"NOW, There's A Stack Of Them!

I looked again.  "Well, I'll be!  There's a stack of them there NOW!"

The first time I went by that stand there was ne'er a one!  We were at a final desperation stop - Speedway. 

Grandson, Jayden, and I had been all over the east side of the town of Noblesville, looking for a Wednesday IndyStar newspaper.  We wanted the one with the Black Friday sale ads.  I wanted to pass it around to everyone that would attend our Thankgiving dinner at the Courtyard by Marriott.  

In years past, the men would look through the sports section, and the woman would lay out a plan of attack for Friday's doorbusters according the stores' opening times, and some kids, young and old, would read the comics.

Back to my story.  Like I said we'd been all over, CVS and Walgreens "They don't bring it here anymore." 

BP gas station used to be dependable, even a day later ... not today.  It was a no at the Wal-Mart and Meijer's.  Someone somewhere suggested the Speedway.  

I turned to 10 year old Jayden, "Oh, yes, I know the one.  The one where your Aunt Nikki used to work.  We'll go there."

Well, we passed the metal rack that was empty.

We went to the cashier, "Do you know when the paper's coming?"

Female customer behind me echos the same query.

Cashier points behind us to the left of the automatic doors where men are coming in to pay for their gas, and listening to us, "That stand back there."

I'm thinking I'll look that way out of politeness but we just walked by it and it was empty. 

A short friendly guy, with swinging gaping plaid jacket said, "Yah, they're over there.  I just brought them in."  

Whoo-hoo!  Success!

Headed that way, crossing in front of him, we had a conversation.  When is typical delivery?  "I'm running late because the publisher ran late last night," he said.

Well, that esplains why we couldn't find any.  

What do you do with the next days' leftovers?  "Throw them away.  I still have some in my trunk."

"Can I have them?  To use in my woodstove?"

"Sure.  Let me pay and I'll take you out there."

He opens the trunk (it's bulging with stacks of papers) and gives the contents a perusal, his eyes settle on a stack and he reaches in and says, "Here.  You can have these."

Wow!

I'm grateful.

It's nicely bound, a plentiful bundle.

"Thank you.  Thank you so much."

Jayden and I get back in my car.  I note the family sitting in the delivery guy's vehicle, and I note it's condition and that it's older.  "Jayden.  Here's some cash, go give that man this money for his papers."

Jayden comes back.  

"Did you find him?"

"Yep,"  and he plops his slight little self in the backseat passenger side.  I pull away making exit manuevers, next thing I know Jayden rolls down his window and begins waving goodbye to the guy.

I was astounded at what he said, the unusal wording, and the adult thoughtfulness.  As he was waving, the delivery guy turned and grinned, Jayden spoke very loudly.

"YOU HAVE A GOOD SOUL."  

I looked again.  "Well, I'll be!"  I know someone else who has a good soul!

 

Rib-eye Steak Sandwich, Bug-Eyed Clint!

   

At Portlant, Indiana,

At the Tri-State Gas Engine and Antique Tractor Show at Portland, Indiana,

At the food vendor tent, at the Tri-State Gas Engine and Antique Tractor Show at Portland, Indiana,

Behind the women's club, at the food vendor tent, at the Tri-State Gas Engine and Antique Tractor Show at Portland, Indiana,

Clinton was bug-eyed surprised, "You've never had one!" 

We were in line, about 5th or 6th in line, at the Rib-Eye Steak Sandwich tent.  It was noisey all around us - - putt-putt exhaust pipes, chatting tourists, steam engines making their own kind of music, golf carts whirring, excited loud kids, and food vendors hollering for their customer's attention.  

"No.  Never had one.  Wasn't interested."

"In all these years, you've never had one!?"  he said with mouth agape!

"Nope."

"How many years have we been coming here, camping, swapping, going through these barns, and eating?  20?"

"Yah, probably 20, ever since Ian was about 5 years old."  I'm talking to my 3rd born, who's 36, only for the next 3 days.

Clint shakes his head, he can't believe this.

All the guys go at least once a day while here to get a rib-eye sandwich at this white canvas tent with several long tables at the side for eating.  You can get spiral cut potatoes as a side, too.  They're spiral sliced, skewered, and deep fat fried, um-um, yum, good.  Best you've ever had!

You don't go to the white block building for Lion Burgers (sponsored by the Lions Club), Moose Burgers at the swap meet, taco salad or giant tenderloin that can feed three at the Women's Building.  No, you go behind the Optimist Club to get a rib-eye steak sandwich!  I'm to be chastised!  LOL.

A shorter, robust gentleman in line ahead of us, heard it all.

