Several of my blogger friends have mentioned in my comments how much they like the photos I have been posting, and especially the older ones. Well, these are about the oldest I have, I believe. The top one is my maternal Grandmother, Martha Belle (Halcomb) Headrick, then Hervey. That is my maternal Grandfather, Freddie Edgar Headrick. They hadn't been married very long when this picture was taken. I'm always tickled at how thrilled they look here. Notice her dark cotton stockings and button-up shoes? And how he is at least 6 inches taller than her, but their arms are the same length? His arms look like they are 3 feet long, LOL. If I remember correctly, (and there is absolutely no guarantee that I am) Grandma told me that she had just found out she was pregnant with their first baby, Elmer. The picture is dated 1921. You can read more about them here in this post from back in the February archives if you're interested. Scroll down to Sunday, February 26. Grandma was a character, I assure you, and any of the sisters can vouch for that and back me up on it.
I never saw the woman in less than 2 full slips, panties, a girdle, stockings with homemade elastic garters, and sometimes socks on over the stockings. After pantyhose came along, she wore them every day, and most of the time she had on a camisole or undershirt and her bra, and many times more full slips, too. She was a kid's dream, because she was scared of everything, and no matter how many times you threw a plastic spider on her, she screamed just as loudly the 6th time as she did the first.
In the early 70's she still had an outhouse. One day we "went out back", and while I was attending to business, I heard her screaming and cussin' (it just don't sound right with the "g" on it, does it?) and just generally raising Cain. I emerged from the toilet and she had a garden hoe, chopping at something on the ground. She had the very end of the hoe handle, and was backed as far from whatever "it" was as she could get and still whack the tar out of "it". She was cussing a blue streak about a snake. I looked for a snake, expecting to see one at least 6 feet long what with all the ruckus and all. I looked...........and I looked.........and I looked some more. I couldn't find a snake anywhere. Finally she pointed out some mangled remains. She had chopped up a poor little night crawler! An earthworm, that is, to the uninitiated. We have those around here, and some of them are a good 10-12 inches long, but they are harmless, and the poor thing died a gory, violent death at her hands. I asked her, "Grandma, couldn't you see that was a night crawler, not a snake?"
Her answer was classic "Grandma": "Well, it was doing a d**n good snake imitation at the time!!"
The second picture is of Grandma and her brother-in-law, Jesse Greenwood. Uncle Jesse was married to her sister, Aunt Lurene, or as we called her, Aint Ween. All the kids had trouble pronouncing her name, so that's what it became condensed to. My Mama was named after Uncle Jesse and Aint Ween. Her name was Jessie Lurene Headrick. I believe this pic was taken around 1935 or so. Both of them died before I was born, so I have only seen pictures and heard stories about them. From the stories, they were both characters, too, especially Aint Ween. What would any of us be without our family characters and stories? Boring, for one. :-)
We started revival at our church, and I will be gone every night this week to church. I may be a little lax on posting this week, but I will try not to let you get too far behind on all the exciting happenings in my life, LOL.
Monday was busy for me. Cecil, Sue and I went to Trumann to Walmart to do a little shopping. The Tropical Sno stand was open for the first time today, and we HAD to stop there. I got an Orange Creme, and Cecil got the Wedding Cake. They were delicious, and really hit the spot, too, since we hit an all-time record high temperature here today. It was 94 degrees, folks. The average high for this date is 70. I told Mike in a comment earlier, Spring was last Monday and Tuesday, and he missed it. Check out his blog. He works at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and the record high there today was 101 degrees! The former record was 94, and it was set back in 1924. Poor Mike, he works outside in the heat, too. I just checked the temperature on his time/temp link to DFW International Airport, and it's still 81 degrees at 3 am. Mercy sakes, that's miserable!
We are in a drought, as well, besides the unseasonal heat. The rice farmers are having to flood their fields early just to get the rice to sprout, and the cotton, soybeans, corn and milo may not sprout at all, especially if it doesn't rain soon. If it's this hot and dry this early in the season, what's the rest of this summer going to be like? I dread the heat, 'deedy I do. :-(
Jeana has a new template on her blog, and I am so jealous. I would like to change mine, but I am gunshy after almost completely wiping mine out a week or so ago. I get aggravated with Demon Blogger sometimes, but I will just stay with the status quo for a while longer.
Well, as mentioned just above, it's 3 am here in the fair city of Bay, Arkansas, and Diane is getting sleepy for some reason. I am posting this, then going off in search of Mr. Sandman. Hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday today. :-)
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
More OLD Photographs
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Easter 1971 & 6 Weird Things About Me
Mary at Owlhaven tagged me to do a meme concerning 6 weird things about me, so I'm kind of killing 2 birds with one stone, here. The picture to the left there is from Easter, 1971, if I have it figured right. Disregard the date of Aug. 1974 on the top. We were sometimes a bit lax about getting the film developed. Just a bit. (!) I submit that this photo should count for at least one weird thing about me, if not several! I won't cheat, though, I'll do all 6 in a moment.
