Camel Ride

My Australian adventure in 2017 allowed me to have some unusual experiences. One of those was my first camel ride.  Camels were brought to Australia long ago as a beast of burden.  Once the work had been finished, the order was given to shoot the camels.  This order wasn't followed and the camels were released to fend for themselves.  After all, I'm sure the workers had become quite fond of these creatures and who would want to shoot the very beast that had helped you to accomplish your long days of labor in intense heat. Therefore, camels evolved into wild animals.

On one of our stops in the hot desert, we had the option to ride a camel.  Three camels were selected to serve our tour bus of adventurous tourists.  I still had not made up my mind if I was actually going to ride.  I watched others as they mounted...two at a time.  The guided would walk the camels around a large track, yell "CUSH", the camel would kneel, riders dismount, two more would load, camel would stand, and off they would go.  I immediately observed that each camel had a different personality.  One was compliant, one a little lazy, and one was a Contrary A$$ that fussed and balked at each command! The Cush command had to be repeated several times and often reinforced with the threat of a stick.   I calculated...if I was going to ride, I needed to get in line so that I didn't have to deal with old Contrary A$$.  I would ride with the lady in front of me, and we would be riding Compliant.  We were the last two in line.

As we started to mount, the camel guides told us, 'NO"!  The other lady was as blessed as I with weight and he was not going to let us ride double.  He helped the lady get on Compliant...then turned to me...and pointed for me to get on...wouldn't you know it....Old Contrary A$$!!!!   Now everyone else was watching. Not wanting to look like I couldn't do anything they just did, I walked over got a foot hold, and struggled to hoist my well nurtured body to the seat.  Just is I did, Old Contrary A$$ let out a bellow that resonated across the desert leaving the impression that he had just been neutered by a bob cat.  I could feel the blood rising in my face for both anger and embarrassment.  I could hear all those skinny little malnourished hussies laughing and snickering.   My mouth took over and before I could stop them, the words came out of my mouth, "Shut Up, Bitch, and Ride!"  Ride we did, slowly around the track.

As we rounded the corner and headed down the home stretch, the guide asked me if I would like to trot.  Actually, I really didn't, but I saw this as an opportunity to get revenge on Old Contrary A$$.  My response was, "Absolutely!" The guide took off running, holding on to the rope, and OCA had to follow.   As before, Cush did not come easy, but I walked away feeling that I had gotten the last word with Old Contrary A$$.


 

Write Faster!

September 8, 2013 

As usual, I take Leigh out every Saturday morning. Her favorite place to go is Schlabach's Bakery. There she gets her weekly treats that are halved or quartered and stored in the freezer. She tries to greet everyone in the store, and can sometimes...well more like every time we go.... be a bit too loud. Saturday was one of those days when it was crowded and Leigh decided to exercise her lungs. I was trying to occupy her thoughts and distract her while I paid for her goodies. I told her I needed to sign my name and then I asked her to spell it for me. I just knew she was going to spell out C-o-n-n-i-e R-i-c-h-a-r-d-s-o-n and give me time to finish signing, grab my bag, and exit before she exhaled with great force again. Without hesitation, Leigh yelled M-A-M-A . Guess I will have to learn to sign my name faster. 

Charlie Brown

October 31, 2016 

I got to spend the day with Charlie Brown...and every time I said, "Wah wah wah," he said, "Good Grief!"

Really...CMA?!?!?

November 3, 2016 

Dear CMA,
Really?!?! Did you think that everyone was watching the Cubs win and wouldn't notice? Or maybe you have fallen on hard times and had to scrape the bottom of the barrel for a guest appearance. Or should I give you the benefit of doubt and assume that you were not aware that the Ditzy Chicks would drag that on stage. I do hope you will be able to redeem yourself for this ghastly mistake. And for future reference, do not disgrace country music, what it stands for, and those that have worked so hard to make CMA what it is/was by allowing such a controversial "B" that doesn't have a country music blood cell in her body to be a part of the program. Perhaps you should consider a name change.
Sincerely,
Knows Definition of Respect

CC's Helper

December 12, 2016

Thank you, April Adkins Shrum, for making my little buddy smile for me to make his picture. :)

Nothing Left But Memories

December 28, 2016 

Lots of childhood memories awaken in my mind when I see this photo. Then the sadness creeps in as I look at the photo and realize that nothing but the abandoned post office still stands.

Tennessee Good Old Days

December 28, 2016 · 

Stewart County - Big Rock, Tennessee - 1970's
Featured is a view of downtown Big Rock as seen in the 1970's - Have you been to Big Rock ?

Miss Louise

February 24, 2017 

Look who came home with me today! She is a Beauty! Her name is Miss Louise after three great ladies. Two of whom were mother then daughter owners and one of them was my oldest sister who shared a passion for sewing. Miss Louise's serial number says her birth certificate was granted January 8, 1910. I am still researching her history and plan to spend a little time pampering her for the hours we will be spending together in the future. I learned to sew on a treadle machine and have wanted one for ages. Brings back memories of when I would peddle that wheel as fast as I could until my mother heard it. Well, I had to have something to do! I am searching online for a manual. More on Miss Louise later.

Officer DeLoach

Excuse me, Mam. You just ran that red light!

Just Thinking

April 10, 2017 

This evening, I was sitting on my screened porch listening to the frogs chant their welcome to the warmth of springtime. At a distance, I heard the whippoorwill calling out its greeting that I tried so hard to imitate 60 something years ago. Soon after, among the trees down by the creek, a firefly announced its presence. It dawned on me that these things had not changed during my life span.
Personal life events, the local and world news, and new inventions take control of our thoughts and dominate our lives. Our memories of simplicity soon fade. I thank God for the little frogs, whippoorwills, and fireflies that, in their simple and ever unchanging ways, pull me off that merry-go-round and help me to mentally escape for just a few minutes back to a time and place of enchantment.

It Never Gets Easier

This weekend we attended the Richardson Family Reunion at cousin Jo Anne Brame's home in Hopkinsville.  Leigh loves her family and especially reunions because she knows she will see family members that she often mentions, smiling faces, get much needed hugs, and eat some delicious food.

This also means that she will get to spend the night at home with us.  This is the home she has always known.  Leigh loves coming home to spend a night or two and does so on certain holidays.  She has her rituals and favorite foods that are expected during her stay, and she reminds me of her expectations frequently...in the event that I might forget. She has a stash of little keychains, books, gloves, magazines, anything that she can dangle, and she always has both hands full packing them around the house and dropping her little items everywhere. I'm constantly telling her to pick up her stuff, or just doing it myself so I do not step on something.  She tries to make me promise that I will make her a glove from fabric scraps, take her shopping for a favorite item, or go to McDonalds for her large Diet Dr Pepper.  And if she doesn't get the answer she wants, she will wear you down until she gets it so you can finally get some relief.  Even though her demands are numerous, they are simple.  One of her favorite places is sitting on my bed with the window open...regardless of the weather outside...watching cars pass and listening to outside sounds. I often wonder what she is thinking, and I'm sometimes envious of her ability to easily escape what we call the real world.

Leigh is a strategical planner. Her 'requests' are staged at times that she knows that she is more likely going to get a positive response.  Telling Leigh 'no' usually has an unpleasant consequence.  She knows that unpleasant consequences to being told 'no' are likely to reverse the decision if she is out in a public place or in the doctor's office. Anyone in Clarksville that has been in a public area where Leigh frequents has likely heard her screaming and yelling at decibel numbers comparable to a heavy metal rock concert.  Then all eyes are on me waiting to see my reaction...and what I'm are going to do about it.  She KNOWS I don't like attention. No one likes to hear a people stampede that sounds much like a herd of elephants headed in your direction, coming to see who/what is emitting those blood curdling screams...then glaring at me in shock as if I had purposefully provoked it!  What they don't realize is that Leigh is capable of much more than her notorious screams.

