Pox

The proper wearing of the dress. As seen here . . .

Our (then) five children had a problem.

All of them.

Chickenpox.

Every little body was covered.

Even the baby.

Sigh.

For a week, I spent my time applying the current ‘itch-free’ salves.

Filling the tub with baking soda and water.

Satisfying odd food cravings.

Did you know that warm brownies and/or chocolate chip cookies make chickenpox itch less?

Well, they do.

Moving on . . .

For our eldest daughter Caitlin, aged three, the chickenpox was an adventure.

An adventure that took a little turn.

Up.

Let me explain . . .

Caitlin would lift her little dress and look at her tummy and exclaim, “Look, Mommy! Chickie Spots!”

“Yes, sweetheart. Put your dress down.”

She was so interested in these spots that she spent most of her time with her dress up around her ears, looking at them.

I would hear her in various rooms of the house, speaking obviously to one or more members of the family. “Look! Chickie Spots!”

Followed by, “Caitlin! Put your dress down!”

Finally, not receiving the excited reaction she wanted, she would return to me.

“Look, Mommy! Chickie Spots!”

“Yes, Sweetheart. Put your dress down. Have a cookie.”

I should have known that she would require a bigger audience.

I should have realized that, to her, anyone coming into the house must be interested in her current fabulous condition.

I didn’t.

My good friend, Tammy came to the door.

I greeted her as she stepped bravely into the ‘plague house’.

We chatted a bit.

Then Caitlin appeared.

I didn’t move fast enough.

Up came the dress.

“Look, Sis ‘Sin! Chickie Spots!”

She laughed and nodded appreciatively. “Yes. You certainly do have the chickenpox.”

At the same time as I was saying, “Caitlin! Put your dress down!”

Sadly, this was only the beginning.

Long after the Chicken Pox had disappeared, Caitlin was still hiking up her little skirts and exclaiming, "Look! Chickie Spots!"

Two things came from this experience.

1. I always put shorts on under Caitlin’s dresses after that. Little girl panties are cutest when they are hidden.

2. The phrase, “Caitlin, put your dress down!” became immortalized in the annals of Tolley history.

Caitlin is grown and married now, with her own little girls.

She has long since learned to keep herself properly covered.

But her youngest insists on pulling her dresses up around her ears.

No spots, yet, but we’re hopeful.

Full Nest

The nest was clean

            And tidy, too.

There wasn’t much

            I had to do.

It stayed that way

            From dawn to dawn.

Had been like that

            Since the chicks had gone.

But it hadn’t always

            Been just so,

When chicks would come

            And chicks would go,

When clutter ruled

            When ‘mess’ was norm,

When noise began

            With the dewy morn.

I found myself,

            Each day, awash

In dirty dishes,

            Stinky socks.

Up to my knees

            In diapers, too

When days were full

            And the nest was, too.

When every evening

            Prayers were said,

And kisses, hugs

As they went to bed.

Then flopped, exhausted,

            In the chair,

And contemplated

            Life from there.

And though it seemed

            It’d never end.

Somehow it did,

As all things tend.

And the nest that never

            Took a bow,

Echoed with

            The silence now.

But then, one day

            The door swung wide,

And chicks and chicklets

            Stepped inside.

“We’re here to stay,

            If that’s okay.”

And there was action

            every day.

Once more I lived

            With clutter, there,

And no bare spaces

            Anywhere.

And noise? Whoo-boy!

            You have to know,

That lungs are THE first

            Things to grow.

The toys were spread

            From here to there.

And chicklets playing

            Everywhere.

And meals to make

            And clothes to mend

And schedules to

Draw and blend.

And, still, with all

            The noise and strain

And problems bouncing

            In my brain,

With things to do,

            And time to share,

And chicklets falling

            Down the stair.

That I would never

            Want at all,

The spotless house,

The quiet halls.

Exchange the action

            That did reside

Or change the love

            That dwelt inside.

I’ve learned you don’t need

            Silence, no.

When people come

            And people go.

There’s peace in every

            Busy day.

