The children & I are in Mo. visiting some family this week. I had forgotten how much I love the Midwest. Husband will disagree w/ me, but... I LOVE it. I love the wind, the farmland, all of the sky, the endless miles of super-friendly people wherever you go. The things at Wal-Mart are things that I would wear & if not, hey they still sell fabric & notions. I'm in the town I graduated highschool from, Harrisonville & driving around it is amazing. I never drove through it in highschool since I didn't get my license until I was 21. I walked or rode my bike.
Even doing a quick drive through town I was reminded of all of those miles I would walk. No wonder I remember highschool as lonely. I did have friends, but walking by yourself is alot of miles w/ just your internal monologue. I lived in East Lynne, 8 miles from the highschool, so it was 8 miles to school. (Only one hill, & I actually did do it barefoot once in 8th grade) I didn't walk to school though, I took my bike, about a 45 min. trip or 2 1/2 hour brisk walk. Yes, I could have taken the bus to school, but the bus was a rural route & wasn't going to drop me off at Taco Bell where I worked for almost 3 years.
Taco Bell was 2 miles from school on the other side of town. So 10 miles in all. Working from 4:00- close (Taco Bell closed at 2:00 on the weekends & I closed Fri., dayshift on Sat. & opened on Sun. Usually Mon. & Tues. I had off & I would do 5-9, or 4-10:00 during Wed. & Thurs. Summers I'd put in a good 40-60 hours a week, especially afer I was promoted to managerial positions. Anyways, no I usually didn't ride my bike home every night. Occasionally, but there were no street lights, I got tired of making weekly trips to Wal-Mart for flashlight batteries & I was run off the road a couple of times, which is never fun. I would just walk another couple of miles to sleep in the cemetary or boyscout camp if the weather was warm (they had a running spigot for morning hygine), an unlocked car or more usual my friends cellar was never latched & I could sleep in her house if it was cold. Thgough they had heat in only one room. I always had toiletries, school things, TB uniform, & a change of clothes for school & usually a good book in my backpack. All of that time for contemplation, yet how frivolous & godless I was.
Mom has a new house just for her & I just love it. It's a small cozy house, lots of air, wooden floors, moms antique furniture & family quilts & things all over. Her guest room is my 6th grade bedroom. Same bed, dresser & bookshelf & now Victor is in it. She has pictures of some of my great-great-greats & always in very pretty frames. I've taken to doing that in my own house.
Right out of the house & into my wedded life I carried many small "things" that I would decorate w/. Figurines, little candles, pictures, dead flowers, signs, everyone has been in a house like that. Dust catching junk. You can't see anything, for all of the stuff to see. Growing up, housework was always emphasized, but just a bit too strenuously; I hated it on my own & grew sloppy habits. I'm still not up to my mother in law's standards, but thanks to Flylady & Candy over at Keeping the Home, I have decluttered my walls, surfaces, drawers & closets. I love to get rid of "stuff". Cid is happier & I'm more organized. End rabbit trail.
Mom's house is nothing like that, nor has it ever really been that way. Victor is loving Mo. He loves to play w/ his cousins, Desta & Jaeli. He loved the park, the spill way & caboose that are there. The library is undergound, & he was grinning the whole downstairs climb. This is long, more visiting & fun tomorrow.
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