July 5th

_LME7786-Pano_smThe Big Dipper is up there among the stars.

Someone once asked me if I’ve ever seen things that go bump in the night. They knew I spent time in the dark. I told them about the time one November it dropped down to minus 30 and the birch and spruce started going off like gunshots. That wasn’t what they were looking for.

I look for ghosts all over. Usually they show up in the rivers and streams. They don’t say much. I listen to the babble of the creek, but I can’t make heads or tails out of it. Still I know they are trying to tell me something. I appreciate the effort but I don’t get it.

_LME7782-Pano_smMars, Saturn and Jupiter.

My good dog Willow would bark if something was threatening. That’s why I like dark nights down by the water. The only sound she makes is snorting through the long grass.

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***

It was my Mother’s birthday yesterday. I visited her early this morning. I wonder about her everyday. How hard she had to work. She was born into a world where women were subservient. Yet she became a respected women that didn’t back down from men who tried to bully. She didn’t even blame them for it. She considered them pitiful.

She accomplished it after growing up poor and hard, without education. There wasn’t a book she hadn’t read or couldn’t discuss. She saw a lot. She kept the hardship to herself.

unnamed-2Isabelle and Wynanne.

My Mother was a smart beautiful women. I wonder sometimes if she ever looked at the bearded man across from her who seemed happy with the long hours and not much, the broken washing machine and the ragged kids scooting about, and thought, cripes what did I do to deserve this?

She would laugh at that. She used to laugh at everything.

10 thoughts on “July 5th”

  1. Jim R

    I found the Big Dipper.

    My mother was a smart woman. One of the few who attended high school from her county. She married a smart man who farmed with horses for the first years. Nine kids later she was still going strong. She, too, laughed at everything. There must be a lesson there. Laughter can help you through the tough times.

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  3. Anonymous

    Beautiful, Bob!
    Believe it or not, I wrote something about Iz using many of these same words and thoughts.
    Boy, I miss that laughter.

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  4. Wynanne

    Ahh, Bob. You made me feel like it was just yesterday that she was gone. I still miss her and think of her often. Tim, too. Believe me, I know that she did wonder sometimes about how she got to where she was at, but she loved us all intensely. She was too curious, too independent, too smart to want a life without challenges. And you are right – she would always laugh.

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    1. underswansea

      Yes my Mom was excellent with the camera and did all of her own developing and printing in her darkroom. Thank you for your kind comment. Take care.

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