Take a hike

On Labor Day my mom decided we should all go on a hike up Stewart Falls, which leads to a beautiful waterfall. Unfortunately, everyone else had the exact same idea, so parking was limited and the hike to the trailhead added an extra twenty minutes or so. Even though some of us decided not to go the entire way I got a couple pictures of my family.

My step-dad, Terry

Little brother Louis

cutie pie sister, Anna

scientist brother, Josh

And it wouldn't be complete without cutie cakes Kevin

Flying high

One of the great things about being back in Kentucky was getting to visit with my half siblings. I was exhausted by them at every turn, but in the end I realized that hey, they're just kids and they deserve some time to be rowdy, crazy, and a little insane, because in a few years they wont be able to go back.

One morning, when I woke up Ilya came rambling into my room. Ilya is a splendid little fellow and I love to play with him. I remember going to Europe with him last fall and some mornings we would wake up early and go running. He was only 5 at the time and so his little legs couldn't really keep up, but he tried and I slowed down. It was a great way to explore, especially since things are so much more exciting when seen through the eyes of a 5 year old.

This time when Ilya rambled into my room I grabbed him up and read to him on the bed for a few minutes. I then had this great idea and below are the results.

Put the cheese in the cake

For my farewell and to double as a birthday cake, I made myself a cheesecake on Sunday. It was my sister's recipe and another sister's springform pan, but ultimately my masterpeice and completely delicious.

Birthday Blues

My eyes are kind of itchy. Sometimes that happens when I cry a lot.

My mom and I listened to a talk on tape about marriage the other day and this guy was explaining about how we need to communicate better. A family had hired him to come observe their family to see if there was any way they could communicate better and while he was sitting at dinner with them he noticed the grandpa. What this guy would do when he wanted something, instead of asking for it, was to just stare at it until someone noticed. When asked why he replied "it means more when you don't have to ask," or basically the equivalent. The speaker went on to discuss how this notion is way off base and we can't expect others to read our minds.

Most of the time, I understand that. Sometimes I deviate.

Like my birthday.

For most days of the year I am happy to give and to receive and to not get upset over stupid things. On my birthday I always expect people to say "Happy Birthday" without being prompted. I want to be pampered and princessed and remembered, but I don't feel like I should expect these things. So instead I wait for someone to say something, or, like this morning, if no one says anything after a few hours then I will say "mom, guess what day it is today!"

Then instead of saying "I'd rather not go on your errands, I have a headache and I really just want to sleep in" I say "sure I'll go with you" and then I am cranky while I am dragged all over tar nation so that my mom can pick up some random herb and return some dinky telephone device. And then when I feel like nothing is going how I had wanted, I cry.

Continuing my example, sometimes I just need to take matters into my own hands and plan things. Kev asked "what would you like to do for your birthday?" to which I replied that it didn't matter too much just so long as I was with him. I did, however, mention that I love going out to plays, museums, musical concerts, operas, and eating dinner out. I suppose what I should have explained is that it doesn't matter so much what we do so long as we do something and so long as I feel like it was planned in advance because then I feel like people care about me and remember me. I suppose instead of saying that I was fine with him taking a test what I should have said was that I knew he needed to, but it would mean a lot if he could make it up before or around noon, instead of 6pm. I suppose what I should have said is that I go crazy by myself.

Or something like that.

Doing just peachy

One of my favorite things about late summer is peaches. I love the way they look and smell and most of all the way they taste. I love the way that a ripe peach can just dissolve in your mouth leaving you with a desire for more.



This week when I was out exploring with Anna and Kevin we chanced upon a small local grown produce stand. It had splendid melons, peaches, apples, pears, etc. We arrive and the lady at the stand says to us "just wait one moment, I have to run around to the back and get some apples. I am wheeling and dealing this morning."

While we are waiting some other customers arrive and I overhear the following conversation:
lady 1: I wonder when this fruit was picked
lady 2: It says it was picked fresh daily, but considering daily is misspelled I'm not sure if you can trust it

I looked at the signs and realized that about every 5th word was misspelled, however, at a local fruit stand I wouldn't assume this as an immediate sign of discountability. Instead we waited patiently for the lady and Anna asked:
"I have $4, how much can I get?"
fruit lady: "2 each. 2 apples and 2 peaches or 2 apples and 2 pears"
Anna: "uh... " *thinking* $1 for a fruit! Outrageous
fruit lady: "they are 50 cents each"
Anna: "So doesn't that mean I can get 8?"
fruit lady: "No, because... oh, yeah"
Anna: "okay, thanks"

So we start to peruse the fruit and as we gently are picking them up and straight away putting them in our bags the lady looks straight at us and says:
"No... no... no pinching. No, no, pinching. You know, no squuuuuueezing." At this she makes squeezing hand motions and I choke on my laughter telling myself it's not polite to laugh in people's faces. Instead I nodded, turned around and bit my cheek as hard as I could and ushered Anna to hurry.

As we quickly finished choosing our fruit and went to pay the lady apologized for her being "out of it" by explaining:
"I've been the only one here all day and I've been up since zero dark."

Anna handed the lady the money as I had disappeared to the car to release a nice hearty laugh. And it is people like this that keep me sane, people who make me laugh.

Thank you peach lady. And maybe next time you wont have to wake up at zero dark.

