I was most fortunate...
gentle reader, to have know
both my grandmothers...
my maternal grandmother, Millie
was my "white bread grandmother" because she fed us
Wonder Bread..
and my paternal grandmother, Josephine, fed us Roman Meal
Bread, so I thought of her as my "brown bread" grandma..
there were lots of other things that distinguished them
but that leads to many other stories
for other days...
I must have been about 6 years old at the time...
my grandmother owned a motel and for some reason I was staying with her..
I wanted her attention
but she was busy doing paperwork and told me to go outside to play..
after a few minutes of pouting which got no notice at all..
I announce that..
I am bored..!!
Millie looked up from her paperwork over her glasses... those 1950's horned rim pointy things.. which made her look quite a bit like Mamie Eisenhower... I must add
and said...
"only boring people are bored! You are a creative person and creative people are never bored"
I was stunned and at once realized that I was again dismissed
and so I took my little self and went outside to think about her words...
it is interesting the things that shape us, isn't it?
it stopped me in my saddle shoes... and then..
I remember sitting on the front steps and suddenly seeing an ant trail and wondering where they were going and then finding the large dragonfly upon which they were feeding, which was by the fence that needed painting and I marveled at the patterns ...
and before I knew it I was being called in for supper...
Josephine gave me a love for beautiful things, for abundance, a love of gardens and flowers and food...
but it was definitely
Millie
who taught me to look everywhere for it...
beauty that is...
simply everywhere..
the arc of the ant trail...
the shimmer of the dragonfly wings...
the cracks in the sidewalk that resemble an envelope...
or the crumbling splendor of old buildings in decay...
life can get in the way sometimes
of our creative outlook..
but..
it is a delight to have such friends as you..
who understand
that beauty is everywhere..
my camera is tucked in my saddlebag
and I am off to parts unknown..
and I will be back next week..
ciao, ciao!
