Up On The Roof Top

Christmas 2009 is over, but I have a Christmas story that is lingering in my mind. It is a memory that makes me smile, and I would like to think you are going to enjoy it also. I am not exactly sure what year it was, but it seems to me that it was in 1959. It really is not that important to the story except for the age of my son who was a major player in the story. I believe he was thirteen years old at the time. He was (and still is) a creator of things. His imagination always works over time to create great pieces of art. This thirteen-year-old boy had decided he wanted to put a rocket on the roof with Santa riding it skyward. That period of time was rocket and space oriented, and what better way to send Santa off on his trip than by the way of a flying rocket ship? First off he had to make a rocket, and his mind was working hard on that image. The body he found in the garage in the form of an old garbage can. There was a hole in the bottom, which two pieces of stove pipe that he found, fit perfectly after some shoving and pushing. These became the exhausts. He now needed a nose cone. My husband worked in a lumberyard and we had a fireplace so it was easy to find lumber lying around in the garage. Three pieces of plywood worked fine when made into a triangle and nailed together, they formed a nose cone. From the back of the exhaust there had to be some fire to get it up into the air. That took a bit of thinking. However it was Christmas time and there were all sorts of things to hang for decorations, so these little pieces of wire covered with red paper and glittery stuff were just the right thing to work on a rocket. Actually they were for making Christmas arrangements for your holiday table. Wow! They really worked well on a rocket also. Paintbrushes came out to make it look more authentic and real. The next step was to get it up on the roof. With a little team effort from all of us, up it went. My husband became as enthused with the project as our son and so wires and rope and whatever was needed, put the rocket in place. Next the main character, which was Santa, had to be created and put into place. Everyone’s closet was raided and clothes were borrowed for good old Saint Nick to be created. A red pair of my slacks, a hooded sweat shirt from someone else, and a lot of old clothes and whatever we could find to stuff into the pants and sweat shirt to give Santa a shape. Voila! Santa came to life. A molded plastic Santa facemask went into the hood to complete the jolly old fellow. Now he had to be mounted on the rocket. Once there and positioned, he was supposed to be upright and ready to take off, but NO! The nice old guy just slumped down like a stack of old clothes in a laundry basket. This was not working at all. Someone had to go down off the roof and find Santa a backbone. A nice long stick and some twine worked well and he finally was sitting up straight. All that was left to do was to put a spotlight on him so he could be seen ready for his takeoff. That being done, everyone was delighted with the efforts and the neighbors were even agreeable that Santa looked pretty good. There he sat “up on the house top,” for a few days anyway, until one day came when the wind decided he should take a tumble. A girlfriend was visiting me at the time and we were the only ones available to get Santa back up where he belonged. No problem! We were very capable women and what could be so hard about doing that? Out came the ladder, on went our jackets, and up we went to rescue the old boy! It actually was not that hard although it took us a while, but much to our dismay, it started to rain. Not to be deterred we continued our rescue attempt until we were satisfied he would remain upright from now on. Finished, we were ready to descend to safer ground. One big problem arose which we had not anticipated. Going up the ladder was easy. Going down the ladder, not so easy. Neither she nor I felt safe enough to turn ourselves around, make our feet find the rungs, and back down the ladder. We were both scared to death. These two brave women who knew no fear, and felt confident in fixing the problem, were stuck on the roof with the rain pouring down. Hours later, we were still sitting there, drenched to the skin, when my husband came home from his work place, to see two women sitting on the roof top in the rain. It was not easy explaining it to him, but what a sweetheart he was to climb up, give encouragement and direction, to help us down. Still scared, we put our trust in him, and one foot at a time he directed our feet to the first rung and then the next. Feeling solid and firm footing after the second foot went onto a rung, the rest was a snap and the trip down the ladder was fast. A big hug to our savior was natural and tears came easy after our rescue. Tired and cold we quickly went into the house for comfort and repairs to ourselves. Our son was discouraged from getting any more great ideas for rooftops, and we have since encouraged him to give his ideas to a strong firm footing on the ground. That he has done and even got a mention in our local newspaper when he covered our entire house with Santa’s palace. To this day, he is still creating things, but it has been directed now to the creation of miniatures, and he holds an office in the National Association Of Miniature Enthusiasts.

