The Nana Second

I’ve been after my father-in-law to come for a visit for the last year or so, but he insisted that he couldn’t “make that long drive from New Orleans”.  Surprising that the threat of a “little” wind and water would help me get what I asked for!  I am thrilled that he and his wife are here, but disturbed by the circumstances that brought them for the visit. I’m just happy knowing that they are safe here with me.  They brought their medicine, their dog, a few changes of clothes and one of their cars. 

Hurricane Katrina IS a serious threat to the Gulf Coast in general and to New Orleans in particular.  Growing up in New Orleans, we have always heard about “worst case scenario” hurricanes.  I fear this is the one the city has dreaded for so long.  It will be devastating in loss of property, historical buildings and possibly lives.  I pray that most got out and for those who did not, I pray for their safety. 

Right now, all we can do is watch and wait for the storm to come ashore.  No one knows the extent of the destruction it will cause.  Let’s just hope that by some miracle it will weaken before it gets to land.  Just one landmark that could be affected.

Please pray for all…

Does that look like an “Owen” title?  Our kids would say a resounding “YES”!  Well, when you’re married to someone for so long, you begin to pick up bad habits and good – I hope!  He loves Washington County, as do I!  It seems the closer we get to the Fall of the year, the prettier the sunsets get.  As Owen was pulling the shades closed for the night (Yes, we still do that in the country – never know what might be lurking around.), he motioned for me to come and see the beautiful sky.  I ran for my little camera – nothing fancy like Carrie and Brad’s, but digital, nonetheless! – and thought I might get at least one good shot if I hurried.  So out the back door I went – barefoot – considering snakes and other creepy crawlers who were lurking in the grass in the semi-dark, but continued 30 feet or so to get a little closer look at the beautiful sunset. The first picture is dark, but it WAS dark out. I got more of the sky in the second picture than the sun setting, but use your imagination here.  There is no way to capture the full beauty of a sunset and without having a tripod setup, this is much less than perfect, but think you can get an idea of why we love it here so much. 

This is not an unusual occurrence.  Now, if the temperature would drop just a few degrees – more like 20+ – and we could be dining alfresco under the oak trees as we watch the sun slowly fall on the horizon.  This is one of our favorite things to do when the weather is cooler. I will begin planning and looking forward to this as Fall approaches.  I know…I’m dreaming.  After all, Washington County is almost part of Houston, where Fall is short lived and some would say just never happens.  But I’m still going to dream of just a few cool Fall nights… 

So nice to wake up to the sound of nothing!  Then to get up with freshly brewed coffee – thanks Honey! It’s been a few days since I’ve had time to sit down at the computer and journal anything.  As I have said previously, boredom is not a word with which I am familiar!  I just got back from a couple of nights in Houston staying with the Ramseys and before that the days were filled with gardening work. (I shared a bit of that with you.) After finding that “vine in a bottle” as Bobbie so wittily referred to my fern in a wine bottle,  I was not met with anything more than weeds and poison oak during the rest of gardening adventure. I have the scars to show it!  It is always an adventure for me to be outside on these few acres.  I think all gardeners feel the same as I do – amazed that you can put a seed, bulb, corm or just a cutting from a plant into some soil and it GROWS!  How amazing is that? 

I have always loved to watch a garden grow.  I remember when my 8th grade science teacher had us bring a clay pot and three or four caladium bulbs to school.  This was a big deal for me since my mother was not so much a flower gardener as a vegetable gardener.  We usually had at least tomatoes growing in our backyard and that’s when we lived in the city, where I lived most of my life.  So, the idea of watching this plant grow from a bulb was facinating to me.  Mother took me down to the feed store in Marrero to get my pot and bulbs.  I can still conjure up the smell of that store.  It was definitely unique.  They sold all sorts of things, including pets.  Also, little bittys (That’s baby chickens, by the way.), and ducklings and aquarium fish, too.  I think that’s where she used to buy the colored baby chickens for Easter.  YES, live ones.  We kept them until they got too old to be fun and Mother gave them away to someone who raised chickens.   But, I digress…

I think this was when my love of gardening began – just a little tickle of…Oh, this could be fun. And, by the way, my caladium ended up being the biggest and healthiest one of all! Quite a few years later,  I watched Mother turn her “city” backyard into one big vegetable garden.  I have no idea how she managed it.  I didn’t think about it then.  It was just something she did.  Actually, I was gone from home by this time and had my own family on my mind.  But I surely did love getting the fresh vegetables she shared from that garden.  I think she kept the neighbors from complaining by filling their tables as well.

After 4 days of heavy gardening – not riding the lawn tractor, I might add! – I decided that I would take a break. So…I headed to Houston to see those two granddaughters!  They actually needed me to keep the girls while they went to meet Alyssa’s teacher during Open House at her school.  That’s another fun pastime of mine.  I just love to be around them.  And, they grow up so fast! – too fast… Watching them grow up is even more amazing than that garden out there. But I pay a price…Going into Houston always allows for a break from my everyday duties, but does not allow for a lot of sleep.  Alyssa always  insists that I sleep with her or she with me.  Since Owen was with me this time, he slept in the “newly installed by our sweet son-in-law, Michael” king bed in one of the guest rooms.  I “slept” with Alyssa on her trundle bed.  I can’t say when I moved into the guest room during the middle of the night (just in case she is reading this!), but not soon enough to get a good night’s sleep.  I was waken very early in the morning – around 5:15 am –  by Alyssa when she came in and asked me why I was not in her bed!  This is when you begin to wonder why you love these little creatures so much!  And, ohhhhh, to be so loved!

