It's Free---Take--it!
Grandma Did It!
by Ginn Navarre
With all the turmoil in our world with the wars breeding more hate and the economy going straight down to the bottom of the bucket. Add to the fact that every time you turn on the TV all you hear or see is 95% negative. Talk to people in the market or friends any where and they immediately go to some horrible event that they heard about. Oh yes, I know and realize with all that is going on in the world you have to face it for those that are creating this trouble will continue.
With that said! Where do you turn? During rough times we may think that laughter is inappropriate. Crying and laughter are emotions that can many times walk that thin line in our lives and they are contagious. We all have options---I CHOOSE LAUGHTER !
Ask yourself what funny thing did you hear or see today? You might have to go back to a earlier time and draw on your childhood or what uncle Ned or aunt Grace said. I think we all had that special character in our family that provided this trait. Now might be the right time to bring that skeleton out of the closet.
Let me introduce you to my very special CHARACTER---my mother! I hope it may provide you with a chuckle or two, just to carry you through your day.
Yes, grandma was all ours. Thinking back on the many things that she pulle off and we didn't realize at the time how all her every day crazy events would teach us how wonderful it is to be able to just laugh at our selves.
Grandma came from the Ozark Mountains to live with us when our children were small. She looked like the typical grandma should look, maybe a little smaller, about five-foot-two if she was standing on her tip-toes. She could consume a mans size meal at each sitting and still never weighed over a hundred pounds. She always had some type of sewing in her hands if she was sitting still but don't let that fool you. She could be sweet and ornery at the same time. I always thought that the expression "dumb like a fox," fit her perfectly.
We lived in the country and it wasn't long before grandma decided that we should have some rabbits for the kids to raise. Yes, you guessed it. One year later we were in the business of raising and selling rabbits. Now her reasoning was---if you can raise rabbits then you can raise chickens, pheasants, quail, pigeons and throw a few turkeys in there too. It didn't take long for her zoo to get quite out of control and of course the kids loved it. I never knew her to do anything in moderation.
One day sitting out under the big oak tree in the back yard, that is after we fed Noah's Ark. She pointed out that the sparrows were eating all the pheasants feed and she was going to put a stop to it. I should have paid closer attention to that threat. She bought herself a BB gun and the war was declared on sparrows. It was quite a sight. she had placed an old rocking chair under that big tree with her BB gun within reach.
Each day when I came home from work the kids would proudly inform me of grandmas kill number. Like a lot of things, it is what is not said that comes forth sooner or later. It didn't take long before I noticed how often we were having pheasant for supper. Now don't get me wrong, I like pheasant---or did. Finally I questioned the four-year old about grandma's kill record a little deeper and was informed---"grandma kills a lot of those old sparrows and sometimes she shoots the pheasant---when he gets in the way."
Several days later sitting under that old tree, I was reading and grandma was crocheting. I noticed a gopher pushing his way under the lawn. He surfaced about twenty feet from where we sat.
"Now grandma, there is something you ought to shoot at," I pointed out.
She just smiled and looked over the rim of her glasses at me. This was a habit that we all learned that there would be more to come. "Well, if you are such a good shot, why don't you get the gun and shoot it!" she replied.
"All right I will." I informed her. Silently thinking anyone ought to be able to hit that big target. Every time that gopher poked his head up, I took careful aim and squeezed the trigger. The dirt and dust around that gopher mound would kick up a foot high.
Grandma's crochet hook would pause for a moment as she observed my near miss and she would inform me that I had missed. This went on for a period of time and the lawn looked like a war zone. I even convinced myself that if maybe I used the 22-rifle with short-shot bullets it would solve the near miss. Yes, there had to be a logic reason that I wasn't hitting that big target.
We also stacked our fire wood under that big tree. That day the gopher was back and decided to poke his head up and he looked straight at grandma, after all I was no threat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw grandma slowly reach down and pick up a stick of wood and quickly hurled it. Oh yes, grandma added another notch on her kill record. She never looked at me or said a word just continued crocheting where she had left off.
This is only one of the many antics that came so simply to grandmas every day life. Grandma passed away at 95 years old. Still she left us a treasure of laughter and smiles.
Remember if you meet a man that doesn't have a smile---give him yours.