When chicks and chicklets

            Come your way.

With hugs and kisses

            You abound

And love is shining

            All around.

And never can your

            Life be dull,

When (for a time)

            The nest was full.

Fifty Day Wednesday #8

 Supper had wound to its fortune cookie conclusion.

‘Be happy!’, mine read.

“Can we tell our fortunes?” Cara asked.

“Nope. They won’t come true,” Max replied.

“Hmmm…”

“What?” I asked.

“I think mine should be told.”

“Why?”

She held it up. “‘Help I’m a prisoner in a Fortune Cookie plant!’”

Today is Fifty Day!

And that means another challenge to tell a story using ONLY fifty words.

Thank you so much, Adela, for opening this new world to me . . .

This is an uber-fun, uber-challenging exercise.

Join us!

Leave your contribution in the comments...

From Daddy's Plate

Mom and Dad with her parents, Gramma and Grampa Berg and a few of her brothers.
Daddy's wearing the tie. And on his plate? Deliciousness...

Our youngest daughter and her family were staying with us for a while.

It almost made up for the long days and weeks when they were living in another part of the world.

Almost.

One night, during dinner, Tiny Girl (hereinafter known as TG) was having her first taste of life as a grown-up. She had spurned her high chair and was sitting like a big girl on a booster seat.

The best of times.

She also discovered, during this exciting experience, how much better everything tastes when it is eaten from someone else’s plate.

Happily, TG let her own (exactly the same) food cool while she gobbled whatever her mother was eating.

And it reminded me of something . . .

My Mom made wonderful breakfasts.

Most of the time, they included eggs. In some incarnation.

One of my Dad’s favourites was eggs fried.

Mom would place two perfect little white-jacketed yellow orbs on his plate and he would happily proceed to take fork and knife and slice through them, cutting them neatly into uniform bits.

Then he would scrape them carefully back together, sprinkle the resulting mixture with salt and pepper, and voila!

Breakfast.

I had watched this same process since I could remember.

His food always looked soooo good.

“Dad? Can I have a bite?”

He looked at me. “May I have a bite?” Dad was always correcting my grammar.

“May I have a bite?”

Mmmm. It was soooo good.

“Can I have another?”

“May I . . .?”

“May I have another?”

Mmmm. Even better.

Then Mom would set my plate in front of me.

Carefully, I would copy Dad’s technique to the best of my ability.

Slice. Slice. Slice. Slice.

Gather.

Sprinkle.

Eat.

Yum.

Hmmm.

Wait. I’m sure it tasted better off his plate.

“Dad? Can I have another bite?”

He looked at me. “May I have another bite?”

“May I have another bite?”

He gave it to me.

Mmmm. I was right.

It did taste better.

I had made a momentous discovery.

Everything was better off Dad’s plate.

Later, I discovered that this was also true with Mom’s plate.

Or my Husby’s.

I did draw the line there.

Total strangers do regard you oddly when you ask.

Troubled by Bubbles

My brother and me.
I'm the criminal on the right.

Okay. I confess. I stole something. 

Once.
I have no defense. I did it. I'm guilty.

I was four. Is that an excuse . . .?

Mom and I were doing the weekly grocery shopping. A very exciting time for both of us. 

Well, for me, at any rate. 

We had driven in from the ranch in the family's late-model Chrysler (Dad always drove a Chrysler), which was an adventure in itself.There were no seatbelts. They hadn't been invented yet. Apparently no one had yet seen the wisdom in fastening small, easily-launched bodies into a safe place while hurtling down sketchy gravel roads at 60 miles per hour in a two ton vehicle.

My mom used to hold out her arm when she applied the brakes.

I was safe.

We pulled up to the curb across the street from the grocery store and proceeded inside.

The check-out desk, usually manned by a woman, stood in the center of the store, surrounded by the magical world of the grocery.

Directly behind the desk was a bank of cubicles, in which one could find the most amazing things of all . . . the penny candies.

It was there that I would park myself, after the cart got too full to hold me.

I admit it was difficult to leave the treasures that my mom had been adding to the cart. Treasures like canned peas. Baked beans. Tinned salmon.

