Well, so we celebrated my mother’s birthday #100 in fine style, with a drive-by/ drive-through occasion on June 7 (Her birthday really was on May 21, but you know how things have been.). Most of the in-laws and out-laws were in attendance, although a healthy contingent of the family was off planting one thing or another, since it was a beautiful day; Cousin Jim had been re-planting a field or two of corn that had been flooded out by the weather earlier but he did show up before the fandango was over.
My niece had, as usual, contributed a remarkably-decorated cake, suitably celebrating one hundred good years, as well as being a chief mover-and-shaker in planning the whole event–it’s another of the things she’s very good at. My brother-in-law–her dad–did a bunch of the setting up and had–I think–a part in the placing of a couple of signs out front announcing, “Honk! I’m 100!” So all afternoon we had the sound of auto horns as the traffic went by the house and spotted the family gathering there. We even had two young guys, who we did not know at all, drive in just to offer best wishes to somebody who was one hundred years old and still kicking it (which she was…is). The event videographer said that he got their license number and vowed to look it up and let the parents of the pair know that they had –should they not know–raised a couple of good kids. We even had some representatives from Garrettsville come by, out for a great day in the country (Like we don’t have any scenery around here. Thanks for coming)
The memorial benches for my dad and my two sisters were taken out of the barn (usually they go the the Lorain County Fair but this year that ain’t happenin’), so almost the whole local family was there; my brother is still out in New Mexico and will probably show up later this summer…or whenever there’s more confidence in the airplane conditions in light of social distancing. Being in an enclosed space with perfect strangers at 30,000 ft. is not something to be taken lightly.
The party favors were provided by my niece, who had assembled a selection of pictures in a collage ranging from 1920 to just the other day, taking a look at Mom from a sort of irritated infant look in Pittsfield, Ohio, through elementary school (Pittsfield Twp #2), family portraits (She and Dad were a good-looking couple) and recent looks at a 100-year-old.
The reigning cutie, the latest great-great grandchild, was under constant surveillance to make sure that she did not wind up being an unfortunate hood ornament of a car coming by in the drive to bring greetings and good wishes. She also acquired a stuffed dog slightly larger than she and had a fine time with her new pet. The two boy great-greats wandered off to the barn and the creek and whatever else was away from the grown-up goings-on; they also had their “devices” and played some games, which they discussed at length with each other and whatever adults had a clue about what they were doing. The eldest of the younger set was involved in making some sort of paper construction–she’s very talented–which was intended to become a rabbit of some sort; don’t know if it ever resembled Bugs Bunny or Peter Rabbit, but I don’t suppose that it matters to her.
Pizza eventually arrived, as it often does, and other accoutrements, including the cake, were consumed pretty quickly. Nobody has to leave one of our parties hungry. Pictures were taken…probably to appear at the next (101) birthday party. A good time was had by all.
I’m looking forward to the next one. Stay tuned.
Other than that, not much happening. The Y has re-opened, thank heavens. If you haven’t been back to renew your membership and get back to your fitness routine, make plans; there are new machines, new protocols to keep us all safe–a little confusing, occasionally but not hard to master, with a little practice. C’mon down.
The Summer Solstice is upon us–June 20–but it’s not the same, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac anyway,as the Midsummer Day–June 24. What’s that about? Did anybody tell Shakespeare? Did he care that “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” was off-kilter with the actual beginning of summer? And what’s with Midsummer Day being only a couple of days into actual Summer? The OFA commentator for the month of June is promoting the use of a scythe for cutting tall grass (rather than exclusively using livestock to trim the lawn–sheep have no sense of aesthetics, they leave patches…and poop). When it comes to this particular tool, I remember my grandma’s story of how her brother was scything tall grass with the big blade and caught little sister who had come out to see him smack in the middle of her forehead; she had a scar. Cautionary tale, for sure.
News bulletin: Elmer Fudd will no longer go after Bugs Bunny with a gun. Maybe a scythe?