I've had this pic on here before, when I first started the blog, but it was back in early February, I think, in the archives, so many of you haven't seen it before. I pulled it out for a rerun because of the Easter theme, and the weird meme, too.
If there are any photo bugs out there, I believe this pic, and I know many others I have, were taken with my Mom's old Brownie Hawkeye camera. It may have only taken black and white film, though. I can't remember. I remember the camera, though. It was dark brown Bakelite, and it was very heavy for its size. It was square, about a 5 1/2 inch cube, and the viewfinder was on top. You had to look down on the top of it to focus on the shot. That was another thing lost in the fire mentioned a few posts back. Ducky had this and several pics in her collection when the house burned, and I am so thankful for that. Ducky and zztop can correct me if I'm wrong about the date and the camera.
Now for the 6 weird things, if I can actually come up with 6 weird things. You wouldn't think it would be too hard to do, as odd as I am, would you?
is, and how much time has passed if I am trying to time something. For example, a cake in the oven. I can set
my internal alarm to wake up at a particular time, too, and I am pretty accurate at that, too.
2. I don't want any of my food touching on the plate. I hate for something juicy to run under something else on
the plate. I use a lot of dishes and disposable plates and bowls in pursuit of keeping my food separated. One
(sometimes) exception is mashed potatoes and gravy together, and chicken and dressing with giblet gravy
it. You can preach all you want about it all going to the same place, folks. Talk to the hand.............
3. I do an uncannily realistic dog bark. I even fool the dogs, sometimes. Don't ask, it was a skill developed in
childhood, and it still stands me in good stead (whatever that means, but it sounds good here) today,
especially when I want to scare off a yapping dog, or start the whole neighborhood barking for no good
reason. I know that's a skill others long to attain, but fail miserably. So there.....Nyah.....(sticks out tongue.)
4. I have a very highly developed sense of direction. I almost always can tell you which way I am facing, even in
buildings where I can't see out windows to orient on the sun. My sister Ducky will tell you I probably got her
skills in that area as well as my allotment. She can get lost in her backyard, and she will be the first one to tell
you that.
5. I am good with most animals, but especially with birds. We just seem to "know" each other almost
immediately. Even birds who bite and show aggression to others are usually very gentle with me. I'm very
good and patient about taming wild things, too, especially cats. Works pretty good with troubled people
occasionally, too.
6. With a few exceptions of people who are deliberately closed to me, I am very good at reading people on
first meeting them. It has sometimes been a while before they showed the side of them I sensed on first
acquaintance, but I am right about people more often than I'm wrong. When I am wrong, though, I have
no problem admitting it. The hard part is struggling not to judge people because of this. Working on it,
though.
7. Here's an extra, no charge. I am probably a little obsessive compulsive about this, but I have to have all my
bills in my wallet turned the same way, faces up, with the larger denominations in the back, ones in front.
Not that I usually have much money in my wallet to obsess over. I also know within a penny or two exactly how much cash I have in my wallet at any given time, and usually I know to the penny.
Somehow, it sounds better to call these things "personality quirks", rather than weird things. Anyway, Mary, I did it. It was kind of fun, though. Can't wait to see some others, but I think this has made its way to most everyone now, so I won't tag anyone. I know a lot of people don't like memes. If you read this and want to participate, tell me about it in my comments and link to yours if you wish.
Moving on now. Tomorrow being Easter, my sister Ducky's son, Danny and his wife Mikki have invited us all to their house for dinner tomorrow after church. That's the noon meal here, folks, which has been discussed here before. I am making some kidney bean salad, and I think I will make some chicken and dressing, too. They are baking a turkey and a ham, and the rest of us are bringing side dishes and desserts, drinks, etc. Since I am going to church in the morning, and it's a 30 minute drive to their house, I have to make something I can keep hot and/or cold until serving time. I can put cold things in the fridge at church, and I suppose I can keep the dressing warm in the oven there, too. I wish I had one of those insulated carriers with a casserole dish, or the crockpot set like that. I will do something, though. I am looking forward to getting together, and to the meal, too. If everyone comes that Danny invited, he said there should be about 25-30 people there. Since Mom and Dad died, we just kind of drift around, with most of us doing our own things on Sundays and holidays. If anybody gathers at all, it's usually here at my little 4 room apartment. I don't mind at all, though, I am honored that everyone feels comfortable here.
Well, gotta go tend to supper. I'm boiling a chicken for the dressing, and we are having some of the chicken for supper. I have to go find something else to go with it. I am starving, and the growling beast in my tummy is getting restless.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Have I Mentioned It's A Bit Windy?
Hello, all. Just a teeny smidgeon of sarcasm, there, with the title. Welcome to Spring in the Midsouth. Talk about your extremes! Monday morning we had frost, then a high of 80 degrees. All the while, and every day since, the wind has been blowing a moderate gale. It hit 87 degrees yesterday, and it's 85 as I type this at 3:00 in the afternoon. Partly cloudy and gorgeous, if it wasn't so dang Windy! Too windy to fish or much of anything else constructive outside. Forget hanging clothes on the line, unless you want to have to 1. Unscrew them from the clothesline with a cordless drill, or, 2. Chase them across the neighborhood till they snag on a bush, or, 3. Have to wash them again and start all over because most of the farmland in these parts is airborne at the moment. Imagine bringing in "clean" clothes that are dirtier than when you put them in the washing machine to begin with. There is no problem telling where the farmers are working in the fields right now. The dust clouds can be seen for miles. That's when they're not blowing in huge clouds across the highways and roads. In the past we have had some deadly pileups and wrecks in the brown-outs from all the dirt and dust in the air. It's pretty dry right now, too, and that is not helping matters in the least.
