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When? How? Why? Will you?

Posted on September 27, 2012 by susanrray

“When can I open my first bag?”  my Grand asked.  Just like all five year olds, she likes surprises, and her mother had packed five bags for her to open while she rode with her Pop and me to the beach.  A five hundred mile car ride.  Her mother’s suggestion was that my Grand open a bag, filled with snacks and quiet sit-in-your-seat activities, to mark each hundred miles, 100 to 400, and one for whenever I thought she needed it.  She needed it to mark twenty miles travelled.  And her question was the first of many that my Grands, ages 3, 5, and 7, asked during a week’s vacation with their parents, baby sister, Pop, and me.

How big is the beach?  How much water is in the ocean?  How far is it across the water to land?  How long would it take to get there?  In a boat?  On a plane?  Where did all this sand come from?  How far can we see?  When do the waves stop?  Do shrimp have bones?  Does a starfish have meat?  What lives in those little holes on the beach? Will the dolphins swim close to us?  How come high tide isn’t the same time as yesterday?  Why don’t we have little tiny frogs at home?  How long does it take a monarch to get to Mexico?  Do we get a special treat (such as ice cream) every day while we’re on vacation?

Some answers were easy, some a guess, and some required research, and all were answered to satisfy each Grand’s curiosity.  I don’t intend to repeat the answers – except a few.  I answered that starfish do not have meat, but they do.  They are best eaten after they’ve been boiled, and several should be served since there is only one small bite of meat in each.

Those little holes in the sand?  I’d assumed they were critter holes, and I was wrong.  I googled coastalcare.org and learned that while some tiny sand fleas jump into them, these holes aren’t homes for sea life.  They are formed by the rising tide.  As waves crash onto the beach, the airflow under the sand is so strong that air is pushed above the surface and makes small openings.  They are often called ‘nail holes’ because none are larger than the diameter of a large nail.

Of all the questions my Grands asked, my favorites required no thought, no research, and a simple one-word answer.  “Gran, do you want to jump in the waves with me?”  “I’m going to make a blueberry sand cake with drippy icing.  Wanna’ help?”   “Gran, will you come play with me?”  I couldn’t get out of my beach chair fast enough.

I hope my Grands never stop asking questions.

 

Filed under: Everyday Life, Family, Grandchildren, Travel | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

Summertime…..A Good Visitor

Posted on September 20, 2012 by susanrray

I’m not finished with summer.  I want more warm days to play in the swimming pool.  “Watch me, Gran!”  my oldest Grand says.  He runs the length of the diving board and jumps into deep water.  “Did you see me?”  he says as soon as his mouth breaks the water’s surface.  Of course.  I applaud and promise to watch as he dives underwater to pick up a toy that lies on the bottom of the pool, four feet deep.

“Swing me around, Gran.  Really fast,” says my five-year old Grand.  She adjusts her goggles, twists the water wings on her arms, and tightens her closed mouth.  I hold her hands and rotate in a circle, around and around and around.  When I say I’m dizzy, she says, “I’m not.  I’ll throw the ball and let’s see who gets it first.”  She dog paddles and holds the floating ball high in the air.  “Did you know I can swim really good on my back?” I watch as she lies on top of the water and kicks across the pool.

“Gran, hold me.  I don’t want to get my face wet.”  My three-year-old Grand locks her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck.  As I walk into water deep enough to reach her chest, she tightens her grip.  I remind her that earlier in the summer, she put her face in the water and blew bubbles.  “I don’t want to.  You can,” she says as she buries her face in my shoulder because her big brother and sister splash water close to us.

It’s not just fun in the pool that I don’t want to end.  I’m not ready to give up late afternoon pontoon boat rides and sunsets at Center Hill Lake.  And I’ll miss my smallest bird friends.  A hummingbird feeder hangs outside my kitchen window, but now it’s time to take it down and encourage the hummers to head south.  I haven’t eaten all the locally grown watermelon and cantaloupe and yellow squash I want, and I need at least one more mess of fresh green beans.

I like hosta plants with green leaves, not wilted yellow and brown leaves.  My knockout roses are knocked out for this growing season, and the blooms of my red impatience flowers are drooping on the end of long thin stems.  I like long days with sunrise at 5:30 a.m. and sunset at 8:00 p.m.  Plus, I’m not ready to give up comfortable summer clothes – shorts, tee shirts, and flip-flops.

The backyard deck is my favorite summertime room.  It’s where I listen to the songs of night creatures and greet the day with my first cup of coffee and eat lunch with my Grands and read in the late afternoon and cook on the grill.

Just like a good guest, summer comes for a visit.  Then leaves while I’m still having fun and promises to come back.  I’ll be ready.

Filed under: Everyday Life, Family, Friends, Grandchildren | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

How Girls are Wired

Posted on September 13, 2012 by susanrray

Last week I visited a kindergarten class.  Two little girls sat on the floor side-by-side and stacked blocks on each side of a balance weight scale.  I watched and asked them what they liked about school.  Millie answered quickly.  “I like my two best friends.  Lydia and Lora.”  She didn’t know their last names.  Lydia said, “I like my teacher.  She’s nice.  And my two best friends.  Millie and uh……..What’s her name?”  I laughed.  It’s good to know that some things about little girls haven’t changed since I was a child.

Young children are friends and don’t know each other’s last names.  And sometimes, just like Lydia, they don’t know first names.  And it hasn’t changed that girls have best friends.  Boys have friends, but seem to run in packs.  During the twenty-five years that I taught elementary age students, and more than that as the mother of a son, I’ve never known a boy who wrote BFF (best friends forever).

According to a study reported in TIME Science and conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health and Georgia State University, girls are hardwired to care about one-on-one relationships with their best friend forever, while the brains of boys are more attuned to group dynamics and competition with other boys. (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1911103,00.html)

I was ten when my best friend’s family moved twenty miles away and my friend went to a different school.  I cried for three nights.  Who would I sit with at lunch?  Who’d swing with me on the playground?  And who’d ask me to spend the night?  On Friday, the girl who sat behind me in my 5th grade class wore her red shirt that was just like mine, and she went home with me after school.  And the next Friday night, I stayed all night at her house.

We females latch onto a friend and declare her my BBF.  In high school, a best friend loans her glittery sweater and keeps secrets.  As maid of honor, she stands beside us when we say, “I do.”  She babysits so we can get a haircut when our days are filled with dirty diapers and play dough.  She picks up our children at school when we’re sick.  She plans our surprise 40th birthday party.  She’s the first person we call with good news.  Or bad news.

Among a listing of Truths for Mature Humans I read, “I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history when you die.”  I agree.  And I hope she cleans my bathroom and throws away the molded casserole on the bottom shelf of my refrigerator before my relatives arrive.

As Millie and Lydia grow up, I predict that they’ll have many different best friends and they’ll know their names.  First and last names.  But the names aren’t important.  What’s important is that they have a close friend for each stage of their lives.  That’s just the way girls are wired.

Filed under: Everyday Life, Friends | Tagged: | Leave a comment »

TTU Purple Pride

Posted on September 6, 2012 by susanrray

I’m searching in my closet for purple and gold.  Purple shirt and purple sweater.  Gold scarf and gold eagle pin.   All to show my Tech Pride.

Last week when Husband told me that TTU football coach Watson Brown would speak at Business before Hours, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, I wanted to go.  Because I was curious to hear about the player who transferred from the team that wears orange jerseys.  Coach Brown told how hard work and determination won the OVC last year and that this year’s team includes a senior quarterback, a group of freshman receivers, and a solid defense.  And I heard two phrases that I liked about the newest team member:  ‘there’s no I in team’ and ‘a second chance.’

I’m a long-time Tech sports fan.  I attended my very first football game at Tennessee Tech when I was a high school student.  As a Tech student, I missed very few games.  And I loved homecoming.  We girls wore wool suits, with skirts, high heel shoes, and corsages.  A corsage made with a huge yellow mum and purple ribbon.  I wasn’t a fair weather fan.  One homecoming, my brand new leather shoes, bought just the day before, were ruined by a torrential rain.  Homecoming 1969, when the temperature was below 30 degrees and snow fell, I was there to cheer on my team.

Tech Pride runs wide and deep in my family.  My dad, husband, son, brother, niece, nephew, and a host of in-laws all earned degrees from Tennessee Tech.  And at the beginning of every school year when I hung my Tech diploma on the wall behind my desk, (because my principal told us teachers that’s where our college diplomas belonged) I was proud.

I’m sorry to admit that my Tech Pride has waned for a time.  There’s no good excuse.  But last week my Tech spirit soared.  After hearing Coach Brown’s comments, I was eager to see the first game of the season.  And I was there, along with 10,000 other people.  It was a great night for Tech football.  Tents and tables welcomed tailgaters.  The student side of the stadium was filled.  Cheerleaders led the fans in cheers and did a push-up for every point the Tech team scored.  The band entertained at half time.

And the players won their first game of the season.  A team win.  The quarterback threw passes that both freshmen and veteran receivers caught.  When Tech’s lead went from 31-7 to 31-24 in the third quarter, Tech’s defense got tougher.  And the player who used to wear orange?  He looked good in purple as he caught passes, one for a touchdown.

My Tech Pride is revived.  I’m ready to put on my purple sweater and cheer on my football team this Thursday night at Tucker Stadium.  The tailgate park opens at 4:00 p.m.  Kickoff is at 7:00 and it’s Take a Kid to the Game Night.  A perfect outing with my Grands.  And they already have purple shirts.

Filed under: Everyday Life, sports | 4 Comments »