Fireworks of Childhood Past

Tennessee Alabama Fireworks

During my walk this evening, I witnessed the aftermath of last night's
missile barrage that took place near our house. At least it sounded like
that. Of course it was Independence Day and I'm pretty sure fireworks
are much easier to come by than when I was a kid. In the late 70's,
growing up in Indiana, one could pretty much buy sparklers or snakes.
You know...those pieces of ash that curled up on the ground when you
lit them with a match. Oh...and caps, but those weren't restricted to
the 4th. We'd bang on them with a rock on the sidewalk all summer
long. But I digress...

I, on the other hand had a loophole. My brother and sister both lived
in Georgia and we would visit them at least once a year. Fireworks were
apparently big (and legal!) in the south and the small town of South
Pittsburg, Tennessee was on the way home. South Pittsburg was home
to Tennessee Alabama Fireworks. To a kid who loved fireworks, it was
the Valhalla of Fireworks! For some reason, they wouldn't let you smoke
in the store. I don't know why... I would always buy the same. A dozen
packages of Bottle Rockets, A brick of Black Cat Firecrackers and a bag of
M-80s. I would then shoot them off all summer, scaring the crap out of the
dog in the process and scaring my Aunt Sharon as well when I would hold a
small demonstration at the end of the driveway!

Now, it seems you can buy fireworks just about anywhere. Without
much problem in the west and certainly in Indiana. These days, I
don't buy them, but they definitely keep me awake every July. And
yes, I still have all of my fingers!


Bottle Rockets


Black Cats


M-80s

Tiny Golden Library

While we were in Altus, visiting Nancy, we stopped by an antique store and
inside one of the cases, I saw a Tiny Golden Book. I hadn't thought about
these in years, and there one was.


When we got back to her house, Nancy pulled out her entire set.
The Tiny Golden Library, still in it's original box. I LOVED reading
these when I was little and they're all in pristine condition. There are
24 of them written and wonderfully illustrated by Dorothy Kunhardt.
The other 12 books are by Walt Disney, way before Disney became
such a commercial behemoth. The books brought back a lot of
great memories for me and I'm glad Nancy still has them.

New To Our Yard

Almost ten years ago, we were getting ready to spend our first season
in Antarctica and had to have someone watch our plants. We didn't know
then that it would be quite a bit of time before we were able to retrieve
them. When we recently visited my sister Nancy's house, we picked up
our Rain Lilly (or at least a descendant of it) that we had left with her
many years ago. The coffee can that held it disintigrated long ago, but
Nancy had transplanted it into a new container and there are lots of
healthy, blooming bulbs in the container. It now holds a nice place in
front of our house, where it gets morning sun, but none of the really
hot sun of the afternoon. Because we live in a very dry climate with an
average of 8 inches of rain per year, we'll probably need to water it every
few days to keep it blooming. It's much drier here that it's native Germany.


We have a spot in our front yard that has needed a plant for a few years.
When we xeriscaped our front yard, one of the desert plants that we
selected didn't make it through the first year and the spot has been
empty ever since. Nancy sent some Monkey Grass with us. It can be
a pain to some people because it spreads, but it's very hardy and needs
little attention. Perfect for this area. Also, it shouldn't spread since
there really is no where for it to go since it's surrounded by gravel. I'm
looking forward to enjoying both additions to our yard this summer.

Miley and Otis

Nancy and Greg have two pets that they are taking care of. They are my
nephew Josh's pets, but since he lives in a location that doesn't allow pets,
they've taken up residence in Altus. Miley is a cute little ferret and Otis is
a lovable, but very slobbery bulldog. I've never been around a ferret before.
They are great! Miley loves to be played with and is really intelligent.


Otis. Otis is also smart, a good dog and loves to be around people. Maybe
he likes to be around people a bit too much since he absolutely loves
Lynn, following her everywhere. He means well though and is a irreplaceable
member of the family!

Boomer Sooner!

My sister likes to buy Halloween costumes for her little pug, Sadie.
Here is Sadie's newest outfit. Apparently Sadie has aspirations to
become a University of Oklahoma cheerleader!

