A lovely Wink!
LeRoy Ford >>
<<>
Above is a picture of Ford when he was about 18 years old. Wasn't he handsome? I think so. The other picture is of the King, which is what his name, LeRoy, means in French.
He was not very emotional and didn't do much to express his feelings. But one thing he did occasionally that really thrilled me was when he gave me a little wink.
Maybe it would be when he had a feeling everything was OK and wanted to convey to me that it was, he would give me an exciting wink. To this day I get a chill down my spine when I remember that wink. It was a little reminder that things were going good. He might be across a room and catch my eye then he would do that fantastic wink. It would send me into a frenzy!
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of him winking--except in my memory. I would really like to show you that wink but without a picture, I can't.
So if you can imagine a wink on the picture above maybe it will give you an idea of what I mean!
Horseback Riding
Above are pictures that I am using to illustrate my story. The one on the right is of my Dad when he was just a kid. The one on the left is just a girl, that I do not know. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of myself horseback riding. That was a long time ago--before cameras were so handy!
I had a coworker who was close to may age and we decided that we wanted to go horseback riding. We knew of a stable where we could rent horses by the hour to ride. So we went and started our rides. We went about once a week for some time.
It was a lot of fun but for the first few times I was really sore on my pelvic bones and rear end bones.
We rode on a trail that was probably about a mile or so in length. I can't remember what it cost per hour but I am sure it was not too expensive or I would not have done it! After some time we either lost the thrill of riding or had some other reason for dropping it. That has been close to sixty years ago and I have never been on a horse since then!
Wouldn't it be nice if I could go horseback riding with my Dad? But that will never be unless they have horses in Heaven!
A Strange Event
This story is not my own but one that was told to me by my sister in law. She and her husband were attending the funeral of a friend. It had been a very overcast and cloudy day and was still that way during the funeral.
However, just as they walked out of the church and into the outdoors the sun suddenly came out and as the casket was being carried out to the hearse a very bright ray of sun opened up and shown down directly on the casket.
She said it was as if the heavens were opening up to receive the casket into the great beyond. She said everyone felt the same way about it. They felt confident that the person, who was their friend, was taken into heaven at that moment.
It was a strange happening and they felt as if something great had just been sent upon them.
I probably would have been kind of stunned if something like that happened to me as I am sure many of those people were.
Chalk Talks
You don't hear very much these days about chalk talks. I have seen it mentioned on CNN a couple of times. Chalk talks were very much in back in the olden days. I remember hearing my Mother talk about chalk talks many years ago.
Actually, chalk talks are still very much in. Every time a teacher goes to the black board and draws a figure or writes a word on it she is doing a chalk talk.
Chalk talks were a popular act in Vaudeville. A performer did drawings on a blackboard as he, or she, delivered his monologue. Wintear McCay started doing Vaudeville chalk talks in 1906 . He often did caricatures as he did his talking. This went over well with the audience.
Preachers would do simple drawings on a chalk board to convey a point in their message. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and chalk talks seem to prove that.
Fireflies or Lightening Bugs
Fireflies, lightening bugs--they are one and the same. They are also sometimes called glowworms. They are actually a member of the beetle family.
The season for them will be starting soon. My grand kids from Idaho usually come here for a visit close to July 4th and they are fascinated by fireflies. There are none in Idaho. My research showed that there are not many fireflies, if any, west of Kansas. The reason for this phenomena is unknown. We have hundreds of them dotting the sky at night here in Indiana.
When I was a kid we used to catch lightening bugs and put them in a jar with holes punched in the lid. Of course they always died soon after. Then my kids did the same thing when they were little.
The reason for the lighting of the bug is not known for certain. Some think it is to catch mates, others think it is for other purposes. I think it is to fascinate young kids! I grew up seeing them all the time so I am not that fascinated by them now but my grand children from Idaho are really thrilled to see them--at least they were when they were young. They are older now so some of the fascination has worn off. The grand kids are also fascinated by lightening and thunder storms because they have very few in Idaho--we have numerous ones here in Indiana.
