You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May, 2007.
what church callings have you had and which did you enjoy the most?
(on today’s slip of paper drawn from the jar)
We moved around a lot growing up, we would visit local churches in the area, but before we could really settle in to one, we would move again.
Then my dad retired, and we started going to Epworth Methodist, a small friendly church where we had to share the preacher with several other churches in the county.
I enjoyed going to Sunday School and MYF, loved singing the old hymns, being a part of bigger family.
Dinner on the grounds, revivals, picnics, cookouts – it seems everything involved food - a good way to get folks to come, I suppose!
what can frighten you the most and why?
(on today’s slip of paper drawn from the jar)
I have always been afraid of snakes, not sure why. They are so quiet and sneaky, hard to see, deadly. After moving to the country when I was 10, we saw quite a few. My dad would kill one, hang it up on a tree or fence – something about the mate would see it and stay away. I had a long walk from the school bus to the house, and I would run all the way, afraid a snake would drop out of a tree.
what is the most exciting place that you have ever been to and why?
(on today’s slip of paper drawn from the jar)
standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon
deafened by the sound of Niagara Falls
riding the cog railway to the top of Pikes Peak
straddling the continental divide in the Rockies
hearing the ca-ching of a slot machine in Reno
crossing the Golden Gate bridge
gazing up at the giant redwoods
climbing to the top of Mt. LeConte
Sometimes the most exciting place is right in your backyard -
the first hummingbird of spring
watching deer cross through the yard
the first bloom of spring
watch the first leaf fall
the first snow
Or even in your living room -
the miracle of babies – first words, first steps
family gatherings – Thanksgiving dinners
hugs from grandkids
did you have a close relationship with your grandparents – tell about it…
(on today’s slip of paper drawn from the jar)
I was never close to my grandparents as a young child, as we always lived far away, until my grandmother moved next door to us in Georgia in her older years.
She was very independent and drove a baby blue Oldsmobile. She decided to drive to Missouri to my cousin’s wedding.
I went along to help her drive – I wonder now if that was orchestrated by my mom so my grandmother would not be alone on the long trip.
Whatever the reason, it was a great road trip. We stayed in motels and ate at restaurants – something my parents and I never did.
I got to see all the distant relatives and spend some time with my grandmother.
Tell about home cures or old wives tales, hiccups, toothaches, earaches, arthritis.
(on today’s slip of paper drawn from the jar)
I remember my brother taking sulfur and molasses to prevent chiggers from biting him, it seems the sulfur smell comes out of your pores and smells bad so the chiggers won’t bite…
holding an aspirin on a toothache until it melts
putting butter on burns
Coke for hiccups (after holding my breath didn’t work)
gargle with warm salt water for a sore throat
Clorox on a wasp sting
starve a fever, feed a cold – or was it the other way around?
Of course the most effective cures came from my mom:
a stern look would stop you in your tracks
a swat on the backside would send you to your room
a hickory switch cured a whole lot of things – smart mouth, arguing, fighting with your brother…
were you responsible for household chores? what were they? which did you enjoy most/least?
(on today’s slip of paper drawn from the jar)
the baby of the family – what chores?
I sort of remember loading the dishwasher occasionally.
I would attempt to straighten up the living room if I had a date…
Though this was a good situation at the time, unfortunately I never learned to wash clothes, cook, or clean house before leaving home.
Describe getting a Christmas tree as a child, when did you put it up and decorate it?
(on today’s slip of paper drawn from the jar)
When I was 10 we moved to the mountains and, for the first time in my lifetime, we had our own land to find a tree.
We would head out on foot, carrying a saw, and start our search. When we picked the winner for that year, Dad would cut it down and we would drag it back to the house. My dad would nail a couple of boards on the bottom so it would stand up (I did not know you were supposed to water Christmas trees until I moved away from home).
Our trees were not always perfect like those we could buy in town, but they were ours from our property, and most important – free!
It would sit in front of the big windows in the living room, ready for all the lights and ornaments we had saved over the years. And of course, those silver icicles!
