I LOVE PURPLE

4-14-09...I LOVE PURPLE

At some time in my life I got 'fixed' on purple. My gosh my brain is all washed with it. If it is purple I want it. I have been known to buy things I don't need just because it is purple. All shades of purple are appealing to me. At one time all my bath and bed linens were purple. Now to my dismay the color is very hard to find.
In my first house I wanted my bedroom purple so bad. Well it wasn't deep purple but it wound up being lavender.
A few years ago I went in a big store. I have no idea what I went in there for. When I walked in the door my eyes glued on a sparkling display toward the back. I didn't know what it was but I saw a section of purples. Like a homing pigeon, or the cows coming home maybe I honed in and made a beeline for that purple. I hope no one was in my way because I would have probably run over them.
When I got there my eyes almost popped out of my head. Sitting there before me was the most beautiful bottles of lilac colored perfume I had ever seen. The bottle was tall and had a purple lid on the top that looked like crystal. Inside was a beautiful lilac colored liquid all shimmery with little glittery object that seemed to be floating around among purple violets. Oh My! My mouth was almost watering. I had to have some of this. I took two bottles off the counter and almost flew up to the check out stand. I know I must have been grinning from ear to ear. I grabbed up the bottles as soon as she scanned them, paid for them and told her I didn't need a bag for them.
I probably looked stupid walking to my car staring in to those bottles grinning like a Cheshire cat. Heck I didn't care I had me a bottle of the most beautiful liquid I had even seen.
I got in the car with my treasures and decided to spray some on me when I remembered I had not even smelled it yet. Did it smell good? Well heck it had to it was purple wasn't it?
I held it up and pushed down on the spray nozzle and it came out in a stream. It was running down my arm and on to my lap and in to my car seat. It wouldn't quit streaming until I pulled the nozzle off. And that was when I smelled it for the first time. It smelled like a skunk! I smelled like a skunk! My car smelled like a skunk! Oh Good Grief what do I do now?
I drove home almost choking on that horrible smell. I took three showers but still stunk. I washed my clothes but they still stunk. My car stunk for about 6 months. I would open all four doors and leave them open on windy days cold or hot.
I threw the offensive bottle out on the way home. (Litter Bug!) The other bottle was never uncapped but I still have it. It is still beautiful if you don't have to smell it.
Most purple things I have bought didn't leave a lasting impression like that did. But I'm still hooked on purple and if I see it I go to it and Ohh and Ahh. I love purple. YEP!

TRUE FRIEND BAD SEEDS

4-14-09...TRUE FRIEND BAD SEEDS

TRUE FRIEND

Having a friend like you is knowing
That you are always there for me.
We can talk or not say a word.
Share bad times or times of glee.
It is knowing within my heart,
When you are Praying on my behalf.
It is that feeling that I have
Whether I cry or laugh.
It's knowing that you understand
When I'm happy or when I'm sad.
And I don't have to tell you, you just know
when I need you or times are bad.
It's knowing you'll still love me
even if I'm not lovable today,
and you'll love me just for me,
Disregard things I might say.
Yes, you are a real true friend
and I thank God for you.
And I just Pray I'll always be
that kind of friend for you too.

© January 2009
Clydene Overbey

BAD SEEDS

When I plant a garden, all in neat rows.
It is such a wonder as I wait to watch it grow.
A tiny seed I drop. Into the earthly sod.
It burst forth in all it glory
a root, a plant, from GOD.
For god is the only one who could make a little seed
grow in it's abundance. For our bodies meet a need.
Lord help me to remember as I plant my garden today,
To sow my other seeds, kindness, understanding, & words I say.
For one tiny seed of malice can grow into mighty weeds
that destroy a life, a soul, Lord stay me from bad seeds.

OLD GOLD WEDDING BAND

4-11-09...OLD GOLD WEDDING BAND

I have a wide gold wedding band on that was given to me by my Mama just before she died. She told me to put it on right there in front of her. I didn't want to because I thought it looked like I thought she was dying and I didn't want to think about that. But she insisted so I did and it has not been off of my finger since. I am the 5th generation to wear it. I don't have a daughter so I will give it to my brother one day. Norman has two sons and no daughter. It will be given to his first son and eventually to his daughter. She will be the 7th generation to wear it. It is still thick and in good shape. Things were made of better quality then. Below is what Mama wrote in Dec of 2000 before she got to sick to do it. It tells the story of this amazing ring. WOW!!!