The all-important Spam.

But I found comfort in just looking at the myriad possibilities behind that main desk.

A whole family of chocolate. Straws of sweet, flavoured powder. Licorice and JuJubes formed into the most amazing shapes. Wax figures which could be nipped and sucked dry of their wonderful, sweet juices. Lick-M-Aid. Lollipops. Suckers. Bubble gum in two sizes of colourful balls. The choices were truly endless to a four-year-old.

And my mom's purse offered the gateway to this bounty.

I couldn't stand it any longer. I ran to her. "Mom? Can I have a bubblegum?"

"Not today, dear."

What? What had she said? Had she really used those three words? I stared at her, aghast. Did she realize that her small utterance had shattered my hopes and dreams. Had barred me forever from the bliss that all of that candy represented?

My life was officially over.

At four years old.

It couldn't be.

"But Moooom!"

"Not today, dear. I don't want you to be eating any candy before dinner."

What kind of excuse was that?

"Just one?" I turned. My eye was caught by the bin full of bright orange bubble gums. The big ones with the little, rough bumps on the surface.

And the total deliciousness inside.

I pointed. "Just a bubble gum? I'll eat my dinner. I promise."

A smile from my long-suffering parent. "No, dear. Not today."

Huh. I pouted for a moment. Then smiled. Well, we'll just see about that.

Mom brought her purchases to the desk and she and the woman behind it were distracted as they added and bagged.

I would just take one gum. No one would ever know. My hand crept into the bin of orange bubble gums, wrapped itself around one tempting morsel and popped it into my mouth.

Ha. Mission accomplished.

I began the wonderfully arduous task of breaking down the hard, candy shell.

Mom finished paying for her groceries and was following the young boy carrying them to our car.

I fell in happily behind her.

The boy set the bags in the trunk, smiled at my mom and me and left.

Mom opened the door for me and I jumped inside. Still chewing.

She got in. And took a deep breath.

Then her head whipped around and she skewered me with a gimlet gaze. "Diane! Is that gum?!"

I froze. How did she know? The gum was in my mouth, completely hidden. I decided then. Moms were definitely magic.

Clever prevarication was in order.

"Ummm. No?"

"Diane, did you steal a bubblegum?"

I stared at her. Moms could see through cheeks!

"No."

"Diane!"

My head drooped. "Yes."

She sighed. "Diane, you know that stealing is wrong, don't you."

I lifted my head. Tears were already starting to pool. "Yes."

"What should we do about it?"

Tears started to slide down my cheeks. "I don't know."

Mom opened her purse and reached inside. Then she handed me a penny. "You will have to go back inside and pay for it."

I stared at her in horror. Go inside? Face my victim? Confess my guilt?

"I - I don't want to."

"But you have to."

I sat there, my four-year-old brain working frantically to find another solution.

Any other solution.

Finally, I sighed. Mom was right. I would have to go inside and pay for my ill-gotten bubblegum. I opened the door and got out.

For a moment, I stood there on the curb, wiping my cheeks and staring across the street at the grocery store. Which, incidentally, had assumed the proportions of the Mississippi (whatever that was) since Mom and I had left.

Suddenly the orange deliciousness in my mouth didn't taste very good. I spit it out into the gutter and looked down at it. It still had bits of the hard candy shell embedded in the softer gum. I hadn't even broken it in.

I sighed and looked at Mom through the window of the car.

She nodded towards the store.

I started across the widest street ever known to man, feet dragging.

At long last, I reached the store and went up the steps.

The door jingled happily. The woman behind the desk turned and looked at me. I approached slowly and tried twice to produce a voice. Finally, "I forgot to pay for a bubblegum," I said, sliding the penny across the counter towards her.

She nodded and looked at me gravely.

"Thank you, dear," she said. "You know it's not right to steal, don't you?"

I nodded.

"Don't do it again."

I shook my head.

"Thank-you for being honest."

Another nod and I was free. I ran back to the car.

Mom didn't lecture. She knew I had learned my lesson.

