Whatchu Talkin' 'Bout, Willis?

Our big 'ol white house on the hill was our home. It was a Welcome Mat to anyone choosing to walk through the doorway. It provided plenty of space for guests, birthday celebrations, holiday fun and meals and so much more.

Until my folks bought me a 1964 Ford Fairlane, I rode the bus to school. I can think back to my younger days, grabbing the last bite of breakfast and flying through the front screen door, pitter pattin' down a bunchhhhh of steps to the front yard and then going into burst of speed mode to arrive on the side of the country gravel road as Mr. Worrell pulled up and screeched #25 to a halt!

His gruff 'mornin' and why are you late again, greeted me as the wheels slowly pulled forward. Now, Mr. Worrell didn't care for me, 'cause I was country. I didn't care for him 'cause he was McGruff. More than once we exchanged thoughts about our farm. He never did win one of those arguments. Imagine that.

Those were the days of skirts, sweater tops, bobby socks and penny loafers. And, to enhance the skirts, we wore no less that 8 ruffled petticoats 'neath those skirts. Geeze...back in the day, pants/slacks were not the 'in' thing for us. But, I managed and my favorite of all skirts (made by my sweet mother) was a pink 'poodle' skirt. How cute was I???

At the end of the school day, we'd mess around out front of the high school, not injure anyone and watch the cars leave the parking lot. Finally, here'd come 'ol slow #25...my ride for the day, again. And, McGruff in his usual 'here we go again'...out to the country. Hey, if it hadn't been for kids like me, he wouldn't have had a job!!

In the house on the hill, I had the front bedroom. It was large, with three huge windows there. I was the 'hot box' kid of the clan, thus, one of two huge air conditioner units was placed in my window. At night I'd slide the bar down to freeze and drift off to dreamland. One of the huge windows was to the right of my bed...and, I was always safe. Rip (my devoted German Shepherd) slept on the front porch by the front door and my window all night til the wee hours of morning.
He had his routine of bounding off the porch and making his circle of the farm. By the time daddy hit the back door to go milk, Rip would be back in place like nothing had happened.
That was okay, until any morning he had crossed paths with a SKUNK!! I don't know how the skunck faired, but whether he lived or died, his revenge wafted into our nasal cavities! Ewwweee. Yuck 'o duck. I was always the lucky one who needed to take the vinegar and ketchup and rub him down. Double EEEWWWWEEEEE.

Now Rip wasn't the only one to smell of skunk at our home. I remember back when I was maybe 4 or 5 and Jimmy (my brother) was 12 or 13. He and a favorite cousin, Eddie, had spent Sunday afternoon roaming the farm. Obviously, they thought it would be fun to chase a skunk. Yeoww. The skunk won. They came home smellin' to high heaven and none of us wanted to be near them. No! I did not rub him down with vinegar and ketchup!! That Sunday night we went to church at old Concord Church. I seem to recall the youth sat up in the choir loft on that Sunday night...and, yep...there sat Jimmy and Eddie! Top row, all alone...no one near them! They stunk! Like skunk!!

For many years, we had a maid that came every week and cleaned our home. One of the most memorable was 'ol Clemmie! She was a trip and she was destined to train 'Pat' to be neat and organized. NOT! I'd come through the house and I'd hear Clemmie cut loose with, 'Ms. Pat come hea a minute, child.' Come, I did to see what was happening. She'd open my huge closet and show me how neat and orderly she had arranged EVERYTHING! Sweet Clemmie would give me a sermon on 'how to' and I'd smile and say, 'ok, Clemmie, I'll do better!' NOT.

Now our dad hand raised our beef. We had a 300# freezer that sat on the small back porch. It stayed full of Ribeyes, T-bones, roasts and more. Anytime we had just brought a load home from the butcher, as Clemmie would leave, she's smile and ask, "Ms. Lucille, you gots any brain or kidneys in this hea freezer? I knows ya'll don't eat dat stuff."

If we did have those very special and tender organ meats (aaarrrggghhh), mother would put the packages in a brown bag and hand it to her. Of course, she got some great cuts of meat, as well. Not only did that freezer serve her well and us, but Jim and Sandy were married and on their own. They came about every weekend from Waxahachie or where ever he was Education Director and when they left, they left will sack fulls of beef. I've heard him tell of his pastor, Sam Tullock, inviting them over for a bologna sandwich one Sunday after church. Jim's reply was, "well, thanks, we can't come and we can't afford bologna. We have to go home and eat Ribeye and T-bones."

Yep, those were the days. How's my closet today? A mess. Where's Clemmie? LOL. How's my car? Great...somewhat nicer than a 1964 Ford Fairlane. How's my freezer? Fair, but not filled with home grown anything! How's life? Challenging, sometimes frantic, other times steady and slow. How's my blood pressure? Perfect these days.

At times when I am moving at warp speed, have too much spinning in my head and can not slow down, I pause and reflect on some favorite sights and sounds from the past. The pasture, that ran perpindicular to the haybarn and calf pasture, had a gentle slope to it's landscape. I loved the springtime when the grass grew over that pasture. It was tall, rich and lusch. I loved to go flop in a spot, spread my arms out side to side and lay quietly to watch the puffy white clouds drift along on a breeze. That was a pause, as a kid, to lie in nature's arms and dream about...whatever I wanted.

One other favorite sight was after a storm. I could walk out onto the huge front porch and raise my eyes to sweep the slope of the front yard, across the gravel road, down the long hill into the bottom and way beyond to creek line and trees. There, you'd see a most gorgeous rainbow glow for many minutes. That was our 'SIGN'. The storm was over, we were safe again. Life could resume.

Those are the things that enrich each day now for me. I'm one day closer to Lap Band surgery. One day closer to life change forever. One day closer to a new beginning. I hope everyone is one day closer to something. It doesn't have to be a health 'thing'...I hope there's something on the horizon of your life that brings you into focus at least once a day.

Life has a way of leading us through the portals. It is our choice to follow, turn away or run through with zestful youthfulness to see what's there. Enjoy each day and live it to the fullest. I wish everyone 'green lights' and 'blue skies' with every new dawn. And, while you are moving forward, do something kind this week for a stranger. Random Acts of Kindness are gifts that require no more than compassion and creativity!

Celebrate life today.