MAMAS HIDDEN TREASURES

4-11-09...MAMAS HIDDEN TREASURES

It was a hard time when Mama died as is expected. We were losing our best friend. The lady who gave birth to us and raised us up. Fed us from her own body, kept us clean and warm.
When Norman and I went to clean out Mamas apartment we found so many things to keep in memory of her. One was a casset tape that Mama had recorded. She sang to us, played her harmonica, (she called it a french harp) read things, and just talked. We never knew this existed. We found poems she had written, little journal like books she had recorded things in, and in general just a treasure trove of things that came from my Mamas heart.
I think the most precious thing was a letter she had written to god shown below. As you can see by the date she wrote this in 1952. I was eight and Norman had just turned four. Another thing we had never seen before.
All these things are very precious to us now. On the cassett we have her voice and playing and singing. On the letter to God we have her words in her own handwriting. WOW!!!!

CHANGES

4-10-09...CHANGES

I don't like change. That is probably an understatement. I detest change, I fight change. My Daddy used to say, “If it aint broke don't fix it”. Now how much more simple can that be stated? Why in the heck do people work so hard to make things more difficult? Just get it done and go on to the next thing.
One example it all these ads on TV and in newspapers, NEW AND INPROVED. Improved? Heck no they aint improved! I'd love to have a 6oz. Bottle of coke the way they used to make it before they new and improved it and changed the recipe. If I had one I'd get me a big ol' Baby Ruth candy bar. Yummy. Then I'd get me a Popsicle, one of those big two stick banana Popsicles and let it run down my arm as it melts, then lick it off my arm. YEP! I'd also like to go in a store and find what I want right where it was yesterday. Now why in the heck would you move the paper products over there by the towels and sheets Makes no sense to me. One of the employees, who usually remains hidden from view, heard me exclaim one day after I'd walked around for what seemed like forever trying to find printer paper, Well this makes me so mad, This store don't even have paper anymore”. Well she came out of nowhere and guided me right to the paper over by the towels. I didn't even ask why it was there but it is back where it was now so others must have complained or they just came to their senses (which I doubt.) I did say I was sorry to the clerk but she looked at me like I had two heads or something. Guess people don't know what I'm sorry means anymore.
Then when I got home I had to call and order some medicine. Now you know that you just don't get to talk to a real live human any more. Shoot fire no, thats a thing of the past. I had their responses down pat. Knew which number to punch on the phone for my answers, had memorized all of it to save me a lot of aggravation. It was almost easy to me now. Well they answered and said, “Thanks for calling your on line Pharmacy please be aware that our menu has changed and pay close attention.” Well Good Grief, I had my finger ready to do the walking right on through this transaction and I got flustered trying to keep up with, “Sorry, we did not recognize your response. Please go back to the main menu and try again”. “When you hear the sound push the pound key, Please try again.” GRRRRR!!!!! I hung up and placed the call again. Listened to all that crap again and punched in numbers again. Then, “If you are having trouble please hang up and call,” Then a long string of numbers came over the line that I tried desperately to write down. Right in the middle of all that my phone started beeping in my ear telling me I had a call waiting. I couldn't catch any of the numbers after that. I checked to see who was calling me and it was the gosh dang on line pharmacy that I had on the other line trying to understand. Of course it was another recorded message saying. “We are sorry but our on line pharmacy is experiencing problems right now, if you need your meds' dial*** Well that's when I hung up again and fought the urge to throw the phone across the room and proceed to pull all my kinky hair out!!! If I need my meds'? Well of course I need my meds'. Why in the world would I be calling if I didn't need my cotton pickin' meds. Durn educated fools anyway. My insurance company changed too for the worse when they decided this was the best way to get my medicine. Best for who?? Why in the heck can't I just walk in Wal Mart and hand them my prescription like any sane person would do?
This world is crazy I tell you. Change, change, change. All those educated fools are just getting too big for their britches to my way of thinking. They don't know anything about real people because they are not real. They've got so much knowledge in their swelled heads that their brains have got squeezed outta there. Yep. I got the whole thinf figured out. So why don't they listen? I done told you, their brains are all pinched up in their over sized heads that it forgot how to function in the real world. Yep! That's the way I see it.

TRIP BACK IN TIME

4-6-09...TRIP BACK IN TIME

When I was about 6 yrs. Old my Papa Thomas asked my Daddy to take him to see his Aunt Samarah. Papa called her Sa-mari. She was 90 yrs. Old and lived in the home place in Swain Ar. with her Daughter Rhoda (RODY) and one of her sons. I can't recall his name. The house was way up in the mountains across hills and around curves. I remember thinking that we would never get there and if we did we would never find our way home again. The roads are paved now but then they were dirt roads full of pot holes and ruts. Daddy had a 51 Chevy. It was summer and of course no AC in cars then so the windows were all down. Daddy of course was driving and Papa in front with him. Mama sat in the back with my little Brother Norman and I. Papa had a dip of snuff in his mouth as usual. He would spit out the window and it would spray me through the back window where I sat behind him. Mama rolled up my window and cleaned me off best she could. I was hot and fussed about my window not being down. Norman was only two and he was squirming and being fussy. I know now what a terrible trip that must have been for Mama.
We did finally get there of course. I was fascinated with that old house. It was long with a hallway right down the middle that was open at both ends. Inside it was hot. Rhoda was cooking dinner on a wood cooking stove. Aunt Samarah was sitting in the other part of the house in a rocker. Her hair was snow white and hung down to her waist. She was still a spry lady with a smile that lit up her face. Boy did she keep that rocker going. The room seemed huge to me. Lots of windows and no curtains. Papa had said they were so fer' down in the holler no one to look in their winders' ceptin' maybe a bear. I had asked Mama many times that day if we were gonna' be home before dark and she assured me we were. The floors were wooden with no covering but I remember that floor shining like a new penny. The ceilings were high and I mean high. I don't remember seeing a light hanging from them like we had at home so I guess they had no electricity. Well heck we hadn't had it very long ourselves. On one whole wall was the biggest fireplace I had ever seen. A bear rug was lying in front of it. I wasn't too sure at first that thing wasn't real but finally sat on it and even ventured to pet it on the head and even took a nap on it before the day was over.
I ventured in the kitchen and was watching Rhoda. I was a picky eater but I ate that day for some reason. Rhoda asked me if I wanted to go with her to the smoke house. Sure I did. We went out a side door and down kind of aisle connected from the house to the smoke house. I remember thinking it was a tunnel. Rhoda opened the door to the smoke house and it smelled smoky. There was meat hanging from the rafters. I knew about the sugar cured meat. I don't remember what meat Rhoda got but I remember thinking it was good when I ate it. From there she opened a door in the floor and we went down in to the root cellar. Rhoda asked me what I wanted from there. I really didn't want any of it but I selected a jar of corn and one of pickled beets which I did eat later. Rhoda made biscuits and I watched her for a while but grew bored. I asked if I could go in that hallway down the middle of the house. I loved it there because a nice breeze was coming in both ends. It was a wonderful day that I will never forget.
Years later I became familiar with the stories of my Aunt Samarah and her Daughter Rhoda. Aunt Samarah was married four times and outlived them all. One of her husbands had raped Rhoda when she was very young. Aunt Samarah's Daddy had him prosecuted and he was sent to Tucker Prison Farm in Little Rock Ar. In 1893. He died there. Rhoda had married and her husband died soon after. They has no children and Rhoda never remarried.
Aunt Samarah had been a fisty lady and worked like a man even when she was carrying her three children. They had to be tough then.
The picture below shows Samarah way before I met her. When I saw her she was very skinny and had wasted away. She died in 1955.
I will never forget that visit. Just a few years ago I was back at that old house. No one lived there and it was very run down. There were lots of housed down the road to that holler where before there were none. It looked sad and neglected and burned down recently. Oh what stories that old house could have told. Bushwhackers had come to it one night. They had floods and were poor but lived a rich life in that house. I wish I had taken a picture of it when I was back there. It held a part of my history.

