Hotter Than a Two-Dollar Pistol.

 

Hotter Than a Two-Dollar Pistol.

Yes, it is Texas, and it’s hot in Texas in June. So, now that June 10 has hit the calendar, the heat has definitely arrived. Sitting here remembering a halter top that once was in my wardrobe. It wrapped around to tie in front and was made of something a bit like seersucker. Don’t think it was even lined, but it hung over my neck and left my back and part of my front uncovered. It was modest enough to be worn around here without worrying in case someone stopped by, but so very comfortable. Just wish they still made stuff like that—but maybe they do. Looked online recently and found some stuff, but everything was made of some weird material, not cotton. Oh well. Guess running around here half-dressed will just have to get it. Won’t dress like that when the boys are coming over to work in the yard or for classes, but can still wish to be cooler. Sigh

So far someone has come over to work on Jerry’s place each day this week. And now more of the fence has come down here on this side. They have filled up the dumpster that they had dropped off, but probably need to throw more stuff in on top of the branches and lumber that is in there. Know those things can take a boat load of garbage before they are truly full. Again, not my circus.

The Route 66 Group was supposed to meet today, but only four of us ladies showed up. Actually, it was easier to hear what was said this way. And even the waitress was pretty relaxed. Wasn’t hungry, but had some fried okra, fried onion rings, and queso with chips. Really wanted squash, but all they had was green beans or butter beans. Bleah. Not sure where everyone else was, but it was a pleasant visit.

Took the CD-ROM (from MRI) to the neurosurgeon’s office and dropped it off, but have been thinking about it since Dr. Blackwell said that she wanted me to do that. Something other than surgery is going to have to be tried first. Not the least bit interested in letting anyone cut on me. Know that many people have gone that route—including Lewis—but not sure it would be the best thing for me. Just having to deal with either the pain or other problems does not feel as scary as dealing with surgery. Yes, the old woman is a scaredy cat!

Wondering if the hens will slow down egg laying in this heat. Would seem to be a rational way to deal with life covered in hot feathers. Have one hen who needs a bath to clean her backside. Wondering if more of them would need to be dipped in the pool to cool them off. During all that rain, it did not seem to bother them in the least even on the coolish days. Bet feathers are good insulation, but wonder if they protect them from the heat as well.

Saw some stuff advertised online that purported to be good for chickens’ nest boxes. It is supposed to keep bugs and things from bothering them. Last year it was the rat snakes that kept my girls disturbed. Saw a rat recently, but am hoping that the snakes go somewhere else. Snakes never bothered my brother, but danged if they were ever my friends!

My friend Donna Reeves said that they were going to take her granddaughter’s baby girl this coming Thursday. Thank you for your prayers that have taken her this far. Please remember them this next week.

Listening to the other ladies talk about the things that have affected their children and grandchildren, it made me feel blessed to have had children that did not have autism, lupus, fibromyalgia, or any of the other diseases and conditions that from childhood make life so hard on families. Simply can’t imagine trying to deal with some of these things.

Then Charlotte said that the owner of Bill Brown Beef is Weejee’s son. Not sure that is how to spell weejee, but anyone who knew the Browns would know who it was. Betty Brown lived on the hill outside the north part of town on Highway 79. That house was a landmark for all of my life until it burned. Bob Brown was one of the nicest men around, and his and Betty’s kids were the sweetest! Grandmother Pollard and Betty were two of the “Girls” who kept the Methodist Church in Sunday School teachers. Think they had as much fun as the kids did.

Remembering Melvin King driving the Petrolia fire truck up and down the streets to get kids to come to Vacation Bible School is part of my childhood. Not sure how effective it was to get the kids on the truck and then to Bible school, but since Mom and Grandmother were both involved in either the Baptist or Methodist churches, guess who went to both classes! Sterling might not have gone, but yours truly went every summer all week of the school. But it was fun.

Thinking this morning after reading about a Black woman whose little girl was sold off to a different slave owner after the death of their master. The mother made a cotton cloth bag and filled it with some clothes, three hands full of pecans, and a braid of the mother’s hair—plus a mother’s love for her child. That bag was handed down for generations as a memorial to that mother. The great-granddaughter finally gave it to a museum to note that time period. How very blessed we are to know what those women must have felt. It must have been horrifying for them, yet they let their children know that the love would always be there for them even though they might not ever be seen again. We should thank God that slavery is no longer acceptable in this country. But yet there are slaves all around us even if they are not seen. Children are still sold in this country, but they seldom ever know love. Let us pray that this horrible situation will be condemned and stopped! Children are not animals to be sold and used or abused.

My sister-by-another mother often talks about putting the names and stories on the quilts and other pretty things that women in her family have made. She encouraged me to put something on my mother’s “Flower Garden” quilt that she crocheted. Have decided to find a small piece of cloth, finish the edges, and embroider Mom’s “story” on it. Don’t remember the year she finished the quilt, but can surely get close to the right year. She was quite the seamstress and very artistically inclined. My skills have never been anything like hers, but it does not keep me from appreciating what she did.

Anne Perkins (sister-in-law) brought me a pile of the Clay County Leaders—the weekly paper that comes out and tells Henrietta and the rest of Clay County what is going on around them. That was the best paper around in my youth and even after leaving home. Grandmother Pollard wrote the Byers news for them until she got too old to keep up with it. Miss her and miss those days.

Really don’t know anything earth shattering, but will tell you that the birds still sing every morning, the sunflowers are taller than me plus another four feet, the petunias smell heavenly, and my dogs love me and the AC! Not necessarily in that order. With all that is going on in this old world, the best we can do is pray for one another and hope that our families will be protected from all the problems we see around us. Thank God for all His blessings!

Rest well, my friends, and awake tomorrow with joy! You are loved.