Notice the beautiful photo of the clematis? My handsome, suave, talented BIL Johnny snapped that pic yesterday of my sister, zztop's clematis vine. He had just watered it (did I mention it's dry around here?) and I love the way the droplets sparkle and glow on the petals. It looks professional, doesn't it? I asked permission to use it on here, and told him I would give him proper credit for using it.
Irma, her boyfriend ChrisTopher (nicknamed Topher from now on) and I went riding around last night. They didn't have school today because it's Good Friday, so we just rode around with the windows down, listening to the radio, CD's and enjoying the warm spring night and the full moon. We had a great time, and covered some new ground. We drove through some places I've heard of and seen on the map, but never been before. Of course, it was dark, even with the full moon, so we didn't see much. Saw a lot of critters, though, including a fox, several possums, some cats, and something we couldn't decide if it was a cat or a dog, so we called it a "cog".
We started out on the twisty-turny-hilly road to Poinsett Lake. Family, you know the one I'm talking about. I think it's called Dawson Road, now. Irma has always loved hills and curves, even as a baby. We would take her driving on Hwy. 141 to Walcott just to watch her giggle, almost until she lost her breath. She loved it as a baby and kid, and she is still a thrill-seeker now at 18 years old. You know that feeling when you top a hill with a sudden drop on the other side? The feeling like you left your stomach at the top as you're already accelerating down? We call it either "tickling your tummy" or "turning your stomach over". She absolutely loves that feeling, and she rides all the "terror" rides she can get access to. I like rollercoasters, and that is about as adventurous as I get. She rides all the big rides at the theme parks, bungee jumps when she can, and wants to sky dive. Just thinking about it sets off all my "Mama Alarms". I don't worry over much of anything I have no control over, and I don't sit and dwell on those things, but taking unnecessary risks in search of a thrill does concern me. I'm learning to let go and remember she is in God's hands, but if I know she is doing something risky, my heart skips a beat.....or several. Sorry, unavoidable Mama thing, there. I can't help it, it's bred into my genes to be concerned about the safety of my kid. See, I even said, "be concerned", not "worry about". I'm showing improvement, aren't I? Hey, just agree with me, here, okay? Encourage me, already! LOL :-)
From Poinsett Lake, we went through Vanndale, and on to Levesque, then to Parkin and Earle. From there to Marion. We came out behind the new regional rail yard there. Ahhhh..........the unforgettable scent of diesel fumes wafting in the warm breeze through the open windows, and the captivating view of forty-leven locomotives ethereally glowing by the light of the magical, mystical full moon........ Now...... Imagine a buzz saw hard at work in the back seat. Also imagine you've got to pee like a Russian racehorse. (I've have often wondered.......Why does a Russian racehorse have to pee any worse than your common, ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill racehorse? I'm just askin', here.....) Also imagine you kind of know where you're at, but not exactly how to make the interchange to get on the interstate where you WILL know where you're at. Imagine making some sudden executive decisions at almost 70 mph in an effort to make that interchange. Imagine the buzz saw in the back seat coming up out of the backseat swinging when Irma deliberately swerves onto the rumble strip on the side of the road. Imagine it's 2 am and everything is absolutely hilarious. Imagine how you feel with a FULL BLADDER and everything is absolutely hilarious. Yeah. Feel my pain. We had a grand time, but about all I remember about the last 30 minutes or so was, "Man, do I have to PEE!"
Was that a redneck evening, or what? I loved it, and I will remember it fondly. I needed it, too. What with yesterday being the anniversary of Mama's death, I was all over the register, emotionally. It really helped just to get out of the house and take my mind off everything for a while. I want to thank EVERYONE who left such beautiful comments about yesterday's tribute to Mama, and for your sweet words. I am still overwhelmed by the love and thoughtfulness that went into your words, and I appreciate them so much. Thank you, sweet family and friends. Thank you to all my new friends who have commented lately, too. Like Connie and Rob from Missouri, Sue from California, (not my sister, Sue) Paulette from Texas, and Jenny from Roatan. Jenny is in the links on my sidebar, and I visit her often, but this is the first time she has commented here. I hope I haven't missed anyone. If I did, it was purely an oversight, not a slight to anyone. I am thrilled with all my blogger friends. It's like we have our own little online community here. I don't know how I got by without my internet and my blogging up till now. I just got online in November of 2005, and started blogging the last of January this year, but it seems like I've been blogging forever, and that some of us have been friends for a long time.
Blogger family and friends, You are the absolute best. God Bless you and yours. Happy Easter to everyone.
