12-16-08...REMEMBERING MORE SIMPLE TIMES
Christmas Eve always found us in The little Church that I grew up in. We had a Big Christmas tree and our parents ( we found out later) took us each a christmas package to put under the tree. Santa would be there at the end of the program and each kid got to sit on his lap and he gave us our gift. The program came first. Some of the men had built a platform that we could stand on. One got to stand on the top who was the Angel. Then two, then three, and on till it came to the bottom. When we all got on it looked like a Christmas tree with an angel on top. We all wore colorful tops for decoration and held an ornament as we sang Christmas songs. The Parents and grown ups loved it. Can't say that we did. It was way too confining. We knew better than to make mischief in Church so the only calamaties were an occasional dropped ornament. Mama and Daddy said it was soo! pretty.Well Of course Mama and Daddy thought so.
After the music we would put on a play about the birth of Jesus. If there were any bables there we had a live Baby Jesus who often cried and disrupted the whole thing. The baby would quickly be replaced with a doll and the show would go on!! We all participated even the little ones. Now I loved the play, most of us did. I was Mary one year and held a real live baby. Mama said I kept bending over and kissing the baby but I don't remember doing that. I know I've always loved babies.
My Brother Norman was the baby one year. I was almost five and I wanted to be Mary but it wasn't my turn and Brenda was Mary. Well I sure was jealous of that. Norman was a good baby and hardly ever cried but for some reason that year he did. Brenda didn't want to give him up though so when Mama came to get him she said NO! I wanna keep him here. No one was making a big deal of it and Brenda would have finally given him up if I had just of kept my nose out of it. Brenda give my baby brother to Mama I said. The teacher was trying to get me to be quiet but of course I wouldn't. Nooo! Clydene Shut Up, Brenda said. Well durn you Brenda (I thought but didn't say) I got up from my spot on the floor at Jesus' feet and grabbed for my Brother. By now he was screeching. I got THE LOOK! from Mama and so did Brenda but not before I reached out and snatched Brendas scarf off her head pulling her hair in the process. She screeched and almost dropped Norman but Mama rescued him, gave us The Look and sat back down in her seat. Someone gave Brenda the doll and tied her scarf back on. The teacher sat me back down and I guess you think the Show went on. RIGHT?? Well WRONG!! By then all the people in the audience were snickerin' and trying not to laugh out loud. They probably would have succeeded and restored order if Brenda and I hadn't looked at each other and started giggling. We giggled and giggled and everyone else giggled and giggled. Somebody must have decided it was time for Santa to appear and save the show, which he did. HO HO HO!! we heard and there was quiet. We sat there like a bunch of little Angels and waited on the gift giving and lap sitting. I don't know who Santa was that year but He knew us and had seen what happened so we were brought up to the front. Brenda and I both got a knee and a talking to before we got our gifts from Santa. We hugged each other said our sorry's and it was done. We had food and all loaded up and went home where Santa had been to our houses. We thought it was all forgotten. I still don't know if Brenda got a tanning, but I did. Mama and Daddy never forgot those tannings> NOPE NEVER! I suspect Brenda got one too but really it was my fault so I know I deserved it. YEP! I always got what I deserved whether good or bad!!!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
RELECTIONS
12-16-08...REFLECTIONS
This morning I got up all out of sorts. This time of year is always hard for me. Usually just coming here to The Hill and meeting and greeting my Great Friends is enough. This morning it wasn't. Sooo. I say to myself I'll revive some wonderful memory of my past. But that was not working either. I'm not one to let life defeat me and stay in gloom very long but heck fire I was so deep in the mire this morning I thought I was surely going to sink.
I couldn't help thinking about all the sickness and heartache in the world. Indeed right here on The Hill we have lots of it. My life has some too. Now how in the world to get all this put away where it belongs? This time of year is always the worst. Seems everything just happens now. WHY? I wish I knew. Oh My I wish I knew. But every since I found the blog section here on the hill and figured out how to use it, I have had a friend to grasp on to. Not so much A Friend, but more like a place of refuge. That is what The Hill has become to me. You see my friends, You are always there. I can come here anytime and find someone to talk to. I can find a place to Pray with and for others. I can find a cherry note or graphic or message. I can receive a hug, a giggle, maybe even a tear or two.
Two things happened this morning as I wallowed in my mire. First I looked at my gallery on the hill and some of those pics. brought back such sweetness in to my raw heart. There is that old house where I grew up. The house with draft holes all over to let in the cold air. The lineloum on the floor that would sometimes literally puff up and stand like a magic carpet when those cold winds blew under the house and up through the cracks in the floor. Curtains that would stand straight out and flutter like a ghost was blowing on them. The ol' stove where Daddy sat up all night to keep wood fed in and keep us warm. Then later the little gas stove where Daddy still had to sit up and watch. The gas pressure would go way down or the gas would freeze up in the lines.(yep sure did) Daddy had to be there when the gas was coming through the lines again so he could relight the stove and keep us from dying in our sleep from gas fumes. I saw a pic. of my Daddy sitting down on his feet with his knees up to his chin holding on to me or picking cotton, strawberries, ect. to make extra money that we needed badly. I remembered Daddy sitting like that in front of our Christmas tree picking out nuts for us to eat.We got nuts(that were sold in paper bags uncracked) and fruit and candy only at Christmas. What a treat!!! I remembered getting up on cold mornings and our bear feet hitting that cold floor, hopping around and hurring out to get our shoes and socks that were sitting by the fire to keep warm. Then smelling the aroma of bacon frying and coffee brewing to the sounds of My Mama singing Amazing Grace. All the time still wishing for that good warm feather bed with the many quilts and the hot water bottle wrapped in a towel that Mama had so lovingly put by our feet before we went to sleep. All sweet loving memories of a time we didn't have a care in the world even when we sat down to the dinner table to a big bowl of mashed or fried potatoes and a big pot of pinto beans with fat back cooked in them. YUMMY! Still love them. All we had then, A treat now.
