Serious Business

Some things have to be taken seriously and this guy really knows how to do that.

When we spent the day at Mom's recently and his parents were working on cleaning out flower beds, Harris had some serious things that needed his attention as well.

Things like taking time out from playing with his cousins to get a little snack.

And not just any snack will do.  Most of the time a snack must be sweet...and chocolate...

..and taken in mltiples when mom and dad don't know about it.

He also shared a funny statement that we all know he has heard before - probably from either his dad or his PawPaw.  When standing between the wooden door and the glass door leading out to the back porch with no shoes on and no jacket on, his mom told him not to go outside.  Then, he dad told him not to open the outside door.  Then, in unison, they asked him if he had heard them.  To which he very seriously replied, "Don't worry about it."

Mike and I just know that statement is going to get him in trouble some day!

All Work and No Play...

In our family, when there is a work day, there is also a lot of play involved.  So, while the adults used the ATV as a receptical for the weeds, the children also made good use of it.

Lillie thoght it was a great place to climb, hang, and swing like a monkey!  If you look closely, you can see that the bed of it is piled high with the weeds and refuse that her mother, Uncle Bryan, and Aunt Jess have pulled.

Harris liked to climb on it, too, and thought he was big stuff when his little two-and-a-half-year-old body could reach the top of the roll bar while standing in the bed of it.

He and Lydia climbed around back there and made all sorts of fun out of being back in the bed of it.

He and Luci also liked to 'drive' it.  They weren't so keen on taking turns at it, though.  So, sometimes there were hig-pitched squeals and some diversion tactics that had to be implemented.

Anytime the four of them are together, there had better be snacks because busy-ness burns up energy and that energy has to be fueled.

At this point, Lydia opted for a toasted bagel with a smear of butter that she prepared all by herself.  (Notice that Luci was just checking in to see what Mamaw was into.)

Harris, on the other hand, went straight for the good stuff and opted for a cookie!

Those Questions

Saturday was an outdoor work day at Mom's.  She has cut back the square footage of flower beds there in the past few years - knee replacement and back surgery required that she do so.  Then, she became a full-time care-giver for Daddy.  So, the children pitched in and did some weeding and prepping for the growing season.

After the weeds were removed, there were a few plants that needed planting - a couple of lilies, a miniature rose, a Gerbera daisy are what I recall.  Bridgette and Lillie took on the planting chore.  I guess the Little Farmer felt the need to put her fingers in the dirt - it must be a family trait!

Somebody's curiosity got the better of him and he had to saunter over and check things out.

He was full of questions and peppered Bridgette and Lillie with plenty of them.  Of course, getting closer is also important so that one can take in every nuance of what is going on.

I thought it was heartwarming to watch the experience and the learning taking place.  I distinctly remember being in Bridgette's place twenty or so years ago and teaching and guiding her to know what to do and encouraging her to plant and nurture plants.

It also seems only a while ago that I was the little fellow learning from my mother and grandmother about planting flowers and nurturing plants.

I love the stance and the rapt attention of Lillie and Harris exhibited in this situation.  Isn't it wonderful how they seem to be soaking it all up and learning all about it?

Of course, the most important question that needed to be answered was, "Why doesn't this bird bath have water in it?"

Bridgette said, "Because I was trying to prevent little hands from playing in it and getting themselves wet."

Then, came the universal question of importance that was repeated no less than ten times during this short planting session, "Why?"

Clean Up Work Day

Saturday was a family clean up day.

Bryan, Jessica, and Bridgette gathered at my Mom's house and dug in and cleaned the weeds out of the flower beds.

This one was the most dreaded one.  It had flowers blooming - Lenten Roses.  It also had lots and lots of weeds mingled in with some other perennials.

The girls attacked one side of the tree and Bryan attacked the other.  They stationed the little red wagon betwixt them and filled it full as they pulled bermuda grass and other pesky weeds.  Then, they would dump it into the back of the ATV and move on to the next spot.  I don't know how many times the ATV was dumped into a ditch there on the farm but I know that the greater part of the afternoon was spent pulling those weeds out of the flower beds which circle Mom's house.

There were a couple of lilies, a miniature rose, and a Gerbera daisy which had been given to Mom to brighten up the house.  So, Bridgette and Lillie asked Mom where she would like them to be planted and space around the bird bath was selected but that is another story for another day.

After all the weed removal, Bridgette's husband, Corey, pulled in the driveway and asked what needed to be done next.  So, we pointed him to a strip of grass along the driveway that had not been cut this week and off he went to do some mowing.

Since Corey took the mowing, Bryan sprinkled a bit of pre-emerge weed preventative to help keep their clean-out effective for a longer period of time.

This crew needed to be clear of the area so that the wrap up could be done.  So, they loaded up and headed to the creek - well, the bridge across the creek, but that is another story for another day.

The interesting thing is that the afternoon's work is simply a jump-start toward having beautiful flower gardens and landscaping for the rest of the summer.  Plans were discussed for adding more mulch and there was discussion about fertilizer for the roses and the list goes on and on.  The best part of it all is that it was truly a team effort and there were smiles all around.

Tired

I...

am...

tired.

Life has been demanding lately and I am just plain old tired.

I keep on thinking that I'll pause and get a little rest but that just doesn't seem to be happening.

It seems that there is always something to be done.

In a phone call today I told somebody that I'm wondering if I will ever NOT feel tired again.

A couple of blog posts I read as I was catching up today even referenced resting:

The first one is called Rest Is Not a Weakness.  Let me say that I love the look of this writer's Lifebook.  Years ago I jused to keep a Writer's Notebook and had lots of things stapled and taped into it along with my writing.  However, mine never looked as pretty and interesting as hers.  Maybe I should use that inspiration and begin the practice of keeping a writing book again.

