Memories of Other Hot Days

Hey, Y'all,
Well, it is supposed to hit 110 degrees here today; at 6 a.m. it was 90 and now at 11 a.m. it is up to 99. Hot enough? I reckon so...  I was up for good at 7 a.m., made my bed, and thought about lying in it...ha ha. 

After getting dressed for the day, I sat down and checked my facebook and e-mail, played a round of Gardens of Time and Puzzled Hearts, also Lexalous, which is like Scrabble. Then it was time to go to breakfast at Le Peep for my weekly biscuits and gravy. Gravy was not hot enough, but instead of sending it back, ate it and told the waiter that next time, they need to heat it in the bowl instead of pouring it into the bowl hot. You know that the bowl being cool does not keep the contents hot. 

Anyway, up at the counter where you pay for your meal, I had a card that was full of punches (you get a punch in the card each time your bill is as much as six dollars and on Tuesdays you get two punches in the card). When the card has twelve punches in it, you can turn it in and get six dollars off your bill. So, my bill was 8.70 and when I gave her the 2.70, she said it was 2.71 because of the tax difference. So, I got out a penny and gave it to her. She had only punched the new card with one punch, and I reminded her that Tuesday was double punch day, what means to me is that if it was punched one time, it should be punched again. She said that the amount it was punched for was only 2.71. I said, "Okay, that's fine." Then she took it and did another punch on it. I thanked her and told her that I live on a fixed income. She looked at me like I had two heads. I said, "You don't know what that means, do you?"

She said, "No..." I said, "Well, it means that I live on Social Security Retirement and my income does not increase, and every cent counts." I am not sure she understood, even with that. I smiled and wished her a good day, and forgave her for being so young and uninformed.  (Does that sound supercilious? I hope not.)


I went from there to Kroger's and did a bit of grocery shopping. I have now been out all I intend to be for most of the week (except maybe to go to the Library). I have cut pieces to begin on Teresa's quilts, and plan to begin sewing today. Yesterday afternoon I went out for supper with the seniors from my church and enjoyed it tremendously. I always enjoy those outings. It was only 105 last afternoon. Ha. We are breaking all kinds of temperature records here in Northeast Texas, and people are dying. Literally. I have my thermostat set on 78 degrees and have four ceiling fans to boot. It keeps the house quite comfortable; some people have no air conditioning and are suffering.


Do you remember growing up without air conditioning? I do. I remember lying in bed at night, with the windows open, wishing for more air currents to come into the house. The temperatures in the day time were up in the 90's and did not cool a lot in the evening. That was in Tennessee. My children grew up the same way and could tell you the same thing. The body adjusts if it has to. Do you remember sitting in church (where there was no air conditioning either) and using the funeral home fans (hand powered)? I say funeral home fans because they were made of cardboard with wooden handles and had the advertisement of the local funeral home on the back. 

Left to right, my oldest brother, Bill, my dad, Bill's grandson (Greg), Bill's son ( Fred.) circa 1970s

We had a huge (I mean HUGE) oak tree in the front yard of our house out in the country and it furnished great shade in the summertime. My dad used to say that he bet it had ruined many a corn crop (farmer sitting under it instead of working in the corn field) and he would just laugh. Dad was good at laughing at his own jokes. The oak tree had to be cut down a few years ago, because it was dying inside and lightning had hit it exposing the inside of it. The man who lives in the house now told me that when they cut it down, it had around 260 rings in it, which means it began growing around 1746. There are lots of family stories about that old oak tree. I reckon when I am gone, a lot of those stories are gone as well. 

Well, I have blathered on long enough and one's eyes will probably begin to glaze over with reading it. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Keep cool! Bye for now. More later.