Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Mish Mash

Slowly, slowly, I'm starting to discover things about myself. Like for instance, I have found that I can find my youth just by going to a feed store! Yesterday I went on the bimonthly trip to Weisenberger Mills to buy miller's bran. The door was open to the storage area, and I could smell the corn, oats, assorted feeds, inside. It reminded me of going to Southern States when I was a child to buy salt blocks for my pony. I had to just stand there for a few minutes and breathe deeply the innocent air of childhood. And the day before, I got to take a virtual trip to the horse barn area at the State Fair--they had just mulched the plants in front of the library with denatured horse manure! (They SAY denatured, but the smell says something else.) And I have yet to be able to go into a greenhouse in the spring, especially when tomato plants are waiting, without crying--Daddy and I often bought tomato plants together, and their smell reminds me of him. I'm glad my family doesn't like tomatoes, because I don't have to feel guilty about not growing fresh ones.

I know I already posted about the great afternoon at Libby's. I know I mentioned how great it was to see my cousin Linda, but great really doesn't describe the feelings I had. Now that Linda is getting gray, like me, I look at her and see not just Linda, but her mom, my Aunt Elsie, probably one of my favorite relatives.

Aunt Elsie was so cool. Things I liked about her: She had two Christmas trees, one fancy one in the living room, and one that the kids decorated in their family room. She took the curves in Cherokee Park on two wheels. She wasn't afraid to discipline any of us, her own brood or anyone else's kids who happened to be there. She let me have two Cokes a day when I visited, and she kept them in the refrigerator--she was the ONLY relative who had Cokes in her refrigerator when I was little. She let me have plain spaghetti when she was fixing supper and never tried to get me to eat the sauce. She had a cat who had kittens in the bottom drawer of the dining room buffet. She had two staircases at her house (well, actually one, but it went down into two separate rooms. (I dream about that house!)She had these neat colored aluminum glasses and silverware with plastic handles. And she had the most wonderful smile in the world. Her eyes really did twinkle. They REALLY DID!!! David has an Aunt Mary who is an awful lot like Aunt Elsie--I think that's one of the reasons I really love her.

Enough about Aunt Elsie for now--Good night, and God bless.

13 comments:

Jenn-Jenn, the Mother Hen said...

That's beautiful, Tooz!

Lydia said...

MOm, I love these stories!! I found out something new about myself just reading this one. Now I know why I like spaghetti without the sauce, or very little sauce. I get it from you! I guess you knew this all along, but you sure hid it well.

ann said...

i like my spaghetti that way, too. i'm a little sad that i forgot to tell you that daniel has been saying that he wanted to go to the KY state fair with you guys again this year, and you've already gone. oh, well.

Jenn-Jenn, the Mother Hen said...

I thought the Kentucky State Fair wasn't until August. I remember it always started after school started.

ann said...

i get it...a virtual trip at the library...you smelled horse poop fertilizer in front of the library. duh. well, anyway, daniel wants us to go to the state fair with you guys this year again. i think it's funny, becuase i didn't think he had a good time last year...but i think he's like me...sometimes you don't like soemthing until you can step back and see it for what it is, like, you think about it later and see its good...whatever. we were talking about horse poop, right?

Jenn-Jenn, the Mother Hen said...

If you take a step back to look at something, be sure not to step into the horse poop you are discussing!

Lydia said...

When is August is the fair? YOu might be coming down to the Chattanooga Fair for babies that week, if it happens that week, right? I hope!

ann said...

geez o peet, we'd put that baby before horse poop any day, of course!!! are you even kiddin!

Jenn-Jenn, the Mother Hen said...

Gee, baby.... or horse poop....
baby.... or horse poop...
I wonder which one is more important? LOL. Silly Lydia. Of course horse poop will win! (Just kidding. Don't kill me!)

Jenn-Jenn, the Mother Hen said...

Monkey Mama needs to blog, doo dah, doo dah
Monkey Mama needs to blog, oh dee doo dah day

Monkey needs to blog!
Mama needs to blog!

Monkey Mama needs to blog, oh dee doo dah day

Lydia said...

Yes, please, blog. I'm beginning to worry about Stinkbumps' mama, who has way too much time on her hands with him gone that she's making up crazy songs and blogging them all over the place. So, blog.

Tooz said...

To whomever it may concern: Horse poop wins over baby poop. You can just leave the horse poop where it falls, for the most part, but baby poop has to be removed and done away with. You can't even use it for fertilizer.

The State Fair is around the middle of August. Mapoopis Brown isn't supposed to come until the END of August. She better not be early.

Jenn-Jenn, the Mother Hen said...

Maybe I've always made up silly songs, but never felt compelled to share them before. Perhaps your comments mean I should not share the strange workings of my brain.. Perhaps I should come with a warning label!