Grand Rapids....come for the churches, stay for the Nascar and Deer Hunting.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Oatmeal and Cornmeal and...
Both of my grandfathers died when I was around 19.
They lived way way south of me so I didn't see them except on special vacations and holidays. These visits were always, in my recollection, very warm and full of adventure because I was young and in a faraway city.
"Papa," my grandfather on my dad's side, gave me my first pocket knife, and took me out (much to my mother's chagrin) to shoot a shotgun. Things that he thought marked the passing of years for a young boy. We would visit and outta the blue he would look at my dad and say "don't you think it's about time this boy learned how to shoot a shotgun?" Now, whether learning to shoot a gun is a neccessity for passage into manhood is a point that I'm sure is hotly debated for many reasons, but I can tell you this...it was friggin awesome. And Papa knew it would be. I could tell by the look in his eyes.
Papa was not a highly educated man given that his matriculation ceased sometime during elementary school to paint oil rigs. This was during the depression. Conversation with Papa was never extended or profound but he always had these sayings that I had never heard before that would always make me laugh.
For some reason, a few of those sayings popped into my head this morning on my drive into work and I though I would share them with you. I still like to use some of them today.
When Papa was talking to us on the phone and my grandmother was anxiously awaiting her turn to talk he would say:
"Well, I guess I'll put your grandma on the phone now...she's running around here like a snake hit on it's head with a stick."
and when referring to his "leaner" days he would say:
"We were poor but we always had three meals a day...oatmeal, cornmeal, and miss-a-meal"
but my most favorite came when he said, as a few people were trying to pick up the entire tab for a dinner :
"Now, ain't none of us can afford that whole bill so let's just let each dog trod under it's own wagon"
trod under it's own wagon....how freakin priceless is that? (for the record, I wasn't there but the story lived on).
Name: Jonathan Home: Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States About Me: Just a guy who trying to eek out a living as a graphic designer in SW Michigan. See my complete profile
Name: Jonathan
And to think all I ever heard was the snake & stick one. Love the dog & wagon one, but am KEENLY interested to hear Robin's sugar-tit one, too!
So ... all your family. I mean, everybody's safe, right? I had nearly forgotten you had kin in beignet-land.
Good thoughts. And good on ya.