Neighbors

A picture paints a thousand words. These birds are the type that are hanging around outside my window this year. I put up two new bird feeders and it has been fantastic the colors I've seen. They don't stay long enough for me to snap their picture so I've had to rely on the Internet for photos, but you will see what I get to enjoy every day.

Play things of yesteryear

I was thinking last night about the toys that were favorites in my family when we were growing up. With one sister and two brothers, we had a lot of favorites. As I was thinking, I noticed many of the things that we loved are still favorites today, while others have fallen by the wayside. Here are just some of the things I remember: Barbie Baby dolls Matchbox cars Little green Army men Cowboy guns and holsters Marbles Mr. Potato Head Slinky Silly Putty Yo Yo's Jacks Jump ropes Chinese Jump Ropes Tinker Toys Lincoln Logs And the list could go on from there. I remember my kids playing with many of the same toys and now I'm buying some of these items for my grandkids. My children grew up in the age of Hello Kitty, CareBears, My Little Pony, WWF Wrestlers, Hot Wheels, He Man and Skeletor, Transformers and GoBots, Strawberry Shortcake and Smurfs. Just stop sometime and think about the favorite toys you had and what joy they brought to you. I can still sit out on the patio on a sunny day and play jacks. I'm still good at it to. I can go all the way to my "tensies" without missing any. The only thing that has changed is somebody better be standing by to help me get UP off the patio when I'm done. Oh the joys of getting old.

The week in review

Monday - Cold and snowy Tuesday - Cold and snowy Wednesday - Cold and snowy Thursday - Even colder and the snow started really sticking good Friday - Even colder and even more snow Saturday - Bitterly cold and still lots of snow Sunday - Still bitterly cold and still ice and snow hanging around That is the week in review. I see a pattern emerging. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow and the sheer beauty of a world bathed in white. It's the bitter cold that I am not so fond of. But, I would not change my four seasons for anything. I cannot imagine living where it is warm and beautiful every day with there being no changes to notice. I love winter and enjoy snuggling in on those cold nights. By the time winter is almost over, I'm ready for spring days with gentle breezes blowing, flowers popping through the ground. Then I start looking forward to summer. Summer sun beating down on your skin. The bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds. Picnics and cookouts, beach trips and get-togethers. Catching lightning bugs with the kids and simply enjoying the outdoors. Then we start "feeling" fall in the air. The leaves begin to change, the temperatures start to cool. School starts and pumpkins start showing up on porches and yards. Ghosts and skeletons rattle around the streets searching for candy. Next thing you know, it's Thanksgiving and there is so much good food. Turkey and dressing, kids and grandbabies gathered around the old oak table. Christmas is just around the corner and the joy bells start ringing. Then we hit the long month of January and get winter again. You gotta just love it.

C-O-U-N-T-R-Y

What describes who you are? I'm a wife, a mother, a mamaw, a daughter, Daddy's girl, a sister, an aunt, a friend, a co-worker. I'm Baptist. I'm Southern. I'm country. You know what makes someone a mother, a wife, etc. You know my religion makes me baptist and my birth makes me southern. But what makes me country? What part of my "make-up" determines that I am a country girl? It's the way I was raised. It's a lifestyle as well as a state of mind. These are just some of the things I love about being country....

• Fresh clothes out on the line
• Going barefoot in the summer
• Spending time in the yard with Daddy (yes, that's me when I was 2 1/2. I was so skinny Mom had to pin my panties up with a diaper pin in the back. See where Shelby gets her curls)
• Singing along with the radio to the latest country hits
• Eating fried chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn on the cob with cake and peaches for dessert.
• Always having cats and dogs that were outside pets
• Old metal lawn furniture
• Long walks in the woods on summer days
• Dirt roads
• Family values
• Believing in God and going to church
• Amazing Grace
• The red, white and blue
• Finding joy in the small things: a bird setting at my feeder munching on the seeds, the pair of eagles who live across the river soaring side by side over the river to scoop out fish, spending a day doing nothing but whatever hits me at the moment

To sum it up, being country is a feeling of peace, a contentment with your lot in life. It's find the good in the things around you. It's an enjoyment of life.

