Amazing what kids hear when we think we’re speaking clearly!
Too funny!
Music Appreciation 101
This moment…
Ancient Comforts…
It all started when I decided to clean out the linen closet…
and found this old bottle of linen water. It made me remember the days when my babies were little, when I used to iron…every Tuesday. I can just see the long row of shirts and dresses lined up in the kitchen smelling of lavender and starch.
Yes, I know. People don’t actually do that anymore.
It’s a shame too, really.
There’s something comforting about taking a crumpled, wrinkly thing and making it smooth and crisp and warm and lovely, even when–perhaps especially when–you don’t really have to.
My mama knew that.
Years ago, she used to pay us five cents for every pillow case that we kids pressed and folded and stacked in the hall cupboard. Handkerchiefs were a penny. Of course, Laurie got the big money ironing daddy’s dress shirts—at twenty-five cents a piece. But I was the pillowcase girl.
We didn’t have Linen Water or anything fancy back then. Just a sprinkle jug and a big safety pin to keep the cord out of the way, and a note pad and pencil to add up all the nickles.
I earned a Twist & Turn Barbie just like that. She cost $3.69 and it took from May clear till fireworks before I had enough money to bring her home.
From that day on, I’ve loved the smell of ironing.
Mama told us a story once about a fancy lady she knew, when she was little, that loved ironing so much that she even ironed her sheets–just because she wanted to.
Sheets! Can you imagine?
That’s just silly.
But I discovered this very day, that even though you can, of course, get by without ironing anything–for a long, long time–there is a soothing rhythm to the motion and the warmth and the order…
that, for me, was worth finding again.
It smells curiously like a brand new Barbie…
and crisp, lavender sheets.
The Master of Words
Rick Walton has a new picture book coming out this summer. As always–it’s clever and witty and sweet and wise. I hope you’ll view the book trailer and clap like mad. Seriously, did you know they made trailers for books? I had no idea.
At any rate, every time he has a new book, I just want to shout, “Hey, I know that guy!”
Congratulations again Rick!
Check out some of Rick’s other stuff.
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Little Pioneers…
Long ago and far away when the kids were little–well, little-er, we went on a trip to Martin’s Cove, Wyoming. We hiked around and kids even got to see what it was like to pull a real, live handcart. I took off my shoes and walked the whole way barefoot just to get a feel for it.
On the way up to the Cove, as we were making the long, dreary drive through the Wyoming plains we did everything we could think of to make the trip fun, but I have to say, this part of the drive was incredibly boring. Really, there was just nothing to see…nothing. In fact the view outside the car windows was even gray/brown and dull–like nothing. There were no other cars and no animals and no houses or farms or birds–I’m telling you that it was a slow day in this part of the country. After about 30 miles of this, from out of nowhere, up pops what appears to be a small, abandoned grocery store. We pulled in out of shear boredom and crawled out of the car to stretch. One of the kids went up to the door and peeked through the tinted windows and hollered, “It’s a real store! There’s a person in there!”
Well, she was right. It was a real store and it was open. We were so happy to see the the planet did indeed, still have people on it that we all went in. In our excitement, the kids were given permission to each choose a full-size package of cookies or chips for the rest of the drive. This was big stuff, something that they never really got to do. But seriously, in this dry, dusty, gray, hot, and really really dead looking part of Wyoming, we were ready to do anything to help the kids remember that life was still good and that the end of our long drive was coming soon.
Little bald kid–the one in the front of the picture, was so excited with his very own package of Nutter Butter cookies that when we got out of the store he kept jumping up and down and giggling–squealing really. He was so happy that he almost couldn’t contain himself. With one mighty leap, he threw his fist in the air and shouted, “I just LOVE Hawaii!”
Someday, maybe we’ll take him to lovely, lush, green Hawaii so he can see how funny that really was.
Alo-ha.
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