Surely, being the grand old dame of 14 years, still has a lot of puppy in her. Before moving into our little house on wheels she had the freedom city dogs dream about. She could roam wherever she wanted, eat whatever she wanted, and spent her early years being a dog. Now she is on a leash, she is constantly being picked up after (rubber gloves are a god send), and eating anything but dog food is definite NO. She views a leash with a mixture of tolerance and dislike. Yet she looks forward to our long walks and knows when I grab the leash it is time. She jumps down off of the couch and lies down in front of the door, waiting to hear the familiar “click,” then she does her old lady shake and she is out the door. Walks are generally relaxing for the both of us. The only time she becomes aggressive is toward the larger breed of dogs and then the heart of the lion comes out. Upon occasion she forgets she is tethered and usually I can get her under control. There was this one time that I couldn’t get her under control and of course we had our lawn chair audiences watching the show. Truthfully, I don’t know what possessed her because 98% of the time she doesn’t chase squirrels. That afternoon the urge to chase struck and she was off after a squirrel. I couldn’t just suddenly stop her because with the rate of speed she was going it would have snapped her neck. So I started chasing her, still hanging on the leash, yelling “Stop Surely.” I am sure it was entertaining for the folks in their lawn chairs but it was not entertaining for me because I am to damn old to be chasing squirrels. As in most cases the squirrel escaped unscathed, Surely stopped, and then looked at me with the expression of “what the hell are you doing?”
One morning mom and I thought we heard a violin. It was faint and we weren’t sure if it was a radio or TV. Then it came in clear, beautiful and haunting. It seems our neighbor was providing his neighbors with this wonderful entertainment. You could feel the joy he had in his playing and small mistakes were inconsequential. The three days he was parked next to us we were given his joy of music every morning. I was saddened to see him leave.
Cemeteries - I was asked about my fascination with cemeteries. I will try to explain, briefly. There is a reverence about a cemetery. It is a quiet place to sit and ponder. It is like being in a library without walls. Each one of the tombstones has a story to tell and some are captured with the etchings on the stones. Others are left to your imagination. It is life in its beginning and in its end. As many stones say “Pause, stranger, when you pass me by, As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so will you be; So prepare for death and follow me.”
Since I recently found out that I was to become a grandmother again I started thinking about my children. I was a bad mother, according to today’s standards in raising children. Now days they have a plan; a detailed diagram on how to raise a newborn to a toddler. In my days, babies didn’t come with instructions. I turned to my mother for advice and followed my own rules.
Today they have “feeding instructions.” For example from birth to 4 months you are to feed your baby breast milk or formula ONLY. When my oldest was in this stage I had him at the kitchen table eating mash potatoes and gravy. I introduced him to a plastic cup without a lid and he introduced me to a mop. I hauled all of my children around on my hip instead of a carrier. I had a swing but you had to wind it up. Now days swings are battery operated and you could forget you had a child until it cried for food or a diaper change. I did have Pampers but I also had cloth diapers. I had no problem rinsing them out in the toilet first then putting it in the washing machine. If the washing machine was broke I scoured them on a wash board. I also hung them out to dry. I think my children remember the washing machine, because it was a wringer washer. I really believe it was the first washer ever made. I will also admit to grabbing a kitchen towel and using it for an impromptu diaper. I would throw my children in the air and catch them; I would lay on the ground with them and wrestle grasshoppers out of their hands before they ate them. I will admit that a couple of bugs lost their lives to their curiosity. I let them crawl around on rocks, threw them in the lake butt naked, and I even swatted their behinds when they got out of hand. I was a terrible mother. I broke all the rules.
One morning mom and I thought we heard a violin. It was faint and we weren’t sure if it was a radio or TV. Then it came in clear, beautiful and haunting. It seems our neighbor was providing his neighbors with this wonderful entertainment. You could feel the joy he had in his playing and small mistakes were inconsequential. The three days he was parked next to us we were given his joy of music every morning. I was saddened to see him leave.
Cemeteries - I was asked about my fascination with cemeteries. I will try to explain, briefly. There is a reverence about a cemetery. It is a quiet place to sit and ponder. It is like being in a library without walls. Each one of the tombstones has a story to tell and some are captured with the etchings on the stones. Others are left to your imagination. It is life in its beginning and in its end. As many stones say “Pause, stranger, when you pass me by, As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so will you be; So prepare for death and follow me.”
Since I recently found out that I was to become a grandmother again I started thinking about my children. I was a bad mother, according to today’s standards in raising children. Now days they have a plan; a detailed diagram on how to raise a newborn to a toddler. In my days, babies didn’t come with instructions. I turned to my mother for advice and followed my own rules.
Today they have “feeding instructions.” For example from birth to 4 months you are to feed your baby breast milk or formula ONLY. When my oldest was in this stage I had him at the kitchen table eating mash potatoes and gravy. I introduced him to a plastic cup without a lid and he introduced me to a mop. I hauled all of my children around on my hip instead of a carrier. I had a swing but you had to wind it up. Now days swings are battery operated and you could forget you had a child until it cried for food or a diaper change. I did have Pampers but I also had cloth diapers. I had no problem rinsing them out in the toilet first then putting it in the washing machine. If the washing machine was broke I scoured them on a wash board. I also hung them out to dry. I think my children remember the washing machine, because it was a wringer washer. I really believe it was the first washer ever made. I will also admit to grabbing a kitchen towel and using it for an impromptu diaper. I would throw my children in the air and catch them; I would lay on the ground with them and wrestle grasshoppers out of their hands before they ate them. I will admit that a couple of bugs lost their lives to their curiosity. I let them crawl around on rocks, threw them in the lake butt naked, and I even swatted their behinds when they got out of hand. I was a terrible mother. I broke all the rules.
Illinois Rockford
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