Trick or Treat!

 Halloween is fast approaching and while it is fraught with bad memories for me, there are also a few that bring me fond memories.  October 30 is/was my first journey into the state of Holy Matrimony.  While that did not last and has a lot of sadness connected with it, it nonetheless gave me all 5 of my children.  That is good.  It is also the day my brother was in a car cras and death claimed him the next day.  So this year I am going to take a journey back to Halloween when I was but a wee lass!

As I recall, Nickerson, Kansas boasted a population of 1200 souls.  Not every street had a street light, but most of them did.  Our costumes usually consisted of paper grocery bags that momma had saved from the Fleming grocery or Berridge IGA.  These were laid out on the table after mother had cut a mouth and eyes in them.  She then dug out broken crayons that she had saved from school last year.  Each one of us colored our grocery bag as we chose.  Jake always made a scar face on his. If you recall, he had a scar on his cheek that he carried all his life because a horse kicked him in the face when he was very young.  Anyway....

We were sent into the world of free candy carrying some sort of bag which we hoped to fill with candy.  We were also reminded to say please and thank you.  And don't be greedy!  Only take one piece.  Now back in those days we did not have to worry about some one putting razor blades in apples or dusting candy with LSD.  Our biggest worry was that the next house would  have a big bowl of candy corn and our greatest hope was that maybe somebody would give us a Hershey Bar.  Candy corn was gross and chocolate was hard to come by.  A lot of the homes had home baked cookies, which was good.  Back in those days the crazies had not yet came out of the woodwork and we could do that.  Not anymore!  Now the sacks have to be filled with individually wrapped items, taken somewhere and x-rayed before eating out of them.

It was always fun going from door to door and knocking.  Usually, some lady or her husband would come to the door and appear to be surprised and pleased to see us.  Usually.  If the porch light was not on that meant they were out of candy, so we just passed them by.  The hardest part of the whole thing was when we came to a block with no houses.  That is where the big boys hid and would jump out and steal our candy sacks.  They were high school kids, so we did not know them, and it only happened once to us, so we were careful to stay in the well-lighted areas.

The best part was when we got home and momma went through the sacks.  She examined each piece to be sure her babies would not bite into a razor blade.  She did not worry about the candy being laced with drugs, because back then, we did not know about the existence of such things.  Oh, the innocence of youth!

The short time I was in Plevna with the grandma's was probably one of my best Halloween's!  Population of Plevna was 109.  Of those few souls, several of them managed to steal a horse drawn buckboard from somewhere and hoisted it onto the roof of the gymnasium at the school.  Not sure they ever figured out who did that, but I think it was some ornery little rascals from Abbyville!  Or maybe Pretty Prairie.

So, here I set in my house that sets on a back acre.  No one will come to my house, because they cannot find it.  I will buy a little bag of miniature Heath bars or Almond Joy bars, just in case.  Course those happen to be my favorite candy bar and if  someone one comes to my house, I will give them one.  But if no none comes, I will have to eat them.  I hate to think of eating something I don't like.  

So there it is!  This year instead of mourning my brother or the demise of my first marriage, I will focus on the positive!  I will remember how happy I used to be all those years ago when we lived in abject poverty on a dead end street back in Nickerson, Kansas.  All I have left of those years is one sister.  The grandma's and aunt's and uncles are all gone.  I have a couple shirt tail second or third cousins, but that is it!

I also have my memories of days gone by and the best part of that is that they are mine and I can remember them as I choose to remember them.  Sometimes my memories make me very sad, but sometimes they are very happy and I can feel love over the years and the miles.  

That is the best part of old age!

Peace!

Lagree's on the Mesa

My favorite grocery store is a pretty well kept secret.  It is one mile up the road and I pop in there several times a week.  I have actually popped in there several times a day if I am having one of those days when I am completely disorganized.  

I moved out here on the Mesa when I married my last husband 40 years ago.  At that time it was Chet's grocery store.  Kenny was a wise man and told me that we needed to support the local grocery store or the time would come when we needed a loaf of bread and we would have to make a 30 minute drive to town and back.

Sadly, the original owner sold to someone else and the store began to go downhill.  Then the roof began to leak.  Lack of maintenance began to show.  The shelves began to carry inferior brands and the store soon became a place where one shopped as only a last resort.  I think it actually sat empty for a while.  

Then, Hark!  A new owner!  The first thing on his agenda was to repair the roof!  Not more walking around buckets of rain water to shop.  It is my understanding that Lagrees also exists in Alamosa, and another town in the mountains.