When Leigh's home visit comes to an end,  we start the packing process hours ahead.  She brings little items to me all throughout her stay asking if she can take it to her home.  Most of the time I say yes...she has trained me to avoid unpleasant consequences.  If I have made one of her favorite foods such as cornbread or cherry pie, she will always ask to take it home with her.  If she finds my gloves that I use in the kitchen, they must go home with her.  If she manages to get into my sewing room unsupervised,  she searches for fabric or zippers to cart out the door.  Then getting her to the door is like herding cats!  She is constantly running back to get another trinket to take with her. I'm not sure if this is a fun game for her or if having something from home comforts her.

The drive back to her home means the radio has to be set on 92.9 and the volume at a specific setting that I dare not change, and it MUST include a stop at the driveup window at McDonalds for a large Diet Dr Pepper...and a hamburger if I haven't packed a plate of food for her from home. She greets her staff upon arrival and her daily living routine picks up again as she sets the lights, radio, and surroundings to her liking. She has a wonderful staff who works with her.  They take her places and do things with her that I never dreamed that she would do.  I call them her Guardian Angels.

The trip back to my home is only 4.6 miles, but the thoughts that go through my head seem to last forever.  Thoughts of all the changes that have transpired in the past since Leigh has been living in her own home, and what lies in the future. My body seems so heavy as I get out of the car and go inside.  The silence that now fills the entire house is haunting.  I choke when I begin to pick up items that she dropped when both her hands were tightly holding on to her little pieces of comfort.  And just when I think I have it together, I move a pillow on my bed and find a glove.

It never gets easier.

In Memory of our Beloved Matriarch, Virginia Richardson

Excerpts from “The Next Place” by Warren Hansen

In Memory of our Beloved Matriarch, Virginia Richardson

The next place I go will be peaceful and familiar.

I will glide beyond the rainbows.

I will drift above the sky.

I will be embraced by all the family and friends I have ever known.

And the circle of our spirits will shine brighter than the sun.

I will cherish all the love and laughter in the place I leave behind.

Our Beloved Matriarch

Obituary- Virginia Richardson

Leigh'ism

The second I step inside the door, or the second she steps out the door at her home, Leigh bombards me with her not so pleasant choices, inappropriate actions, and downright devilish deeds.  It is as if I'm Mother Teresa and she has to confess and get it off her chest.  But there are times that it is hard for me to detect a sorryful expression and it could easily be confused for a proud moment and she is bragging about what she has done to something or someone.  These actions could be something she had torn up, broken, a screaming/yelling episode, or a physical encounter with her assistants.   There were times that these confessions went on for an hour or more...and she was doing all the talking!  In my attempt to turn this around to a more positive way of thinking and discourage her from bragging about what all she had done, I told her I would only listen to three confessions, and for each confession she has to tell me something positive she has done to erase the undesirable deed.  This has worked somewhat, but Leigh is clever enough to work this rule to her benefit.

In the beginning, Leigh would hide her face when I put on my stern expression, held up one finger, and clearly stated, "That's ONE!"  She would then tell me a good deed whether she had done it or not. I learned to check her story before I gave her credit.  As time went on,  Leigh would start confessing, put up a finger(s) and start her own count.  There was one occasion when we were driving in the car, I had a little road rage, and she looked at me, stuck her index finger up, an and stated, "That's ONE!"

When her confessions begin to outnumber her good deeds, Leigh has a persuasive way of 'whitewashing' what she has done.  Today while on our Saturday outing, Leigh let go of a couple of her blood-curdling war whoops.  Realizing that the count was about to begin, Leigh immediately looked at me and stated, "Have happy episode!"  I cut my eyes at her and stated that it didn't sound too happy to me. She responded with, "Just little happy episode....not big happy."  Yes, my poker face melted and as hard as I tried not to laugh, I lost it.  Leigh, you outsmarted me again. 

Mirror Mirror on the wall......the most rotten stinker of them all!