* MY COUNTDOWN TO THANKSGIVING - DAY 2 *

* Countdown to Thanksgiving *

 

 

 

I never spent Thanksgiving at my grandparents' home when I was a little girl. I'm sure it was because they lived hundreds of miles away from us and time just didn't allow it. I sometimes wished we could be there with them, and would go around our house singing the song in the You Tube video below:

 

 

 

And of course, my wishes also included the snow and the horse-drawn sleigh! 

 

 

 

 

"I suppose I will die never knowing what pumpkin pie tastes like when you have room for it." ~Robert Brault http://rbrault.blogspot.com/

 

(Ahh, my friend Robert Brault has written more amazing words of wit and wisdom than anyone else I know! His books can be purchased on Amazon.)



* A HOME IS GONE, BUT NOT THE MEMORIES *

This is a photo of my Grandma Louise & Grandpa Harl Dorsey on the left, and my Great Aunt Grace & Great Uncle Albert Foster on the right. (Louise & Grace were sisters.) It was taken near the side of my grandparents' house in Greenfield, Iowa. I still love that small town, and visit it often, where I spent magical vacations as a little girl during the 1950s and early '60s.

Greenfield, Iowa - 1950s

It's the only photo I could quickly locate, but hopefully I'll come across a few more later. I'm so terribly sad and have actually shed some tears, because I learned this past Tuesday, Sept 8th, that it BURNED DOWN. (No cause known at this time.) It had been bought, and sold, and rented over the years, and was in pretty bad shape, but I'd always dreamed of having enough money someday to buy it and renovate it back to the beauty and charm it displayed all those years ago.

I wrote about these four lovely ancestors in several chapters of my memoir, "From Pigtails to Chin Hairs," and how much they meant to me. The following is the last paragraph in the chapter, "A Timeless Journey."

       The furniture, pictures on the walls, and old-fashioned knick-knacks were always the same: crocheted doilies here and there, roller shades on the windows, white sheets on the beds that smelled like sunshine, and Grandma’s quilt with the little, yellow sunbonnets on it. This was a place where time stood still—no matter how long between visits—and always surrounded me with feelings of love, comfort, and home.

The next time I visit Greenfield, I think it will be difficult to not drive along SW 2nd Street, the way I've always done before, looking for that familiar home, but I'm also sure it would be very depressing to see an empty lot. Only time will tell.

* Grandpa Had a Perpetual Calendar *

Grandpa had a shiny, brass perpetual calendar. He kept it on top of the ornate, built-in wooden cabinet that separated the living room from the dining room. (It was similar to the one below.) As a young child it intrigued me because it was something I didn't see in anyone else's house. I always looked forward to getting up in those summer mornings....to go outside and play, of course....but also because grandpa would let me turn the little knobs and make the correct day and number appear. How fun it was!

Google source

(And how cool is this that I found one with yesterday's date??)

The only calendars I knew about were the paper kind you hung on the kitchen wall, above the bright red step-stool chair. (Like the one below.) Ours was probably the free one that our church handed out after Mass. It had all the holidays and Holy Days already on it, so families wouldn't forget when they had to go to a Mass that wasn't on a Sunday. 

Google source

Many years ago, a wonderful friend gave me a perpetual calendar as a gift. It was either for Christmas or my birthday; I don't remember which, since they're only 12 days apart! ☺ We met when we had young sons in the same school, and attended the same church. We both sang alto in our church choir and those practices were both solemn and loads of fun. I'm sorry to say that as our boys grew up, we drifted apart as happens quite often, but we still send Christmas cards to each other every year. 

photo by Becky

I'm happy to say that I still have this darling little calendar. It's in my kitchen and every time I even glance at it, I think of her and of my grandpa. 

"Elephants and grandchildren never forget." -- Andy Rooney

** Flying in a 1946 Piper Cub **

Anyone who knows me very well, knows that the thought of me flying in a tiny, 2-seater 1946 Piper Cub prop plane, would be totally unbelievable! BUT, during my visit to the RAGBRAI Event in Greenfield, Iowa, I thought it sounded like a fun, adventurous thing to do!! As you can see by the photo, the pilot is helping me into my seat, in the front of the plane.....no right side door or window....and he sat directly behind me, somehow controlling the plane!

We flew around the town of Greenfield, population 2100, for about 20 minutes. We saw many of the bicyclists riding into town, plus some of the support crews in their campers, buses, etc. I was also able to pick out the house my grandma and grandpa lived in all those years ago when I visited as a young child!!

It was absolutely amazing and I can't wait to do it again!

(I'm also ready for those hot-air balloon rides and wild roller coasters!!)