Then the second thing happened. I got an email from my friend from school days with a song by Bob Dylan of all people. A Hymn saying all the things I had in my mind. Wow! The lord knows just what we need, just when we need it!!! I'm adding the words here but can't figure out how to add the song so Look for it on my page later. Yep! I'm feeling better and I thank you my friends for being here when people in my life are not there for me. I love you, I love The Hill, I'm totally Thankful to TC and EB for creating this wonderful place for us where we can be safe. I feel closer to You all than I do some of my family. STRANGE?? Maybe, but true.
If anyone reading this has a need of the Heart right now, I'm betting that you can have it met right Here On The Hill where so many loving people will be there for you. We are all one big Family here and I am so Thankful this morning
Merry Christmas I love You All. Clydene
HERE IS THE SONG WORDS:::::
Bob Dylan: Every Grain of Sand
In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed
There's a dyin' voice within me reaching out somewhere,
Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair
Don't have the inclination to look back on any mistake,
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break
In the fury of the moment, I can see the Master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand
Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear,
Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer
The sun beats down upon the steps of time to light the way
To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay
I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame
And every time I pass that way, I always hear my name
Then onward in my journey, I come to understand
That every hair is numbered, like every grain of sand
I have gone from rags to riches in the sorrow of the night
In the violence of a summer's dream, in the chill of a wintry light,
In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space,
In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face
I hear the ancient footsteps, like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there's someone there, other times it's only me
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand
This morning I got up all out of sorts. This time of year is always hard for me. Usually just coming here to The Hill and meeting and greeting my Great Friends is enough. This morning it wasn't. Sooo. I say to myself I'll revive some wonderful memory of my past. But that was not working either. I'm not one to let life defeat me and stay in gloom very long but heck fire I was so deep in the mire this morning I thought I was surely going to sink.
I couldn't help thinking about all the sickness and heartache in the world. Indeed right here on The Hill we have lots of it. My life has some too. Now how in the world to get all this put away where it belongs? This time of year is always the worst. Seems everything just happens now. WHY? I wish I knew. Oh My I wish I knew. But every since I found the blog section here on the hill and figured out how to use it, I have had a friend to grasp on to. Not so much A Friend, but more like a place of refuge. That is what The Hill has become to me. You see my friends, You are always there. I can come here anytime and find someone to talk to. I can find a place to Pray with and for others. I can find a cherry note or graphic or message. I can receive a hug, a giggle, maybe even a tear or two.
Two things happened this morning as I wallowed in my mire. First I looked at my gallery on the hill and some of those pics. brought back such sweetness in to my raw heart. There is that old house where I grew up. The house with draft holes all over to let in the cold air. The lineloum on the floor that would sometimes literally puff up and stand like a magic carpet when those cold winds blew under the house and up through the cracks in the floor. Curtains that would stand straight out and flutter like a ghost was blowing on them. The ol' stove where Daddy sat up all night to keep wood fed in and keep us warm. Then later the little gas stove where Daddy still had to sit up and watch. The gas pressure would go way down or the gas would freeze up in the lines.(yep sure did) Daddy had to be there when the gas was coming through the lines again so he could relight the stove and keep us from dying in our sleep from gas fumes. I saw a pic. of my Daddy sitting down on his feet with his knees up to his chin holding on to me or picking cotton, strawberries, ect. to make extra money that we needed badly. I remembered Daddy sitting like that in front of our Christmas tree picking out nuts for us to eat.We got nuts(that were sold in paper bags uncracked) and fruit and candy only at Christmas. What a treat!!! I remembered getting up on cold mornings and our bear feet hitting that cold floor, hopping around and hurring out to get our shoes and socks that were sitting by the fire to keep warm. Then smelling the aroma of bacon frying and coffee brewing to the sounds of My Mama singing Amazing Grace. All the time still wishing for that good warm feather bed with the many quilts and the hot water bottle wrapped in a towel that Mama had so lovingly put by our feet before we went to sleep. All sweet loving memories of a time we didn't have a care in the world even when we sat down to the dinner table to a big bowl of mashed or fried potatoes and a big pot of pinto beans with fat back cooked in them. YUMMY! Still love them. All we had then, A treat now.
Then the second thing happened. I got an email from my friend from school days with a song by Bob Dylan of all people. A Hymn saying all the things I had in my mind. Wow! The lord knows just what we need, just when we need it!!! I'm adding the words here but can't figure out how to add the song so Look for it on my page later. Yep! I'm feeling better and I thank you my friends for being here when people in my life are not there for me. I love you, I love The Hill, I'm totally Thankful to TC and EB for creating this wonderful place for us where we can be safe. I feel closer to You all than I do some of my family. STRANGE?? Maybe, but true.
If anyone reading this has a need of the Heart right now, I'm betting that you can have it met right Here On The Hill where so many loving people will be there for you. We are all one big Family here and I am so Thankful this morning
Merry Christmas I love You All. Clydene
HERE IS THE SONG WORDS:::::
Bob Dylan: Every Grain of Sand
In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed
There's a dyin' voice within me reaching out somewhere,
Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair
Don't have the inclination to look back on any mistake,
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break
In the fury of the moment, I can see the Master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand
Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear,
Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer
The sun beats down upon the steps of time to light the way
To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay
I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame
And every time I pass that way, I always hear my name
Then onward in my journey, I come to understand
That every hair is numbered, like every grain of sand
I have gone from rags to riches in the sorrow of the night
In the violence of a summer's dream, in the chill of a wintry light,
In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space,
In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face
I hear the ancient footsteps, like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there's someone there, other times it's only me
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)