fire to absorb the heat. Like many rural families they still had an outhouse. It was no picnic walking to the outhouse on a cold or rainy day.
Still, there was something so basic and so simple about those long ago days. I can remember Grandma kneading biscuit dough for breakfast and smell the strong coffee percolating on the stove. Grandpa would be puttering around outside, perhaps working under the hood of the car, or going fishing at the pond which was within walking distance. I went fishing with my parents, once, when a thunderstorm dropped out of the sky. I cut my leg on a barb wire fence trying to make it home through the storm.
The little house had a good view with fields and meadows in every direction. We played on the front porch and could see the storm clouds forming in the distance or the sun set in the evening. After a long, hard day of playing we fell asleep listening to the grown-ups talk in the front room, stepping gingerly across creaky floorboards.

Spring

I love Peter Rabbit!

My dyed eggs

A bird's nest that I found when trimming a shrub

The egg hunt

My granddaughter's birthday party

Can you guess what her favorite color and design is?

Every Kid Should...

I was listening to a popular radio station this morning. Every morning the DJ picks a topic or question and listeners call in with their opinions. This morning the question was "What is something that every child should experience?" A few of the answers were: camping, chores, driving an old clunker, etc. I didn't hear the rest of the show, but thought of several childhood experiences that no child should go without.

Every kid should discover storybooks and the love of reading

Every kid should ride a carousel

Every kid show blow lots of bubbles, every chance they can

Every kid should discover the fun of hiking in the woods

Every kid should visit a Pumpkin Patch in the fall

Every kid should visit a Petting Zoo and pet all of the animals

Every kid should jump into a pile of autumn leaves

Every kid needs to go to the park frequently

Every kid needs to enjoy a real snow day, especially if you live in the South

And of course, every kid needs to travel to the beach, preferably every summer