FAMILY IN 1948

4-5-09...FAMILY IN 1948

Here is my family in 1948. Norman was only a few months old. This is the only family picture we ever had made at a studio by professionals. That was 60 years ago when things were simple and sweet. I remember Mama's dress. It was green. Daddy bought it in Oklahoma where he worked in the coal mines. He came home on weekends and always brought Norman and I something. This time Mama got a new dress also. Daddy wore khaki shirts and pants in a light brown color. My dress was yellow with green trim. Norman also had on yellow.
I cherish this picture. It is a part of my life that I will never forget. When I look at it I see love abounding, unconditional, and wonderful.

Clydene (THOMAS) Overbey

HAIR WASHING DAY

4-4-09...HAIR WASHING DAY

Washing your hair might not seem a big deal to you. Well let me tell you about how Mama washed my hair when I was growing up. You just might relate to it. It was a major production.
No water in the house was the first thing that made it difficult, but that wasn't the worse thing.
In the first place my hair was long enough to sit on before it was ever cut the first time. Then it was very curly and frizzy. Mama often said that there were tangles in it that she could never get out. I looked like a walking brier patch going down the road.
The water was drawn from a well. We had a water bucket and I remember it took two buckets full to wash my hair. Water was put in a tea kettle and it wasn't an afternoon tea party kettle. It held about half a bucket of water and had a long spout and and a bail handle. This was warmed on the stove to the right temp. to pour through my hair. That was put in a dishpan. Then a second tea kettle of water was warmed, and a second dishpan was placed on the table beside the other one. Are you following me? Hope so.
Now the fun part came. Well fun was not the word I would really use here. More like a rat drowning. I had to bend my head over the empty dishpan while Mama poured the water over my hair to wet it. Very quickly another tea kettle of water was put on the stove to warm.
Mama poured Halo shampoo in my wet hair and started scrubbing with her long fingers. Oh my gosh. I just knew she was scalping me. Soapy water was running down on my face and neck and in my nose. I knew better but I would always reach up to swipe my face and just sling water everywhere. "Be still Clydene, all the water is going in the floor" Mama would say. "Mama you are drowning me" I would whine. Now I had a wash rag to hold over my eyes to keep soap outta them but it got soaked and dripping. Water ran down my back and off my toes.
When Mama was sure my hair had been scrubbed enough she'd check the teakettle of water on the stove. If it was warm then she'd pour this over my hair slowly and run her fingers through until that was gone. Then I had to bend over the second dishpan of water and she would rinse some more using a glass to dip the water and pour over my hair. She made sure my hair squeaked when she ran her fingers through it and pronounced it clean.
Then came the two towels that it took to dry my hair, and the combing that tried to finish scalping me. I couldn't move till the water in the floor was all mopped up and the floor was dry. Didn't want us tracking the water through the rest of the house don't ya know.
Mama carried the dishpans out and dumped them in the garden then. She scrubbed the dishpans out because they were used to wash dishes.
Now guys, when I washed my hair this morning I got my ring hung in the curls and pulled my hair. This set off a chain reaction of slinging water all over and yelping OH! Even got soap in my eyes in the process. That is what got me thinking of the days Mama washed my hair.
I didn't really know how much work it was then for Mama to wash my hair. God Bless Her!!!!! YEP!

