humor

Cookie and Uncle Riley (Part II repost)

Cookie and Uncle Riley

Cookie and Uncle Riley

This is a repost of one of my earlier stories, my mother’s recounting of a trip with eccentric relatives.  My mother, Kathleen Swain did the illustration.

People came and went. The waitress cleared the other tables and pointedly checked on Mother a few times, staring at the uneaten breakfasts and serving her enough coffee refills to float a battleship. She dawdled as long as she dared, hoping her nemeses would come back to retrieve her before the arrest. She occupied her time well, alternating between Continue reading →

Hellion Envy

Froggy had it all. His parents had the wisdom not to interfere in his life. He played whenever and wherever he wanted, went to school when he pleased and never got held back. Wonder of wonder, his Granny Bounds had a store bus chock full of marvelous goodies. When she showed up, we ripped through the house, ferreting out pennies and a Continue reading →

Excerpt from Kathleen’s 1940’s Memoir

Though I was raised during the depression, with parents who farmed and probably never had more than a few dollars in their possession at one time, I never did without. My mother, Lizzie’s canned goods were stacked up high against the bedrooms walls. She sewed everything our family wore except overalls and pants. My father, Roscoe repaired Continue reading →

Fluffy, the Species Confused Chicken

My little sisters, Connie and Marilyn, raised their baby chick, Fluffy, in a cloth-lined box in the living room. He spent his nights in their room, going to sleep as soon as they covered his sweet, little head. He woke them early in the morning, peeping around looking for them. Cleaning up after him wasn’t really a big problem while he was a tiny chick. Continue reading →

Charity Begins at Home

It is a bad idea for me to carry cash.  If someone comes by raising money to treat nail fungus in chimeric tigers in Bangladesh, I’m in.  Someone near and dear to me balances me out very well.  When I was recently gathering up donation items for hurricane victims in Timbuktu to take to a drive at work, he came through and did a last minute rescue of Continue reading →

Grieving for Sally

Sadly, one of the best and brightest of the senior class died. Sally was a lovely girl, studious, popular, well-liked by students and teachers, active in the community and church. She was swept away by a sudden illness just before graduating. Her funeral was attended by the entire community. Six of her friends were selected as pall-bearers. Eddie Continue reading →

The Doctor’s Office, Lady, Pig, and Cow

The time in our doctor’s waiting room became unexpectedly enjoyable as we sat with an elderly lady and her family. No one had said much beyond “Good morning” till the elderly lady asked her daughter to push her closer so she could admire the ornaments on the tree Dr. Irby had so generously decorated for her patients’ pleasure. She laughed and said, “I am eighty-three years old. I’ve come all the way from chopping wood to people walking on the moon. Oh, I’ve chopped lots of wood.” As she talked on, she cackled as she told this one. “I’ve milked many a cow in my time, many a cow. I remember one time, I was ‘a milking two titties and a pig was ‘a sucking on the other side.” She had us all laughing along with her. We would have loved to spend the rest of the day with her. What a wonderful visit we had!

 

Precious Moments

Some moments in life are so special, you’ll never capture them again. I was fortunate enough to share one of these with my mother and her tiny great-grandson a few years back. On her first visit with him, she savored every precious moment as we strolled in the park. They were a sweet pair mirrored in the fountain, spring and fall. He giggled as he dabbled his tiny toes, rippling the cool water. She shared his joy, till she spotted the used condoms floating on its surface! I thought he’d get whiplash as she snatched him back!

Dog’s Life

burying bone

Buzzy came by a little more turkey skin than he needed Thanksgiving Day and took it out to his favorite burying place behind the rose arbor, where he has deposited countless biscuits and other treats that he didn’t need at the moment.b burying wing

Though he is currently the only dog in residence, he got no rest, frequently checking his stash, knowing a thief dog might happen by any minute.b digging up bone

Poor little guy dug it up and moved it several times, before finally getting hungry enough to eat it and get some rest.