Dreaming of My Grandparents

A chill in the morning air
brings back memories of last night's dream
of my Grandparents
working together on a farm in Oklahoma.

I never saw the farm!
I remember once
Grandpa point out the land
where where the house and out buildings
once stood,
but in the dream
they were working together
and the buildings were standing
as the must have stood
when my Grandparents were first married.


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Friday at Last

Istiqlál (Independence), 18 ‘Izzat (Might), 166 BE – Friday, September 25, 2009 about 4:43 AM Pacific Time

When I was a child, Friday seemed a bigger deal then it does today. Perhaps it had to do with being out of school for two days and visiting my grandparents. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa on the weekends. That's one advantage of living in the same town with one set of grandparents, you can see them more then once a year.

I remember weekends as special, perhaps because we (my brothers, sister and me) spent them with my grandparents. I don't think we did things differently then we did at home. In spring and summer, Grandpa took us to the Lake; I think it was staying with my grandparents that made the weekends special.

The weekends don't seem special anymore. Friday isn't as exciting as when I was a child. I think I'm in a rut. