THE DUST WILL WAIT

In chronological reverse order with most recent starting today! 3 1/2 year-old Squeaker Squeaker:   Mom, will you  hand me the remote? Mom:   It's sitting right next to you on the couch . Squeaker, following hysterical laughter:   Mama!  I tricked myself. Great Auntie Fern, who will be 107 in April. The past year she is often lost in time. Occasionally her true self and humor will pop out when you least expect it. Yesterday at her medical check-up the Doctor determined that one ear needed to be flushed of  the excess wax build up. She had had some moments of clarity but was mostly unable to hear what was being said and was generally confused about where she was and what was happening.. As though waking suddenly, she turned and looked at the Doctor with her one eye and chortled,   "Oh MY!" . Fern gestured at the little bucket the nurse held under her ear and exclaimed with delight,    " Looks like soup for supp...

Yesterday The Hubby tore my computer apart.  It had been running slow and crashing while I was working on a project.  It is amazing to me that he knows how to do this.  After all, he's old enough for medicare. I can remember feeling the same way back in the 50's.  Yes, I can remember them.  My brother Nick made his own radios.  I can't remember if he had kits or just used household objects.  But I do remember the "crystal radio" and hearing the sounds of an AM radio station crackling through it.  There was also one he made that you could attach to metal objects that were grounded - like the telephone - and it would pick up any strong signals along with lots of static. Television wasn't a 24-hour concern when it came to our house.  When the programming was done for the day, you heard the national anthem and then the test pattern appeared until the next day dawned.  I don't have any memories of day-time television until I was a bit o...

I've never worked harder for less money. But here are some of the paychecks I've received just in the last month. *** 6 1/2 year old Zbub: Grandma I want to go outside and build a snowman. Grandma:   There really isn't enough snow, sweety. But he convinced me -- grabbed his coat, boots, mittens, and shortly arrives back at the door with an I told you so  smile. *** Dinkum:  Gramma!  Mizelle said the "S" Word. Gramma raises her eyebrows:   Hmmm.. she did, huh?  I guess you better tell me what she said. Dinkum:   She said POO PO O! *** Grandma:   It's snack time ... how about some Tillamook rasberry yogurt. Z-bub who just got off the bus from school:  Hey Dinkum, we're having Til-a monkey yogurt for a snack.  Yeaaaah! *** My daughter Amanda to 7 year old Curlymop:   I love you muchos. Curlymop:   I love you more than all the muchos. Amanda:  Really?  How much is ...

Our roses died. Our neighbors to the east planted trees a few years back that have not blessed our small rose garden, so we had been contemplating moving the flowers to another area with more sunshine. But that isn't the reason for their demise.  Nor was it caused by an "extreme"  winter.   Apparently it was just the timing of an early frost in the winter and a late frost in the spring. The honeysuckle on the north fence also succumbed, as did many small perennials that I will tally once I compare the survivors to a panorama photograph from last summer. The loss of one particular apricot colored rose, with the delicate crimson edged bud, is painful.  My friend Judy gave it to me for mother's day in 1977.  She was killed in an automobile accident later that summer.   The following year we moved across town and WR dug the rose and transplanted it for me.   It has bloomed and bloomed these many years.  Yesterday he stopped in the midd...

The last one  --  Fern is 101.  But her best friends, her sisters, are still very close to her heart. Fun  Monday is being hosted by Mariposa today.  And, It's All About Friendship.

Spring has been cool, windy, and a season of catching up on annual precipitation.  That last bit has been threatening the local cherry crop.   I wonder if that is why the small orchard close to where I walk has been surrendered to the birds.   If the rain splits the cherries they aren’t very marketable. Or, maybe the farmer wasn’t prepared for the birds .  (Insert a little Alfred Hitchcock mood music here.)  The past week provided the valley with an unusual migration population of Western Tanagers.  Like I’ve never seen.  Thus, the orchard was full of Tanagers chowing down on the partially ripe fruit.  They were accompanied by a fair number of Cedar Waxwings, Robins, Finch, Starlings, and probably more.  There was no saving that crop. WR captured the Tanager with the cherry in its mouth.  I snapped the gorging Waxwing and Robin. I’ve not...

The news program this morning featured stories about the children in Haiti.   It answered some of my questions about why so many people seemed to have burns on their faces and arms.   The earthquake hit while many people gathered together cooking and eating meals.  The stories are overwhelming, but the small miracles keep one watching and listening.  There was also a recall announced for Tylenol which gave me some alarm.  Ever since Thanksgiving, I practically bathed in the extra-strength capsules, along with an anti-inflammatory.  I’ve been in a  toothache battle.  My dentist is not one that overreacts.  The X-rays didn’t show any reason for my pain and he hoped that the anti inflammatory would do the trick.  On Monday morning this week the dentist took a third X-ray that revealed something ominous.  My immediate referral to an Endodontist on Wednesday was a bust.  The tooth cannot be saved.  The Endo prescrib...