EASTER SUNRISE

4-1-09...EASTER SUNRISE

Easter is coming up. A wonderful time of the year, akin to Christmas. Jesus was born on Christmas and He arose from the tomb on Easter.
It should be a beautiful day to my way of thinking but in my part of the world it very seldom is. This is the time of transition from winter to spring. Things are renewing, coming out of dormancy and bursting forward in new growth. One day cold and dreary, next day sunshiny and springlike. Reminds me of a young boy in between childhood and young manhood. One day he has that soft sweet voice of youth. But as he talks his voice will squeak and struggle. One sentence can change from babyish to squeaky, to gruff. He wants that manly voice but he has to struggle while he is transitioning in between. Young ladies have the same transition period as their bodies change and grow.
When I was a child we always had Sunrise services on a hill above our Church on Easter Sunday. It invariably would be cold and cloudy. Maybe even spitting snow or raining.
This one Easter Morning we were up before sunrise getting ready to go. Of course I was grumbling loudly. It was cold and I wanted to stay in bed. Mama had Norman dressed in his cute little suit with a bow tie. I was dawdling and not being cooperative as usual. I think I was about 5or 6 I'm not sure. I had a new yellow Easter dress and white bonnet of some kind with yellow daisies on it. Mama finally got me all beautiful (she said it I didn't) and sent me out to my Daddy while she got dressed. Even at that age I noticed that Daddy and Mama didn't have new Easter clothes. Didn't think much about that then but it is significant now in my memories.
We arrived on the hill above the Church. The men had erected a huge cross and sat it in the ground with concrete. It faced the East and we stood on the other side to the West. Now all the years I had been there I had not see the sun rise majestically over the cross. I was cold and wanted to go home. We assembled and had opening Prayer. Mama was holding Norman and I was pushed in close to my Daddy. I had a sweater on but still felt cold. Daddy put both arms around me and his warm hands on my arms were like a heater. I was close to my Daddy and I felt the comfort of his heat. I can almost feel Daddies warm loving hands on my arms now.
The sermon was ready to begin. Just as the Pastor said Amen and everyone opened their eyes you could hear the audible sighs and Awwws as the Sun came up over that cross. The cross was silhouetted in the early misty dawn of a new day. Indescribable, Awesome, magnificent. No words match that beautiful sight. Neither can any words describe how standing there close to my Daddy, sheltered from the cold by his body and looking up at my Mama's face as she stood there holding my little brother so handsome in his new suit.
To this day I never see a sunrise that I don't go back to that peaceful sunrise on that little hill above the Church. I get up before dawn every morning now and watch the sunrise. Some mornings there are just clouds and rain but I know the sun is there and it will peek out again soon. And when it does I will do all I can to be there to see it. There is no other hopeful, comfortable feeling that I can imagine that would top it.

JUST A PENNY?

3-31-09...JUST A PENNY?

A few weeks ago I was in a store. This little boy and his Mom were in front of me with a cart. The little boy dropped something and it rolled back towards me. It was a penny. He turned and was coming back to pick up his penny. What his Mom said curled my toes. "Come on Robbie it is just a penny". I wanted to shout at that young Mother, "Oh honey please don't teach your child that a penny has no value". But of course I couldn't do that. What I did was pick up the penny and hurry after the crying little boy and hand him his penny. "Here honey, save this penny until you get some more then you can buy something". I was afraid the Mom would tell me to mind my own business but when the little boy stopped crying I saw relief on her face and she thanked me.
When I was growing up I dropped my penny down in the toilet one morning. I ran and told my Daddy and he got a shovel and dipped it out for me. A penny meant a lot then and I realize that is not the case now but several pennies will buy a small boy something. I hope that Mother learns so her kids can learn that everything has a value. Oh how I would loved to have been able to tell that Mom something to help her. It just breaks my heart to see how some kids today do not have the advantages I had growing up.
I was taught right. And sometimes that don't count for much with others. I was called Goody two shoes often in school but I stuck to what I was taught. That was how it was because my Mama and Daddy said so. What about that little boy and many others like him. A penny dropped may be a dime, or a quarter next time. I shudder to think.
One day Brenda and I had walked to Parks store. I dropped my nickel on the way and absolutely could not find it. We looked and looked but the nickel was gone. I was upset but Brenda said she would share her nickel with me. Losing a nickel was a big thing with me and I was devastated. I asked God to help me find it.
We walked on to the store and just before we went in the door I spied something sticking out of the rocks. I dug it out and it was a dirty nickel. Now I could have just walked on in the store and spent the nickel. But I didn't. I knew what I had been taught about that. I (reluctantly I must say) took the nickel up to the counter and handed it to Hall Parks and told him I had found it outside. He took the nickel and tossed it down on the counter and went about his business. No Thank You or anything. Just took the nickel. I was hurt and confused. I had done the right thing so why did it hurt so much. I ran out of the store crying. Brenda came too. When we got home we told My Mama about it. She cried too but she told me how proud she was of me because I had done the right thing. When Daddy came home he reinforced what Mama had said. He held me and bragged on me till I was fine and went on my way. Many years later I found out how Mama and Daddy really felt about what Hall Parks had done. I had done the right thing and they were very proud of me. BUT! Hall had done the wrong thing and they were both steamed at him. I also found out that they both told him in no uncertain terms what they thought of what he had done to me. I also remember finding a penny at the store later and Hall Parks gave it back to me and Thanked me and told me I was a good little girl. Did he mean what he said? Heck no (I found that out later too) but my Daddy was standing there and I think he knew he'd better not keep that penny. YEP!
I learned a good lesson from all that. Do what you know is right but don't always expect for others to recognize it. Nope, everyone didn't get the kind of raising I did. I'm sorry for them. YEP!