Bobby Joe and Me

When I first met him we were in a honky tonk western bar and dance hall. I saw him dancing with some girl and thought, “Boy would I like to dance with him!” He was dancing the jitter- bug, or swing, as some people call it, but there he was, dancing with, probably his girl friend. Anyway I was with someone also and that fixes that! Then the dance ended and he took her back to her seat and he returned to his table where two other guys sat. Oh! He was not with a date. How great is that? But wait, I am with a date, so how do I get around this? Well happy days! My date excused himself to go to the restroom. As soon as the music started again, up I got and trotted over to his table and boldly said, “Would you dance with me?” He looked up, rather surprised and said, “I don’t know if you can follow me or not. I am from New York and I do the “Eastern Swing.” “So?” I thought to myself, but sweetly said, I think I can, but do you want to try? He did not look too happy, but obliged me and we got on the floor to dance. When it ended he said, “that was great, you surprised me. A lot of girls can’t do New York.” Well, I am not a lot of girls, but I did not tell him that. My date came back and said, ”I see you were dancing with Lucky.” I said, “Oh, do you know him?” It was a small place and I guess most everybody knew everyone else. Days later I went back there with a girl friend after work and he was sitting at the end of the bar with some guy. We acknowledge each other, and the jukebox was playing so I again asked him to dance. He declined, saying, “I just got off work and my clothes are dirty and I probably do not smell so good, but can I take a rain check?” That was that until quite some time later. I had talked my two sisters and their husbands into taking me there. This time it was he who came and asked me to dance. It was a slow piece titled “The Twelfth of Never.” This later became “our song” through many years. I was working as a waitress at the Santa Rosa Hotel. One day he just shows up for a cup of coffee. He was excited to show me a Christmas present he had received from the bar. It was a small thin wallet type thing with the bar’s advertisement on it. Oh my gosh, I felt so awful that this was all he was going to get for Christmas and he was so tickled with it. His family was back East and I guess they were not givers or else they did not know his address or whatever. Anyway he was happy so I went along with it and said it was great. He asked for my phone number and also if I would accept a date with him, which I did. He never showed up! After a reasonable time I received a call from someone else I knew wanting to know if I wanted to go to dinner. Yep! I did! We had finished dinner and were back at my house, just sitting and chatting when the phone rang. Good golly miss Molly, it was him. He was all upset and apologetic saying he had lost my phone number and it took him forever to find what he had done with it. He was wondering if I could meet him uptown at a very nice place to have a drink. I cannot remember what kind of an excuse I made to get rid of this guy who owned a flower shop and had brought me a lovely bouquet and dined with me in a very lovely place, but I did it, and when he left I ran and got into my car and was off to have a drink with Lucky! I forgot to tell you that he had this nickname attached to him during World War II when he was supposed to go out on a ship that was sunk by the Japanese, but his last name began with a “Y” and he was too far down the list to get called. Anyway, we met and snuggled ourselves into a booth to talk. He was thirty-one and had never been married. He said he had never met the right girl. I was thirty-five and had been married and had two children. He seemed to be so smitten with me that I said to him, “I bet you would marry me right now if you could.” He said, “Yes, I would. Let’s go get married tonight.” Well we both were excited and headed for home to make plans. It was late at night so we decided to start in the morning and go to Reno. He insisted on sleeping on the couch while I went to my bedroom and bed…alone. I later asked him how come he had not made a pass at me and he said, ”Because I was afraid you would change your mind if I did.” What a guy! Well next morning arrived and a new day dawned and my head became screwed on correctly. Good sense started replacing all that excitement and thoughtless planning that had entered my head last night. I cuddled up next to him on the couch and said, “I can’t marry you, not like this. I do not even know if I love you!” He hates it when I tell this, but tears came to his eyes and he said, ”I knew it. All my life, I have never gotten anything I really wanted.” Well, I tried talking sense to him, but he was so hurt and I am such a ninny to feel sorry for people that I said, “O.K. we’ll do it.” I got a sitter for my boys, and in my old Buick convertible, which we filled up with gas and put anti freeze in,(it was January and snowing in Reno) we took off. Of all the dumb, absolutely, ridiculous decisions I have ever made, this was at the top of the list! One date, and I marry the guy?? Turned out to be one of the smartest moves I ever made. This guy was a jewel, and I was married to him for forty-two years. He adopted both my boys and they adored him. In all those forty-two years, he never missed a day saying he loved me. On our first Christmas I wanted to make it something special for him. I found the old wallet from the bar that he had tucked away in his dresser drawer. I wrapped it up so beautifully and put a note in it telling him this Christmas was going to be different for him.
He said he would like it if I worked three more months and then quit my job to stay home and be a mom to my boys and a wife waiting for him to come home. No problem there. I never worked outside the home again except for doing home parties with a girl friend. I am a hobby person so I did a lot of homemade items and held garage sales for myself and six to eight other girls. I got up every morning at 5:A.M. to fix his breakfast and get him off to work. I did this until he said I should not get up anymore, as he was not hungry that early. By the time he got to the town where he worked he would stop and have a bite with some of the guys before going on in. At the lumber yard where he worked, his job was on the green chain. That is one of the hardest jobs in the mill. They refer to it as pulling the green chain. He was always telling me he wished he could get promoted to one of the big saws. I asked him why he did not try to get one of those jobs. His answer was that in order to do that you had to know arithmetic. Fractions to be exact, and he did not know how to do fractions. He had not finished school. I told him if he would bring home some pieces of lumber and the paper work that went with it, I would teach him fractions. Well, he did just exactly that and we set up a work table in the garage and went to work learning. He explained to me what the order forms meant and I taught him how to do fractions. He was a very quick learner. Long story short, he ended up being one of the top saw operators, and guys would sometime come to him for answers to their orders. He got so he could figure things in his head without pencil and paper. When Bob retired from his job at the lumber mill, I always had my coffee and paper waiting for me in the morning, and he always wiped down my shower walls for me after I had had my shower. Then he would get a little stool we had, and bring it in front of me where I sat in my chair, put my feet up on his lap, and give me the greatest foot massage. This he did every time. In return I fixed his cocktail for him before dinner and brought his coffee and ice cream to him after dinner. We were a team. If we had a difference of opinion at any time we went to sit on the sofa and without raising our voices or becoming angry, we discussed it until it was settled agreeably. I am so blessed to have had those forty-two wonderful years with my Bobby Joe! What we did was not very smart and I would not advise it for anyone else, but it was a blessing for me!

