days in the life of a
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June 2009
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June 26, 2009
LYRICAL SCENES JUST DOWN THE ROAD
Just down the road from our house is this golden wheat field.
Is there any country sight more beautiful than a field of wheat ready for harvest?
"Oh, beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain!"
No wonder Katharine Lee Bates included a sight such as this in the lyrics of the song "America the Beautiful."
It's a sure sign that July 4th is near when we see these ripe heads of wheat waving in the hot gentle breezes that we've been feeling this week.
Wafting on those same hot gentle breezes is the delicious smell of newly-cut hay, from another field just a little farther down our road.
One of my very favorite smells in all the world, there is just nothing more sweet and fragrant, and it fills the air this time of year.
"...the new-mown hay, with all its fragrance, from the fields I used to roam..."
Lyrics from "Back Home Again in Indiana" pay tribute to the farming roots of our Hoosier state.
It's a trademark fragrance that defines summer in Indiana.
Uh, oh! This is NOT a good thing!
Just a short way down the road from our house, naughty cows in the cornfield! Eating, trampling, playing havoc among the corn plants.
"Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn!
The sheep's in the meadow, the cows' in the corn..."
Nothing a farmer would rather do on a 112 degree day (okay, I'm exaggerating a tad bit...but it sure feels that way!) than wading through scratchy waist-high corn rows to chase a bunch of rebellious cows back into their pen.
Glad it's not me! Been there, done that.
Some may think life on our little country road is quiet, slow, unexciting, uneventful.
Maybe all that's true.
But it's the stuff of songwriters and poets.
And it's what an Indiana summer is all about!
June 27, 2009
CHILDHOOD LEGENDS
I usually steer clear of current events and celebrity news in my posts. All day long we are bombarded with that stuff, and the intent of my website is to write about a normal gal (that would be me!) living an ordinary life in plain old rural Indiana.
But I couldn't let today pass without sharing a few thoughts about two of my childhood legends who both died yesterday.
And I'm feeling a little melancholy about their loss.
It's as if a part of my childhood is missing... although, at 52, my childhood has been missing for a long time! But it's a sad reminder that time relentlessly marches on.
I grew up loving Michael Jackson.
He was a young talented Indiana boy, very nearly my own age.
Who didn't love the Jackson 5, and sweet sensational little Michael?! Along with Donny Osmond (another of my childhood legends), the Jacksons were a favorite among my elementary-school-age friends.
We sang their songs.
Their photos graced the pages of such famed photojournals such as Tiger Beat, and we tore out their centerfold posters and taped them on our walls.
As Michael grew up, he left the family group and did his own thing.
Spectacularly!
MJ was a musical genius with an amazing gift for entertaining.
His albums exploded off the charts. Everyone adored Michael and was awed by his skill, both musically and choreographically. No one could Moonwalk like Michael!
Michael Jackson was OUR symbol of racial equality. He didn't preach his blackness to us. He simply sang, and we fell in love with his music and style. Race was never an issue and his tremendous talent blinded us to the color of his skin.
That is how I remember Michael Jackson.
Not as this sad face when his life kept getting weirder and more tragic every day.
Whatever you may think of his antics in recent years, no one can deny his incredible music genius and his impact on pop music forever.
And I will always be a Michael Jackson fan! His life was way too short!
Farrah. No need for a last name. She was Farrah, THE symbol of beauty during my high school years.
Every girl wanted to be like Farrah.
What I would have given to have a mane like that! But my hair was short, blah, and as unglamorous as Farrah's was long, luxurious, and fabulous!
Until her death, I never realized that she was only on "Charlie's Angels" (one of my favorite shows!) for one season! ONE SEASON!!! And yet, from that season she became a cultural icon.
She had it all! She was married to famous actor Lee Majors, the hunky star of "Six Million Dollar Man" (another favorite show!) and later had the long-term relationship to Ryan O'Neal, who will always in my mind be Oliver of his first movie "Love Story."
Gorgeous. Sexy. Rich. THE female celebrity of my day.
And along the famous road she walked, any troubles that came her way were highly publicized and photographed. Even when she was diagnosed with cancer, the paparazzi hounded her. As she was dying, they wouldn't even let her alone then. And I suspect she just got tired of dealing with it and finally gave them what they wanted.
Farrah.
She was a remarkably beautiful and strong woman even in her final days.
On Thursday, the world lost two very special people.
Michael and Farrah were so very different from each other.
And yet, both were childhood legends for a normal girl living an ordinary life in plain old rural Indiana.
Hollywood will never be the same. And part of my childhood truly IS gone forever!
June 28, 2009
KIM'S GARDEN
I could have titled this "Our Garden," but I'd be lying.
And I don't like to lie!
Kim gets all the credit for the garden.
He plans it, plants it, hoes it, weeds it, tills it, harvests it.
Pretty much all I do is eat it!
Potatoes in full bloom...red potatoes and white potatoes.
Kim does love his potatoes!
Lettuce and onions.
Cauliflower.
Broccoli.
Veggies galore!
Super-sweet corn.
Makes my mouth water just typing in the words!
I take special pride in the corn this year since I planted it and covered it.
And, no, it's not my fault that it's got a few sparse spots in the rows.
The moles must have eaten the seed! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!
Green beans.
Tomatoes. It's impossible to buy a tomato out of the store that even comes close to tasting like one straight out of the garden.
De-lish!!! I do love tomatoes!!!
Cabbages.