Home sweet home!  After a great night’s sleep in my own bed, in my own room, in my own home, in the quiet of country living, I feel incredibly refreshed and ready to get back out there and tackle some more weeds.  But, first, I just might have another cup of that good brew in the kitchen and do some catching up with a few more friends.

                                                 My Fun Potting Area

Having been gone for a couple of weeks, the yard needs lots of attention – read “work”.  If I could just wave my magic wand…I was out in that heat Friday and Saturday and I’m talking all day long.  Thought I was going to have heat stroke yesterday.  We went to church this morning and then to lunch.  I was certainly not in the mood to get out and get sweaty today, but I knew that things were not going to get done with me sitting down with a book and looking out the window.  So, after a little relaxation, I headed out the door once again.  However, I didn’t last very long – only about two hours – but long enough to get a few more weeds pulled from the gardens and get the patio cleaned of debris that was deposited by the wind and rain we had a few days ago.  Things are shaping up.  I’m definitely looking forward to a little cooler weather come September – well, maybe October – so the grass will slow its growth and I have a handle on the weeds.  I should have put more mulch down earlier in the spring, but too much going on to get it done and then time just slipped.

Speaking of “time”…while in the garden yesterday, I was tidying up the herb garden when I noticed something in the border that I think you will find unusual.  At least, it is to me.  A couple of years ago, I got this bright idea from the Christopher Lowell show about using wine bottles to border a small garden – or large – depending on ones habit of consumption!  Anyway, I patiently saved enough wine bottles to partially border my herb garden.  I decided that too many would be way too tacky – even out in the country when no one sees it unless they are invited guests to our home.  The bottles are set in the ground on an angle so that water will not collect in the little indentation in the bottom of the bottle.  Here is a picture.  I thought that this was rather unique.  I have heard of ships in bottles and some of you will remember Jim Croce’s song “Time in a Bottle”.  In the ‘70’s, the trendy thing to have was a terrarium, which was sort of like having plants in a bottle.  I understand that the bottle creates a nice warm, humid environment for plants, but I can’t figure out how the fern was planted there!   I don’t know what the plant is in the bottle on the right.  Maybe it’s time for a new border, something a little more interesting than wine bottles.  Any ideas?  

But back to “Time”…I had not thought about that song for ages, but it came to me the minute I saw the plants in a bottle.  The lyrics are as good today as they were when they were first sung by Croce in 1973.  Jim Croce died that same year at the very young age of 30.  I’m certain that he didn’t realize how little time he had left.  I never seem to have enough time to do everything I want to do.  I don’t know how anyone can ever say that they are bored!  Boredom is reserved for those who are lazy or who do not have inquisitive minds. I pray I never get to that stage in life.  Life is so full of opportunities for learning and adventure.  I hope never to stop learning new things, but I know that I will never have enough time to learn everything I would like to know.  

In case you can’t open the link above, here is a quote from the site that I think is worth reading and so true.  Owen reminds me (and others) often of something said in the eulogy of a friend of ours from New Orleans.  The gentleman, T. J. Bethune, who was being eulogized was fond of telling his friends, “Before you go to bed each night, make sure that you tell each other that you love one another and kiss each other good night, becasue there is much less time than we think.”  Time marches on!  Use it wisely!

When we are young we dream of
  the time that the one true love of
our life will come along…

         For some of us, that someone comes
very early in our lives…

For others, we do not meet that
special someone until later in life.

Whether we are young or old, it does
sometimes seem as if there is never
enough time to do everything that we
would like to do.

So when you do find your one true love
live each day to the fullest, and live each
day as if it were your last.
We could all probably say that we wish
we could save

I’m talking to myself when I say this…I just can’t seem to give myself a “break”, a time just for me.  My problem – I enjoy doing for other people so much that I put my needs at the bottom of the page.  I am not at all complaining about doing things for other people because that is what I love doing more than anything, but I need to do a little self-talk about “taking a break”.  Also, I find things to do around the house at all times!  There is never a time when there is “nothing”  to do or that I am bored.  Don’t really know what that word means. So maybe I should have titled this “Take a break” instead of “give me a Break”.  I think I really just need a built in “Brake”, as in car brake!  Slow down…not a chance - I may just stop totally if I do. 

After Spending time in New Orleans, visiting Owen’s dad (And, actually, I did get a break there, because I didn’t do anything other than keep things tidy and clean up before we left – no cooking!), we went to visit with my mother.  I always find something that needs to be done there.  Afterall, she is 89 years young and, though she gets around quite well and does just about everything she chooses, there are some things that she just doesn’t have the stamina to finish.  As she said, it would take her a week to do what my sister and I did in a day.  One day, we cleaned the house, pulling things out to dust behind them, rearranging pictures and giving the bathrooms a good scrub.  She just can’t and shouldn’t get down on her knees doing that sort of thing anymore. 