Ghost or No Ghost!

My new T.V. Guide arrived in the mail today, and I was browsing through it when I came to a page concerning the program "The Ghost Whisperer." While reading it I found out the television program is based on a real life ghost whisperer. Well, the subject has always fascinated me and I don't know if I believe in them or not, but I do have strange things going on in my home that makes me take a second look or thought as to whether I do or not. Before I tell you about a very convincing story that give credence to it all, I must first tell you this. When I first purchased my home some thirty seven years ago, My husband and I would hear someone walking in our hallway at night. There was never anyone there. On getting acquainted with new neighbors the subject came up and they said they had the same experience in their homes as well. They told me they had heard the rumor that many, many years ago , Indians had their homes along this stretch of land. It could possibly be true as this land on which our town sits, was indeed home to an Indian reservation. Well, we learned to live with this nightly walking and it became so familiar that we did not notice it anymore. In fact maybe the ghosts did not come around as often. Recently though, they are back. My husband has passed on and my son came to live with me. He did not hear much of anything at first and then one night he became so upset with what he perceived to be walking up and down the hall that he got out of bed, opened his bedroom door and shouted, "Go away! Go bother someone else and let me get some sleep!" He went back to bed and the walking ceased. He chuckles now about it, but I wonder if he believes in them. Lots of nights, while sitting in my special chair and watching television, I hear footsteps behind me, and I look thinking it is my son going into the garage to his work space. No! No one is there. Just two nights ago when I heard it, I looked, and just in a flash I saw a half see-through figure dart quickly, and then was gone. I am sure it was a figment of my imagination or an unexplained something or other, but I told my son about it anyway. Now here are two very convincing stories that make me think maybe ghosts really do exist. We had just recently lost our beloved dog "Cissy," who always slept on our bed at the foot. One night after we had been in bed for quite some time and were sound asleep, my husband and I felt something jump up on our bed. We both awakened at the same time and came to an upright position together in wonderment. My husband exclaimed in a rather loud voice, "What the heck was that?" After a moment of getting my thoughts together, I calmly said,"That was Cissy jumping up on the bed to be near us." We both looked at each other, accepted the thought and laid back down to go to sleep. True story! Here is the one that really boggles my mind and makes me think long and hard on what is the truth and what is not. It is very hard to try and think up something to justify what it actually was other than a ghost coming to visit. My very dear lady friend was lying in the hospital dying. I was there sitting by her bedside, talking to her,(even though she was in a coma) and brushing her hair back from her face. I could not help but putting my hand on her and lightly brushing my hand back and forth on her forehead. After a while her daughter came in and because it was getting late at night said I should go home and she would call me if there was any change. I felt that she may need some private time with her mom and so I went home. At 2:10 A.M. I was awakened by a soft breeze across my forehead. I sat up in bed, and my husband woke also to ask me what the matter was. I said, "Marilyn just died and came to say goodbye to me." He said, "Are you sure?" (I guess at 2: A.M. you can ask a dumb question like that!). I said, "Yes, she just brushed the hair out of my eyes." It was a soft breeze across my forehead and there were no windows open it the house! The next morning her daughter called to say her mom had passed on and I asked if she knew what time she left and she said, "Yes, a little after two in the morning." Do I believe in ghosts? I still do not know, but I ponder on this a lot and wonder if we will ever know. So many fakers out there that it makes you doubt, but these stories I tell are absolutely the truth and it leaves me wondering.

