Friday, March 16, 2018
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Stamp collecting
Living overseas as a child created the opportunity to collect stamps from all over the world. Now when I see stamps from familiar countries, I smile. Case in point:
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=mozambique+art+1968&chips=q:mozambique+art+1968,online_chips:pedro+alvares&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPgeHy9O7ZAhUCi6wKHQBCAOAQ4lYIKygD&biw=1500&bih=943&dpr=0.8
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=mozambique+art+1968&chips=q:mozambique+art+1968,online_chips:pedro+alvares&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPgeHy9O7ZAhUCi6wKHQBCAOAQ4lYIKygD&biw=1500&bih=943&dpr=0.8
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Fun at the Cousins' Ranch
Nanny loved her grandchildren and we grandchildren loved her. She could pull fun out of thin air it seemed. In the summer our family would drive to visit our family on their ranch in the Texas hill country.
There were dry river beds on the expansive ranch and roads were bulldozed without government regulations. I still have dreams about some of the steep sloped roads that criss-crossed the hills and valleys of their ranch.
Their wrap around porch house was at the back of the ranch and the way I felt when I saw it was similar to the way I felt when I saw the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in a long while. Even now my heart dances for joy thinking about it.
My cousins learned to drive as soon as their feet could reach the peddles, while peering over the steering wheel, even learning how to navigate bump-gates. Bump-gates were an alternative to cattle-guards that were used to keep livestock in a pasture without having to get out and open and shut the gate each time you drove through it.
They had beautiful cream colored Charolais cattle and curly haired cream colored Angora goats that roamed the ranch. The goats were friendly but the cattle were shy.
We had such fun there. Aunt Sally took us to the river to swim twice a day, Granny Lockhart took us fishing and Uncle Jesse let us ride, well really more like bounce, in the pick up truck bed as he drove around the ranch, veering up a large hill on occasion making it more like a theme park ride.
But they were no match for Nanny's ingenious fun. Don't try this at home by the way. She would pile us into her car and take us for a ride on the ranch to spy deer. When she got to the place in the road where you could see for miles from the top of a hill that led to a dry gully far below, she did something that made us squeal with laughter. She would put the car in neutral and turn off the engine and we would coast down the hill by the force of gravity. She made a game of it to see how far the car would go before she had to start the engine again.
We climbed the hill behind their house more than once pretending we were Indians stopping every now and then to peer out from the new vantage point of the hillside. When Dad and Mom were there with us, Dad sometimes played a trick. He would follow along unseen until we were near the top of the hill. Then he would call out as though he were a whippoorwill. Then he'd sneak up on us and give us a fright. Back at the ranch, sitting on the porch he'd look out over the landscape and pretend to see Indian smoke signals and Indians. He was convincing.
There were dry river beds on the expansive ranch and roads were bulldozed without government regulations. I still have dreams about some of the steep sloped roads that criss-crossed the hills and valleys of their ranch.
Their wrap around porch house was at the back of the ranch and the way I felt when I saw it was similar to the way I felt when I saw the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in a long while. Even now my heart dances for joy thinking about it.
My cousins learned to drive as soon as their feet could reach the peddles, while peering over the steering wheel, even learning how to navigate bump-gates. Bump-gates were an alternative to cattle-guards that were used to keep livestock in a pasture without having to get out and open and shut the gate each time you drove through it.
They had beautiful cream colored Charolais cattle and curly haired cream colored Angora goats that roamed the ranch. The goats were friendly but the cattle were shy.
We had such fun there. Aunt Sally took us to the river to swim twice a day, Granny Lockhart took us fishing and Uncle Jesse let us ride, well really more like bounce, in the pick up truck bed as he drove around the ranch, veering up a large hill on occasion making it more like a theme park ride.
But they were no match for Nanny's ingenious fun. Don't try this at home by the way. She would pile us into her car and take us for a ride on the ranch to spy deer. When she got to the place in the road where you could see for miles from the top of a hill that led to a dry gully far below, she did something that made us squeal with laughter. She would put the car in neutral and turn off the engine and we would coast down the hill by the force of gravity. She made a game of it to see how far the car would go before she had to start the engine again.
We climbed the hill behind their house more than once pretending we were Indians stopping every now and then to peer out from the new vantage point of the hillside. When Dad and Mom were there with us, Dad sometimes played a trick. He would follow along unseen until we were near the top of the hill. Then he would call out as though he were a whippoorwill. Then he'd sneak up on us and give us a fright. Back at the ranch, sitting on the porch he'd look out over the landscape and pretend to see Indian smoke signals and Indians. He was convincing.
Glasses
So a funny thing happened once upon a time. Our extended family including, Nanny and Memaw, got together at my aunt and uncle's ranch house in the Texas hill country. We arrived before sunset and got settled into our rooms. Nanny and Memaw shared a room.
The next morning at breakfast Nanny and Memaw both said that their vision was blurry. We didn't know what to do and were concerned that they weren't well. The day passed, and the next day, and finally we realized that they had accidentally exchanged eye glasses. Their frames were identical.
Well into their 80's, they'd seen a lot of things to make one fret, but they were strong due in large part to their faith, humor and perspective of living life well. They laughed and laughed about it, perhaps because it meant that they didn't need a new prescription. It is a favorite memory.
The next morning at breakfast Nanny and Memaw both said that their vision was blurry. We didn't know what to do and were concerned that they weren't well. The day passed, and the next day, and finally we realized that they had accidentally exchanged eye glasses. Their frames were identical.
Well into their 80's, they'd seen a lot of things to make one fret, but they were strong due in large part to their faith, humor and perspective of living life well. They laughed and laughed about it, perhaps because it meant that they didn't need a new prescription. It is a favorite memory.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Getting Started
Our Nanny and Memaw lived to 99 and 104 respectively and made me want to live that long too. Wrinkles and gray hair are admirable in joy filled women because on the inside they are a child at heart. This is about loving who you are where you are and not being wistful or filled with regrets. Live well today.
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