MY LIFE IN A NUTSHELL

3-30-09...MY LIFE IN A NUTSHELL

Memories are what we draw on to remember people places and times in our life that made us either happy or sad. I choose the happy ones especially on a day when I tend to be sad or down about the things of now. Life was so simple when I was growing up. Probably due mostly to the fact that my Loving Parents took care to make me happy and protected. I just didn't know things were hard. That is a gift my Parents gave me that can never be replaced. That warm, safe, feeling loved, and wonderful youthful feeling. My Parents gave my Brother and I that and I will be forever thankful to them. We had everything we needed and often some of what we wanted.
I am sure that my Mama and Daddy had arguments and little hurts with one another but they were very careful to not let us see that. They always presented a loving peaceful atmosphere for our home.
We lived at the end of a dead end road right beside the rail road tracks. Trains came through and because the crossing was just up the way they blew their mournful whistle right in front of our house. We got used to the sound and usually never paid any attention to it.
In the late 40's and 50's was when I grew up here. Things were so different then. It was 60 + years ago and our world was different and more simple. We made our own fun down there. My Auntie lived right across the Pasture and my cousin Brenda and I had so much fun. In and out of capers.
We didn't know about the harsh realities of life in the world that surrounded us but somehow we were prepared and ready for it when it came.
We were spanked when we needed it and we always seemed to know that we did need it. We were loved, hugged, cuddled, and given a secure feeling even though things were bad.
Daddy worked in a coal mine and was gone all week. He worked hard and the work was dangerous. But he provided for us. We were proud of our Parents no matter what.
My Brother and I were taught love and respect for each other as well as for everyone else around us. Daddy said often, "You are as good as anyone in the world. But you are not better than anyone else".
Our Parents were there for us as long as they were alive. At times now I can feel their presence all around me and I still want to make them proud of me. They gave us a rich life filled with everything we needed to make places for ourselves in this world. We are still simple people. Not much money but we are happy that way. Don't need more than we have. We never wanted what we couldn't have and still don't.
I owe all that I am to those two wonderful people who brought me in to this world and loved me unconditionally. I miss them so badly sometimes that it hurts. Oh how I'd love to have them to talk to sometimes. My best friends in this world.
LOOK MAMA AND DADDY, I DID GOOD!!!

REMEMBER THE CLOTHES LINE

3-28-09...REMEMBER THE CLOTHES LINE

Does anyone remember the clothes line? I'm sure many of you do. If not then you probably wont enjoy this.
I remember first washing the clothes on a wringer washer. Now Mama washed the clothes with a rub board in a iron kettle before we got electricity at our house. I can barely remember that but I know Mama was pregnant with Norman and she had to reach out because her belly wouldn't let her get close to the kettle.
When she finally got the wringer washer I know she was sure she was rich. The wringer washer was hard to use too. Water had to be drawn from the well, heated on the stove, and poured in the washer. Then there were two rinse tubs, one warm, one cold. The cold water had Mrs. Stuarts bluing added to it to help keep the clothes white. The washer was then started and it would agitate the clothes in the home made lye soap that Mama had melted and poured in the water. Now folks if you want clean, fresh smelling, and white clothes, this is the only way to really get them. SOOO! Not possible today. Mama got her hair hung in the wringer one day but thats another story for another time.
After the clothes were wrung out of the bluing water they were carried to the clothes line to be hung to dry. Mama had an apron that Grandma had made especially for hanging clothes. The whole front had a deep pocket to carry the clothes pins. Mama had already took a wet cloth out and walked the length of the three lines washing the line. Some people had fancy plastic but ours were wire. Kinda like barbed wire without the barbs. The washing was done on Monday, always. Why? Heck I don't know, but everybody washed clothes on Monday. YEP!
Now back to the clothes line. Everything was hung in proper style. Meaning, sheets in the front to hide the undies on the middle line. Towels and wash rags were hung by the sheets. Back line was for our colored clothes so the sun wouldn't bleach them out in the hot summer. Shirts were hung by the tail, skirts were hung by the waist. Dresses were on hangers with a clothes pin to hold it on the line. Women and girls undies were never hung by mens and boys undies. Oh Heck No, just wasn't done.
The clothes were watched closely from the kitchen window making sure birds didn't poop on them, (mostly an impossible task) dogs didn't chew on them, and mainly that they stayed on the line. If the wind was blowing you had softer clothes. If the sun was bright (especially in the summer) you had whiter clothes. In the winter they would freeze dry on the line. Yes they really would. A threat of rain? Shoot the clothes had to be hung anyway. If they were dry when rain started you hurried out and brought the clothes in. If not, you waited till rain stopped and they got dry. If it rained too long the clothes were brought in and hung all over the house. You NEVER! Left clothes on the line overnight. Just not an option. Why the neighbors would call you lazy. Can't have that. I really believe that people watched your clothes line to see if you had anything new, holes in your drawers, whether or not you kept your sheets clean, etc. And if you left clothes out overnight some neighbor would come running the next morning to see if someone was sick. They were really concerned, not nosy.
The last thing about hanging your clothes on the clothesline was that wonderful smell they had. No fabric softeners can imitate that smell. It is indescribable. No way to duplicate that smell and no way to describe it unless you have experienced it. I hope you have!

