Wednesday, January 12, 2005
JUNE....1985
June came in with bad storms and tornado watches. We live in tornado alley as we are directly in the northeast track as they come up through Texas and Oklahoma. We had quite a bit of dark rainy weather but we always appreciate the rain in June and July because things dry up in late July through mid-September. The ground gets so dry it cracks open and then we begin praying for rain again.
The folks who move in from other states grow weary of our fickle weather and quite a few sell out and return to their native state. Those of us who have weathered the cycle for many years are grateful for a break in lawn mowing. Rain will come again and make the hills green and lush. Patience, like the good earth, is shaped by many changes.
Aunt Mary and aunt Sally, my mother’s younger sisters, arrived on the 6th of June. We always enjoyed their visits and went up to mom’s to see them…..we learned the sad news that their cousin, Sadie Lebbert, had died that morning of a fatal heart attack. Sadie had joined them several times on previous trips and was a true Annie Oakley gal. Shot down opposition and never missed.
She had worked hard all her life and earned a good and interesting living with her husband who preceded her in death. I had visited at length with Sadie many times and though she was “tough” she was not without feeling. She brought me several pieces of milk glass once “to remember her by.” I still have them. It was so like Sadie. If she liked you she was very generous….if not…you could drop dead. Some feared her quick appraisals of them because she could spot a phony a mile off and detested them. I found that refreshing.
The aunts stayed until the 15th of the month. We had a lot of dinners back and forth, visits with Becky and family….and lots of table games. The gals all liked to play cards and they usually had some kind of stitching to work on if they weren’t involved with other things.
The rest of the month was busy with heavy cleaning, church activities and doctor’s appointments. Mom had missed a step on some stairs as she entered the sidewalk at church, and had a bad fall. Her right knee took most of the brunt and it was some time before it was back to normal…….sending her bad messages every time it rained. Thankfully it didn’t hinder her ability to walk.
June is always a busy month for Driver’s Examiners. Kids get their permits and do all their practice driving so when school is out they can take the physical driving test. It’s a highly emotional time for new drivers and physically challenging for those of us who processed them from application to final testing. Our crews had little time to relax between road tests. As we always said…. “job security.”
The month closed out much the same as it began. Dark and rainy with flood watches everywhere. It would soon end to begin the dry season……
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
The folks who move in from other states grow weary of our fickle weather and quite a few sell out and return to their native state. Those of us who have weathered the cycle for many years are grateful for a break in lawn mowing. Rain will come again and make the hills green and lush. Patience, like the good earth, is shaped by many changes.
Aunt Mary and aunt Sally, my mother’s younger sisters, arrived on the 6th of June. We always enjoyed their visits and went up to mom’s to see them…..we learned the sad news that their cousin, Sadie Lebbert, had died that morning of a fatal heart attack. Sadie had joined them several times on previous trips and was a true Annie Oakley gal. Shot down opposition and never missed.
She had worked hard all her life and earned a good and interesting living with her husband who preceded her in death. I had visited at length with Sadie many times and though she was “tough” she was not without feeling. She brought me several pieces of milk glass once “to remember her by.” I still have them. It was so like Sadie. If she liked you she was very generous….if not…you could drop dead. Some feared her quick appraisals of them because she could spot a phony a mile off and detested them. I found that refreshing.
The aunts stayed until the 15th of the month. We had a lot of dinners back and forth, visits with Becky and family….and lots of table games. The gals all liked to play cards and they usually had some kind of stitching to work on if they weren’t involved with other things.
The rest of the month was busy with heavy cleaning, church activities and doctor’s appointments. Mom had missed a step on some stairs as she entered the sidewalk at church, and had a bad fall. Her right knee took most of the brunt and it was some time before it was back to normal…….sending her bad messages every time it rained. Thankfully it didn’t hinder her ability to walk.
June is always a busy month for Driver’s Examiners. Kids get their permits and do all their practice driving so when school is out they can take the physical driving test. It’s a highly emotional time for new drivers and physically challenging for those of us who processed them from application to final testing. Our crews had little time to relax between road tests. As we always said…. “job security.”
The month closed out much the same as it began. Dark and rainy with flood watches everywhere. It would soon end to begin the dry season……
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
