My Tennessee Fall

Fall beautiful Fall

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE this time of year....it's my favorite. However, I have never been a fan of Halloween. It is hard for me to understand why anyone would not want to celebrate harvest time and fall instead of goulish things and gore. Sure it is fun to dress up, go door to door and get a big bag of treats BUT why can't we just have harvest parties and dress in costumes without all the negatives of Halloween. Give me big bright orange pumpkins resting on bales of golden hay against dried tanish corn stalks. Give me big bright red apples you can pick from a tree yourself. When I was a little girl my Mom loved this time of year too and she would bake great yummy apple pies and the most delicious acorn squash. She would wash the squash, slice them is half and fill them with just the right amount of butter (real butter), brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon and then pop them in the oven to bake. They would come out soft with a crunchy topping and would melt in your mouth.
AND, leaves........who does not love the golden oaks, flaming red/orange maples and burgandy dogwoods and tulip poplar trees. The thought of fall leaves brings to mind two memories of a time when fall leaves had a special meaning for me and my two youngest sons. First, I had told my youngest sons about how my sister and I and their big brothers would pile leaves high each fall and then we'd run and jump in the pile. They could not wait for the leaves to fall so they too could make a pile and jump in them .....BUT for some reason that year the leaves blew into the woods and on to the property next door and we did not even have enough to make a tiny mound let alone a big pile. They were so disappointed. One day I looked out the window and saw the boys who lived next door raking mounds and mounds of leaves in their yard, so I sneaked out and offered them five dollars each to bag four bags of leaves and dump them in a big pile in our front yard. My two youngest sons jumped over and over into the leaves and had a wonderful time. Then the second memory........one fall when we were living in a condo in Florida I was really missing my Tennessee fall. My husband called to told me how beautiful the leaves were in his father's yard. We had our condo for sale and had an offer. My husband had accepted a job in TN and had moved on before us. When he told me about the beautiful leaves in his father's yard, I cried. That weekend when he came for his bi-monthly visit he came to the door with a huge black garbage bag.....it was full of leaves from his Dad's yard. He brought six bags full and dumped them on our screened porch. It was so beautiful and so much fun. AND, it was really fun to watch guests and residence pass our porch on their way to the pool and do a double take when they would see the leaves wall to wall on the porch.
Ahhhhh yes, wonderful, beautiful fall........come on....hurry....I am waiting.

Fall is on the way.

Today I sit here....still healing.......and see from my window tiny hints that fall is on it's way. A breeze blows through the trees and as the leaves rustle a few early yellow leaves let go of the branch that has given them life for a year and swirl to the ground. Fall is my favorite time of year. This time of year the tempatures are "just right", the leaves start to turn shades of golden yellow, dark burgandy and firey red orange. Although it does not last long, the world is bright, beautiful and more peaceful. And, the TN Volunteers run onto the field once again bringing chills and thrills to TN folk like me. Festivals and county fairs are held every weekend. Pumplins, apples, cider, corn stalks tied in bundles, hay bales here and there are signs that fall is near. I LOVE IT! I open the door and take a deep breath, my heart races at the thought of what is to come......fall.

"IT'S A BOY!"