Actually, I have not seen any lightening bugs yet this season but maybe if I went out after dark and looked I might see some. But I am sure they will be showing up soon, as they always do every year.
My Beautiful Empty Calendar!
See this calendar? It is the way my June month looks! This is the first month in ages that has no appointments anywhere on it. I love that. I had the air conditioner people out for a check up today and that ended my appointments until October. Of course an emergency could come up at any time--I realize that--but as of now I don't have any appointments until October when I have to get a colonoscopy. That is four months! I hate marking up my calendar with dates and appointments with things do.
However that does not mean I won't have anything to do until October! I have seven people coming to my house in July . They will be coming and going at different dates but they will all seven be here for the 16th to the 21st. But, I won't have to watch my calendar while they are here!
I really appreciate this month because I don't have many like it.
Doomsday!
Do you ever watch the History Channel, or the Discovery Channel? I watch them quite often--and I don't know why!
There are interesting programs to see but many of them make me feel like going to bed for a good cry!
Then I realize that much of the stuff is just some one's opinion. They say that meteorites or asteroids are heading for earth and it's not a matter of if, but a matter of when, they will impact the Earth. They usually tell you all of this crap about meteorites heading toward Earth and they they say it might be millions of years from now, or it could be sooner.
I watch a program and then go to bed feeling miserable because of it. I try to tell myself that God is in control of things and if a meteorite hits Earth it is because He means for it to be so. I have been on this Earth for almost 84 years and a meteorite has never hit us yet--at least not one big enough to destroy us . That doesn't mean one won't ever hit but it means that it is an unlikely event in our life time. However, I do think of my future descendants and don't want them to be destroyed by a disaster like that. I just let things be and trust that God is watching over us at all times.
Another Water Story
I have another story about water from my childhood days. I guess it was Ok to ask people for water because my Mother seemed to do it quite aften!
We were on one of our Sunday afternoon drives and if I am correct, I think we had been to White Rock Cemetery--I have written about White Rock before and how I hated going there.
Anyway, somewhere along the way we were all thirsty so we stopped at a farm house and asked for some water. The people were nice but they told us that they really didn't want us to drink any of their water because they had had typhoid fever and their well was condemned. That settled it for us. We didn't want to get typhoid fever for certain.
Nowadays I would never in a million years stop at some one's house and ask for water. Of course, I have a thermos jug and would carry water with us whenever we went on a trip. I think it was different back in those days. We used to have men come to our door and ask for food to eat, saying they would do some work for it. My Mother has fed many men back in those days. So asking for water was not an unusual thing to do.
Some things have changed since then. I am not sure all of the change has been for the good!
Scary Moments I Remember
My Dad, me and my Mother
This all happened about the time I was about 3 or 4 years old as in the picture above.
My Mother and Dad were on a trip to Elk City, Oklahoma. My Dad was looking for a job somewhere--anywhere. It was during the depression years and he had no job.
We were traveling in an old Model T Ford and were probably somewhere in west Texas on the way back home. Back in those days we didn't have a cooler or ice jug to carry along with us so my mother had suggested that we stop at a home along the way and ask for some water.
We stopped at a farm house and it was just about dark. My mother asked the people in the home if we could have some water to drink. The people said, "Sure." They had no lights on in the house and probably only had kerosene lamps.
So the man led us back through the dark house toward their kitchen. I can remember it as well today as if it were yesterday. It was so dark you could barely see to walk along the rooms. My Dad was carrying me so I felt somewhat more secure in his arms than if I had been walking. I don't remember much about the kitchen since I could not see it. Why the people didn't light a lamp to take us to the kitchen I have no idea. Anyway. I remember how dark and scary it was walking along in that strange house in the dark with people we didn't know from Adam!
Anyway, we got some water and somehow made it out of that scary, dark house to our car again.
That has been approximately 80 years ago and I still have visions of that scary moment. Thank God today for our brightly lit homes--and coolers and water jugs!
