Well my dears it has been a busy late summer for me let me tell ya! The Chosen One left his puppy here with me. How's that working for me you say? NOT TOO GOOD! I have decided I don't want anymore animals here! Every 3 hours he was walked, fed, watered, petted, loved, yucked. Yes yucked. Remember now I'm the CAT LADY not the DOG LADY OK?
So since I know you are not interested in yuck I thought I would write you a little story. So here's my story, let me know what you think!
HANDS
I watch her hands as she kneeds the dough and gives it a punch. "One last time" she says, "that's the secret." she says. With a giggle she adds, "That and my big toe!" She scatters the flour across the counter and begins to roll out her dough. "Now don't you go telling everybody about my big toe, Donna!" Grandma just grins that funny little grin only she can do. "They might think I didn't wash it this morning!" again she giggles. I love watching her hands as she works. You would think after all these years she would slow down but nothing seems to slow her pace not even her approaching 93rd birthday.
"Grandma? What are you doing for your birthday this year?" I ask.
"Why Donna, you know I haven't the foggest notion! They don't tell me nothing til it happens! I just show up and there you have it! Suits me just fine." She scurries around the kitchen looking for her pans.
"Gotta get these rolls over there in the sun so they can Rise, Rise, Rise! Won't they just be so good?" she asks.
"Yes Grandma, they always are!" I reply. She carefully places them one by one on the black metal pan and covers them with a dishcloth. "Ok, that's done." she declares. "Now let me wash my hands and grab my key and we can go see Aunt Pat! You want to take me to see Aunt Pat?"
I watch her fingers button her sweater and with a twinkle in her eye she tells me where every key she has to her house is hidden. Why so many I ask.
"Because I can't seem to keep up with my key. Now I've lost them all but this one and the one in the old oak tree. I need to get your Uncle Glenn to make me some more keys. You know time was you could leave your house unlocked and stay gone. Come back and everything was as it was when you left. Now days you better lock down everything or they just might dig it up!" she replied looking sad as she told me. I help her into the tomato car and off we go!
We take the back roads which in my opinion are always best. I like the winding-twisting-never-know-whats-around-the-bend roads. Thats where I hear and feel things the most. I think that people today have lost touch with themselves and their surroundings by taking the fast way. Sometimes it is necessary to take that fast road but whenever I can I choose the later thank you.
We talk about her childhood and what it was like growing up in Harmony. She tells me what kind of crops her daddy grew, the many quilts her mama and grandma made but most of all I hear the pride in her voice as she tells me about her family. How working with their hands meant so much to her, to them and that it was a way of life for everyone. I listen to her tell me about her siblings when they were growing up on a farm. I learn that my Uncle Arzie was quite the rascal and my Uncle Carl could turn a girl's eye. I grew up as one of the beautiful Phillips' girls. On this day I learned that my grandmother was known far and wide in the Brushy Mountains as one of the Hodgson Beauties. No small wonder why my grandfather traveled into those hills to find her!
Our first stop is always Uncle Carl's house but this time we can't get anyone awake. We decide to head on over to Aunt Pat's instead. But before we leave we spot some wild turkeys my great-aunt has been feeding. Of course the dogs are barking and Grandma is banging on the door to no avail, still they won't come to the door so finally we load up the tomato car and head over to Aunt Pat's. Only took one knock and Aunt Pat swung open the door. As always she acts surprise to see us and pulls us inside where it is warm. It always amazes me how small her house is getting. I mean everytime I go up there the house is smaller than the last time I was there. Funny how that happens. But yet everything looks the same. I leave them to talk about what only sisters need to talk about. I wander around the property snapping pictures of old buildings and whatnot. Thinking about my ancestors and how different this land must have looked to them. I wander over to the family cemetary and pay my respects to my great great great grandparents. It's so quiet, so peaceful. I could just sit for hours and perhaps never leave. After a bit I wander back inside to find Grandma.
"Are you ready to go?" she asks. "Your Aunt Pat is tired." Hugs and Kisses are passed around and off we go down the hill, past Uncle Carl's house. I ask, "Do you want to stop and see if they are home?" "No, they are probably off with her son somewhere." she says.
"Where do you want to go now Grandma?" I ask.
"Let's go home and eat a yeast roll. You wanna go eat a yeast roll?" she looks at me, waiting for my answer.
"Of course I do! After all they are the best Grandma." I reply.
We drive in silence for awhile, watching the road as we go. After a bit she asks me if I have ever tried to make her yeast rolls. I laugh and say that I have but they were only fit for roofing tiles and hockey pucks. She thinks that's funny and tells me I'm silly that I must be doing something wrong. I agree and tell her where I went wrong was trying to copy her! That I gave up a long time ago. I just buy them all ready to bake now. I tell her I don't have the hands for it like she does.
"Well Practice, Practice, Practice! Your Aunt Kathi makes them pretty close to mine." she smiles. She knows everyone in the family has tried to make her yeast rolls to no avail!
I notice her hands are digging in her pockets searching for something. I asked her if she lost something and she looks up at me with those blue eyes twinkling.
"How do you feel about climbing that old oak tree?" she asks.
Thoughts
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