LEARNING TO DRIVE

3-27-09...LEARNING TO DRIVE

I was sitting in the quiet predawn this morning and started thinking about when I was learning to drive. Oh My Gracious, what a catastrophe that was. I still cringe just thinking about it. Just was a good thing that I had dirt roads to learn on and hardly ever any traffic.
Daddy had let me sit on his lap before my feet would reach the pedals and steer the car. Of course it was a standard transmission. No automatics then. All I really learned that way was steering and Daddy did the most of that. Daddy worked in another state in a coal mine so I asked Mama to let me drive one day. We were going to Parks Store. Just had to go up to the end of our road, turn right and go a very short distance and you were there. The road was wide and straight. Shouldn't be a problem you would think. But with me at the wheel, and Mama, who couldn't drive worth a lick, as my Teacher, It was an accident waiting to happen. Yep!
You could hear me to the next county stripping gears every time I tried to shift. Once I even got it in reverse instead of second gear. People were stepping out of their houses to see what the heck was making all the noise.
Now Mama was a nervous wreck before we got to the corner. She was wringing her hands and saying, "Lord help us, Clydene, Oh my gosh Clydene be careful". I think it had slipped her mind that she was supposed to be showing me what to do. She was just going berserk. We got to the end of that road and it was more slowing down, screeching the gears and getting ready to turn right. Did I say right? Yep should have been right, but I turned left. Yep sure did. "Clydene what are you doin'. Where you goin', Oh my gosh, Lord protect us. You are going the wrong way Clydene, you gotta turn around". Mama was frantic and no use to me right then. Heck fire I knew I had to turn around didn't I? Sure I did. Daddy told her later, "Lucille why didn't you just make Clydene stop and you get under the wheel"? Guess she never thought of that. HE HE Now I loved and do love My Mama with a deep love and I would never have told any of this while she was alive out of respect for her, but she never did get to be a good driver. I'm expecting her to slap my jaws any second right now! Bless Her Heart of gold.
Anyway back to my story. I can't remember being scared, can't remember speaking a word, and by then I wasn't hearing Mama anymore. Isn't that the way it is with the young? Now I feel my skin prickle even thinking about it. I managed to pull in to a wide driveway and get turned around with screeching of gears and jerking both our necks almost off with the sudden stops and the hunching along of the car as I changed gears. Heck fire I was on my way again. Whoppee I'm drivin', Yep just look at me world, I'm drivin'.
I screeched in to Parks store just barely missing the gas tank out front and coming to a stop right next to a fence. Heck, That was good driving wasn't it? Well wasn't it? I figured I was ready to take the highway now. Yep! Course I was set straight on that one real quick like when Mama regained her equilibrium. YEP!
Mama had forgot what she was coming to get at the store but thank goodness she had me with her cause I remembered. OH SURE SHE WAS Lucky.
I went in and got the things Mama needed came back out and got under the wheel to go home. Hall Parks came out of the store and gave me some instructions. Heck, now that I think about it, I never saw Hall drive. He didn't even have a car. I drove the same way home with only one mishap. I drove into a shallow ditch and gunned it right back out and roared on home. Mama was jumpy all evening and she never again let me drive. I was 13 then and I didn't really learn to drive till I was 18 and married. But that is another scary story which I'll tell you later. YEP!

