Winter Travel

Jacob has to start back to school Monday so it was time for him to return home to the small town in East Tennessee where he and his family have been living for the past year. We made made the trek today. For Jacob - anything. On the interstates, we passed the outskirts of Hendersonville and Asheville, drove up Saluda Grade and a few miles into the Volunteer State and then back down. Saluda Grade is generally not a desirable road to travel if like me you don't like heights, except for today. Nature's winter beauty superceded my fears. The sky, everchanging and always gorgeous, was a pretty blue and filled with mixed varieties of white clouds, and there was plenty of awesome entertainment as we whizzed by trees that were silhouetted against it. The temperature was in the mid forties, but snow still dappled the more shaded ground and long icicles hung from the walls of stone that line portions of the highway. I love the drab shades of green, brown, gray, and blue of winter in their time. Here are a couple of photos that I took out of the car window.

Music and Hair

Jacob and I have been exchanging cultural-generational information today. I listened to his generation's music as he tried to load some tunes in his new Zune. He likes for me to marvel at Mythbusters with him, something that I would not watch if he weren't here. He agreeably listened to Young Messiah, and I told him how Messiah was a part of my heritage, singing in it first with my daddy, his great-grandfather. Yesterday I took him for a haircut and we talked about the styles he likes. He made a decent choice, now looking like he could be in High School Musical. I think it is good to have these exchanges with children and teenagers even if they are not our grandchildren. They keep us fresh and updated. And we teach them recent history and pass along our culture. How sad it would be for kids not to connect with anyone past their own or their parent's generation or see life through a more experienced lens. After retirement, my daddy, a character of the best kind, participated in a volunteer grandparent program at a nearby elementary school. I am sure there is a young adult somewhere whose life was made better because he was there. At this point in Jacob's life, getting the right haircut and knowing the cool music is imperative. But if I want to wear a bouffant hairdo and listen to the Everly Brothers or iron my hair flat and sing along with Sonny and Cher, who cares! I think it is probably good for him to know that one day he may be past all that, too.

A Chilly Morning

It was bound to happen on the coldest night of the year. The gas heat went out downstairs causing the indoor temperature to fall to forty-eight degrees this morning. Brrr... My poor little dog looked at me pitifully with his one good eye as if to say, "I'm freezing." Thankfully the trusty HVAC repairman was here within two hours of my early call, fixed the problem, and soon the vents were blowing out warm air. Until then, Jacob and I warmed ourselves with some hot tea and cider that had been waiting since Christmas to be opened. It was a bit of an adventure, but it made me wonder how people survived a hundred or so years ago. I think they struggled more for their very existence. We are a spoiled people. I thought this morning of those past luxuries that have become common necessities. And I was also quite appreciative of the scientists, engineers and inventors who brought central heat to homes and families.

My Playmate

On this cold January night, one of my most favorite people in the world is here warming the house, and warming his Grandmommy's heart. Jacob is thirteen now and a little taller I am. He has been remembering some of the things we used to do when he was little. Tomorrow we will be taking the tree down. (Two people I worked with said in their cultures - Scottish and Muslim - the tree must be out by New Years Eve and the house must be totally cleaned. Thank goodness my "culture" gives me until Epiphany.) But Jacob says he remembered once at my house when he "set up the tree all by myself." A proud accomplishment for such a little fellow! Another memory is sitting on my lap and eating ice cream together. He says that ice cream has been our "thing." We used to have a cute little dark-haired girl his age living next door. When Jacob was five, he tried to impress her with his manliness by proving, "I can lift this bicycle," and did, over his head. He actually learned to ride that small bike here and circled the cul-de-sac what seemed like hundreds of times. We have made a bird house and pulled ivy off trees and trimmed whatever needed it. We have laughed over stupid videos.com and misusing the photo red eye remover to make green blotches on people's skin. Last year we tie-dyed tee shirts til the wee small hours. We have made goat cheese pizzas, fettuccini alfredo and fresh grape juice. Tonight we played an American Idol game and now we are writing this blog. I love it when Jacob comes to play with me.

Years Old and New

Today I practiced writing our new year, 2008. We nurses must write our names and dates a thousand times a day at least, and I want to get the new year in my head. In the previous century, 1999, I wondered what we would be calling the years in the the two thousands that wouldn't sound like something out of a sci-fi movie. Changing centuries sounded both awkward and futuristic. But the first years of the previous century were referred to as "o two" as I remember from elementary school jokes, and that is the nomenclature we have settled on now. "O six, o seven," seem to work just fine. And now it is 08. A new year is a natural time to evaluate. For the past few year ends, I have taken time to list the best and worst happenings of my life during that year. A wrap up. I find that it has helped me to resolve a few things as well as propel me toward the future. Resolutions - or long term goals - often come at the end of a frenzied finish to the year (i.e. "holidays") and can help to get us back on track. Matter of fact, I think I will go work on mine right now.