A. A. (that's Double A ), our daddy
Daddy… always workin’. He was either plowin’, diskin’, plantin’,
choppin’, pickin’ or combinin’ crops. If
he wasn’t workin’ in the fields, he was takin’ care of the livestock. Even with all that, he always found time for
us kids. We grew up and he retired from
farmin’ but he hasn’t retired from workin’.
He says everyone he knows that retired and quit workin’ is dead and he
doesn’t intend to let that happen to him.
Daddy…
clownin’ around. I can still see him
wearing my bright yellow swimming cap with the big flower over the ear while
driving up and down the main street of our small town…yep, I was in the
car. It would not have been so bad if he
hadn’t rolled the window down, stuck his head out and hollered at all passer-bys!! There are so many memories that end in
laughter… I don’t know what Daddy likes best…to make someone laugh or to scare
the daylights out of them. He has done
more than his share of both and he is really good at it.
Daddy…the disciplinarian. He believed in not sparin’ the rod or in his
case, the belt. But, he didn’t use it a
whole lot. I’ll admit I did get into
trouble a “few” times. One time it was
for cussin’!! I don’t remember what Daddy
said to me, but my reply was “Good Grief”.
I remember the exact spot I was standing, the look on Daddy’s face and
most of all the tone of his voice when he looked me straight in the eye and
said, “We don’t cuss in this house.” I
didn’t say a word…I was just thankful that he didn’t have his belt handy and
that it was too dark to send me out for a switch.
Daddy…the singer. Yep, I said singer! We loved to hear him sing while we traveled
down the road. I’ll never forget his
favorite song. It went like this…marezie
dotes and dozie dotes and little lamzie divie, eye dee divie, too, wouldn’t
you? You can imagine my amazement when
some years later I learned he was really singing…Mare’s eat oats and doe’s eat
oats and little lambs eat ivy, I’d eat ivy, too, wouldn’t you? I think I still like it the way I thought
Daddy was singin’ it.
Daddy…the teacher. Most of Daddy’s teaching was by example. When in doubt we can ask, “What would Daddy
do” and know that we would be doing the right thing if we followed the answer. Daddy did have “special” ways of explaining
some things. When I asked where the cows
got their calves, I was told they found them under a clump of grass. I couldn’t tell you the number of hours I spent
in the pasture turning up the ground!!
Daddy…our daddy. Oh, how we love him.
Hope you enjoyed getting to know my Daddy just a little bit. Now that things are beginning to simmer down around here, I will be back more often. I promised (almost a year ago) to share pics of our "babies") and will be doing that next. I will also be sharing a tutorial on making the cone I showed you awhile back. Please, stay tuned!!