I still love gum balls. Especially the orange ones with the little rough bumps. But every time I chew one, I remember being four years old.

And gently—but effectively—learning about being honest.

Saying Something Stupid

 

Could not think what to write and so I Googled: Questions: Dumb,

A list of them came up. Just stick with me, I’ll tell you some,

 

1.     If an ambulance is on its way to help when help is due,

And it knocks someone else down, does it stop to help them too?

 

2.     If e-lec-tric-it-y is caused by small e-lec-t-rons,

does it follow that morality is caused by small morons?

 

3.     They believe you when you say: Four billion stars. (I bet!)

but check with doubting fingers when you say: This paint is wet?

 

4.     Why is it when you drive—and looking for place unknown,

you turn down the volume on the blameless radio?

 

5.     If you have to “put your two cents in”. (This bothers me a bit.)

but it’s just a “penny for your thoughts”? Where’s that last cent fit?

If your cabbie drives you backward—to get from A to B.

does that mean when you get there that it’s he who owes mo-ney?

Why do people say they “slept just like a babe”? (It’s true!)

when babes are known wake up nearly every hour or two?

 

8.     If an orange is orange, then I think that this should follow,

That a lime be called a green or a lemon called a yellow?

 

9.     If, in a published dictionary, a word’s somehow misspelled

For those of us then reading it . . . how would we ever tell?

 If veggie oil’s from veggies and all corn oil’s made from corn. 

Where does baby oil come from, friends? And should someone be warned?

Why, when your remote control is dead as dead can be . . .

you push harder on the buttons. When you know, could you tell me?

When women don mascara (and most do it round their eyes . . .)

why do their mouths hang open? The result is a surprise?

And Donald Duck. He wears a towel when from a bath he steps

But’s never seen in pants. Is it to hide his ducktraceps?

While on the topic of bath towels, we use them once we’re clean,

so why the frequent washing? (‘Cause we don’t know where they’ve been?)

When most of us, on waking, look exactly like a troll?

why on earth would it be called our ‘Beauty Sleep? How droll.

Why is it that the gentle rays of sun lighten our hair,

but darken exposed skin? (Okay, I’ll stop and leave you there.)

Photo Credit: Karen of bakinginatornado.com

Cause Mondays do get knocked a lot,
With poetry, we all besought
To try to make the week begin
With gentle thoughts,
Perhaps a grin?
So Karen, Charlotte, Mimi, me
Have crafted poems for you to see.
And now you’ve read what we have wrought…
Did we help?
Or did we not?

I think I'll struggle just a bit

It's something I don't get...

But we'll tackle 'GOLF' next week,

Don't miss our Tête-à-tête! 

Thinking of joining us for Poetry Monday?

We'd love to welcome you!
Topics for the next few weeks...

Ask a Stupid Question (September 27) TODAY!

Golf (October 4)

Throw a Party (October 11) (Also Canadian Thanksgiving!)

Meatloaf Appreciation (October 18)

Opera (October 25)

New Lease (November 1)
Puns (November 8) 

Clean Out Your Refrigerator (November 15) 

Your favorite record (or) best stereo or record player ever (November 22)

Chia Pets (November 29)

Second BEST

It's that wonderful day of the month when I get to gather and share the Best of Boomer Bloggers!
I still have to pinch myself that I am included with these amazing writers!

First up is Carol Cassara:

Another easy but oh-so-scrumptious recipe from Carol Cassara at Carol A. Cassara, Writer, this week, suitable for company or a night in. Find it right here!

*  *  *

Next is Laurie Stone:

Fall’s here in New England and Laurie Stone at Laurie Stone Writes couldn’t be happier. Yes, spring is lovely and summer’s fun. Even old man winter has his icy grandeur. But nothing compares to autumn’s beauty and majesty. And though this season comes at a price, she still loves it for these five reasons….

*  *  *

 
And Rebecca Olkowski:

Has the pandemic or another reason made you feel socially isolated? It’s a problem many people are having especially older people. Rebecca Olkowski, with BabyBoomster.com, talks about social isolation and how, if you are not careful, it can turn into loneliness or lack of confidence.

