I went over to Rob’s house this afternoon after a church. I visited for awhile with Rob and Charlotte in their kitchen. Rob had scotch and soda, Charlotte had wine, I had a lemon-lime Shasta.
After visiting for awhile, Rob and I went to his basement and he played me an old record from the 60’s called the Thirteen Floor Elevators. One guy in the band played the electric jug, whatever that is. It sounded like an owl in pain.
Then I showed him how to rip cd’s so the track names were included. He has a fancy Dell DJ that he’s quite happy with. I could have spent two days with him, fixing up his old computer and showing him how to use his software. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time. They were only just back from Utah and I had to go to dinner. It was nice to see them again, however briefly.
I then went back to Grassland Ct. where Mom and Jane served up a giant leg of lamb. Grandma almost choked on a very large slice. Luckily she was able to get it out. Mom cut the slices for her after that. The meal was very quiet until we broke into a discussion of politics. Luckily that ended with two cakes, one yellow and one brown, and a steaming cup of decaf coffee. We then started telling stories about trouble we had all got into as children.
I had just found out from Rob that I almost died when I was 4 by wandering onto the freeway. Mom and Rob were driving to Virginia from Boise. They stopped to look at Lava Hot Springs at a pulloff on the side of Highway 30. I had wandered back onto the road. The large semi was bearing down on me, honking its horn. Mom grabbed me by the shoulder before I was turned into road kill. She promptly spanked me, so I was told. I don’t remember any of this.
My favorite was when Jane and Mom were reminiscing about Jane and her jumping on the bed. They were told “no” by grandpa, several times. But they didn’t listen. Then Mom fell down and hit her head. She had to get stiches. Jane said she wasn’t jumping, but I guess she pushed Mom down. She felt so guilty because the next day was Halloween, and she might have caused Mom to miss the bags of candy. So she was prepared to take an extra pillowcase for mom, to make up for it. I don’t know if Mom every made it to Halloween that year.
I enjoyed the laughter that came from reminiscing. Tomorrow, however, it’s back to work for me. I leave early for my flight. I think I arrive about 5 minutes after I take off, due to the time change. I’m looking forward to seeing Bertie.
7 responses to “Thirteen Floor Elevators, Lamb”
How’bout the time you almost drowned, and Mom pulled you out by the hair?
Yeah. That one came up too. We were sitting on the dock in some murky pond. Mom looked around and didn’t see me. She reached down, pulled me up, and the rest is history.
How about you, Kate, did you ever have any near death experiences as a kid?
I had an almost-drowing experience too. We were at some lake with one of those raft/islands you can swim to. I panicked, which made things worse, and the lifeguard came and rescued me.
Not any drastic near death experiences (as a kid), but I did manage to lock myself in the trunk of the saab. I didn’t know if I was going to survive or not…
Okay, children. Now to set the record straight. Why would a loving mother spank her son after he nearly gets crushed by a 20 ton semi? The Dobson influence. We raised our kids perfectly…if they turn out well, blame us. Otherwise, it must be Rob’s fault…. Anyway…There are two good reasons to spank children. One is if they do something very dangerous (run in the street, play with matches, etc) you make an extra impression on them so that they will NEVER do that again. That is why Dad had to spank Heidi after shooting the bb gun at the mirror. It wasn’t a capital offense, but future touching of guns/weapons could be.
Edward maybe wasn’t as aware of the danger he had been in, but I wanted him to remember to not run ahead on a busy street/highway. We always explained the spanking, then hugged, cried and loved you afterward. And made sure you knew we were not angry.
What is the other reason?
Oh yes, the other reason. That is for the usual reason: consequences after having crossed over a known line. Hurting someone, repeated disobedience which shows disregard for rules or disrespect for an adult or those in charge. Eggregious misbehavin’.
Usually you kids just needed the look! We didn’t think it right to spank anyone over 10 years old (again, James Dobson influence) No hitting out of anger, in fact, the procedure is the same as in first entry. Explain the offense, administer the punishment, then demonstrate love to show this was for the child’s benefit.