A Sunny Day Brings Much to Enjoy
Waking to full sunshine just speaks to what kind of day it is going to be. We had light snow off and on all yesterday afternoon. The driveway was completely white when I went to bed. This morning the snow glistened in the bright rays of the sun. When I toddled to the bathroom and looked out the east window, Dennis had the leaf blower going on the far east patio. Yup . . . in his PJs and slippers. Go gettum cowboy!
A Grammie can’t be rushed in the morning. There are things that need to be attended to right off the bat. After I had my paperwork done in the bathroom, I got on my jeans and flannel shirt, suiting up to help what I knew was Dennis’ intention . . . clearing the remaining patio and the 90′ driveway. After a bit even the electric leaf blower gets heavy.
When we got done it was about ten in the forenoon. It seemed fitting that a bowl of oatmeal was needed. As I poodled around in the kitchen, my mind was right back to the farm in Boon Lake Township.
It was usually ten in the forenoon when I could come into the house and stay for the morning with my part of the chores having been taken care of. I am not sure how I managed to keep two wee ones busy in the house while I had helped Orlin with the barn chores . . . much like what Dennis and I had just finished. Not a real good comparison, but thinking that the 50 years plus in between then and now . . . chores is chores and it rang true. It came to me in a flash: many, many trips back and forth from the barns to the house.
Channel two had children’s programs for most of the morning. Carrie with puzzles to work on, could be counted on to not venture far from Kevin who was in his playpen, or from the screen soaking up what Mr. Rogers was doing. Kevin couldn’t get out and neither could Carrie lift him out of the play pen. We couldn’t go wrong with Cheerios as the snack of choice for either of them. There may even had to be a diaper change in between the the chicken barn chores and the cow barn chores. It was all taken in stride. Neither of my two children were ever out of my reach for more than a few minutes at a time. The best part of the late morning was me shutting off the babysitter, aka: television. With favorite blankets in hand we headed for a rocking chair that had been Grandma Schafer’s. Both kids on my lap we read stories. The chair had been an overstuffed chair that had been made into a rocker. We had room for the three of us with room to spare for favorite stuffed animals and plenty of books. Kevin generally had snuggled in so deep, sleep was his worst enemy. It didn’t matter if he was sleeping, Carrie and I read on until she got squiggly and wanted to play with her dolls.
Could all these wonderful warm memories have been decades ago? They are as fresh as that glistening snow had been on the driveway. The oatmeal was good that Dennis and I shared. The snow on the driveway is gone. My memories are never gone, just resting in the back of my mind ready to spring forward in a heartbeat, keeping me company or flooding in when least expected. I love that. As I grow older, I know I may be alone once in awhile bit I will never be lonely.