You can click on the article on my facebook page and save me a lot of typing!  Here is what I want to tell you.  Lagreese is a very user friendly store.  Clerks, stockers, and even the person cleaning has a smile and will say hello.  I live a mile away from the store and twice left my purse in a cart out in the parking lot.  Both times it was retrieved and returned to me.  Not sure I can do that at King Soopers.  (Not sure I should do that any where!)

And if you think just because they are a small store you will not be able to get something, think again!  Canning supplies, dog bones, organic produce, fresh cut meat, dairy products!  All there.  If you can not find something, just ask one of the stockers.  From lye for soap making to Filet Mignon for a romantic supper.  All there.

Kenny said it best when he said "We have to support out local businesses or they can not survive and when we need something we will have to drive all the way into to town and pay the same price, plus city tax."  

Kenny was wise.  Kenny and Momma.  They would have made a good match!

Where did that girl go?

I found this picture among my souvenirs.  I think it was probably taken when I was in my senior year of high school.  For the record, I did not graduate high school.  I was too busy doing what I thought was more important, like dancing and "stuff".  After all, I had a job at some burger drive in and could bring home as much as I needed for cigarettes.  Looking back, I think I was pretty.  Even given that, I never dated.  I went to dances and had plenty boys wanting to date me, but I just wasn't interested in settling down or at least not until Earl Duane Seeger walked into the Crow Bar that night back in 1960.

That is me on the far left.  Looking at this picture makes me sad because I am the only one left setting at that table. He passed in 1994.  Larry and Maude passed in the last 2 years.  So that just leaves me.

So time marches on and this is a picture from last year.

 This is from the high tea last year and all of these kids are my great grandkids!  Not grandkids, GREAT Grandkids. I am the little wrinkled up old lady in the center.  These kids are capable of making me a great, great Grandmother! Where did the time go?

Mother called it like it is when she said,  "When you are over the hill, you pick up speed."

Rest in Peace, Momma.

 

Rethinking that flight!

Lou Mercer Words of Wisdom: Welcome to Texas little Colorado girl!

 I hit the send button on that post last night and went to bed.  My mind immediately told me, that I was not going to sleep and it was right, but then it always is, isn't it?  Momma told me more than once that everything happens for a reason and we all know momma was always right.  Momma was always right.  So this morning I will reveiw with a clear head .

Was that flight deliberately detained to make me suffer or was it perhaps detained to change the course of my day to make me just late enough to avoid a car wreck or something else that was in my future that only God could know?  Something bad, or to give me something good?  Or was it even about me?  

God has his own way of reaching down and touching people and places that need touched and I like to think that He spends way more time taking care of me than I take thanking him for doing it!  And you know what, it may not have been about me at all!

Maybe the man setting beside me needed to hear something I said.  Or maybe the lady two rows back who was so helpful in charging my phone on the bank of chargers needed to help someone that day.  Maybe she was missing her mother.  Or someone on that flight, or someone waiting for that flight to land needed to be detained to avoid a situation.  Or maybe the man across the aisle who could not set still needed a lesson in patience.

I do know this was harder on my son and my friend Ross, then it was on me.  My mother had a caveat that she spat out fairly regularly and that was this "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."  And I have come to know that when something goes wrong it immediately (if not sooner) snowballs into an avalanche, much like the lemmings walking off the cliff!

So, in the cold hard light of day, I have this go say..I had a wonderful trip down to Dallas, and had a wonderful time seeing the sights and my friends (They are actually Sam and Allen's friends, but they accept me.)  I made a (hopefully) new friend on my 12 hours on the plane.  There were restroom facilities, and I did not suffer a bit.  I wanted to get home earlier, but that did not happen.  So be it!

Thank you, Sam and Ross, for being so caring and considerate in the drop off's and pick-ups so I did not even have to worry about anything!  

And thank you God for always being around close enough to catch me if I fall!

Welcome to Texas little Colorado girl!

So last week I went to  Dallas, Texas.  Sam and Ross got their little heads together and Ross delivered me to the airport in Colorado Springs, reported to Sam and his shift was over after the plane left the ground. Sam met me at the baggage carousel and I was then  under his watchful eye.  There is something to be said about the good care he gave me.  Kind of makes me wonder who raised him!

Sam eats vegan so I told him I wanted the same diet while I was there.  Gotta' say it was an experience.  He made vegan a very pleasant experience although it is very time consuming.  The one deviation he did make was to feed me two eggs for breakfast every day.  Being a little older I do need protein and eggs are a good source of protein.  Three square meals a day is something I could get used to.  He also took me to see Grapevine, Texas, which is definitely unique and worth the trip if you ever get down that way.  Starbucks was a morning ritual.

