Stick Horse Cowgirls

V and I were musing about the changes we have seen in our long lives.  Our conversation centered on our society’s (V and me included) need to stay connected.  This came about as we were fiddling with V’s new Kindle Fire which will, of course, connect to her Facebook, Blog, E mail, Internet, Library, etc., etc..  And this is in addition to her I-Phone and computer.  I’m in the same boat—toting the I-Phone and I-Pad wherever I go. When V and I were growing up, there was nary a thought of a personal cell phone.  My mother and mother-in-law did not have cells until they were in their seventies, and yet all of us—those two octogenarians, too—think we cannot leave the house without a cell phone.  Furthermore, I get irritated as all get-out when Son either has let his run down or if he has left it where he cannot hear it. I think back to the days when we would just have h ad to wait until we either saw the person we wished to reach or when they were at home w...

Well, after two years of nursing my hurt feelings over the divorce, Son has decided to take a job two and a half hours north.  It is a good opportunity for him to combine work with his passion for outdoor skills.  Much as I know it is time for him to go (and he has been good to stay as long as he has), I will miss him.  He has seen me back on my emotional feet, good son that he is.  I am thankful that he’s not out of reach, at least. My mother is worried sick.  My mother’s job in this family, however, is to worry—especially about her grandkids.  My sister and I think she’s adopted “worrier” as her identity.    She has called me with all kinds of “what ifs.”  I reminded her that not too many years ago, young men (at what? 18 or 19 years of age?) would kiss their mother’s on the cheek, saying, “ I’m off to seek my fortune” and go off into the sunset, their belongings tied in a rag on a stick. At least it’s not that bad…at least we...

I just finished reading “ The Help ” by Kathryn Stockett.  This book is written mostly from the perspective of black maids in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 60’s—just my era.  I could not put this book down.  I identified with so much in it.  This is an uncomfortable subject for me.  It was our life back then, but looking at it from 21st Century eyes, I see just all kinds of vestiges of slavery in the way our society was structured those days.  It is, as I say, “uncomfortable.”  Still, it is history, and I”m going to tell you what my life was like in this respect. My father was a lawyer—Southern country lawyer.  I remember him going to court in the summer time in blue and white seersucker suits and light (white or “light buck”) shoes.  This was not unusual for attorneys of the day.  Courtrooms were hot, and a dark suit would have probably been unbearable.  I also saw lawyers back then with straw “panama” hats, although my d...

Notice to those who have designs on snatching my purse:  There’s never any cash there!  If you get my cards, I’ll cancel them pronto…you may as well give it up.  The only thing that will be accomplished is aggravation to me as I go through the rigmarole to replace my identification and credit cards. I remember just a few years ago first hearing the talk that we were moving to a “cashless society.”  I scoffed at the idea.  I’m eating my words; I think I’m there.  I never have any “folding money” in my pocket these days.  And when I do, it is likely because I ran by the ATM machine, not because I held out from a deposit or cashed a check, like the old days. Remember asking the grocer if you could write a check for $20 more than the grocery bill?  I used to do it so that I’d have money for lunch or gas.  Doesn’t happen for me anymore.  I just swipe my debit card instead.  Everywhere. Just the other day I was in the bank grabbing ...