Maypole Dance

Dancers gather in a circle, each holding a coloured ribbon attached to a
much smaller pole. As the dance commences the ribbons are intertwined
and plaited either on to the pole itself or into a web around the pole. The
dancers may then retrace their steps exactly in order to unravel the ribbons.
This style of maypole dancing originates in the 18th century, and is derived
from traditional and 'art' dance forms popular in Italy and France. These were
exported to the London stage and reached a large audience, becoming part
of the popular performance repertoire. Adopted at a large teacher training
institution, the ribbon maypole dance then spread across much of England,
and is now regarded as the most 'traditional' of May Day's traditional
characteristics.

The Maypole Dance was an important tradition at Hebron Elementary School,
where I grew up in Indiana. If I recall correctly, Mrs. Morrow would teach
girls in 6th grade to perform this rite of spring. I remember watching my
sister, Nancy dance around the Maypole. Each girl had a long, pastel-colored
dress and would have to follow intricate steps so that their ribbon would
fall into place perfectly with the other girls' ribbons. This pole was used only
twice a year. When it wasn't being used on May Day for the Maypole dance,
it was used as the Grease Pole on the 4th of July in which if one climbed the
greased pole, there was money on the top to claim as a price. Somehow I
remember that the Maypole Dance was much prettier!

Happy Hour

A few years ago, my sister Nancy and her husband Greg, turned us
on to Happy Hour. Not just any happy hour, but Happy Hour at
Sonic! For those of you that don't know, Sonic is a drive-in restaurant
chain located around the United States. They serve mostly sandwiches
and such, but I think their best menu items are their beverages.
Anyway, every day from 2-4 pm all drinks are 1/2 price. This means
you can get their largest drink (Route 44...meaning 44 ounces) for
about a dollar. This means you can practically drink this for the rest
of the day! Great for hot summer days that reach above 100 degrees
in these parts. My favorite is a Diet Vanilla Coke...Yum!

Altus

We spent two really nice days at Nancy and Greg's. The weather was
very hot and a little humid, but there was a hot wind blowing most of
the time that made it tolerable. I was taking these pictures of clouds
outside their front door and Nancy told me that I was easily impressed
because they have much nastier weather than these clouds much of the
time.


Nancy and Greg are babysitting Otis, my nephew Josh's bulldog.
A great dog, but he's way too affectionate and slobbers on you
constantly. I'm not a slobber dog person, but he was fun to be
around. Nancy and Greg have four other dogs and a cat as well...


Nellie


Molly


Trixie


Sadie


Scooter


Greg picked up a bushel of peaches that they had ordered previously,
and although the peaches came from Arkansas (who knew that Arkansas
grew peaches?), they made a great peach pie!



Of course, Nancy shook her head as I took pictures of the pie!

Happy Anniversary

30 Years ago today, my sister Nancy and my brother in-law
Greg were married. And yes, they're still together.
30 years, two sons, many moves and a few gray hairs later
(sorry) they're very happy and they mean a lot to me.
Btw...check out those crazy seafoam green tuxes my Dad
and I are wearing for the wedding!

Yard Work

My Dad's favorite hobby was working in the yard. Since he
was sick for all of the summer, all of the family in the
area, including grandkids helped out. This kept it close
to Dad's high standards. Not an easy task when the yard is
about an acre in size and includes multiple flowerbeds, trees,
shrubs, etc. The past couple of days, Lynn and I, along with
my sister Nancy, her husband Greg, my brother John and his wife
Julie, have been helping Mom spruce up the yard and get it
ready for winter. During this process, the mosquitos from the
past few days have been swarming. Not pleasant when you're the
one who's operating the weed whipper and cleaning out shrubs
and bushes. I think I need a transfusion from all the blood
that has been taken from me! I've never seen so many mosquitos
at one time. Even in tropical places like Thailand! Thankfully,
there is supposed to be a cooling trend in the area soon and
hopefully that will zap the buggers. Until then, I'll walk
around looking like I have full-body mumps!