100 Birthday Celebration for Auntie Fern. What a day ---

Update: My brother's quadruple bypass surgery was a success. He's doing well. I was very impressed with the staff at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. Even the volunteers that man the cardiac waiting area were kind and helpful. This morning Great Auntie Fern informed me that she looked at the clock at 3 a.m., which prompted her to raise her arms and say, "I MADE IT." She's 100 years old today - and the party is tomorrow. My husband is feeling much better. That cat enjoyed having him around as a nap prop this week. My throat is feeling a bit scratchy -- so I'm inhaling vitamin C and Zinc.

I am troubled because Auntie Fern has been failing the past couple of weeks. How does one deal with the health of a woman preparing to celebrate her 100 birthday? The situation has given me good reason to spend more time with her and try to help her regain some strength. Funny how things happen. I try to help her - and instead she helps me -- to smile and to laugh. For instance, on Monday she was so ill that I called the clinic for advice. The nurse found a Tuesday afternoon cancellation and Fern agreed to see her doctor. He needed to know how weak she had become. When I arrived to pick her up, she confessed that she had not had the energy to shower. "I can help you do that anytime," I offered. “That's alright,” Fern smiled and tried to focus on my face. She is legally blind in her only eye, having lost the other eye some years back to an infection. Then she seemed amused by something. She chuckled, “I did the PTA this morning, so I’m good to go.” I thought 'wha...

Octogenarian club, perhaps? Grand Auntie Fern will be 100 on April 3. I’ve written about her several times. Sitting to the left is her sister-in law Naomi, who is also our Grand Auntie. That is because Roy, the brother of Gram and Fern, took the beautiful Naomi to be his bride in 1921. At 104 years old she still lives in the house in which she and Roy raised their children. She maintains a certain level of independence with the help of her 86 year old daughter. The lovely lady in the center is Roberta. She is Naomi’s younger (almost 97 year old) sister. She is also a sister-in law to Auntie Fern because Ferns husband was her husband's brother. I hope you read this home town newspaper article about her published on Tuesday. I guarantee that you will be impressed. These three ladies preside over the Wednesday lunch gang. I was pleased to join them recently. There are around 12 people who make it part of their weekly routine. You never know for sure what other relative...

On Christmas Eve we encouraged auntie Fern to remember and share some of her childhood celebrations. This one was probably somewhere around 1915 : ******* Oh! When I was really small, we hung our Christmas stockings, and we got an apple and an orange and I don't know if there was more . We were excited to get that. So Paul and Roy, they hung theirs up again the next night. And you know that Grace, she decided to find something else to put in them. I don't know what she put in - probably something silly. And, then those boys hung them up again the next night. And Grace found something else to put in them. (Aunt Fern begins to chuckle at this point. We love to hear her laugh.) On that third morning Grace really surprised them. She put dried horse manure in their stockings. That ended it. ******

How to Feel Really Young: Have lunch with Aunti Fern, age almost 100; Aunt Naomi, age 103; and Naomi's sister, age 97. (No photo. My camera is in the shop.)

My name is Fern Alice *****. I was born in 1909. April the 3rd, 1909. And I was born on a wheat ranch that my father had homesteaded; about eight miles from the little town of *****, Washington. They moved out from Kansas by train in the 1800s. And while my father built a house on the land that he homesteaded, he put a big tent in ***** where the family stayed while he built a new house on the wheat ranch. Roy was born there. The next year, Jennie was born there. So they lived in that tent at least two or three years 'til the house was built and they they moved out to the wheat ranch. Ethel, Grace, Blanche, and Floyd were born in Kansas and they moved out here by train. Paul and Roy and Jennie was born in ***** (in the tent there) and I was born on the wheat ranch. I only lived on the wheat ranch a year until we moved to town because, by that time, the older ones were ready for high school.They had to move to town so the older ones could go to high school. So,...

We arrived to have dinner with Auntie Fern and to celebrate the holiday. Auntie Fern will be 99 in April. “I’m feeling punk.” She said. “I’m worried.” Her 71-year old son who lives 2 hours away wasn’t answering his phone on Christmas Day. The hubby spent some time on the phone searching, and located him in the hospital. He was experiencing shortness of breath, but would be going home after some treatments. “ I feel so much better ,” she exclaimed, “ and I’m hungry now . Our subsequent dinner conversations lead to the celebration of Christmas and how it had changed in her lifetime. I remember getting an orange in my stocking! That was something! We never got oranges any other time of year. It was a special treat to get that. My brothers would shoot a wild goose for Christmas dinner. Sometimes we would have wild rabbit instead. Wild rabbits were really good. But we had to quit eating them because they got spots. It was Tularemia, and it was fatal to people. We...

Last weekend Grand Auntie Fern called and invited the hubby and me to come to her retirement home for the holiday dinner. In the past, she has been to our home, as well as to other extended family members in the valley. Everyone loves this sweet lady who will be 98 in April. This time, however, she wanted company at her home. We were pleased to join her, as none of our girls could make the trip to ours. We couldn’t go out of town because of my Friday work commitment. The dining hall was half-empty as many of the residents would spend the day with family. The food was traditional Thanksgiving; turkey, stuffing, mashed potato and gravy. Senior citizen sized servings found no complaints here. I usually eat too much. The hostess asked if we would allow a recent arrival to join us at our table. Shirley had been there two days and didn’t know anyone yet. We were happy to make it a foursome. Auntie was dressed in a lovely suit, with complimentary...