Okay, I like a little cabbage. Some fresh slaw. A slice of raw cabbage from the head.
But how much fresh cabbage can a family of 3 eat?! Not nearly as much as Kim plants every year!
Does that stop the man? Of course not! That's how many seeds are in a package, and he's going to plant the whole package, no matter what, dad-gummit!
Throw in a few gladiolas (next to the corn) and a few sunflowers (far right) for color, and he's got his garden!
And I have to admit, it's a pretty fine looking garden, at that!
June 29, 2009
JUNE MISCELLANY
Normal folks may have a watchdog.
We have a watch-peacock!
This boy pokes his pretty blue head up in the window and watches everything that goes on. If a car pulls into the driveway or a bicycle rides by or someone walks out to the garden, he lets the neighborhood know with his "Heeeelp, heeeelp" call.
He keeps a watchful eye out for us!
It was wonderful spending Fathers' Day with Dad!
Here's my sister Barb and me with Dad on the front porch.
We'll always be Daddy's girls!
We also visited with Kim's dad, Kenny.
God has certainly blessed both of us with terrific fathers!
Excerpts from five-year-old girls' conversation:
"We're all gonna die!...We might not die..." (when watching a car following us a little closely through town)"God is not helping us very much right now." (after praying to God to help find the missing pair of shoes and, after praying, we still couldn't find them)"No, Terry. Please Terry, no. Please, no, Terry!" (when I threatened to separate them in the car)"Kim needs braces. His teeth are bad." (no explanation needed here!)" 'Butt' is not a good Bible word!" (when Emily, after repeatedly asking them to sit down, told one of the girls to put her "butt" on the bench)And my favorite of the day:
"Everyone has boogers in their nose."Out of the mouths of babes...
Oh, and speaking of the missing shoes...
...after searching high and low and everywhere in between, I found them the next day.
Carefully and neatly tucked under the BACK side of my recliner in my bedroom.
SOMEONE (we aren't naming names!) intentionally hid them there and either forgot or, more likely, were afraid to "fess up" after we'd been searching for them so long.
At any rate, those of you who had been losing sleep over it can rest easy now.
The shoes have been found!
Lastly, for no particular reason other than the fact that I just happen to love sunsets and sunrises and take photos of them nearly every day and night...
We've had some gorgeous sunsets this past month!
Have a wonderful Monday!
June 30, 2009
FAMILY BRANCHES
Sunday was a day of reunions. Two family reunions.
The Gray family held their biannual get-together in our rec room at noon.
A lot of very nice friendly people, but I don't have the faintest idea who many of them are.
My theory is that any old stranger driving down the road could stop in and join us, and no one would know the difference.
This group is from Kenny's branch of the family tree. The fellow in red is Kim's first cousin, the young woman is his daughter which would make her Kim's second cousin, and the two children are hers which would make them Kim's third cousins.
I think.
The whole cousin thing always was confusing to me.
Kenny's sister and her husband. Kim's aunt and uncle.
The guy on the left is another of Kim's first cousins.
I'd never met the man and Kim hasn't seen him in 32 years.
The older couple is Kenny's first cousin and her husband.
A different branch of the tree.
My father-in-law Kenny with another of his first cousins.
Another branch. See why I'm so confused?!
Martha is a doll of a lady! She lives near us and is so sweet and kept close tabs on my children as they went through school. She's 87 years old, and still going strong.
My favorite distant Gray relative of all...because of his name!
Meet the other Terry Gray, who drives all the way here from Oklahoma every two years just for the Gray reunion.
He also has a very cool name!
More Oklahomans and Texans, Kim's first cousin, and Kim's sister (back to us) visit.
Old photographs, geneology records, and scrapbooks to reminisce over.
Now HERE are some familiar faces! Kim's sister Paula and husband Greg, our niece Erin, sister-in-law Shellie, niece Tiffany, and of course Kyler.
Do you notice how at family reunions we usually spend most of the time with our own families, the people closest to us?
Erin and Morgan hanging with Uncle Dave.
A few games of cornhole entertained the younger generation.
Speaking of the younger generation...siblings Sydney and Foster with cousin Paige...
...and our own offspring, Emily with hubby Zach.
After we ate all we could hold and talked all we could talk, the Gray bunch packed up and headed home.
And we headed off to Hagerstown for another reunion!
These are branches from MY family tree.
My first cousin Sabine and her husband Brian.
Another first cousin, Gail, with her little 11-month-old grandson.
Okay, let me see if I can figure this one out.
The lady in red, Wilma, is married to my dad's first cousin, Elbert. So that would make Elbert my second cousin and Elbert's son Robby my third cousin.
The girl in white is Robby's daughter, so she must be my fourth cousin.
Or something like that...
Cindy is married to another of Elbert and Wilma's sons, so her daughter would also be my fourth cousin.
I think.
My Aunt Fredette with her great-grandson, which is my cousin's daughter's son.
Oh, my!
But doesn't he have the most gorgeous blonde hair?!
Said cousin, Kennetha, on right with my Uncle Fred and Aunt Rosalyn on the left, and my own parents in the background.
And one of my favorite Stockberger relatives, Winnie! I plan to share his amazing story on this website very soon, but I've always loved Winnie.
Winnie is married to my second cousin.
Family trees are confusing, branching out in many different directions. It's hard to keep people straight, especially when we only see each other once a year or even once every other year.
And, like it or not, we are the product of our families.
As some may say, the nuts don't fall too far from the tree!
