It's gonna be a busy month. I'll be back sometime this week but I've managed to fritter away this evening accomplishing absolutely nothing at all.
Kudos to me.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
A sunset and some stories
This is the sight we were treated to on the way home from the cotton picture taking. I tried my best to edit down to just a few photos but it was too difficult. Emma took most of these as I drove home. It was breathtaking and just got more beautiful as the sun sunk lower and lower. I'll never tire of seeing a lovely sunset. It brings to mind certain people when I see one as grand as this. My dad took the time to appreciate them and taught us to enjoy them as well. I think he would have given this one an A+. Because it's aces.
And I love a train. I remember hot summer nights in Corsicana lying in bed with the windows open and as we tried to catch a breeze just cool enough to doze off to sleep, hearing the distant sound of a passing train. If I close my eyes and listen, I can still hear it. It's a lovely memory.
Two stories come to mind when I think about this. Number one. After a long day at Six Flags with Gran and Grandma, Melanie, Carrie and myself, we were headed home late at night all crammed in the cab of his green truck. We were all exhausted with half closed eyes....the children, not the adults. Well, just as I was close to a great nap, Gran would yell at the top of his lungs, "WAKE UP!"I thought it was the meanest cruelest thing he could have ever done, disturbing my sleep like that. Of course years later, I realized he didn't want a granddaughter having a great nap at 11:00 at night and then getting home and being ready to partay. He was a very smart man. We'd spent the day riding rides while Gran and Grandma walked from ride to ride and sat on bench after bench after bench in the park waiting on the three of us. The day included a picnic lunch of Grandma's fried chicken and homemade brownies. YUM. Anyway, we'd almost made it home.....to the railroad crossing just a short way from their house to be exact. But much to our dismay we found a train stopped dead on the tracks in the pitch dark blackness of the night. I was ready to cry from being so tired. We sat there and waited for a bit but then finally had to turn around and take an alternate route to the house. It was a terrible twist of fate for the five weary travelers. But we made it home safe and sound where we snuggled down in our beds and then the three kids slept the next morning away.....while Gran got up at the crack of dawn and went to work. I never appreciated that when I was young.
The other story involves me, Grandma, Melanie and the three of us sleeping in a double bed in the front bedroom. It was a hot night and since they had no air conditioner, we were sleeping with the windows open, Which in my mind left us open and ripe for an attack from something. Well, Bessie quickly drifted off to sleep leaving Melanie, me as well as our active imaginations still very much awake. We began to hear a faint noise of which we couldn't determine it's origin. We whispered to each other about what could it be and FINALLY decided it was an ax murderer kicking a can down the dirt road with the very first known GPS tracking device....yes back in the day.....aiding him in his heading straight for us! And a sound sleeping Bessie wasn't the least bit concerned! My childhood stories ALWAYS had a murderer as a central character in the plot. Well, as we lay there fearfully pondering our fate, we ascertained that it wasn't getting any closer or farther away. Hmmm.....what a pickle. It kept making the same noise......pu......pu......pu...... What in the heck is that ax murderer doing? Well, after much hand wringing and me trying to decide how I was gonna throw Melanie to the mad man first in order to allow myself time to escape, it was eventually revealed that the pu pu pu noise was in fact, coming from Bessie. Just the slightest little puff of air coming out of her mouth as she slept her cares away. And with that relieving discovery, another ax murderer crisis had been averted.
And I just remembered one more. On another hot summer night's sleep in Corsicana we had the attic fan on and once again the five of us Gran, Grandma, Melanie, Carrie and I were in our respective beds on our way to slumber. Now if you've never slept under an attic fan you have missed it because it's pure heaven. It's a big fan...in the attic...duh....and when all the windows are open and the fan's on, it sucks the air into the house for some breezy sleeping. The only down side to the attic fan is once again having to have the windows open which makes small children much more vulnerable to ax murderers......I'm certain Dale told me this. Well, on this night I apparently had quite the stinky pete feet because after some attempting to go to sleep, Gran got out of his bed, came and got me out of mine, and marched me to the bathroom for a big heaping dose of Ammen's powder all over my feet. In Gran's mind, there were very few answers to the world's problems.....but Ammen's powder was one of the big ones. The man believed in the powder. And after he'd taken care of my bad feet, he sent me off to my bed and happily went back to his. Stinking problem solved.
