Last night I did ask for granddaddy and daddy to help guide me as I laid down and I tried and tried to go to sleep. (Generally, I'm one who's snoring as my head hits the pillow) But, since I couldn't sleep I got up and began looking for that tarot deck. This morning I got up and realized that I'd been talking a lot about what's happened and myself; and that I should at least tell you a bit about granddaddy, so here's some of the things I remember of him as an older man.
Granddaddy would go to bed with the chickens most evenings unless for some reason he did not. He would get up very early in the morning - I have no idea when only that it was still dark. I have no idea if he went outside or not. What I remember was that he would get up in the morning, every morning and make coffee in a metal coffee pot on the stove. Coffee so strong that my dad and his brothers would tease him that they could use it to tar a road. It was so strong that all of grandma's melmac coffee cups were darkly stained (She'd fuss about that and try to bleach them out but never could do so well enough to suit her, but she drank coffee too).
Every morning he would make grits, fry eggs sunny side up, fry bacon and great big ole cathead biscuits. (Oh my goodness, they were so dang good - a bit of heaven in the morning as far as i'm concerned. One of the things I do miss is eating breakfast with granddaddy.)
If you weren't up by the time breakfast was ready (and it was still dark) he'd not come to the door and say gently, breakfast is ready - get up. No, he'd come open the door, flip on the light and say loudly, "It's time to get up." lol he left you no other choice but to get up since the light blinded you until you did.
I remember that sometimes, I'd get up before he'd wake up the others and he'd be sitting on the front porch just the other side of the bathtub, and I'd crawl up on the chair beside him. I remember us just sitting there watching the breaking of dawn. Every once in a while a bird would call out. He'd say to me in a hushed voice, "Do you hear that bird?" I'd say, "Yes, sir." He'd say, "That's a whipowill." and we'd sit there and listen for the bird. That's the only bird I remember us talking about those mornings, maybe the whipowill was the only bird up that time of day. He taught me to call like the whipowill.
He also had turkeys and I learned to make a turkey call that sounded just like them, only I had to be outside to do so or get fussed at since, it was so loud as to hurt your ears. (He thought that was pretty cool and say to me once in a while - during the day of course, and outside "Sis, holler like a turkey." and of course, I would).
I remember being outside with him and daddy and they would be talking about something, I don't remember what; but, what I do remember is that he would have a long stick in his hand, and while they were talking he'd draw things on the sandy ground with the stick. Once they finished talking he'd take his foot and wipe it all away. One of the things he would draw was what looked to me like two hills - other times it's be lines going one way or the other. For some reason the two hills are what I remember most - maybe because I was little and that was the only thing that I recognized - they may not have even been hills. *shrugs*
I've got to make a trip to town, got to get ready and go, be back later.
Thanks Releventchair, I've added you as a friend and would like to know more about the symbolism of the knave or jack of diamonds. Maybe you can tell me more by pm rather than cluttering this thread, unless you decide to create a thread about him else where. If you do, please send me the link.