He turned to us and said, "20 years with out a ribeye.  How dare you?"  

Of course, he was more bemused than anything.  We laughed.

I looked at him with a little smile, "25 actually."

The line fed thru, it was our turn.  The lady taking the money and handing out the foiled wrapped grub said,  "Here ya go."

"I haven't ordered yet."

She nodded her head toward the short robust gentleman walking away, "He bought you one!

Why I'll be!  He was making SURE I was eating a rib-eye sandwich today!

Clint said, "He was as mad as I was."

I laughed my head off.

These men were SERIOUS about their food!!!!  

JACOB And ME PLAY ARMY

IN THE BEGINNING,      THE BOARD'S THE BATTLEFIELD

It's the end of October and 6 y.o. Jacob, grandson, has slowly discovered that I have army men.  At home he remembered and packed his own in his backpack, which he calls packpack.

"I'm gonna take all of your men down and you're dead!"

He's serious about his play!

He and sister sometimes sit with me at church. 

Into church he lugged his packpack when my nephew-in-law said, "Pam, he's got 15 pounds of army men in there!"

Alarm bells!  Oh, no-o-o-o-o, internally my mind was carrying on a fast conversation and forseeing the future and it wasn't good, it was fulll of noises - loud firings, helicopter whirrs, "Shush!" from GrammyPam, and mom stepping down the aisle to quiet her son.  

This wasn't to be!

We came to an understanding.  We play army men at home.  At church we color and draw.

Mine. Puny.

  Closeup of his!

At my house he sets the stage.

"I will set them back up if you shoot mine down."

"This is a flame thrower, he's the roughest."

"I will win all through the ages!"

All through the ages ?! what 6 y.o. says that!

That was one of our first army men play dates.  

This play date was the latest.  Note the rows of them on top of the piano!

What the heck!

How am I supposed to win against all of that, besides he has his own rules 

that ensure he's the heavy!

I said, "You put your army men on MY piano!"

He says, "YES! I'm gonna shoot you down!"

It's not long, though, 'til his age shows itself more urgently.  

"More 'baghettees.  Yah, yah, hungry, hungry."

The heat is off the battlefield, and onto the stove for noodles.

Play is tiring and makes a boy hungry, a hungry army man!

Ainsley, "I see it!"

It began a beautiful sunny day, brightening up the fenced-in area and deck and lighting up the middle yard of green grass.  A great day to spray paint.  I pressed the button, the gears whirred, and the garage door opened.

What an eye-blinking surprise!  It was gently, softly, raining!  I sure didn't realize it.  It was so thin that that rain couldn't be seen from inside the house!

Spray painting put aside, to the son's house to pick up his daughters.  It was just windy.  The rain was done.

As we drove along the country roads, houses tucked beneath tall trees, bridges obscured by overgrown weeds and ground cover, the day became beautiful!  Sun shining over the treetops to lighten up the harvested corn field.  Blueish clouds blowing off to the east.  You'd have never known it had rained.

Then the tiny youngest girl let's out a exclamation.

She's 4, buckled in the mandatory car seat, next to the right door window of my new blue car.  All of a sudden she saw what none of us had noticed.  We were visiting, she was exploring the outside scenery.

We never saw what she saw.  It was so far off in the distance, I sure would've never seen it.  We were stunned; we had to stop the car.  We had to scan in the direction she had scanned.  Actually, she not only saw it first, she saw double.

This small framed, pre-schooler, so excited, said,

"I see a rainbow!"

"It has pink in it!"  

We concurred, it did!  Beautifully!

 

Jacob Inside Outside Condado's

OUTSIDE

Jacob got himself out of his carseat, and slid down and out of the car.  As this 6 y.o. walked around the backend, I said, "We're going to Condado Tacos."  He asked, "Is that a K?"  (Must be learning phonics in first grade.)  I pointed out the sign that read Condado with a C, he gave me to know he didn't like Condado.

"I'm walking to Taco Bell."

ROFLMHO

I laughed so hard at his littleness.

But he kept talking (and walking).  It became obvious he was reciting a conversation he'd had with his dad.

"I say it's raining tacos"

"He says no."

"I say it's raining tacos."

"He says no."

"I say it's raining tacos."

"He says no."

Oh, what was the end of this tale, what was it's depth.  I couldn't investigate, it was more imperative that I get him across the street safely.  Then we were enveloped into the restaurant world and finding our seats, we were late.  We were seated at the end of two tables of 9 peoples.