*  *  *

Then Meryl Baer:

Some of us want to experience endless summers. Meryl Baer of Beach Boomer Bulletin is not one of them. She lives in a land with four seasons. The transformation from summer to fall has begun, as she describes in this week’s post, Concert in the park…noting seasonal change.

*  *  *

And Tom Sightings:

Tom from Sightings Over Sixty got a phone call last week from an old neighbor. The woman asked how they were doing, wished his wife a happy belated birthday. And then the woman blurted out: "We just sold our house!" Check out What Do They Do Now? to see the rest of the story. 

*  *  *

 With Rita Robison:

Consumers spend about $47 a month on four streaming platforms such as Netflix, AppleTV+, and Hulu, reports Rita R. Robison, consumer and personal finance journalist, in her article “Did You Enjoy the Emmys Sunday?” Check out Robison’s article to see what she recommends consumers do with all those subscriptions.

*  *  *

And ME, Diane Stringam Tolley!

By this point in Diane's life, getting older has become less a surprise and more a fact. But adjusting to the constant inconsistencies takes concentration.
And a sense of humour! 
During one of her sleepless episodes following what was only a quick trip to the...erm...lavatory, she penned this.
With apologies to Lewis Carroll...

*  *  *

And that's a wrap!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

See you next month, my beloved bloggers!

Supplied

I need pencils, here I go!

I’m off to Staples, Tally-Ho!

They’ve lots of things I’d like to try,

I’ve got my Debit—watch me buy!

 

There’s office snacks, so let’s start there,

With mints and chocolate to spare,

Then paper clips and staples, too,

And magnets, push pins—not a few.

 

Oooh! Organizers, binders, books,

Note pads. Sheet protectors. Look!

 Copy paper, sketchbooks, whee!

And glue sticks, markers. All for me!

 

And why stop there, there’s so much more,

With scissors, tape for every drawer,

And how ‘bout some expensive pens,

A calculator, camera, lens.

 

A new computer would be nice,

A printer, too. This one’s half price!

A desk a chair, some shelving, yow!

My office is the Cat’s Meow!

 

I guess I’m done, my cart is full,

It’s getting hard to push or pull.

A second cart is what I need!

Then I won’t have to stop. Agreed?

Okay, I’m at the checkout now,

They’re adding up my treasures. Wow.

 

To get them all, I’d need a loan…

I guess I’ll just take pencils home.

 

Today's post was a challenge from the inimitable and totally awesome Karen at Baking in a Tornado. 

Visit her and see what she’s done with the theme!

BladderWakey

With apologies to Lewis Carroll...

Twasn’t brilliant, and the nighttime coves

  Did show no sparkle in the waves:
Still shady were the darkening groves,
  And the footpaths the same.

"Beware the Bladderwalk, my son!
  Its fullness wakes, makes your breath catch!
Beware the gritted teeth, and shun
  That nightytime Slumbersnatch!"

He took his blankets, warm, in hand:
  Long time the prodigious urge he fought --
Still resting, he with bladder full,
  He laid awhile in thought.

And, as in gloomy thought he lay,
  The Bladderwalk did force-ly claim,
To come whiffling through the dark causeway,
  And burble as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
  The blankets, warm, went snicker-snack!
He sprightly fled, into the ‘head’
  Then went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Bladderwalk?
  Then back to bed, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
  He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brilliant, and the daytime coves
  Did sparkle brightly in the waves;
NOT misty were the brightening groves...
  And he never got to sleep again.

Fifty Day Wednesday #7

 My son and I stared at the empty field.
Not again!” I groaned. “Pease tell your soccer coach this is the second week we were the only ones at practice!”
He shrugged. “He’ll just say what he said last week.”
“And what is that?”
He sighed. “Practice is Tuesdays. Not Wednesdays.”

Today is Fifty Day!

And that means another challenge to tell a story using ONLY fifty words.

Thank you so much, Adela, for opening this new world to me . . .

