Poor Moe!

  Moe, the heron that comes to feed at the pier, was not overly happy with the turn of events of the day.  He usually waits for me to come down to catch minnows for him.  Yes, he has gotten to be quite the lazy bird, here lately, and refuses to work for his breakfast.  He gets to the pier long before I do in the mornings as I need that first cup of coffee before I head outside.  Once the coffee is sipped and Mr. PJ, the old dog is fed, we head outside.  That is the routine of every morning.  Moe on the pier, me sipping coffee, Mr. PJ eating then we all meet together.  This morning that did not happen and Moe was extremely agitated with me.

 That "turn of events" happened to be a nice rain pelting the Bayou.  Since we have not received any rain in several weeks, it was much appreciated and deserve a bit of "rain watching" which I promptly did!  As soon as I made the first mug of coffee, I heard the gentle rain pelting the rooftop.  Ahh, nice!  I headed to the living room, threw open the French doors that overlook the Bay and pulled up a rocking chair.  Those three things got a burr stuck in the craw of Moe.  While I lounged in the rocking chair watching the rain through the screen doors and sipping my morning brew, Moe sat perched on a pier post IN the rain with no breakfast.  All I could think was "Go catch your own breakfast! I am going to sit right here."

  Obviously, Moe did get a bit miffed at me as later when I finally made it to the pier, he refused to come eat.  Mr. Smartypants Moe sat and glared at me from my brother's pier.  He was having no part of my laziness and he was going to let me know that!  Well, so sorry, Moe.  You will have to fetch your own minnows this morning if you are too high and mighty to come eat when I offer.  In the meantime, a second cup of coffee and that rocking chair sounded mighty fine.  Mr. PJ and I headed back to the Little Bayou House and poor Moe went hungry.

The Rocking Chair

  There is a little lady that I have called "Aunt" ever since I was a wee tot. She is actually my mother's cousin so I suppose that makes her more of a cousin than an aunt but it always seemed disrespectful to call her by her first name.  Now that she is pushing the young age of ninety, it even seems more disrespectful so "Aunt" it is.  Auntie had asked a few weeks ago if Mark would be opening any oysters soon and if he was, could she buy some from him.  Well, that would never do since Mark is not about to charge her for anything!  Today, I called her to tell her that we would be bringing her a quart of oysters.  She told me that she was not feeling well and could not fry the oysters so I volunteered to prepare a meal for her.  An idea popped into my head!  Mark and I would go eat lunch with her!  Within a half hour, a meal of fried oysters, scalloped potatoes, spinach salad with sauteed shrimp and raspberry vinaigrette dressing and a quick dessert of fried apples was tossed together and hauled to her house.  We brought Christmas plates and napkins so no dishes were needed.  What fun!

  This was the most enjoyable time I have had in a long while.  She beamed the whole time we were there, plus, she passed along a lot of family history.  Some of this history might be a bit skewed since her memory is failing a bit but whose isn't?  Once we finished our meal, she asked for me to look at some paintings on her walls.  These were not by some famous artists nor were they highly valuable...instead the paintings were priceless.  Most of the ones she showed me had been painted by her mother decades ago.  I listened to her stories and did a lot of oohing and ahhing over the pictures.  I really liked them!  She then gave me tags and asked me to put my name on the back of the ones I liked so they would go to me later.  This was hard for me to do since I always feel greedy!  Afterwards, she took to a back room and showed me a rocking chair.  "This was my grandmother's chair.  Later it was my Aunt Ruthie's chair." she said.  "Sit down and see if it fits."  Well, I had never been "fitted" for a chair before but I have to admit the chair was very comfortable!  "Yes!  It fits nicely!" she said.

  Later when we leaving, Auntie told Mark to put the chair in the truck. Wow!  I was just given my great-grandmother's rocking chair!  What a gift!  What an honor! This is something that I will cherish and will pass on to one of my kids somewhere down the line.  

   Had things been different and not turned to where Auntie was giving me treasures, I would still say that this was a perfect way to spend the day.  She and I had a grand time just being together.  Note to self....do this more often.  The verbal family history lesson of today was amazing. Receiving a family heirloom was priceless.  The time spent with an elderly lady was fulfilling,  The look of happiness in her eyes was a blessing.  

I'm ready!!

I'm ready for the next big event in my life!  In a matter of weeks, I will become a grandmother..well, sort of..I will become a Maw Maw.  Son, Mark and daughter-in-law, Joanna, are expecting a little girl in April and this has me all "twitterpated"!  Just imagine!  My first grandbaby will be here in mere weeks!

I pondered just what I should be doing to prepare for this new phase of my life.  As far as I know, there is no manual teaching women just how to become a Maw Maw.  And, yes, I have been informed that is to be my name from the Big Day forward!  Mark told me that he thought I was more the Maw Maw type than the Grandmother type so..Maw Maw it is!  I am tickled pink with my new moniker!  Anyway, just how does one prepare to become a grandparent?  While pondering this enigma, I thought back to just what made my folks good grandparents to my children.  As near as I can tell, it was merely the time that they spent together.  My kids all loved to climb up in Mom or Pop's lap while they were in the old rocking chairs on their front porch.  Here all sorts of fun things were done..songs were sung, imagination games were played, books were read and a lot of cuddling was done.  I can do that!  It seems that more than anything it was just that little extra bit of attention that a grandparent could give that made all the difference in the world.  If it is a matter of just doting on the Little One, I should be able to handle that with ease!  To me there is nothing more precious than a babe.  So, I figure that all I need to do is have a rocking chair, recall some of the little tunes that I used  to sing to my three when they were tots and have a good book of children's stories on hand.  (The cuddling comes naturally!)  Honestly...I can check off that rocking chair..got it!  I was given a lovely "Grandmother's Book" by my sweet cousin, Helen..so I am good there. This is a book that she used and has now passed it on to me!  I adore it! (I have already started reading it even though little Mary Ruth has not been born yet!)  Now...songs...hmmm...let's see..."This old man, he played one.  He played knick-knack on my thumb. With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone.  This old man went rolling home!"....yep, still remember!  I've got this!!!