INSIDE

Jacob and Lilly had rectangular sheets of white paper with a couple of crayons provided for kids.  Jacob wanted markers and he knew I kept some in my nanny bag.  So, I gave him the wide tip markers.  He presses hard with the other kinds and ruins the ends. Well, I hadn't paid any attention when I bought them, I was looking for some that would keep him out of trouble such as whenever he used those dry erase markers, but these were Sharpies; sadly they bled through.  

We tried napkin dipped in water to clean the table.

We tried spittle (shush, don't tell anyone).

We tried the waitress's spray cleaner, unbeknowst to her because she was in the back and very busy; I didn't want to bother her.

Finally, I went to the car and retrieved some hand sanitizer.  

We were cleaning the table when the waitress appeared.  Over my left back shoulder suddenly there she was.  I was hoping we could resolve the whole thing beforehand.

Jacob, honest, naive, and surprising, loudly blurted truth to one and all as he partially rose from his seat,

Hurridly, I said "Sit down, Jacob!"

OH.  MY.  WORD!

WHERE DID THAT COME FROM!?

Some of us heartily laughed.  And one of us quickly put hand to mouth, "Shu-ush-sh!"

There was no mistaking what he was saying to the waitress.

"WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"

King Jayden of Hot Sauce

As she uses her sceptre on his head, Lilly laughs and says,  "You are the King."

Jayden, eating chili earlier in the day says,  "GrammyPam, I don't even taste the hot sauce.  I just taste chili.  So much hot sauce,"  (and he shakes the bottle to get more droplets out).

"So it's very hot?

Jayden comes around the pony wall, running his hand from his chin down his neck, "GrammyPam, it burns all the way down my throat.

I thought I could be the king of hot sauce.

But, no, I'm the prince."

He comes at me with his orange bowl of chili, "Here, GrammyPam, taste this, it's not very hot."

"No way, Jayden, I can't take hot sauce of any kind, not gonna happen."

He goes back to the table, takes a bite.

Takes another bite.  I hear....

'Cough'

'Cough'

And his final declaration, "At least it's not killing me, I'm getting stronger cuz what's not killing me makes me stronger." 

"I Want To Lay In The Grass"

                                                                                               

I want to lay in the grass. I used to. I used to lay on my tummy, arms crossed under my chin and watch the ants. 

 

Ants follow each other. I knew that before I could read because I watched them. One ant carried a white ball, same size as his head, up a green blade of grass. Up. Up. Up. He got to the tip, the blade bent, and down he went. All very interesting.

 

Once Mom poured boiling water on a pile of coffee grounds under the clothesline. It was ants. Guess she didn’t like them crawling up her bare skinny legs while hanging clothes.

I used to not care. Laying in the grass, I’d uncross one arm, reach for my sandwich, take a bite, then lay it down again on the grass. I used to not care about that!

 

Did you know some grass is soft? It was soft at my childhood home. Not here. Here it’s stickery, hard and there’s patches of crusty brown dirt between clumps of bushy grass. But some grass is soft. I know.

I used to lay in grass without a shirt on. Before I got too old for such things I used to ride my trike and lay in clover without a shirt on. Uncle Paul found a four-leaf clover in our soft grass, so I lay in it to get a closer look to find my own four-leaf clover. He was lucky.

 

Instead I found a rolly-polly bug crawling along so I poked him. He curled into a ball! That was funny. Another bite of sandwich. This one full of peanut butter and jelly. I’ll need a drink soon.

Remember not caring? Mom took care of everything. She’d even bring me a glass of red kool-aid before I knew I wanted a drink.

 

I used to lay in the grass until my nose would stop up and I’d have to open my mouth to breathe. Old people hang their mouth open to breathe. Mom said not to do that. She never said, “Don’t lay your sandwich on the ground.” but she did say, “Don’t drop your mouth open - you don’t want to look old.”

After that, they said I had asthma, I couldn’t lay in the grass.

 

Maybe now I want to be out of body. Our bodies are just dirt anyway and they’re going to go away, so I want to be out of body, no pain in the muscles, no pain in the heart, no pain to reason away in the head, just floating and flying with arms as rudders and thoughts as navigation. What fun to fly free and exist without body. No worries, like not worrying about wearing a shirt because I’m a girl.

 

I never had a girl. I had all boys. They love to play in the dirt and lay in the grass. One laid in the grass with a yellow downy duck on his chest. I have a picture. Another laid in the grass laughing while his puppy licked his face. Then they took a nap.

 

Maybe I’ll have a girl grandchild and we can lay in the grass. 

She’ll not worry about a shirt 

and I’ll not worry about the dirt. 

I’ll show her how to make a grasshopper spit. 

And how to lay in the grass, not sit.

I want to lay in the grass. I used to.