Matters of Life and Death
Earlier, while in the way-back machine, I noticed that this time last year I was also ready to burn. Funny, but I’ve got that same urge today. And here’s the object of my desire:
The last one we had was….destroyed by fire. And so were my eyebrows. Anyway, the local hardware store has this in a beautiful bronze that I must have. I like my fire pit portable.
This time last year we were in sunny Florida. Most of my pix were of living green vegetation. It was ALIVE!
This is a morning pool shot. Marveling that: I. Was In. The Pool. On a February morning. Soak It Up!
Now, back to the moment.
The view out the window at World Headquarters. This is the street that sold me when I bought the shack.
Beautiful sunsets, a lilac bush, bird bath. It’s a good view for not much money.
But with the beauty, comes a price. At certain times of the day this thoroughfare is heavily traveled with teenagers on their way to and from school and the nearby parks (another selling point at the time). Last summer the City re-designed the intersection to slow traffic down. The kids sometimes get it on two wheels around the corner.
After 10 years of living here I can tell what time it is just by the traffic sounds, and 7:45 AM is when we start getting busy with it.
7:45 is also the time that Mr. Greenjeans conducts a sacred ceremony in the “library” and this morning services were in full swing.
Despite this 3rd round of ice, school was in session today and the world is moving according to schedule.
Right outside his window, Mr. Greenjeans could hear the traffic noise and thought to himself: “Somebody gonna hit the house!”
And then as if it were a self-fulfilling prophesy: Ker-Thunk!
A vehicle manned by a teenage boy skated through the stop sign, jumped the curb and hurtled into my house. It was bound to happen. In ten years of living here, the kids have drove through the lawn, bit my tree, hit the fence, and now……sideswiped my brand new a.c. unit.
Well, it was either that, the tree, the fire plug, or the shed full of explosives. Good God Y’all!
Mr. Greenjeans was indisposed so I sprang into action, to survey the damage. The kid had parked on the street and was pulling my ornamental iron out of his undercarriage while he dialed up Dad.
He was visibly shaken, and thankful he was able to get it sideways and back on the road. Very apologetic.
I went inside and donned my best jump suit and prepared to Meet The Parents.
Can I get a salt truck over here?
courtesy of brandspankin.com
After my strange appointment Friday, I was en route to ship my grandmother’s urn, I decided to add another element of surprise to the day.
After my grandparents divorced, my grandfather married a lady who I still consider to be my grandmother. I learned a lot from her, she was a talented in the garden, and was able to earn from her home with her mad skillz on the sewing machine. She tried hard to teach our family about Jesus.
Somehow, after grandfather died we kind of lost touch. It just happened. And before you know it several years have passed.
She’s been on my mind lately and several months ago I heard from a little bird that she was in a nursing home, which I was fast approaching in the Grey Goose.
I decided to go for it, even though I wasn’t sure if she was there. Turns out she was, had just moved in…So, my informant had the information wrong several months ago, but it all worked out in the end.
The staff sent me on a wild goose chase to find her, but after knocking on several doors, I found her. It took a minute for her to recognize me.
And we had a nice visit. At first.
She’s adapting to her new surroundings and says she likes it better than the other place she was at. “What was the problem?” I asked. “Oh, I don’t know. They weren’t Christians.” she replied.
Hmmm.
She went on to update me on one of her grandaughters, so strong and beautiful. A great athlete. Basketball, is her sport and went on to tell me how easily the girl could defeat the “ni**ers” on the opposing team.
My skin started to crawl.
The topic turned to the state of the world today. I tried to lighten it up. But she pushed on to Armageddon. And she wasn’t talking about last year’s World Wrestling Event.
Life had been cruel she said. Many of the residents there had been “dumped” there by their kids. Her church didn’t even miss her after 40 years of attendance. And it went on.
I couldn’t turn it, and started to leave. At the door, I hugged her and told her I loved her. “Why do you love me?” she asked. ” I learned a lot from you, ” I answered, “you introduced me to Jesus.”
“Well, that’s worth knowing. Come back anytime.” And she closed the door.