Forty nine years ago today I was very pregnant and had just made the long drive to Rockford, IL to start a new life. Like many others in 1960, my husband had lost his job and had heard from friends that relatives of theirs had found work in the north in Rockford....so, on September 1st of 1960, we packed a few items, said goodbye to our families and hit the road. My eyes were red and swollen from all the tears I had shed the night before after saying goodbye to my Mom, Dad and younger sister. Other than a little time in college it was the first time I would be living that far away from them. Sept. 2nd we had settled into a tiny little motel room. Bright and early the morning of Sept. 2nd, my husband called to set up a meeting with the family members of the TN friends to discuss the work situation. Because I had promised my Mother I would see an OBGYN as soon as possible, my husband ask the people if they could recommend a Dr. and they did better than that.....the wife called her Dr. and, miracles of miracles, the office told her that they had just had a patient cancel and to have me come in at two that afternoon. The Dr. was in his late sixties and was very kind and soft spoken which was a blessing to a scared young southern girl like me who was in a strange new place. After a complete examination, he told me that I should deliver in about six weeks, gave me some vitamins and phamplets and sent me on my way. I was to see him again in a week. On the way back to the motel, we stopped at a little diner and there I had my very first pizza. After dinner, my husband dropped me off to rest while he went to visit the TN friends to discuss work. I sprawled across the bed and started reading the phamplets I had been given. I started having little pains in my lower stomach and thought it was probably this new food, pizza, I had eaten. An hour later the pain had not stopped but had grown worse. Three hours later I was so terrified I decided to call my husband, however, he had not given me a phone number and all I knew was the last name of the people he was visiting. I took out the phone book and started calling everyone with that last name. Another miracle..........the fifth name I called was the place he was visiting. They all thought I was just having false labor and told me to lie down and rest some more and try to calm down. A pregnant woman realizing that her water had broken is pretty sure it is NOT false labor. I called the number on the card the nurse had given me and she told me to come straight to St. Anthony's hospital......which we soon did. Now, remember, I was a young southern gal from a small town in TN who had never personally known anyone who was Catholic let alone a Nun or Priest. When I checked into the hospital I realized that the nurses were Nuns....the habits were a pretty good clue. In those days, nobody was allowed to be with a woman in labor.....you were all alone. I remember the Nuns coming in from time to time shaking my arm and even giving me a little slap or two and telling me to be quiet because my screams were scaring the other women in labor. I remember thinking, "I thought Nuns were susposed to be kind". These were not. After many hours I heard a baby cry, felt a mask over my face and was put to sleep. I woke later to find myself in a room with curtains drawn. I called out for someone and a Nun came in and explained that because my baby was early and so tiny (five lbs.) he would have to spend a few days in an incubator, but, she took me down to the nursery to see my new baby boy. There in a glass box I saw a precious tiny baby.....my baby. I wanted to hold him so badly but I could not. It was not until days later that I got to hold him for the first time. I will never forget when the Nun placed him in my arms and told me not to touch his head because due to the fact that he was early the bones had not yet come together. I was trembling. He was so tiny but yet had such a determined look on his face and his little hands were clinched into two tiny fists as if to say, "Come on world, I'm ready for you." I thought I had know what it was like to love someone, but, the love I felt for this tiny baby boy was beyond anything I had ever felt. He had golden yellow hair that stuck out all over his tiny head and the nurses nicknamed him, "Ducky" because they said his head looked like a little duckling. For the next two years of my life, until his younger brother came, he and I spent almost every minute together.......talking, playing and enjoying each other. If you look up to the left on this page under the title of "followers" you will see a set of big eyes.......those big eyes belong to my little "Ducky" LOL who is now a very talented man living in Chicago, IL. It is hard to get a serious picture of him because he is always making funny faces......but, making people laugh and feel better is one of the things he does best. What a ride we have had.....ups and downs......and although I know he is a grown man, when I look into his face I still see a glimpse of that little boy I used to know....my fitst born......... "Ducky". LOL.

Animals are family members too!

Fourteen years ago when we were living in Athens, TN our two sons Tim and Todd were in the process of some changes in their lives and had moved in with us for a while. During that period I had to have surgery so it was helpful to have the guys there. In his spare time, Tim, was doing some carving in the garage. He is an excellent carver and makes beautiful items. Just outside the garage and off our driveway was a wooded lot. One day while Tim was sitting and carving, he heard and saw a young female cat who was aparently living in the woods. I told him she was wild and that he should just leave her alone BUT if you have ever read anything I have written about Tim you know he loves cats with all of his heart. The cat was dirty, skinny, scared to death of people and as I said before basically wild. Every day Tim would put out food for her, talk to her and slowly she came closer and closer. The wild cat befriended him but in a distant way......she was still unable to trust humans. I believe that there are some people who are blessed with the gift of befriending and loving animals in a special way and Tim is one of those people. Before long he was ready to move on to FL to persue a relationship with his present wife, Betsy.....who by the way tolerates his love for cats, allows him to adopt one after another of them and loves them herself. When Tim was getting ready to leave our home he told me he was going to take this wild cat with him and I told my husband, "He'll never be able to get her in the carrier and even if he does she will go crazy." However, he did get the cat in the carrier and off to FL they went. Tim and Betsy patiently cared for her, gave her a loving home and eventually she became a tame, loving pet who was able to trust humans. He named her Sensi. When they moved up to TN they brought her with them. When I saw her I could hardly believe it was the same cat. She was beautiful, healthy and so calm and tame. She was a member of the family for 14 years.....I even sent her and her siblings presents at Christmas. Today, sadly, we lost her. The relationship between Tim and Sensi is a lesson in patience and love. Goodbye beautiful girl.....thank you for being a part of our family and making Tim and Betsy so happy. I know that with every cat Tim loves and has to give up, a little piece of his heart goes with them. Thinking of you, Tim.