Taking Care of Business

I have been in Kentucky for a few days now and I go home tomorrow evening. Was it worth it? Well, let's take a look at a few of my personal goals for this visit:

• See my siblings Ilya, Maria, and Julianna and Natasha my step-mom
• See my grandparents and record an interview with them concerning their life
• See MaryAnn Hack
• Go to the temple (either Nashville or St. Louis)
• Bring back something memorable

What I have done?

• Saw and played with and took care of and carted around and buckled up and pushed on the swingset Ilya and Maria while also getting to carry around the happiest baby on earth
• Sat and talked with my grandparents for hours, although I didn't have any sort of recording device
• Saw MaryAnn and helped her make a quilt, also ended up picking fruit with her like I used to. Also got to see John Hack and Lea Adams and JD Hack because I was with Mary Ann. While doing this I got lots of nice muskadines which I can take back to Utah
  
• Went to the temple in Nashville this morning with my dad which also allowed me to talk to him for four hours about life, his marriage with my mother and his advice on marriage, finances, life and health insurance, his various opinions, etc.
• Found a four leaf clover!

All in all, I would say it has been a success.

Some things never change

Although my Old Kentucky Home is a little bit older and there are a few more crayon marks on the walls, there are some things that never change.

• Trees are everywhere.
• The people are just as friendly as ever.
• The people are just as prejudiced as ever.
• There are run down houses and barns and stores more than there are ones in good condition.
• Everyone asks about how your family is, everyone wants you to make sure that you done tell your Mama that they done said hi
  
• "Yes ma'am" and "no ma'am" and, "Mama, you better slow down" sound just as polite and in place as they ever did
  
• There is no real politically correct Kentuckian, however, they love you no matter what they call you (especially the little downs boy across the street)
• There is a cloud of cigarette smoke at every public area (churches, stores, restaurants, gas stations, you name it)
• Gas prices are 60 cents cheaper than Utah
• It takes at least 20 minutes to drive anywhere you want to go
• Everyone owns/drives a 4-wheeler
• Girls dye their hair blonde, visit the tanning beds, wear skimpy dresses and put on 3 layers of make up to attract men who wear wife beaters, camouflage, and who talk dirty behind their backs
• The weather is unpredictable
• Everyone knows about everyone else's business
  

But boy howdy, look at how pretty it all is.




Some of my favorite MaryAnn sayings include

• Lea, you're sweating like a nigger telling the truth
• Becky, do you believe the Lord loves your Mama? I do, I believe the Lord loves you Mama. One year we done planted twelve DEAD tomater plants at your place and she done got them to sprout up and grow tomaters like they were prize winning plants. But this year we planted 90 nice plants here and not a one of em produced.
• *Retelling a story about her childhood* They called me Runt, I done forgot what they called t'other ones.
• I reckon I done spoiled him *her son JD* but I can't help it, can I?

Past memories gleaned from others

This week I am spending in Kentucky. It is odd though, because it is not the Kentucky I grew up in. Everything has aged, become run down, or else completely morphed. The friends who were my contemporaries are all but gone and I have been spending most of my time with people over 50.

I sat with my grandparents for hours. I have never really had a conversation with them, but I tried. I asked them about how they met (both of them worked in a Dime store). I asked my Grandpa about his war experiences and he told me a little about all of the neat places he had gone, including Manila, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Shanghai, and much more. Memories that I had never been able to glean from them before.


I visited Mary Ann Hack who used to babysit me and who I spent more time with than anyone else in this world. I would spend entire summers over at her house, picking berries, grapes, vegetables, figs, and catching frogs. She's just as fun as ever. She needed to type up some stories of her brother and I wrote about her childhood as she retold it to me in the car.

I looked through hundreds of pictures belonging to John Hack that reflected his time on board a Navy ship in World War II, recent pictures, and everything in between. For hours he told me about one thing or another until I thought my ears would fall off from listening.


Lea Adams, the Korean lady who lives in Metropolis, was a special treat to visit. She showed us her garden and told us about stories of her son and then when I took down her pictures she expounded on all of her siblings and herself. She even tried to teach me some Korean, but it was slow going as she has had trouble writing and reading and moving ever since her stroke and her head injury years ago.


Joy Lawrence, Mary Ann's best friend who is more like a sister than a friend, sat with me and told me about her children and grandchild. All this, of course, while we worked to make a baby quilt and she offered me water (at least seven times).





I also learned quite a bit about myself when I was younger, which is always a treat, as I don't remember most of it. My grandmother reminisced about how I would always steal people's purses and run behind the couch. Mary Ann told me the story about how she befriended our family.

"I saw you," she said, "and you were just about the shiest thing I'd ever seen. You'd cling to your Mama and hide between her skirts and under her coat. When I saw that Cecilia done got pregnant again, I said to myself 'Now Mary Ann, you gotta make sure that this next child isn't like that. This next baby is going to be so full of spunk and brightness and joy that she aint ever going to meet a stranger'. And she just about turned out that way, didn't she?"

Mary Ann then told me all about how she spoiled Anna right to death. Everything had to be perfect when Anna came over and Anna was even named after Mary Ann. Anna was her special child and when all of us grew up, she didn't much know how to take it. Last winter Mary Ann was in the mental hospital as she had a mental break down and her husband has never treated her very kindly. Since then she has recovered for the most part, but you can tell that she has to keep a bright outlook and stay busy making baby quilts or else she gets awful sober.

Happy Birthday Josh

Monday was my brother Josh's birthday and so I decided to make him his favorite cake-- German chocolate with some almonds. Love that sort of thing.