The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 8

#8 of 52 : TAMMY

External Photo Clues:
None

Imagine:
I was born in 1929 in the NE corner of the state of Oklahoma.  My dad was a McDonnell and he traveled to St. Louis and back all the time for the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation.  He was very devout and didn’t want his wife and daughter growing up in such a big city so he kept us on the farm.  It wasn’t like a real farm, more like a country house, with a little pond and some trees.  My mother wasn’t about to keep a farm, but she could keep a house and instructed me in all kind of Victorian parlor nonsense until the winter of 1942 when she died of pneumonia. 

The depression and the war didn’t really touch me.  For me, WWII was fantastic.  I traveled with my father all over the country.  The soldiers and pilots I met were all handsome, everyone petted me, and in my foolishness, I thought war was just grand.  I even got to go to Washington DC when my dad met with the president.  I didn’t get to meet him myself, but I was there all the same.  I was 16 on V-E Day and in St. Louis kissing and dancing with everyone else.

My dad was awfully busy during the war years, perhaps a little too busy to watch out for me. By 1947, he had left the country house and all pretenses of pious living back in Oklahoma. He noticed I was grown, and decided to get me a chaperone/tutor/governess to get me ready for college. I was 18 and full of my own charm.  I’ve had some kind of companion ever since.  Continue reading The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 8

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When I Am An Old Man (Serious Version)

Last month, I wrote a list of things I will do when I’m an old man. Most, if not all of them were pretty tongue and cheek. However, as I was writing it, I kept thinking of more serious things that I wanted to be doing when I’m an old man. And that’s what this list is all about.

Without any further ado, when I’m an old man:

  • I will still buy flowers for my wife and take her on dates. Just doing my part to keep the lovin’ alive. If I outlive her, I will take flowers to her grave on a regular basis.
  • I will rise with the fish before the birds. I will watch the former and catch the latter. Go ahead… just try to analyze that one. I dare ya.
  • I will give away lots of money. I have no idea what “lots of money” will mean for me when I’m an old man, but I’d love to be giving away at least half of whatever annual income I have at the time. If I have any wealth to speak of, I hope to also leave it all to charity. Sorry Iz… hopefully by the time you’re in your 50’s you won’t need your dad’s inheritance.
  • I will mentor younger men. If you’ve known me for any period of time, you’ve probably figured out by now how much I value mentoring. Most of my experience with mentoring so far in life has been on the receiving end. I hope to some day be on the giving end. Continue reading When I Am An Old Man (Serious Version)
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    Twelve Ways to Get PREPARE’d for Long Term Commitment

    Calling all couples who are past the DTR talk and are now considering long term commitment such as engagement, marriage or an alternative long-term relationship: this essay is for YOU.

    You now have more choices than ever before in terms of taking smart, educational and healthy steps in a “prevention” way to invest in “relationship insurance,” so to speak. Regardless of what you call it, taking the time to get your relationship fine-tuned is one of the biggest gifts you can give each other.

    Research shows that depending upon the program you choose, preventative education or premarital counseling can help your relationship stay together, on average, 3-8 years longer than couples who did nothing. This finding isn’t saying that your relationship is simply going to break down at a later date; it means that you’ve helped your relationship beat the divorce or break-up odds by taking 8-12 hours of time together – to think through plans, skills, and meanings of what you’re getting ready to begin. Support from professionals, such as this Chelsea NY based therapy team, can further strengthen those odds by giving you tailored guidance for your journey. In other words, the odds will be even MORE in your favor than before. Discover a patient-centered approach here.

    In other-other words? Premarital or pre-commitment preparation is a no-brainer. A hard core, serious, bona fide NO-BRAINER!

    Continue reading Twelve Ways to Get PREPARE’d for Long Term Commitment

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    My Little Victory Garden: Entry One

    Daily Harvest - This one was from September 26, 2010.

    Gardening means so many positive things to me that I was having a hard time finding just the right phrase to title my new series.  I gave serious consideration to “Kelly Does Dirt,” “Dirty Fingernails Are Nature’s Perfect Manicure,” “Fresh Veggies Are Better Than Making Whoopee,” …well, you get the picture.  In other words, I was having a hard core creativity block.

    When I gave up brainstorming and closed my laptop, the title “Victory Garden” popped into my head.  I realized I didn’t even know the history of the term.  So, I “Wikied” it.  *I’m guessing I utilize the resource at least once a day.  Here’s what I learned:

    Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany[1] during World War I and World War II to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. In addition to indirectly aiding the war effort these gardens were also considered a civil “morale booster” — in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens become a part of daily life on the home front.

    What a gift! History had at that moment handed me what I needed.  It seems that there has been somewhat of a resurgence the past few years in private residence and public community gardens.  Further, my gardens have been my own personal morale booster; they truly have helped me feel empowered by the contribution to our family and health.  The “reward of labor” comes almost daily at the height of summer’s harvest.

    My first garden's carrots, ready the last week in June, 2009.

    Continue reading My Little Victory Garden: Entry One

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    Meanwhile, Back at The Ranch: It’s Not Always Blue Skies And Rainbows-Part One

    I'm no veterinarian, but I think she's expecting.

    For weeks I’ve gone to the goat shed to feed, and I’ve had my eye on a couple of goats that were pregnant.  My mind was made up that I was going to make a documentary of them having the babies if I was home when they were delivered.  I even looked up all the pictures that I could find on the Internet to see if I could handle what I was actually going to witness when a goat gave birth.  How was I going to create something that did not have the feel of either Paranormal Activity or The Office? As it turns out, I missed all three deliveries.  Yep, three.  I was not prepared for the aftermath.

    I had used my pregnant goats as a lure to teach my kids how great research could be.  One student asked me how I knew a goat was pregnant. My reply was that it looked like a chair was sideways in its stomach.  It was “just a feeling.”  At the end of the lesson I showed them all a picture of the suspect.  They agreed that I was probably right.  For two weeks every day my students asked me if my kids had arrived.  They hadn’t.  The momentum was dying down and I was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to happen.  It was about then that I realized there were three pregnant females on the premises.  My students were so excited. I even got emails from parents inquiring about the event!

    One Saturday I took off for an evening with some friends and left Greg at home to feed.  Not thirty-five minutes after I left home, he called me to say that one of the goats had just given birth to twins.  I’d missed it!  This was compounded by the fact that the other one looked like she would give birth within twenty-four hours.  A few hours later I called to make sure Greg had set up the heat lamps at the shed, and he informed me that we already had another set of twins!

    The next morning I bundled up to head out into the below freezing weather to check on our new additions. Even though I’d missed the birth, I was armed with my camera.  I was also carrying some compost pile material, so I separated from my husband to head in that direction first.  I was not expecting the sound of distress that came out of his mouth, but when I looked in his direction, I understood.  Maybe three feet from a heat lamp lay one of new baby’s lifeless little bodies.  It was small and deflated as if Life had spent little time there.  I could barely even see it.  He hurried past it to the next pen where he found the same haunting image:  one of the twins from the other doe, just a few feet away from warmth, was also dead.

    Continue reading Meanwhile, Back at The Ranch: It’s Not Always Blue Skies And Rainbows-Part One

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    Showcasing Red Dirt culture ~ authored and managed by contributors with connections to the great state of Oklahoma.