Aging Fun!

 Aging Fun!

 

Just spoke to my cousin Eba (Elizabeth) who lives in North Carolina. She turned 72 today. She thought that the old woman was much older than she is because when we were kids, she thought everyone else was already an adult. Back then, this was one of the things we did—guess at ages without asking. We were taught that it is not socially acceptable to ask a woman’s age. Today, just about everyone over 21 thinks it is great to get old enough to call themselves adults! Strange how things change.

 

Today did not see a whole bunch accomplished except for putting away the laundry and beginning a new load to throw in the washer. It’s wonderful that we don’t have to worry about getting things clean enough to go somewhere. Mom had a time trying to keep Sterling clean. She gave up on me at around two years old. If Sterling was into something, his sister thought she had to do whatever it was just as much as he was doing. Ever had a “spit bath”? That’s where Mom takes out her hanky—yes, all women carried a hanky—spit on it and washed the major filth off our faces. Yuck. And yes, my children suffered through that a few times as well.

 

Sterling brought up Mrs. Hickman who used to live up on Poesy Hill out where the Furhman’s lived later. Beverly’s folk bought the place from Mrs. Hickman and lived there until they passed away, maybe. Anyway, Beverly lives down the hill from the old place. Now, Mrs. Hickman was a sweet lady with two little girls. Never knew where she moved to after she left Petrolia, but her husband was long gone by then. She was a good teacher and a good coach back then. She kept the kids in line and then some. Sterling said she used a paddle made from a fence picket until she broke in on one of the Sheer boys. He laughed. She went to the office and brought back the hardwood paddle. The kid went back to his desk without any more tendency to laugh. Wow! Nowadays that would have been considered child abuse or some such. But the kids respected her and did not give her any trouble. Especially after she broke her paddle and got another one!

 

Maria is coming tomorrow to see if she can clean these floors. The dogs have been tracking in wet dirt—not exactly mud, but just as messy. Will have to keep them out of the rooms she cleans and maybe even outside for a while. It feels so good to have clean floors. Even de-horned the coleus plants in the planter in the living room today so it would stop dropping leaves on the floor. It had really taken off growing and overflowing the big flower pot that Jenn got for me.

 

Speaking of Jennifer: a package came today from H&O from her. The old woman now has a set of “clog” type shoes that are easy to wipe clean for messy yard dirt. Then there was the neatest housecoat with hoodie that is perfect for wet weather, with two big pockets. Both shoes and housecoat are covered with chickens. Kinda neat to think that it makes it easy for the kids to know what someone likes!

 

Eba was telling me about the place where her mom stays in Florida. She needs assisted living because she sometimes has trouble getting dressed, but there is another kind of place that is not a nursing home but for folks who just don’t want to cook and can be pretty independent. Thought of Shona’s mom, but the prices of these places is just out of sight! Eba said she has about made up her mind to just stay where she is until she can’t go any longer on her own. Sounds reasonable to me. She has already started getting rid of things that no longer matter to her. Nodding my head when she started talking about giving things away to a woman’s shelter resale shop. My thinking exactly! My house will never miss all the things that would be good for a couple starting out. Our one big difference is that she knits, and the old woman reads. Well, then there are two dogs and nineteen hens compared to her one cat!

 

Sterling brought up C.S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Nardia the other night. He said that he read the series like regular books and had some difficulty seeing what others saw in the Lion. He read the Harry Potter books the same way. Whatever man writes, it simply cannot compare to the depth of meaning of any part of the Bible. A comparison falls pretty flat in my estimation. Funny how we see things from our personal perspectives.

 

Taking a deep breath and resting tonight makes me happy that God is in control of everything. No matter what the “forecast” is for anything from weather to national priorities, all things are in His hands. Praise God! Let us determine to love others as we would want to be loved.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.