You know you're getting older when you mention shows you used to watch to your kids and they never heard of 'em. The shows I'm thinking of were reruns when I watched them so I guess they'd be 3rd generation reruns for my kids. The old black and white stuff. The Andy Griffith show, Gomer Pyle, The Beverly Hillbillies. Guess they all eventually went to color. Mistake. Black and white made the world seem more innocent, a simpler time didn't it?
One of my favorites was Green Acres. I used to come home from high school and get a snack and sit in front of the TV. I didn't have home work. That's what my mom believes and I'd like to keep it that way. Hi mom! My favorite snack was a couple of Kaiser rolls and some butter with a tall glass of cold milk. So I'd butter 'em up and sit a spell. At 3:30 was a show on TBS called Gigglesnort Hotel, made for 5 year old's so naturally I loved it. Then it was Green Acres for an hours worth of laughs. Arnold the pig was my favorite character. Don't know why. Just liked pigs.....
I grew up on a farm. Not really. But I always wanted to. My uncle Ollie had one. In Virginia. We loved to go visit. It was like Disneyland for city kids. So much to do. Maybe the best day in the history of kid-dom was had there one summer in a rain storm. I live in Florida and our ground is made of dirt and when it gets wet it becomes...wet dirt. In Virginia the ground is made of red dirt and when it gets wet it becomes...MUD! Oh my gosh we had so much fun running in the rain, sliding down hills, making mud pies, making bricks without straw. Perfect!
And what good farm wouldn't have animals. It had the standard fair: cows, horses, chickens, pigs and the like. My uncle wanted me to help milk the cows. At 4:30 in the morning! Is God up at 4:30? Got to slop the hogs- just toss in a bucket of dead, old stuff and they went, well, hog wild. The neatest things were the little piglets though. C u t e!!! If you picked them up they'd wiggle and squeal sooo loud! The funnest thing was when they were in the field with their momma and we'd chase them. There'd be like 20 of 'em and we'd start to run at them. You know how a swarm of fish (swarm?) can all turn on a dime all at the same time? Piglets do it too! We'd run up on them and when we'd get close enough we'd kick their hind legs out from under them and they'd roll and skid down the hill in the mud. Great fun for 10 year old's. Sorry PETA.
The only one who didn't like it was mama pig. Ok maybe the piglets too. Pigs can be a mean animal and they have sharp teeth. Fortunately for us, these were slow and not too bright (they'd have never made it on Green Acres) and easy to separate from the piglets. But once they DID get a bead on us we ran for the creek. And every good farm has a creek filled with a little water and lots of, wait for it...MUD!! Pigs can't jump so we'd run and jump for the other side and land in the ...mud. Must have slipped.
Uncle Ollie and aunt Mary had a real dinner bell on a post outside the house that could be heard across the acres when rung. And It was ringing! Dinner! We ran through the creek, across the fields, past the barns to the back door. "EEEEEKKKKK! We told you not to get dirty!" (can a man stop the wind?)"Stand right there!". So we had to strip to our birthday suit and they hosed us off at the door. Then we toweled off and headed for the fireplace where we huddled to get warm. We had a wonderful dinner of eggs, grits, sausage(one of the slower pigs)and thick slices of home made toast. After dinner we went out to catch fireflies in a big mason jar. Then dessert and they tucked all 5 of us in one bed. Aaahhh. A day well lived
This reminds me of another time when I realized I wasn't allowed in the house. Way too dirty for even my best attempts to clean myself up. But Someone offered to do it for me.When I was 17 my DAD washed me. I stood naked before Him, covered in mud and filth, not able to go inside and eat with him. So He washed me clean and draped a robe on me and said "Come on in son and eat and sit with me by the fire". And I sit in His lap and we rock and He tells me how much He loves me. He has a great smile and a hearty laugh. He doesn't say much but He holds me tight and hums a beautiful tune.I like that.
Everyday I go out and live my life and some days I get dirty, sometimes by choice or just because life can get me that way. I come running to His back door and look at myself and say "Sorry. Will You wash me off?" And He always steps out the back door and embraces me and says "I already did. Come inside and lets have some toast". I love my DAD....
That's awesome. :)
ReplyDelete