Which reminds me of another story about stinky shoes. When we were very young and our family of eight would go to Florida for vacation, we usually left at night and drove through arriving at the beach early the next day. On this particular trip I'm thinking about, we were in a blue station wagon and the seats folded down and you could stretch out and lay down. I don't know how we arrived safely anywhere with 2 parents and 6 kids moving to and fro in the vehicle. Before we could leave town we had to go to the bank and make a night deposit, and this time it was Rebecca June with the stink problem. Once she'd taken her shoes off in the car trying to get comfy for the long night's ride, the aroma of her offending feet reached my father's nose and he was all like.......OH NO UH UH. He made the instant executive decision to take her shoes and gingerly put them in the bank night deposit box! He really did. I don't know if his stinky deposit resulted in negative feedback from the bank and I don't have any idea what Rebecca did for shoes on potty breaks on the trip down. But that's a true story as sure as I'm sitting here.
Which brings me to one final Florida story. On one particular trip we were leaving in the early evening and we had a set time we were to be gone. The parents were determined about it. My brother Frank was gonna go off with some friends for a little cruising around before he left on our family trip, and my parents were ADAMANT that he be back by the leaving time. He wasn't. We loaded up and headed out of town with his teenaged self unaccounted for. I don't know if they were sweating for him but I certainly was. I still remember the place where he caught up with us as his friends and he came racing up beside us and he jumped out of the car with them and into the car with us. I had a pretty rough time getting these siblings of mine raised. They caused me much stress and I now have the colored grey hair to prove it!
OK, now I'm finished.
And I love a train. I remember hot summer nights in Corsicana lying in bed with the windows open and as we tried to catch a breeze just cool enough to doze off to sleep, hearing the distant sound of a passing train. If I close my eyes and listen, I can still hear it. It's a lovely memory.
Two stories come to mind when I think about this. Number one. After a long day at Six Flags with Gran and Grandma, Melanie, Carrie and myself, we were headed home late at night all crammed in the cab of his green truck. We were all exhausted with half closed eyes....the children, not the adults. Well, just as I was close to a great nap, Gran would yell at the top of his lungs, "WAKE UP!"I thought it was the meanest cruelest thing he could have ever done, disturbing my sleep like that. Of course years later, I realized he didn't want a granddaughter having a great nap at 11:00 at night and then getting home and being ready to partay. He was a very smart man. We'd spent the day riding rides while Gran and Grandma walked from ride to ride and sat on bench after bench after bench in the park waiting on the three of us. The day included a picnic lunch of Grandma's fried chicken and homemade brownies. YUM. Anyway, we'd almost made it home.....to the railroad crossing just a short way from their house to be exact. But much to our dismay we found a train stopped dead on the tracks in the pitch dark blackness of the night. I was ready to cry from being so tired. We sat there and waited for a bit but then finally had to turn around and take an alternate route to the house. It was a terrible twist of fate for the five weary travelers. But we made it home safe and sound where we snuggled down in our beds and then the three kids slept the next morning away.....while Gran got up at the crack of dawn and went to work. I never appreciated that when I was young.
The other story involves me, Grandma, Melanie and the three of us sleeping in a double bed in the front bedroom. It was a hot night and since they had no air conditioner, we were sleeping with the windows open, Which in my mind left us open and ripe for an attack from something. Well, Bessie quickly drifted off to sleep leaving Melanie, me as well as our active imaginations still very much awake. We began to hear a faint noise of which we couldn't determine it's origin. We whispered to each other about what could it be and FINALLY decided it was an ax murderer kicking a can down the dirt road with the very first known GPS tracking device....yes back in the day.....aiding him in his heading straight for us! And a sound sleeping Bessie wasn't the least bit concerned! My childhood stories ALWAYS had a murderer as a central character in the plot. Well, as we lay there fearfully pondering our fate, we ascertained that it wasn't getting any closer or farther away. Hmmm.....what a pickle. It kept making the same noise......pu......pu......pu...... What in the heck is that ax murderer doing? Well, after much hand wringing and me trying to decide how I was gonna throw Melanie to the mad man first in order to allow myself time to escape, it was eventually revealed that the pu pu pu noise was in fact, coming from Bessie. Just the slightest little puff of air coming out of her mouth as she slept her cares away. And with that relieving discovery, another ax murderer crisis had been averted.
And I just remembered one more. On another hot summer night's sleep in Corsicana we had the attic fan on and once again the five of us Gran, Grandma, Melanie, Carrie and I were in our respective beds on our way to slumber. Now if you've never slept under an attic fan you have missed it because it's pure heaven. It's a big fan...in the attic...duh....and when all the windows are open and the fan's on, it sucks the air into the house for some breezy sleeping. The only down side to the attic fan is once again having to have the windows open which makes small children much more vulnerable to ax murderers......I'm certain Dale told me this. Well, on this night I apparently had quite the stinky pete feet because after some attempting to go to sleep, Gran got out of his bed, came and got me out of mine, and marched me to the bathroom for a big heaping dose of Ammen's powder all over my feet. In Gran's mind, there were very few answers to the world's problems.....but Ammen's powder was one of the big ones. The man believed in the powder. And after he'd taken care of my bad feet, he sent me off to my bed and happily went back to his. Stinking problem solved.
Which reminds me of another story about stinky shoes. When we were very young and our family of eight would go to Florida for vacation, we usually left at night and drove through arriving at the beach early the next day. On this particular trip I'm thinking about, we were in a blue station wagon and the seats folded down and you could stretch out and lay down. I don't know how we arrived safely anywhere with 2 parents and 6 kids moving to and fro in the vehicle. Before we could leave town we had to go to the bank and make a night deposit, and this time it was Rebecca June with the stink problem. Once she'd taken her shoes off in the car trying to get comfy for the long night's ride, the aroma of her offending feet reached my father's nose and he was all like.......OH NO UH UH. He made the instant executive decision to take her shoes and gingerly put them in the bank night deposit box! He really did. I don't know if his stinky deposit resulted in negative feedback from the bank and I don't have any idea what Rebecca did for shoes on potty breaks on the trip down. But that's a true story as sure as I'm sitting here.
Which brings me to one final Florida story. On one particular trip we were leaving in the early evening and we had a set time we were to be gone. The parents were determined about it. My brother Frank was gonna go off with some friends for a little cruising around before he left on our family trip, and my parents were ADAMANT that he be back by the leaving time. He wasn't. We loaded up and headed out of town with his teenaged self unaccounted for. I don't know if they were sweating for him but I certainly was. I still remember the place where he caught up with us as his friends and he came racing up beside us and he jumped out of the car with them and into the car with us. I had a pretty rough time getting these siblings of mine raised. They caused me much stress and I now have the colored grey hair to prove it!
OK, now I'm finished.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
I do miss blogging
But my heart doesn't feel much different. Last week my brother sent me a sermon to listen to which helped me a lot.
Here's to better times.
Scroll down for a new post.
Here's to better times.
Scroll down for a new post.
Those cotton picking misbehaving girls.
A few weeks ago I made two trips to take pictures in some cotton fields south of town. On my first trip I went with John and got a few photos, but we got there a little late in the day to take my quota. A couple of days later I returned with Grandma, Emma, Olivia and Maggie. That day the sun wasn't in a cooperative mood so as the girls and I were standing out in the country waiting for the cloud cover to move, Olivia used her time as efficiently as a tiny squirrel quickly filling her pockets with acorns to use as weapons against her sister. Shortly after she filled her arsenal/pockets, what quickly ensued was a breakdown of the situation with Emma yelling a lot and Olivia laughing as much.
