The trees are just starting to turn colors now. It is predicted that we will have a more vibrant fall than we’ve had the last few years. And with the Pinsons and other farmers picking corn, and Steve and Connie Freeland now open to sell pumpkins and let you get lost in their corn maze, it has truly begun to feel like autumn has arrived.
FIELD TRIP. Ben has been looking forward to his first field trip. All the kindergarten classes at his school went to the Nashville Zoo on Friday. Vicki went as a chaperone. Ben has been counting the days for this ever since Wil’s party. They had a perfect day for the trip, and they really enjoyed it. Vicki was also in charge of one of Ben’s classmates, Riley. She said Riley had more food for lunch than she and Ben together.
At one point Vicki had to call Riley back as he was running ahead of them. As Riley came back Ben said to him, “I told you to listen to her. She can be mean.”
KIDISMS. Jenna informed us yesterday that she would no longer be making up her bed on Sundays as it’s a day of rest.
The other day when Ben was packing to spend the night with Mom and Aunt Mar he was listing all the things he had packed with us to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. His list went something like this, “shorts, shirt, underwear, animals, jamamas?--jamamas?--jamamas?--jamamas?” When he got stuck on that word he kept looking like he knew something was wrong but he couldn’t figure out what it was. When I finally said “pajamas” it all clicked for him.
SHOPPING FUN. Vicki is still faithful to her diet and is steadily getting to her goal. This is causing her to have to redo her whole wardrobe. She has gotten rid of four bags of clothes that no longer fit.
Two of Vicki’s really good friends are Michelle Garst and Tracy Cockroft. They went shopping Saturday at the Catholic Ladies of Charity consignment sale. You can find some really good deals there as well as things you can’t imagine anyone in their right mind designing.
When these three are together a good time is had by all (right Angi?). They had a great time calling out to each other suggestions of some hideous clothes. In the dressing room they were cutting up and critiquing the outfit each one was trying on. They got to having so much fun that total strangers were joining in on the fun, giving opinions and asking for feedback.
I think Weight Watchers went out the window when they ate lunch after shopping. Vicki says you can’t eat by the rules ALL the time.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Saturday was Pauline’s birthday. We celebrated with a big dinner at her house this evening. Jenna and Ben spent a lot of time making birthday cards for her. Ben dictated what he wanted written in his card and later he was giddy just thinking about what he had me write. Here’s his message, “Happy Birthday! Thank you for giving me all those sweets when I spend the night. I love you. Amen. Benton.”
SERIES INTRODUCTION. The other day I stopped at Aunt Mar’s to pick up the kids (they get off the bus there). She had been going through a drawer in her dresser and ran across a notebook she shared with me. Inside were four essays about her grandfather, John Hancock (1849-1930, my great-great-grandfather). These essays are really neat and I thought I’d share them exactly as written over the next few weeks as “MR. JOHN” stories.
John Hancock married Angeline Bell. They had six children. Their oldest son, Jim, was Aunt Mar’s father. A daughter of Jim's we all call Aunt Scrap (John Arianna) lived next door to Aunt Mar as she was growing up. She married Len Work. Aunt Mar’s dad and Uncle Len ran a country store. Aunt Mar remembers pumping gas when it was $0.20 a gallon.
The essays were written by Nola Simmons. Miss Simmons was a nurse and never married. She served in the Army in World War II, in Italy, I think. Miss Nola lived with Aunt Scrap after Uncle Len died in 1952 because Aunt Scrap’s health was starting to fail. Miss Nola must have written these essays as she and Aunt Scrap talked.
MR. JOHN (1 of 4). May I introduce you to Mr. John? Now Mr. John wasn’t nearly as tall as Mr. Jones over here, nor nearly as fat as Mr. Hatcher. Mr. John was a short thin man that sorta reminded you of Rip Van Winkle--except that Mr. John hadn’t been asleep for twenty years. He was very much alive.
Mr. John was a kind old gentleman, but a funny one too, who liked to make people laugh. He never said ugly words. He just stroked his goat-tee and said “By Granny”.
We kids used to get so tickled at Mr. John’s “goat-tee”. He sat with his head back so that “goat-tee” stuck almost straight out in front.
Mr. John and his ‘goat-tee live dearly in our memories.
NOTE: Aunt Mar remembers her grandfather was short. When driving he was not tall enough to see over the steering wheel but looked through it as he headed down the road. Now that you’ve formed a picture of Mr. John you’ll be ready for the next story.
Joe