This is an uber-fun, uber-challenging exercise.

Join us!

Leave your contribution in the comments...

Really Hard Lessons

Kids and food and . . . the Table

In 1979, to facilitate my Husby completing his Master's degree, we moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
We brought everything we owned in one of my Dad's cattle trailers.
He cleaned it first.
Moving on . . .
But there were one or two things that we didn't bring.
One of them was a decent kitchen table and chairs.
We had to dip into our savings and buy something.
I should point out here that Kijiji didn't exist in 1979.
Or personal home computers.
At least in our home.
So we were stuck with the local paper and the classifieds.
But the tables we found listed were worse than the one we had left behind.
We finally decided we needed to go to a furniture store . . .
We had done this once before. Gone to a furniture store, I mean.
It was fun.
And expensive.
But exciting.
We pulled up outside in our little wheezy van and sauntered inside where we were met by a young man with a big grin.
A really big grin.
Looking back, we should have suspected something.
We didn't.
We told him what we were looking for and he led us to the 'kitchen' section of the store.
Wow.
Okay, we weren't expecting that much of a selection.
We divided our options into two categories. 'Those we could afford'. And 'those which were really nice'.
The choices suddenly became easy.
We were down to two.
The one we finally decided on was a faux-wood topped, tubular-chrome-legged marvel.
With four chairs of genuine fake-leather.
We had hit the big time.
The only problem was that we were already a family of four. And family member number five was definitely on the way.
More chairs were indicated.
No problem, the young man said. The company who made the chairs was right here in Winnipeg. They could easily be ordered and at a very special price.
Bingo!
We handed him our savings and he filled out the paperwork, promising to send in the order for our four extra chairs as soon as we left the store. Then he helped us tote our new table and existing chairs out to our little van.
We were kings!
Happily, we set up our new acquisitions (good word) in our little kitchen.
Perfect!
Then we waited for our four extra chairs.
And waited.
Finally, we tried to phone.
Huh. Line out of service. Strange.
We drove over to the store.
And found it closed. Weird. For a Tuesday.
A large piece of yellow paper, fastened to the front door, fluttered in the slight breeze. We got out of the van and moved closer.
It was a notice from the police. Something about signing the paper if we were owed anything by the young men who had absconded (Great word, eh?) with all available cash and left the country.
We stared at the paper. Then at each other.
Did this mean what we thought it meant?
Had we just been ripped off?
I suddenly wanted my chairs!
We had paid for them!
Jerks!
Husby signed the paper and we were duly contacted by the police and able to place our claim.
The problem was that we were owed a mere $200.00 and that put us far down the list of claimants. The likelihood of recouping our losses was slim to nil.
I should mention here that the people at the top of the list were a newlywed couple, furnishing a new apartment. They had paid for their furniture, but were having it delivered.
I guess $10,000.00 (a boatload of money in 1979) was just too much for the store owners to resist. They had taken the money and anything else not fastened down and left the city.
The young couple's furniture had not left the store.
They were furniture-less and out their $10,000.00.
Suddenly our little $200.00 seemed very paltry.
But I still needed my chairs.
We went to the furniture manufacturer and explained the situation. They were very nice and gave us our chairs at their cost.
So, when we worked it out, taking into account the money we had paid Crooked Smiler Guy and what the manufacturer charged, we had actually gotten the chairs for the normal retail price.
We really hadn't lost anything.
And we finally had our chairs.
Oh, they were a slightly different colour from the first four, but why quibble over details?

That table and chairs lasted us through six children and twenty five years.
As it was nearing the end of its life, my husband decided to realize a dream and build a new one.
He did it.
A large, round, solid oak table, capable of seating 12 comfortably and 14 if you were really good friends.
He finished it just in time.
I tried to set a casserole on our old table and the poor thing collapsed, casserole and all.
And no, that isn't a statement on my cooking . . .
It was given an undignified farewell at the city dump.
And Grant moved in his great oak wonder. With twelve chairs that matched.
And that we didn't have to chase down and beg for.
Lessons learned.

More people. More food. And . . . the replacement.