The Fan

I was lucky enough for a very long time to have both sets of my grandparents alive and kicking.  My mother's parents were quite fiesty.  They lived in a small white house only about two miles away from the other grandparents who lived in the trailer.  The small white house had a window air conditioner in the front window in what we called the formal living room.  It was called that because there was another living room right behind it and as kids we were not allowed to play in the formal one because we might break something.  Anyway, it was rare that the air conditioner was ever turned on.  

Someone, I think my brother, mentioned what was in the window at the back of the house and we had a good little laugh the other day. After the living room we were allowed to play in, was the kitchen and the back of the kitchen had a window that opened to a covered and enclosed porch area (not open to the outside except for a screen door, think about that, where was the air coming from).  In that window was a super large, heavy duty fan.  You turned that thing on and you might as well head outside because thinking and talking were not going to happen.  

My granddaddy loved that fan and during the summer it was on alot.  My grandmother not so fond of the fan.  If granddaddy left to go to the store or something within minutes grandmother would look at one of us and tell us to turn the air conditioner on and cut that loud fan off.  It was funny!  

They were often like that.  Work together but when the other was gone do what you wanted!  They were one of my first examples of a what I felt was a shared marriage.  Not so sure how they were when they were younger but as they got older they acted like partners.  Each paid separate bills and had separate checking accounts.  I miss them terribly too!  They were strong but loved us all so much!  

The fan was there from before I was born until they were gone!  

The 100 Acre Garden

Actually, it may have been just an acre but sometimes it felt like 100.  As a small child it was a huge garden.  Now it would probably seem so small and I would wonder why I whined so much about working in it.  That was the rule - you were at the trailer during the spring and summer and you did your part in the garden no matter how old you were.  We did all of the following as kids:

• plant seeds
• cover seeds
• water everything all the time
• stick tomatoes and beans
• hoe, hoe, hoe, hoe (they even broke off handles on old ones so us kids would have one)
• follow the plow 
• pick peas
• pick beans
• pull corn
• pick cantaloupes
• pick watermelons
• pick cucumbers
• pick squash
• hold the bucket while Grandmother cut the okra and the cabbage
• pick tomatoes
• dig out the potatoes for days and days
• shell peas and beans for days and nights and nights and days
• shuck corn (watch for the worms)
• play under the table while everything was cut and frozen and canned and on and on

It was an experience that at the time was completely wearing for a kid but I now know how to do all of those things and I don't know that many people my age and definitely younger who do.  I wish I had a green thumb because I would grow things too and have my daughter learn because knowing how to make your own food is a wonderful thing.  

My grandmother did unique things like having the beans and peas (the ones that would need to have sticks to keep them growing) planted next to the corn.  That way the beans and peas would grown up the corn stalks and keep us from having to use the sticks.  The corn and beans/peas were grown in the lower level of the garden and often it was like a tunnel to walk between them.  Super cool for kids!  

Overall I am so happy to have been raised on fresh vegetables and to know where they come from and how to take care of them.  I think it gave me a greater appreciation for those who handle them.  I still remember sitting on the side of the garden and watching my Grandmother constantly going from one thing to another.  She never stopped moving during the day either in the garden or in the trailer.  She was a hard worker and I appreciate so much her example.  I miss her so!

My Grandparents Trailer

Yes, I am from the South so someone had to live in a trailer, right?  Well, my Dad's parents lived much of my childhood in a single wide trailer in the country.  Behind it was an acre of land that for all the time I remember it was filled with a garden.  My grandfather was a very tall man and my memories are limited to him being often short of memory due to Parkinson's Disease among other things.  My grandmother took care of him and maintained the house and garden.  Papa was still able to help out some at first but over time he gradually lost his knowledge of us.  My understanding is that he was a tough man most of his life but his illnesses made him a much easier person to get along with.  He would always welcome us by saying "Good Morning this evening!" and smiling at us.  It was his own joke I think.