MOUSE IN THE HOUSE

3-24-09...MOUSE IN THE HOUSE

A MOUSE IN THE HOUSE!

A few weeks back I saw those tell-tale little signs of a dreaded mouse in my house. Euww, I don't like those little critters. They just give me the creeps. I put out some poison to rid myself of the pesky little things and went about my day. I continued to see the signs so I set a mouse trap under my sink. Now that is a major accomplishment for me. Just as I started to set the thing down it threw and scared the pants off me. That happened several times. After I had done the Watusi around the kitchen and shrieked and hollered I finally got the darn thing set.
During the night I head the pop of the trap as it threw. I went back to sleep thinking. By golly I got that critter now. When I got up the next morning I very cautiously peeked in to the cabinet. The dang trap was no where in sight. Now what in the heck happened to that dang thing, I thought. Heck I'm gonna' hafta' take all this stuff out so I can see where that blamed mouse drug the trap. But my gosh what if I accidentally touch that durn mouse. Oh No, I aint gonna'do that. Heck No I aint puttin' my hand in there. Got the broom and stood back as far as I could and did a few swipes around in there to move things outta' my way. Well heck that aint workin' either. I knew I had to find that thing and get rid of the dead mouse because it would be stinking soon. I looked out the window and there on the deck was a small shovel. Shoot fire, I'll just scoop everything out. I got the shovel and did just that. I found the trap allright but no mouse. Nope! It had thrown the trap, stole the cheese and gone on its way. Dad blamed thing anyway. Well I'm sure not gonna' be outsmarted by a mouse. No siree. Watch out you little critter cause I'm getting mad now. I set three traps in different places having the same problems and doing the twist this time, but I did it finally.
Next morning two were thrown and the cheese was gone. But what got me was the third one. The cheese was gone. That sucker got the cheese without even throwing the trap. Heck fire if I breathe on the dang things they throw.
I regrouped, put the traps outside, and put out more poison discovering that that darn mouse had cleaned the poison up too, Good Grief. I'm feeding that thing!!!
I stopped seeing the droppings for a few days. Well, I guess it got too fat and aint' hungry any more.
One morning I got up way before daylight. I started my coffeepot. I stepped on something in the floor. It was soft and it squeaked so I figured it was Moses toy. It startled me but I went on to the bathroom.
I came back later to get a cup of coffee and there in the floor in plain sight was the dead mouse. I started backing up and at the same time I tried to run forward. I stepped on something that squeaked. It was one of the dog toys but I thought MOUSE!! I jumped up and down and tried to scream. I said tried to scream because no sound was coming out. I was so flustered that I guess I forgot how to scream. I stood right there and wet my pants. YEP SURE DID!! Then I did the watusi, twist, and jitterbug all rolled in to one. I was sliding by now in the wet floor.
Well I got to the bathroom, showered and put on clean clothes. Came back and finally got my coffee, then went to my recliner and sat down. Took me a while to come down out of the twilight zone, but when I did I realized Don hadn't woke up. So he don't know what happened and he aint gonna know. NOPE!
So folks that is my horror story for today. I wasn't going to tell anyone. I told you and I hope you can keep a secret.YEP!
By the way when Don got up he said you got the mouse with the poison. He picked it up and threw it out just like I knew he would. YEP! Problem solved!!!!

OLD ROCKING CHAIRS

3-23-08...OLD ROCKING CHAIRS

There they sit side by side
Grandma ans Grandpas old rocking chairs.
Holding nothing but memories good and bad
lots of laughter and lots of tears.
They are old now, the paint is cracked,
Oh how they squeak when moved.
The memories they hold are a part of my life.
On the floor is the rockers grooves.
I used to sit there on Grandpa's lap
listening to the stories he told.
And in Grandma's lap I ate cookies
she'd baked in the old wood stove.
They rocked together over the years
and took life in its stride.
Then came one day one rocker grew still
and Grandpa was ever more sad.
We went each day even after we grew
with families of our own.
Then the dreaded day came both rockers were still.
My Grandma and Grandpa were gone.

Clydene Overbey 1985