The other is called Practicing Rest in a Fast-Paced World.  I like the idea of practicing it!  Maybe if I could practice, I could perfect it.  While I might not agree with everything in the aforementioned post, I do think the concept of giving myself permission and practicing rest is a good idea.

I intend to do just that - rest - sometime soon.

Tribute to My Daddy

Honestly, yesterday was an unbelievable tribute to my Daddy.  After standing with a line of folks facing us for about seven hours on Tuesday evening, we arrived at the chapel yesterday morning braced for the hardest day we had faced in our lives.

Oh, the folks at Williamson Memorial Gardens are probably the very best in their business and support people in ways nobody can even imagine are possible.  But, at a bit before ten o'clock in the morning, we were already facing a fairly full chapel and a long line of folks who were there to pay respect to my Daddy.  Nobody could stand in for us.  Nobody could relate to the things those friends, neighbors, and acquaintences shared except us.  So, braced we were and we faced them with our strongest emotions and backbones - an example was modeled by my mother and we followed suit to the best of our ability.

We cannot express our love, appreciation, and overwhelming gratefulness to folks for all they have said, all they have done, and all they have lifted up for us.  So, today, I'm sharing links...

The Photo Video The 'backbone' of the photos came from a set put together for Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding anniversary.  Then, the entire family began contributing by sending images via text, email or Google+.  Yep.  They did.  I think I got the last stream of images at about 1:40 A.M.  We all loved those smiling images of Daddy and some of the great poses/hairstyles apparantly.

Obit Daddy began compiling this the day after he got home from his last hospital stay.  He asked Mom for a clipboard, paper, and pencil - he was old-school and stood by it till the end...but it worked for him.  After he tired from the effort of all that thinking and writing, he asked Mom to come sit beside him and he talked her through the things that were important to include.  From that clipboard, I compiled that and other information to create a draft.  Then, we revised and edited to suit my teacher needs - at least to deadline draft stage.

Contribute and add a Story After the service, we visted with friends and extended family and shared fellowship and delicious food provided by the community and served up by the ladies of Epworth United Methodist Church.  Then, we gathered at Mom's house and worked through the many plants and flowers to see who sent them and parcel them out to our different households.  After that, we went through the guest register and shared stories we heard and learned from the visitors about Daddy.  So, please, please if you would, contribute your story by clicking on the link at the beginning of this paragraph or add in the response section of my blog below.

Again, we are so grateful for your support through this experience.  Please continue to remember Mama (and us) for a while because we are going to have to find our way in the world without Daddy bouncing along in front of us with his Pepsi expecting us to keep up and (read his mind at times) soldier on in this world.  So, reach out and pop in on us - we will need it.

Man of Many Words

As I lay in bed this morning, I watched the sun peek through the window.  I wish I knew how many mornings I've had the sun peek through an east-facing window to greet the mornings with me.  Of course, most of the time those windows were in a milk-barn and my Daddy would already have walked through the morning darkness with a Pepsi and cigarette in hand and grunted, "Morning, bud." I would have grunted something back and we would continue on our way to get cows milked, silage and hay fed to them, and any other needs of the animals responsible for providing our livelihood met so that they could go out into the pasture to lie down and rest before the next milking time.  Then, we would have real conversations that were more than just a grunt.  We are not really morning people.

This morning I was thinking about how the tables have turned and today we will be laying my Daddy to rest on a hillside.  So many thoughts marched through my mind as I watched the sky turn from a glimmering soft pink to a full sunshiney morning.  I recalled how almost every single person who passed by us yesterday told me, "Your daddy was a good man."  They might also share a little tale of an experience they had with him or words of wisdom he had imparted or a tear or two as they let me know he would be missed.  Whew!  I miss him already.

Daddy was a good man.  How I know it.  He would have loved yesterday's tribute to his life.  There was a room full and a long line of folks who wanted to show their respect for Daddy and the life he lived.  Daddy would have done his utmost best to hug, squeeze hands with, pat on the shoulder, or kiss each and every one of them.  He would have told tale after tale and smiled through the experience.  For all the children he would have had a piece of candy or bubble gum.  We stood there at the chapel and greeted folks for about seven hours and it took my whole family - my Mom, sister, brother-in-law, children, nieces, and aunts to greet those folks when Daddy probably could have done so all by himself and left each one feeling as if they were the most important one with whom he had the opportunity to visit.

Daddy taught me so many things and, while I already knew it, I certainly realized last night that he also enlightened so many others as well.  This will be one of the hardest days my family and I have ever had to face in life.  But I know we will handle it with grace because that is what Daddy would expect of us.  Daddy was a man of many words and so many of them are rattling around in my head this morning.  I am heeding those words and counting on him to get me through this hard day.

"You put your britches on just like everybody else - one leg at a time."

"There is always time to share a little kindness because that may be the only kindness the other person gets that day."

"It is fine to disagree with somebody but when you walk away from them, let them know that you still love them just the same and treat them with respect whether they deserve it or not."

"Do the right thing and you will never have any regrets."

"Strive to be the person you want your children to be and they will rise above you."

"Genetics make you a woman, behavior makes you a lady."

"The mark of a good southern woman is the impression she leaves with others.  You should be able to stand hip-deep in cow manure and thirty minutes later look and smell like a rose."

"You can do anything you want to do, just do it with class."

"Talk to people in a way that they leave you feeling like you just shared a piece of chocolate cake and they got the best bite."

"A true leader is right there in the trenches - elbow-to-elbow working with the folks he is leading."

"Folks will follow you anywhere if you treat them like you know they are important."

"Treat other people the way you expect them to treat you."

Today my Daddy's words will be guiding me and giving me the strength I need to do the hardest job I've ever been expected to do for him.  I certainly hope I don't disappoint.