To Eat Or Not To Eat

My youngest brother was a picky eater. I do not mean he was fussy. He was picky.

There was hardly anything he would eat. Mom worried and talked to the doctor about it. The doctor said he would eat more as he grew older.

In the meantime he took a bag lunch to school every day. It was always the same. Two slices of white bead with 1 leaf of lettuce between them. Every day for I cannot remember how many years.

Most children like spaghetti or macaroni and cheese. Maybe chicken noodle soup or grilled cheese. Not my brother.

If he was at a cook-out he liked hot dogs. Not to eat.

He would wrap them tightly in aluminum foil. Then he threw them on the hot coals.

As the hot dogs got hot they swelled. When they swelled enough they would explode. What little boy could resist that?

I suppose I should let you know that he is now a grandfather. And he is still a little fussy but the foods he eats are a much wider variety...  even vegetables.

Ooooh Scary

My mother was pregnant with me. My due date was August 18.

I was not born on August 18. Daddy thought I might be born on the 20th. That was Mom's birthday. 

I was still not ready to enter the world. Then Daddy began to hope that I would wait until his birthday on September 1.

Oddly enough he did not wish for me to be born on the birthday of any of my three uncles before then. Each had a different day to celebrate.

So to take their minds off the summer heat my parents went to the movies. The Beast With Five Fingers was the one playing. 

It was about an evil man who died but his hand lived on. It went from place to place killing people. Sounds wonderful right?

After the movie they went home. They began to get ready for bed when Mom realized they needed to go to the hospital instead.

I was born at 12:30 AM the next night. I missed everybody and had a birthday all my own.

My mother was scared into having me.

The Farm

It is heart-breaking. 

We live not far from the farm my mother-in-law and father-in-law lived as long as I knew them. 

My husband was born in that house. Not a hospital...that house.

It was a ram-shackle house. And very small. They had to move a mobile home on the property to hold some of the people.

It was not much of a farm in the traditional sense. All the land was on hills that are like small mountains. That means no planting. Even raising livestock would be too hard. 

My children loved visiting their grandparents. As long as they stayed away from the road they had more freedom to rove than they had in the city. Their favorite activity was to climb the hill and roll down. They still go over there when they visit to roll down the hill.

The man who now owns the property has invited them to roll down the hill whenever they wish to.  

When I began dating my eventual husband there were no people living close. The nearest neighbor was about a mile and a half away and there were no other houses until you got into town.

Now there are at least a dozen places between town and the farm. The open scenery is spoiled.

After my mother-in-law and father-in-law died the farm was sold. My husband asked the man who bought it not to take down his mother's weeping willow tree. The man agreed. Unfortunately the tree became diseased and had to be removed.    

All that is left of the farm now is my father-in-law's yard light. There are so many memories tied into that 40 acres. I feel them every time I drive that way.

Those Who Go Down To Sea In Ships

The folks who go to sea are a brave bunch to my way of thinking. They encounter so many things they cannot control. Storms, icebergs, pirates are only a few. No wonder they have superstitions to try to keep them safe. Some of them are:

No bananas on board. This is possibly because they rot so fast

Tossing a coin into the ocean before a voyage will guarantee a safe trip.

Protect the albatross. It is supposed to be the home of the spirit of a sailor who died at sea.

A female on board brings bad luck. I do not know why.

Whistling on board calls winds and storms

Red sky in the morning sailor take warning. Red sky at night sailors' delight. It foretells the weather.

Place a coin under the mast for a safe voyage.

The ship's bell marks watch times and time in general. It also drives away evil spirits to protect thew crew.

Tattoos were made to represent designs to bring good luck to the sailor.

Rats deserting the ship was a bad sign. Fire, leaks, or the ship falling apart are reasons.

My mind describes the Kraken as a giant octopus.

Mermaids lured sailors to their deaths with their beauty.

Phantom ships like The Flying Dutchman struck fear into sailors who feared they would be forced to man that ship.

Losing a hat overboard means a long voyage.

Of course this sis a partial list. Do you have a favorite to share? 

Take Care Of Business

I am an open and friendly (not flirtatious) person. Of course there are exceptions but most people like me. And I like most of them.

Unfortunately that does sometimes cause problems.

My husband had a man he had business dealings with. If my husband was not available I took care of business.

So I will call this man Sam. He was nice enough and I was as friendly with him as I was other men and women we dealt with. I guess he misinterpreted my actions.

He began calling me when he knew my husband was not home. It began to be almost every night while I was fixing supper. 

I told him it was not good to call me. I was taking care of my children and husband. 

One day there was a knock at my back door. When I answered there stood Sam.

He told me he had come through the alley so neighbors would not see. There was no alley. I told him I had nothing to hide from anyone.

I allowed him in and told him my husband was at work. My children were home with me. 

We spoke for a few minutes and I let him out the front door.

That evening I told my husband that he needed to do something. Because of business I would still have to deal with Sam occasionally. But I had not been able to convince him that I was just being nice. I was not interested in anything more.

My husband said no more to me. But after that if Sam was around for business he was courteous but no more. I was myself and comfortable.

Good husband.

Find A Good Book

My children went to Detroit Public Schools. There are not many good teachers there.

I realized one day that one of my sons could not read. 

Of course I went to visit his teacher the next day. My son was 7 years old. And he could not read. 

I talked to the teacher for quite a while. She told me that she was afraid of my son. If she would announce that it was time for the class to get out their workbooks he would just cross his arms and stare at her. 

I said, " He is 7 years old. Tell him to take out his workbook!"

My children were taught to mind adults. However like all children if they see a weakness they will exploit it.

At the end of our meeting I asked if there was an extra reading book that I could take home. I would work with him at home. She was happy to give me one.

Now I love to learn. It comes easily to me. But I am not meant to be a teacher. The patience needed is not in me. But I wanted my children to be educated so we went to work.

Then the following week my son came home with an armload of books. I was expected to teach every subject his grade was learning. Back to the school I went.

This time I spoke to the principal. I explained that I wanted to help with his reading but his teacher was being paid to teach. I could not be responsible for the rest. 

He explained that the teacher was going through a nasty divorce. So she takes it to work and does not have to do a good job because she cannot control her feelings?

I was talking to my neighbor later and venting my frustration. She informed me that her daughter had the same teacher a few years earlier. Her divorce had been final at least 10 years ago. 

So I taught my son to read. As a matter of fact I had to teach all of my children to read. They are all very intelligent so it was not difficult.

I am happy to say that they are voracious readers today. No thanks to that 2nd grade teacher and all the others.

Why A Vacation

 I am back from vacation. 

I did not go to some exotic resort or any place fun.

Within less than a week I lost 3 family members who were dear to me.

My husband's younger brother died. He had been ill for a long time. He was the last of the siblings in the family.

He was as much a brother to me as my brothers with whom I shared parents. He left his wife, seven children, and a number of grandchildren.

Then a niece's husband suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. He was a registered nurse and highly admired by many people.

The doctors told my niece immediately that they did not expect him to live.  Modern medicine helped him live in a coma for a short time. My niece, her children, and grandchildren are devastated.

The only cousin I had who was my age died. She had a few medical problems as we do as we age. Left behind is her husband who is not well and a house full of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

I needed that time to deal with the knowledge they are gone. I am not looking for sympathy here. Our lives move on. I just wanted to let you know why I was gone. I am back now.