Another day, we cleaned out the “shed”.  I don’t Know how the “shed” got it’s name because it serves many purposes.  It houses two refrigerators and two freezers.  There were three, but after Daddy died, Mother felt that she didn’t need that third one. (I don’t think he ate that much!) There are two tables and lots of chairs, shelves holding an array of keepsakes, homemade canned goods, old books and magazines – you name it.  Then there is the peg board that holds a few tools and some old things that I wouldn’t know the names of.  There is a desk with a television and also a telephone, which is right next to the fridge that holds beer and wine – just in case you get a call while sneaking a beer in the “shed”.  We have shelled peas and shucked corn in the “shed”, designed and sewed my sister, Bobbie’s, wedding dress in the “shed” (Mother ran us out of the house!), played cards and dice until the wee hours in the “shed”, sent Thanksgiving guests to the “shed” to dine, and danced the soles off our shoes in the “shed”.  We just always called it the “shed” where we went to do whatever was not allowed in the house or when the house was too crowded to hold all of the people!  A few years ago, my brother-in-law, Ron, (that’s Bobbie’s husband) brought Mother a sign that says “Irene’s Attitude Adjustment Room”.  Thinking about it now, it fits.  Anyway, we have lots of fun in the “shed”.  Oh, and, yes it is air-conditioned!

I did have some fun with my sister while in Ruston.  After taking Bradley to the airport, we did a little shopping in Shreveport.  She is quite a bit older than I am, but fun to shop with because she tries to keep up-to-date with fashion – at least with fashion we middle-agers like.  She also helped me make grape jalepeno jelly (52 jars).  You can see our picture and read more about some of the things that went on this past week by reading Bradley’s Blog www.rattledbaby.com .  The smell of the pot of jelly cooking rasied his curiosity enough for him to grab his camera once again.  In fact, because he had his camera, I didn’t take one picture!  Maybe he’ll share…

The rain has nearly stopped – the reason for my “break”!  I was mowing the yard and it just started pouring down.  Also, they were raking and baling the hay.  The rain really messed that up.  Wish we had gotten this while we were gone. There were a few sad looking things in the garden upon our return. Many things to do in the yard, but will have to change my plans for today.  Too wet to mow now. 

The Nana Second is gone…

Going to see Owen’s dad for a few days in New Orleans and then on up to see my mother for another few. This is going to be great for the weight-loss program that I am trying - once again! I begin and then I get sabotaged by something. My excuse last week was my birthday when Richele and Michael took us to this fabulous restaurant in Houston, Mark’s on Westheimer. The food was outstanding and we had a wonderful time - just the four of us. This Nana loves the granddaughters, but an evening out without them was a good thing. But back to travel…

Before we leave for New Orleans, there are always so many things to think about - like where we will eat when we get there, or even on our way there. We usually stop at a place called The Boiling Point in Sulphur, LA. I know…it sounds like a dive…and it is! sort of. Just local folks sitting at formica topped tables with paper napkins - not on their laps! (This queen of etiquette notices everything… ) But the seafood is great - boiled or fried. Then, when we arrive in New Orleans, Owen’s dad always has his favorite picks for the night. He and his wife rarely eat at home. He’s says it’s too much trouble to cook and clean up at their age. They’re not that old. He is 76 and she is 71. But it’s nice that they can choose to do that and in such a great city of food. Anyway, I’m certain that we will be at Carmelo’s one night and Trauth’s another, where they usually have all-you-can-eat crab on Thursday nights. He has an off-the-wall favorite for a New Orleanian and that’s a wonderful Oriental restaurant not far from the house, which I can’t remember the name of right now. We will definitely be well-fed while there. Now…

Mother’s house will be totally different - not that we won’t be well-fed, but that the food is usually healthier. Afterall, my older sister, Essie, will see to that. She is the health nut in the family and it shows. She is 71 and looks great. She does everything from keeping her own house to cutting her yard on the lawn tractor. She has a couple of acres to take care of. She is also always doing something for someone else. She is definitely the mother hen of the bunch. She doesn’t have a computer, so I can say this. Ha! Mother, on the other hand, does have a computer and is “connected”. I will have to get her into the blog reading while there. She types too slowly to get a blog going. It would take her forever! But, she will be 90 next year - give her a break. Oh…back to the food. Mother has promised fresh purple hull peas, okra, and tomatoes. That’s for starters. And only those from Ruston will appreciate the fact that I am getting the last “picking” of the peaches from Mitchum’s Peach Orchard. And to think that I almost missed them. Actually, a friend of mine got her son to bring some to me in Chappell Hill a few weeks back. This friend lives here in Chappell Hill and her son lives near my mother. I only met this lady through my bunco this last year. How ironic! Anyway…I said all this to say that the diet will have to wait until we return. I just try to walk more. Maybe I’ll work in Mother’s garden.

I may not write anything until I get back, but will catch you up when we return. Have a wonderful week.