Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A Sad Day

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s,
The Ewe is a bit down today. I learned late yesterday afternoon of the death of a dear lady, Jane B. I only knew her a short time, while in a writing class, but she really touched my life. She was battling cancer even then--a year ago--when I met her. She was such a good writer and I was amazed at the amount of research she had done. She and her husband were raising their grandson.
After we left The Big City and came here, Down South, I kept up with Jane via her blog. She had beautiful pictures of her garden posted there; her wisteria was gorgeous. Along with her lovely flowers, though, she posted snippets of her life with cancer. I will admit that I never believed she'd die soon. She seemed so full of ideas and plans for the future--not the least of which was caring for her grandson. I know she agonized at the idea of her boy growing up without her. I guess I thought that since she wanted to live so much, well, surely she would. As if we get to choose that.
Well, last week she went to be with Jesus. I am comforted at the fact that she is no longer in pain...no longer sick from chemo, no longer worried about the future. Still, I feel that we humans have lost a real gem.
I'm still reading through her blog today--so glad it hasn't been removed. I'm reading it with more fervor now, knowing I need to glean from it as much as I can.
I read a post of hers where she was talking about needing to get some family recipes written down, as they were pivotal to her family's Christmas celebration. I hope she got that done.
Reminds me to put a little fire under myself to do the same--not that I plan on going anywhere for a long time! But, time marches on.
If you're familiar with "FlyLady," you know that Wednesday is "Anti-Procrastination Day." I'm thinking maybe every day should be Anti-Procrastination Day. Who knows how many Wednesdays we have left?
Sigh...Ok...I hope I haven't bummed you out. I am feeling pretty bummed out today, but also so blessed to have met Jane.
I need to get busy.
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe

Monday, March 30, 2009

Surprise!

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s,
I bet you thought I'd never blog again, didn't you? Well, you just never can tell, can you? LOL
I want to tell you about a story my mother used to tell. It is true--or at least, based on a true story.
Evidently, one of Mama's brothers had been caught smoking cigarettes. I believe he was in about junior high, at the time. Papa (that is, my Grandfather) had told the offender that if he caught him smoking again, he would "set his rear end on fire." (Now, though I was certainly an exemplary child, I have, indeed, heard that phrase and know that it means that a spanking or switching is about to be handed out.)
As you can guess, Papa discovered his son out behind the barn one day--smoking a cigarette. Being true to his word, Papa administered a couple switches to the dungareed behind of my uncle, not knowing that Uncle had stashed his matches in that very pocket. Both men were astonished when Uncle's rear end started smoking! Evidently, the friction from the correction met up with a match head and, well...Papa really *did* set Uncle's rear end on fire!
From my understanding, the spanking ended there and the two set about extinguishing that back pocket.
I also understand that Uncle never did smoke again. In either way.
Well, The Ewe must run. I'm AWOL from the kitchen, with dinner time rapidly approaching. I'll surprise you again, sometime. :-)
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe