Grandchildren – Sunshine Lane

The Beauty of a Clock

A friend of mine on Facebook today mentioned an analog clock he and his wife have in a bathroom in their home. He mentioned how he could read it from the shower via a mirror. My mind, as usual, went down a rabbit hole and suddenly I remembered hearing recently that many children and adults could no longer read an analog clock. At the time I thought that had to be wrong and hoped it was true. (I had also heard that children are no longer being taught cursive writing in school. Unfortunately, I have learned that that rumor is true. Breaks my heart, but that’s another subject.)

My husband and I have many clocks in our house, but the dearest, most valuable one to me is an analog battery clock set in a wooden frame that I bought for my dad many years ago at a pharmacy. His vision was rapidly declining due to macular degeneration and he could no longer read his watch. One day while waiting for a prescription refill, I saw a clock for sale for about $10 I think and immediately thought it would be perfect for Daddy. It even had the hands that glow in the dark at night, which would be perfect for Daddy when he awoke at 4:00 in the morning and got up to sit in the living room until Mother woke up. Of course, I bought the clock and I think it was Daddy’s Father’s Day gift that year. That same clock now sits on my bathroom shelf and I look at it many times during the course of an average day. Every time I look at it, I think of my dad fondly. He didn’t use it for years and years, but the time he did use it was precious to me.

I think the true usefulness and beauty of a clock is not in whether it is analog, digital or sand or even in the time it tells, but in the time that it keeps. Daddy’s clock, to me, will always represent the time I kept with my father in his last years and how special that time was to me.

I have a grandson now, Milo, who is two years old. He has excellent parents who will, I have no doubt, teach him how to read an analog clock. Someday I will share with Milo the story of my little bathroom clock and how precious it is and someday further in the future, I will leave it to him so he can remember how his Grandmama Dee used that clock to keep time with her father and then used it to keep time with him, her beloved grandchil

Traveling Sonnet/NaPoWriMo Day 23

Along the roadway we shall quickly go,
but do we travel on little by-lanes
or straight interstates for much quicker gains?
Whichever is quicker to our Milo!
As we go, we see the peaks’ highest highs,
and then the lows with changes in terrain-
highest mountains, low valleys and flat plains.
Still our little green car goes without sighs.

Today was long and dark with wind and rain,
but tomorrow will be grand with Milo!

Suggestion was a sonnet with 14 lines of 10 syllables each with an ABBAABBAAB rhyme scheme. The general idea is to write an essay in this poetic format. As I’m a day late and a dollar short because we were on the road, this isn’t the tightest I could write this poem. I’ll probably rewrite later, after we get to see sweet Milo, our 15 month old grandson. 😊

Autumn Has Arrived!!

Autumn has arrived in beautiful Colorado as well as the northern hemisphere and it is just gorgeous this year! Autumn is my favorite season, I must admit. I love the colors, I love the temperatures cooling down, I love the way the light slants across the sky in a softer manner that seems to make everything look new and different. When I was a child, I looked forward to the beginning of every new school year and the new clothes and shoes we would buy so I could start off the year all sparkly and new. I’m even one of those people who, to this day, loves the smell of pencils and erasers and chalk boards, pens and all kinds of paper, and even the crisp newness of notebooks. Can I make a confession to you? I still buy school supplies when they’re in the stores, on sale, because they’re less expensive then and I love wandering up and down the aisles with all those lovely school supply aromas. Autumn is my favorite season hands down!

I grew up in west Texas where we had fall, but it wasn’t the same as fall in places farther north. We got cooler, but mostly that was when we had our heavy rains and so gray, foggy days seemed to go hand in hand with the new season. I loved walking home after school and walking into my house to the aroma of soup or stew that Mother was already cooking on the stove. Those were some of my favorite moments as a child and I miss those moments now. I LIKED wearing more clothes in the fall and winter months. I loved sweaters and corduroy pants, long-sleeved dresses and coats, hats, and gloves. I was born in November and always loved that November’s flower is the chrysanthemum. I loved the colors that were used to represent fall–pumpkin, sweet potato, maroon, dark green, browns, burnished golds, and darker blues.

Autumn is the season for Halloween and I recall my favorite Halloween costume as a child. I believe I was in the second grade and I decided to dress up as a gypsy. Mother made me a long, full skirt made of a fall-colored paisley print. I adored that skirt and wore it all the time, even when it wasn’t Halloween. I liked going trick or treating, but my favorite part was coming home and all of my friends and I dividing and sharing the spoils of our evening.

My favorite holiday of all is Thanksgiving and not because of the largely mythical stories of the pilgrims and the Indians having a big feast together after the harvest. I love Thanksgiving because, to me, it represents a time for family to get together for no other reason than to share a good meal and quality time together. I have grand memories of all the women working in my mother’s kitchen preparing the big feast for the day. I loved the food too, don’t get me wrong, but I loved even more being in the midst of the women, hearing the latest news about what was happening in the family, the joking around, the camaraderie and the love. I think I love preparing the Thanksgiving meal now because even though it is harder to gather family together for it, the recipes and preparations remind me of those days when there was a big crowd to prepare and eat the meal. Making cornbread dressing reminds me of my sister Judy, who was the official dressing maker. Making pecan and cherry pies reminds me of Mother and her explaining each step to me. I loved putting the chicken and dressing together into the oven and the aromas that arose as it cooked. (Mother never baked a turkey. She thought they were too greasy.)

As you can tell, I’m on a nostalgia trip this morning! 🙂 Now, as I’m older, I’m realizing I need to institute some new traditions in our family so someday my grandchildren will have such ardent memories as I do of my childhood Thanksgivings.

Last week, my husband and I took our annual trip into the mountains to see the beautiful trees and leaves around Colorado. As we did so, I was filled with joy and peace that I just don’t experience throughout the rest of the year. My husband loves it when it snows. I love it when it cools and the trees turn into a riot of lovely colors. I get this almost uncontrollable urge to cook soups and stews, turkeys and dressing. I even get this weird urge to draw and cut out leaves and pumpkins and turkeys from construction paper and tape them to the front window. Instead, I’m crocheting and knitting shawls from autumnal colors. That works too… What is your favorite part of autumn? Were there special rituals and traditions your family participated in? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to know!

Peace and love, today and always,

Elaine

De Ja Vu’ All Over Again

I feel very de ja vu’ this morning. I woke up briefly before Alan went to work and I guess I had coffee and let Missy (our cat) outside, then went back to bed and didn’t wake up until 9:30! As I was making coffee I was trying to remember why it felt like I’d already done this before today. I’ll tell you a secret about having fibromyalgia. Most people with fibromyalgia have terrible problems with insomnia. Eventually you can’t handle it so you get medications to help you sleep. I don’t take mine every single night because it makes me feel so sluggish and stupid in the mornings. However, when I do take it, man! It does a number on me. I feel like I’ve lost half the day already because of usually waking up so early.

I’ve got a LOT to do because….my kids are coming on Thursday!!! I can hardly wait and am so excited it’s unreal. I’ve been deep-cleaning the house before they come because, well, because I’m neurotic I guess. I want everything to be perfect for all of them, but especially clean for Milo, my grandbaby! He’s my sweetie pie.