Just a Suggestion!

What a great invention the computer is and its access to so many things. We can connect with people, we can learn things, we can ask questions and get answers, and the list goes on and on. However, there are people out there who take advantage of this wonderful invention. You can so easily be scammed if you are not aware, and if you do not question some things that come on your screen. You can also be given false information and believe it if you do not take the time and trouble to verify it. Anything that comes up on my screen that does not just sound right or is accusatory of something or someone, or gives me a sad sob story of someone in need, or is angry at the government or politician or anything about our soldiers oversees, I will not accept as truth until I have checked it out on Snopes. I feel it is a terrible injustice to pass on information unless you know beyond a shadow of doubt that it is true. I understand the shock value that comes with these emails and the first inclination to be angry and wanting everyone to know and be warned, but how sad, if it is not true, and that it is being spread through this great newspaper of the world. People are being maligned and scare tactics are being spread and none of it is true. Oh, I know, some facts that arrive are truthful, but the majority are nothing more than hate mail, or someone getting their big laugh over all of us so gullible. Please, folks, just take a moment to verify it before you put someone on a list where they do not belong. Also be careful and aware that you do not fall into a trap yourself where it could cost you financially, or emotionally. Be alert and concerned before clicking on forward. Just something to think about and strictly my own opinion!

School Daze

The year was 1936 and I was thirteen years old and in Junior High School. One of the fads for girls was to own an autograph book and have all your fellow classmates write something in it, and sign their name. Well, today I came across mine when looking for a recipe book. Oh my, what memories that brought back and it also gave me a few laughs. I thought I might share some of the things that were written in my autograph book. One girl wrote on a slant on the page and this is her contribution;
In years to come, as come they will,
Please remember the girl who wrote uphill!
Another; I'm not a Northern beauty, I'm not a Southern rose,
I'm just a little country girl, With freckles on her nose!
And; I write on white to be polite
And save the yellow for your fellow.
This one I really liked and chose it to write in another person's book. However, one of my teachers did not like the idea of autograph books and collected them all from this particular class, to take home with her to read. The next day she brought them back and gave us all wholly heck for wasting our time on such drivel. She read several aloud and commented on them. She read mine and said she was most disappointed and shocked to read this one from a very special student whom she never would have believed would write such a thing. I was almost brought to tears and to this day I cannot understand why she did not see in it what I had seen. I thought it was so very nice. Here it is;
May your friendship ever spread
Like butter on hot gingerbread!
I laugh now, but I was terribly hurt back then to think she was so cruel to me! Oh well! On to some more.
I thought and thought and thought in vain
Until I thought I'd sign my name!
Yours till the statue of Liberty has twins!
Most all of the other teachers signed our books with a smile and were very gracious. here is one:
Trouble will vanish from you like a bubble
And from you depart
Unless you nurse it and oft times rehearse it
And hold it close to your heart.
Again; When your days on earth are ended and your path no longer trod
May your name in gold be written in the autograph of God
More; Of all the ships that sail the sea
Friendship is the ship for me!
And; I love you big, I love you mighty
I wish your pajamas were next to my nightie.
On the clothes line, that is!
And this; I never went to college
I never went to school
But when it comes to loving, I'm an educated fool!
How about this; I write on pink because I think
You are sweet!
When you see a monkey up a tree,
Pull its tail and think of me. (Groan)
Here is a good one! Love is like an onion, you taste it with delight
But afterward you wonder, whatever made you bite!
And from my very first boyfriend we have this;
Last in your album,
Last in your thoughts,
Last to be remembered,
And first to be forgot.
I have never forgotten Marcel Bartholomew. He drew a heart with our initials in it. How sweet!
There are more, but I just picked out a few for my blog I thought you might enjoy. Do kids today have autograph books? I don't think so! I think they have gone with the jump rope, the kite, hop scotch, hide and seek, kick the can, and all the other games that kept us outside playing. Today's kids don't know what fun is in the great outdoors. Oh well, hope you enjoyed these. It was a nice trip down memory lane for me!

Call The Police!

