Softly It Came

A few months ago I attended a funeral for a fellow that left this world too early. On the way home this poem come to mind and since yesterday was Christ The King Sunday and the beginning of advent....and....because we had our first winter snow I have decided to share the poem here:

Softly It Came

Softly it came,
So softly and gently that I wasn’t aware,
Moving the gray,
Lifting the chiffon fog from the lamp post,
Building,
Bringing back thoughts,
Memories of childhood,
Memories of love,
Cleansing my soul,
Fresh,
White,
Sparkling,
Crystals of Advent Snow.

-K. M. Valandra 2006

gma

Okay! Time to get myself back in order. This post was made on Nov. 13. My blog went to our daughters site hence a week later I have retrieved it.

Daughter #2 came with grandson (22 months) and they spent 10 days with us. In the beginning I thought, Oh NO...I'll never make it for 10 days but I did and I enjoyed it all. What a wonderful baby. He learned a dozen or more new words while he was here and they helped us communicate better and better every day.
He also broke in our new home...not like a theif mind you but a one who would experiment to see if every button, door, shade etc. worked properly, over and over. He found his little nitches lets say.There is a long narrow window on each side of the front door. His little bum and shoulders fit right into that space so he would back himself up there and sit on the window sill cute as could be. One night after his bath he was running around nudey and just backed up to that window sill, perfect picture time, but jumped immediately as his bum it the cold window. He turned and looked at it like something bit him. "Oh, NO!" was his comment. I think he was telling himself he wouldn't be doing that again.

He found that licking all of the windows at the 2.5 foot level alowed wonderful spit finger painting on our new windows. I am out to clean all of that today but those tiny hand prints that are in some may have to stay there a bit. I miss his noisy exhuberance for living.He found that if he was REAL quiet behind the living room chair with the Uno cards he could drop them or push them behind the wood molding along the flooring. Clever! I think it is one of the artifacts someone will find someday when this place is torn down. I have no idea how many are back there.He learned to open the doors, get out of the porta crib, turn on the light and fan switches and all of the TV buttons. He almost knows how to operate a CD player.
He loved and snuggled with our dog Tootsie and they played every day like two puppies. Tootsie is a bit depressed today...lying around sleeping and doing a lot of sighing.

While food was a challenge, Gma seemed to be able to shovel it in okay. He certainly knows when he is full and when he doesn't like something and look out...don't try to trick him into eating those cooked peas...he knows what you are up to and will fire them the length of a room to let you know he found it.

One day he whined, "Walk, Walk, Walk" at the front door. I hustled up and got my shoes and coat on, put his shoes and coat on and amid wiggle and whine and Tootsie on a leash we headed out for a walk. We went down the steps and Gma was ready to go. The little guy leaned down, picked up a stone from the walkway and said, "walk (rock)"...I didn't make that mistake again. We put a "walk" in his pocket and went for a walk anyway.

It is way too quiet here today......

0-85

I covered all of the bases today...The gal next door is 34 weeks pregnant and just home from the hospital on bedrest until due date if she makes it. She said, "He seems to have settled down for now so we want all the time we can get."

Boy, I wanted to say, Honey, it is just the beginning. He'll never be settled once he gets here. Let the wind blow and put those feet up because life is forever changed once you have your first child.

Then I took my mom to the town I was raised in to see a friend. They are both 85. Mom stayed here last night and at breakfast I was discussing the comfort of her hard bed and she gave me a long disertation about the hard bread she was eating and how she always loves it hard and seedy and nutty...that's where I clued in we miss-communicated, big time. It was like that all day. I said everything twice, Loud both times but she can't hear me now unless she is watching my mouth.

Our friend took us to lunch. We ordered and ate and conversed and then I helped her understand the bill as she couldn't see it and then we went back to her home for homemade ginger cookies and tea. She shared with me that she didn't hear a thing in the restaurant and that she has eye problems.

The two ladies had a great visit misunderstanding most of what the other said and making their own stories fit in.

While at this friend's house our 14 month old grand daughter called. She said, "Wha da bah, bah, bah, go dah wha bah, bah...." real loud and clear. I thought...well, that's what mom hears when I talk. She thinks I said something important but it doesn't make any sense so she just looks and sounds excited about what I've said and moves on.

0-85....seems about the same one way or the other. These two ladies take care of their own business, dress up and go out, cook at home and entertain and they are in there punching through this life all the way. GOOD FOR THEM. A real witness to those of us who loose our patience some times. Some day I hope I'm 85.

Cooking with Gas

I love cooking with gas. After 37 years of marriage and countless comments from others about how wonderful gas cooking is I shouldn't be amazed at how much I like it. We had a slow cooked meal last night. I put a frozen pot roast in the oven in the morning sprinkled with a package of Lipton onion soup mix, wrapped it all up in foil and cooked it at 275 degrees for about 7 or 8 hours. Delicious! This isn't a meal I will serve often as it doesn't bode too well with Papa's new diet but I just had to try the slow cooking thing out.

I am stumped about where to get the cleaner for the ceramic top that goes with this new stove. I have purchased a couple of things that say absolutely not streaking but Voo-ALA streaks. I think I should create a product with great claims, market it and just absorb the profits as fools like me buy it and then give it up because it doesn't do what was promised.

Moving takes time I have decided. You can only do so much unpacking a day and then your brain just says...HOLD IT>>>I'M DONE WITH THAT FOR THE DAY! You begin putting things where you would never want them if you unpack too much at a time.

Thanks for listening...gma

gma

HOOO-AHHHH! Here we are. We moved into our new home on Tuesday the 17th. A lovely experience with a moving company that didn't make one single ding in either house. Wonderful movers, all four, that really knew what they were doing and a pleasure to be around. The first night in our bed in a new location is always a test...okay, where is the bathroom in the dark? Well, it's not really dark because all of the window coverings weren't measured correctly so natch the master bedroom window has temporary coverings that DO NOT block out any light. Then you experience..."what's that noise...did you hear that one...is the garage door closed...what time is it the clock isn't plugged in... Well, you get the drift. All of this makes moving very exciting and crazy. We are thrilled to be here. No remorse, no regrets and can't wait for family and friends to begin ringing our chimes. We have found this entire experience to be a spiritual one. Everytime we said we couldn't do it the road was paved for us and we could. Praise God for whom all blessings flow.

gma

Well, I think I'm there...ready for the next blog. It has taken some time...see comments under 10/16 post. We'll make this the experiment and see what happens. No sence waisting space.

gma

gma

Just Getting Started

Well, here we are getting into the "Blog" age because we want to communicate with our...live too far away...kids. We are in the process of moving into a new home that has been VERY fun to plan for. We're the grandparents of 4 beautiful grandchildren, 2 boys and 2 girls. Sending stuff and things to them while we sorted for moving has been a joy. I retired from a mortgage lending career and prior to that has careers as a Realtor and a public school teacher. I am too old to post my real profile but my sweetie and I have been married for 37 years and are looking forward to many more. We love our family and all of the many gift and joys they bring us. More to follow as we move ahead in our new home.