Their trailer was red and white on the outside and over time a trellis was added to the front for Grandmother to plant her roses and to sit outside on her glider.  My Grandmother had a green hand, not just a thumb.  Anything she touched grew and was beautiful.  The inside of the trailer was a continuous move from one room to the next.  One end was the master bath which was "mighty fine" for a trailer of that time.  It had a closet to one side, a mirrored wall with sink to the other side, a separate door for the toilet (this had to be great for people who were raised with outhouses), and a sunken tub directly as you walked in.  What was cool about that tub for kids was that it had a step up to it which you of course could use as a stage.

The master bedroom was next and for most of the time there was a king size bed in that room.  Truly amazing.  Interestingly there was a back door to the trailer in the room that never as far I know had stairs off of it.  However, it was a great escape route if you were being chased through the house.  Next you stepped up into a kitchen that was black and white and was mentally and physically the center of the place.  The laundry area was there and the stove, frig and freezer were well used in this room.  Then you would step down into the living room.  This room was darker and we all laughed about the lovely black vinyl bar that was in one corner.  Not really sure what caused my church going grandparents to buy a trailer with a bar but we used it for playing and storage.  After the living room was another bedroom at the other end of the house that also had a closet and a smaller bath.

That was the trailer and you would be amazed at how many people could get in there and eat, sleep, shell peas, shuck corn, watch 4 channels on TV, make 100s of individual apple pies, play games, hug and love.  Next time we will talk about that acre garden in the back.  It may not have been a perfect place to spend your childhood but it sure has stories to tell.  Things like the time I helped my aunt to staple, yes staple, curtains in the living room and guest bedroom because the walls were so thin they would not hold rods.  How for years we thought it did not have central air because it never worked only to find out some wires were not connected.  Yeah, that was annoying during a southern summer working out of a garden.

Next door in a nice brick house lived my Great Aunt and her third husband (she outlived them all). She never had any children so she would come pinch our cheeks and remind us not to go into her house with our dirty feet.  She was a little on the spoiled side and would drive my grandmother crazy as she was my Papa's sister and she could not just tell her to go away.

All in all we had fun, learned so many things and were loved greatly.  Those are some of the most important things a growing child should have.  I probably did not feel lucky then when my fingers were purple from peas but I do feel very lucky to have been there now!

It was a great trailer - some of them are you know!

The Lake in the Woods

This weekend I spent time with my family at what I call the Lake in the Woods.  This lake is well known where I live and my parents who never stay in one place longer than you can spit in the wind,  (Had to throw some southern twang in there) have been renting a house where they can view the lake from their front porch.  It is the best place for a granddaughter to visit her grandparents.  However, they have to keep moving so they are looking at houses to buy.  Keep in mind that my parents have never owned their own house so buying in your 60s seems a bit strange.  Wait!  This is my family!

Anyway, the visit was great.  It was very chilly out at the lake but my daughter got her time on the front porch swing, some great food from a place no one should find but everyone does, a history lesson in an old county jail and provided her recommendations on what should be changed in an underground storm cellar.  Pretty busy day for a 5 year old!  These are the things we do when I spend time with my family.

My daughter was fascinated with the "poop hole" as we called it in the old jail!  She wanted all of us to really check that out.  Thank goodness the jail had not been used in probably a 100 years.

I find the drive to the Lake in the Woods to be calming for me most of the time especially when little bit is playing a game or watching a movie.  The roads are familiar to me and remind me of my childhood.  I remember all kinds of things when I am there.  The old houses, the supermarket that refuses to go away, the strip mall where I bought my first car insurance policy, the remains of a restaurant my grandparents loved but we felt needed to come down long before it did.

I was lucky!  I got to spend so much time with my grandparents and learned so much from them.  I wish that I had spent more time just talking to them and asking them about their lives.  This is why I am writing these things down now.  I want my daughter to know what it was like for us because her world will probably be so different.

I hope we get to visit the Lake in the Woods more before my parents make their next move because it reminds me very much of the Little White House in the Woods that I so fondly remember.