Nostalgia comes with old age, and it often brings smiles to your face which has happened to me this day. Many years ago I worked at an ice cream parlor that served food along with all the wonderful ice cream concoctions you do not see today. The place was called Bordens and the man and his wife who owned the place were probably the best bosses in any business around. They were absolutely wonderful people and working for them was such a pleasure. The place was very popular and full most of the time. Not only did the locals visit, but so did the soldiers who were stationed here during world war two. However my story is about the police officers who came on a regular basis. Both the city police and the highway patrol. We knew them all by name. Crime was not very rampant in those times and they were always offering rides to any of the waitresses who were stuck without their car to get them home. One night a girl from Windsor had no way home and they volunteered to take her, but that she had to know if they got a call she would be dropped off on the side of the road while they answered the call. That might have been scary, but not so as there just was not that much to worry about back then. Myself and my sister, who also worked there, walked home by ourselves many a night at midnight without any worries whatsoever. I am probably the biggest scardy cat ever, but I did not have fears back then, of walking home at midnight in Santa Rosa. Well, maybe I am not the biggest scardy cat, as my boss's wife would often fear going home when she had to take the cash from the restaurant with her. Therefore, these gallant officers would volunteer to drive behind her until she was safely to where she had to go. I am not sure if she took the cash home or deposited in in the night slot, but whichever they followed her to make sure she was safe. We (my sister and I) lived in the bottom apartment of a two story. One night two of the city police gave us a ride home and parked the patrol car and came in for refreshments. (Yes, that is all!!) It was after midnight and we happened to get a little loud in our conversation and laughing. All of a sudden they heard the speaker in their patrol car and one of them ran out to take the call. He came hurrying back in and said they had to leave as the people in the upstairs apartment had called in and said there was a noisy party going on in the downstairs apartment. OMG that was us! Out the door they went laughing all the way and telling us to, "Quiet down!" I do not believe anything like that would happen in this day and age. It was all pure innocence, but today it might not be so easy to convince anyone of that. While thinking of it today, I could not help smiling and thinking how those guys were always there to protect us gals when we needed them, and even though it was not the right thing to do it has given me a lot of pleasure to recall it all again and make me smile.

A Tasy Test!

Yesterday I received an email that told about a lot of unusual foods at fairs around the United States. Some of them were: chicken fried bacon, fried avocados, (yum! they were coated in corn dog batter and deep fried) Spaghetti and meatballs on a stick, (Yuk! All mashed together)fried frog legs, hot beef sundae, ( sliced beef covered with mashed potatoes and cheese, topped with a cherry tomato) Krispy Kreme chicken sandwich, ( OMG. chicken patty with cheese between a Krispy Creme donut) pizza cones, (wrapped pizza put into a paper cone container for handling) Key lime on a stick, and deep fried coca cola. This last was not bad. It was a batter, flavored with cola and deep fried. That was just some, and when I read about the frog legs it reminded me of a story my mom had told us kids about something she did as a young woman that made us laugh. I guess my grandmother did not think it funny, but you can judge for yourself. My grandmother had let my mom do the cooking for that evening and they had agreed on having chicken for dinner. Back in those good old days, they just went out to the chicken coop and chose a chicken, wrung its neck, put it in boiling water to strip the feathers off more easily, and did whatever they did to prepare and cook the chicken for dinner. Oh boy! I am so glad we do not do that anymore. We would never have chicken in our house if that was the way I had to do it! Some, I guess did use an axe and chopped the head off, but even that leaves me queasy and gives me loss of appetite. Well, any way, instead of chicken, my mom caught a few large frogs. For the life of me, and after consulting with my ninety one year old sister, we could not remember how she was able to get the frogs. We believe there was some kind of water or swamp near their house. Well, anyway, this story is true and on we go! Now my grand mother did not mind the torture given the chickens, or mind eating them, but she had a weak stomach where frogs were concerned, so mom did not tell grandma that instead of chicken for dinner, it would be frog legs. I am told frog legs taste just like chicken. I will never know!! At dinner my grandmother said the chicken was delicious tonight, but she said, "How many chicken did you kill? There are so many legs." About then it dawned on her what had happened, and she flew from the table to wherever they went in those days to upchuck the whole jumping mess! There were no bathrooms, just outhouses, so I assume she just retreated to outdoors. Poor grandma. I feel for her and know exactly how she felt, and my mom deserved the punishment, whatever it was. I do remember my mother saying grandma was very upset with her and checked dinner out from then on. I am also checking out our fair food before I go. I don't think we have anything too unusual at our fair this year. The local paper gave an accounting of what booths there were and the only new thing I could see was deep fried zucchini sticks. I might try them when I go. Bon Appetit!