Pop's Idioms

  Every now and again, I literally start to giggle out loud  while in the garden or on the pier.  Something will trigger a memory which, in turn, tickles me.  Most of these memories while in these two places involve Pop.  He was equally at home in the field or on the water and often I joined him there.  We shared a great many conversations over important world situations or just as important gardening or fishing tips.  I tried to remember as many as I could but, these days, it usually takes some trigger to start the brain.

  Just this past week, Michael and I set in our fall garden.  Mustard greens, collards, cabbage, chard,  broccoli, beet and carrot seeds were sowed with hopes of a fine crop later this winter.  With our usually mild winters (compared to the rest of the country), these crops will bear all season and well into the spring.  As we were working, I told my son to "Plant them deep..but not TOO deep."  He looked at me and grinned. "Papa." was all he said.  That was enough.  I knew that my words were straight from my father's mouth!  Yep.  Pop always used to tell me that when we were planting.  I never figured it out either. 

  A bit later as we were planting peas, I told Michael that his rows were "as crooked as a dog's hind leg!"  While most folks use this term to describe someone who is very dishonest (usually a politician!), Pop used it to describe the rows that I would plant.  The rows in the field were several hundred feet long and by the end of my row, the line would be just that...crooked as a dog's hind leg! Once again, Michael made mention of his Papa.

  Fast forward until today and while we were out in the garden yet again, I slipped into being Pops.  "Michael!  You planted those mustard seeds as 'thick as the hair on a dog'."  He busted out laughing and told me that I was turning into Papa!  Well, I guess I am at that and that, my good friends, is not a bad thing at all!