Magpie tale #80

His feet splashed in puddles as he rushed past me holding a red umbrella and red bag.

A nearby illuminated Barber pole reflected in a store window that he passed by, creating a sort of fun house scene that aroused long forgotten joy in me. I turned to watch him run down the empty street, a poppy blowing in the wind.

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Boo stared
The window was open and the smell of outside air
must have mesmerized him, for he just sat there and stared
Was it the smell of cut grass or just summer wafting in,
or was it a long forgotten genetic coding for outside
and the hunt that got him starring.....or freedom just beyond?
I have had this kind of staring at times in my life, too
staring into something I know is out there....something primal...
meant to be part of this life....just beyond my knowing

We escaped to Galena for the weekend...ahhhh

Yesterday was my husband's annual golf outing to raise money for the

Chicago Police Memorial Foundation

I tried to learn how to golf.....don't laugh you golfers

my instructor laughed...said I didn't have muscle memory

like in Little League Baseball boy memory.....girls didn't play way back then

and I don't think I would have anyway...even if I could

Anyway....I stink at golf

so yesterday I was like a duck swimming in cameras (did ya like that one?..clever use of photo?)

It was a fun day anyway....hanging around at dinnertime with the other

female non golfers....looking cute (as cute as a woman of my age can look :)

It was a long day....finishing with lights off for us at almost midnight

midnight.....yikes.......and up at 5:30 to get up and out the door by 6:30

My husband got dressed,packed his clothes for the weekend and pulled the car out of the garage

I had to make coffee.....clean up the coffee pot...take out the garbage,feed the cats..clean their boxes

make the bed....I always make the bed before leaving

ever since I heard my neighbor talking at a BBQ about how messy some people's houses are

!!!!

anyway...I continued with other various household duties necessary before leaving

while he- who- must- be- ignored.....sat in the car sipping coffee, listening to the radio

phew.....that felt good snitching and whining

 We passed throught the most awful looking cloud formation...ominous and dark...dark dark

but as soon as we hit the lovely valleys of northweat Illinois...it was blue skies all the way

corn fields and soybean fields as lush as any that I can remember

and large amounts of cows and sheep in the pastures

and green, green ,green as far as the eye could see

But there were signs that things will be changing soon

signs like  OCTOBEREST

HALLOWEEN

PUMPKINS

Not yet........not yet



Ah, life was...or seemed to be...so much easier when I was a kid

Get up....eat breakfast made by mom

Get dressed with clothes mom washed and ironed and paid for

Put on shoes polished or shined by dad (no gym shoes then)

Walk to school

Greet my best friend,Evanis, every morning, hang up my coat..put my books away...blab until the teacher told us to rise for the pledge of allegiance, then prayer....

Then it was 3 hours of class.....

When recess time came.....we had 3 of them...15minutes in the morning,15 minute after lunch recess,and later...we had tiptoe recess...where you tiptoed quietly to the bathroom ..

At recess we played tag, jump rope, red rover,hopscotch,hide and seek...girls and boys usually in different "camps"

Lunchtime we sat at our desks and opened our lunch boxes or paper bags

my mom packed me a baloney sandwich and an apple or banana

After lunch there was more pay attention in class until 3:15...when we would close our day

with prayer and an evening hymn before leaving school... that we all return safely the next day

I would walk with Evanis to the corner where she caught a bus home

and I headed home on foot

When I walked in the backdoor of our house ( I can still here that creaky hinge) 

I would grab a glass of milk, and on Fridays my mom had cupcakes waiting on the counter