Snowy White Memories

I love the snow. When I was little, I can remember bundling up to go outside and play for hours. We had our old wooden sled and we would take turns going down the big hill behind the house. Sometimes we would double up. It was a blast. It felt like it took hours to get ready to go out. We would wear a pair of pajamas under our pants and 2 or 3 pairs of knee socks. We would have on our pajama top, a couple of shirts, a heavy sweatshirt and then our coat. There were always scarves and toboggans to with our ensemble. We would wear two pairs of gloves and then mom would put a pair of dad's socks over our gloves for extra dryness. As we build snowmen and forts and had snowball fights, the ice crystal would form on the socks. We would run around to the other side of the house where the old gas stove pipe came out of the living room. We would wrap our hands around it and let the warmth melt the snow off our sock "gloves" so our real gloves below would stay dry. Then we'd run back to the yard and play some more. When we would go in, we'd have to stand in the kitchen door and remove all those layers before we could go to our rooms for dry clothes. There was almost always something good waiting for us. Homemade chocolate pudding, homemade donuts rolled in cinnamon and sugar, or simply a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallow. I know and respect the dangers the snow can cause - the road problems, the school closings, burst pipes, downed power lines. But I still can't help but feel that little tug of excitement as I see the splendor of a yard covered in pristine white where no tracks have been made or the strong oaks with their limbs laden with snow. Now I am content to sit indoors and watch the beauty and enjoy the memories while I stay nice and warm.

Homemade Bread

Does anything conjure up warm memories like homemade bread baking in the oven? I haven't had homemade bread since the Big Blizzard of '93. These cold days make me long for that sweet fragrance. The house would be warm and cozy with the oven adding extra warmth. The smell of that bread was a little piece of heaven.

On days like today, I crave fresh made bread and a big pot of beef stew simmering in the oven. I'm going to go through my recipe books and find the recipe for the bread and start baking. I'll have Allen put on a stew after while. What a better way to end the day than a husband and wife sitting down to dinner with hot stew and fresh homemade bread covered in butter.

These are the moments that define our lives. These are the "little things" we should cherish everyday. For life is not always about the big stuff. It's not always the achievements or the accolades. Sometimes, the mundane is what we live for. That's where our memories are made.

Spead a little sunshine

The temperature is frigid. The wind blows right through you. You scurry along as you do your errands. Now is the time to stop and spread some sunshine. You see someone heading for the same parking space you want-let them have it. Let the lady with just 3 items go ahead of you in line at the store. Smile and open the door for a young mother with her arms snuggling a baby. Help the little lady with the walker carry her package into the post office. How many times do we, lost in our own world, walk right by someone in need. Someone who would appreciate that small act of kindness that we just don't think to show. I grew up in a small town up a country road where everybody knew their neighbor and pitched in to help when something was needed. We didn't own a car since Mom and Dad neither one drove. We would walk to the local grocery store about a mile away. I remember those cold winter days with snow 5-6" deep. Me and Daddy would walk to the store to get milk and bread. With four kids to feed, you couldn't run low on staples. We would bundle against the weather. I'd wear my heavy pj's underneath my pants as extra protection in the cold. I'd have on two - three shirts under my coat and two pairs of gloves. I'd wear a toboggan and scarf, with the scarf wrapped around my face so all you could see were two eyes and a slit for my mouth to breathe. We'd trudged through the snow in our old rubber golashes, get our groceries and start the mile trek back home. Somewhere along the way, we would sometimes hear a car slowing down. It would be one of our "neighbors" from up the hollow. They would give us a ride home. Oh the sweet relief of climbing in a warm car as opposed to trudging up the road with our packages. We didn't get salt on our road very often as it was out of city limits so not having to trudge back up the road in that snow was a ray of light in a gloomy day. I have to wonder if those kind neighbors who gave us a ride felt a small thrill of pleasure, knowing they had spread some sunshine into our life that day? So take the time to lend a helping hand because sometimes, it is the small gestures that make the largest impact in our lives.