Needless to say, I had a wonderful visit and my departure day was soon here.  So Sam and I got up early (5 AM) so we could make the 7:30 departure time.  He dropped me at the door and headed back home.  After I was releived of a few items at security I travelled up to gate.  A 7:43 departure would deliver me to Colorado Springs where Ross would scoop me up and I would be safely deposited at my home before 10:00.  Things were right on schedule, but then that old  "The best laid plans of mice and men, oft times go astray", came into play.  The Colorado Springs Airport was too foggy to land.  The piolet circled a few  and then decided to go to Durango for fuel.  Then they (there are 2 of them on every flight) decided to set there for 2 hours.  Next they decided to "deplane".  So we all went in.  About 2:30 or so, they decided they were "out of hours" and could not fly any more.  The decision was made by the powers that be, which sure as hell was not me, that a whole new flight crew would have to be flown up from Dallas.  That would only take a few hours.

Finally they arrived.  After much "to do" we were loaded back on board, and the engines roared to life.  We must have taxied a couple hundred yards when the plane stopped.  Captain was explaining to us that we were waiting for the mechanics to investigate a "funny sound".  I am sorry, but in my wildest dreams an airplane far up in the air and a "funny sound" are not acceptable in my books!  By now it was getting dark and I was NOT having fun!  I must admit that  the man in the seat next to me was a very nice man, fun to talk to and helpful in every way.  His name is David and he lives in Colorado Springs, but travels a lot.  He explained to me everything that was going on and how it was all routine mostly and all for my safety.  And now it was dark!  What had began as the start of a 58 minute flight was now entering 12 full hours and not over yet.  Ross was on his third trip to pick me up and I was setting in a plane on the runway with no hope of ever getting home.

To make a long story short, I did finally get home at 9 something PM.  Sam and Ross have decided that the next trip I make will be when Sam drives halfway up from Dallas and Ross drives halfway down from Pueblo and meets him with me being exchanged during lunch.  I cannot help but say American Airlines sucks.  I do not ever want to go through this again.  Meeting David was the only good thing.  Oh, wait, there were several other young ladies who were very nice.  All in all, most of the passengers were understanding and took my bitching and moaning in stride. I think I was saying what they were thinking.

Now it is my bedtime, so I shall toddle off to crawl in my nice warm bed.  Life for the most part is good, but sometimes it just kind of gets tedious

Momma said

 When I come to a place in my life where I am not sure which way I should go, it seems momma always pops up in my mind.  She always had the answer.  Whether she knew the question or not was usually a whole 'nother kettle of worms!  She passed before my husband, so I spent many years muddling through without her wisdom.  It is just a good thing that I lucked out and had a good, honest man in Kenny.  I do not know how I made it this far!

The one thing she did leave me with is something I will share with you.  When one of my friends or one of my husbands had disappointed me beyond belief and I expressed this to her that "I thought I knew him better than that", she said, "You never know anyone.  You know of them.  You know the part they let you see."  Those words have came back to haunt me more than once.  Sometimes it breaks my heart to know momma was always right, but she was.

I try to take tentative steps in my life and if nothing pops up in my path, I do pretty good.  I seem to have raised 6 kids who are pretty much responsible and successful and I think for the most part my life is pretty good.  I know one thing for sure, I took/take very good care of the geese !  I got the first 3 goslings when Bret was 8 years old.  He is 30 now and they are still alive.  

My plan was to sell this place when the geese were gone and travel around the country spending time with the kids and grandkids.  Not happening!  Like momma said "The best laid plans of mice and men ofttimes go astray."  I have a hard time typing because I have a cat that insists of laying on the keyboard.  I have a 2400 square foot house and this is the only place she can find to lay.

Fall is in the air and it will not be long before I am out there shoveling my way to the goose house so I can break the ice on the tank so they can drink. I buy 150 pounds of goose food a month which I unload and put in a barrel to feed them.   And I cannot even pet them!  They have never pecked me, but they are not conducive to physical contact.  Well, hell, neither is the cat!  When I try to pet her, she bites me.

So, it is 6 AM and the sun is going to pop up here pretty quick and start my day.  I guess it beats the alternative doesn't it? 

Or does it?

Nine eleven, 9/11/01

 Kenny had gone to work.  click here

We remember: click here

Enough said.