I would then go to my room to

either listen to records,watch Garfield Goose on TV in the front-room , or the Three Stooges (my brother's favorite)

or go call my girlfriend Patsy

and I mean call.....yoa Pat,yoa Pat,yoa Patsy

at her back door....we dare not ring a bell

 around 5pm I would come home for supper...My dad would be getting up...he worked nights,and we would eat dinner together..yum cooked by mom..always 2 bowls and a platter

a vegetable, potatoes or noodles or rice,and meat

no desert, except on Sunday...and milk...always a big glass of milk

Then it would be off  to share dish-washing duty with my brother.....he liked to dry

return to my room to do my homework, do my memory work (Bibles passages and hymns or prayers)

later watch TV with my parents in the "living room"

recite my memory work to my parents 

take a bath, put on fresh PJs that mom had ironed

sit with mom and dad a bit ...then prayers....and lights out

How much I remember that I wanted to grow up

live my own life

eat what I wanted to eat

dress with clothes I picked at the store

be the boss of my own life

and never memorize another thing

Now I wish I could go back in time and really enjoy and know what I had, say 

thanks dad...for such a loving safe and secure childhood.

I have thanked my mom.

And, oh, the Bible verses and hymns....they come to me in times of trouble

this I am thankful for, too

....a comfort that is hardwired inside of me

as is a good childhood

It's a cleaning day today.

Real cleaning..as in cleaning out

This is avoided at all cost

because it never fails that I find things

that make this job that much longer

Like old photos

letters

trinkets

bibles

stuff of the heart

How it has managed to shift around to lie in these places

I will never figure out

but it does

Sometimes it is a sweet visit....like today's

and sometimes I need a whole box of tissues to get through it all

Above is my youngest daughter and her husband

below it my other daughter and her husband and the Finn

next to them are my Son and his wife and little miss and little master

sigh......I miss them all

maybe I'll finish these closets by Friday

Magpie tale #77

I knew before he ever opened his mouth. Word gets around in this small town. He's been seeing Mabel Sanchez behind my back, taking her to lookout point after he drops me off before 9pm. I can't help it if my parents are strict. But I guess what he really wanted was a lover's lane lust-mate. I cut him short, before he could actually break it off with me. Instead I leaned myself back on the porch railing and stretched my long, smooth- skinned, just shaved, legs before him. "Look Charlie," I said,leaning my arms backwards resting them on the porch rail,pushing my breasts forward into the porch light, "You got to understand, I don't want to do this, but I have to. I don't want to see you anymore. I have plans, big plans, and they don't include the likes of you. I want ...out of this town and away from small town people like you and Mabel Sanchez. So you go ahead and keep seeing your little girl friend, ain't no matter to me. I'm going places. "

And that's when my dad rapped on the window for me to come in. "Bye Charlie,"I said,shilly shallying my be-hind into the house and closing the door.

My father looked out of the window and watched Charlie drive off, then turned to me and asked,newspaper in hand,

"Too bad what happened to that poor Sanchez girl...but I guess she died instantly, did you know her?"

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MAGPIE TALE #77

We went to the JoDavies county fair this weekend

...very small town America

We showed up in our fancy car and I think the guy charged us more

hee hee

But it was worth it

It did our hearts good to see the families

enjoying the hot summer day

the kids running around....free, like they used to

happy and eating hot dogs and chasing each other 

Good to see the demolition derby...haven't seen one of those since I was a kid

and that's a long time ago

The people were so friendly

and happy

nothing fancy, just good summer fun

good summer corn on the cob

good cold beer

good baked goods

and of course the animals

My battery went caputskied before we hit the cows

but they were divine

every cow had a fan blowing on them

When we got to a building that said Hares...uh

I almost didn't go in...I have a childhood trauma

regarding rabbits in cages..but my husband got me to go inside

and I am sort of glad I did

they were all well taken care of, plenty of room, water and their fur

was gorgeous...unlike the memory I hold tightly bound in me

Cages with wire bottoms yes, but they seemed content

I asked the man in charge if this wire bothers their feet

he said most no, but one type yes, and they place wood boards in the cage for them

I wanted to take them all home...cows, ducks, roosters,sheep,horses

I guess I never grew up concerning animals

I want them all cared for and loved....

ha....but the farmers were all good to me and my attitude

I think inside they felt the same way

but life isn't that way and can't be

but it was good to see these animals well cared for

It was a wonderful weekend

windmill

Magpie tale #76

An Illinois summer

evening

Quietly a windmill spins

pumping water

for livestock and home

 The sun slips away

disappearing,too
from the landscape

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