Caught in the act of acorn chunking.
Then, when Olivia had exhausted her acorn reserve, she turned to throwing picked cotton at her sister in order to help in her quest to annoy Emma even more.
Eventually the following exchange occurred.
Emma, "OLIVIA! Stop it! You are wasting cotton!"
Olivia convulsed with laughter, but refused to stop harassing her sister.
Emma, "OLIVIA! Stop wasting cotton, there are children in India who don't have any!"
By this time, the sun was being as uncooperative as the girls and so I thought I'd try to get some cute pics of them amongst the cotton. What was I thinking? After all, they're only 19 and 20 years old. Why did I think they would behave? Scroll down and see what I mean.
She looks so innocent here.
It started going downhill fast. Olivia's trying to make-up/taunt/trick her sister into believing she was finished with the harassment....she was not. By this time, Maggie had joined in the "cotton harassing" as well.
Cute of Emma and Olivia. Maggie turned at the wrong moment.
I think she had turned to get more harassment material.
Now it's just an assembly line of harassment.
Was that a bug or cotton?
It's just a matter of time.....
Until Emma starts throwing punches. Olivia and Maggie are quite pleased with themselves.
Yep she's had enough.
And here comes the fist.
By this time I'm sure I'd started yelling.
But they cared not.
And now it's totally broken down. If I'd been using a video camera I'd have stopped the taping in order to have an undocumented hissy fit.
Emma's shielding herself while Olivia and Maggie are looking for more ammo.
Yep she's reloaded.
Why? Why are you doing that to annoy me?
Innocence? I think not.
I told you.
What's Maggie fashioning.
It just never stopped,
Punches still flying.
Finally a cute picture. Maggie was cut from this because she was droopy eyed.
Are you kidding me? After 9 million pictures, one decent shot of the 3 of them.
Some people are said to have a heart of gold, Maggie's is a heart of cotton.
Once more with feeling.
Emma shoved the other two out of the frame.
Cute.
Cute again.
One more til next year.
The freaking end.
Caught in the act of acorn chunking.
Then, when Olivia had exhausted her acorn reserve, she turned to throwing picked cotton at her sister in order to help in her quest to annoy Emma even more.
Eventually the following exchange occurred.
Emma, "OLIVIA! Stop it! You are wasting cotton!"
Olivia convulsed with laughter, but refused to stop harassing her sister.
Emma, "OLIVIA! Stop wasting cotton, there are children in India who don't have any!"
By this time, the sun was being as uncooperative as the girls and so I thought I'd try to get some cute pics of them amongst the cotton. What was I thinking? After all, they're only 19 and 20 years old. Why did I think they would behave? Scroll down and see what I mean.
She looks so innocent here.
It started going downhill fast. Olivia's trying to make-up/taunt/trick her sister into believing she was finished with the harassment....she was not. By this time, Maggie had joined in the "cotton harassing" as well.
Cute of Emma and Olivia. Maggie turned at the wrong moment.
I think she had turned to get more harassment material.
Now it's just an assembly line of harassment.
Was that a bug or cotton?
It's just a matter of time.....
Until Emma starts throwing punches. Olivia and Maggie are quite pleased with themselves.
Yep she's had enough.
And here comes the fist.
By this time I'm sure I'd started yelling.
But they cared not.
And now it's totally broken down. If I'd been using a video camera I'd have stopped the taping in order to have an undocumented hissy fit.
Emma's shielding herself while Olivia and Maggie are looking for more ammo.
Yep she's reloaded.
Why? Why are you doing that to annoy me?
Innocence? I think not.
I told you.
What's Maggie fashioning.
It just never stopped,
Punches still flying.
Finally a cute picture. Maggie was cut from this because she was droopy eyed.
Are you kidding me? After 9 million pictures, one decent shot of the 3 of them.
Some people are said to have a heart of gold, Maggie's is a heart of cotton.
Once more with feeling.
Emma shoved the other two out of the frame.
Cute.
Cute again.
One more til next year.
The freaking end.
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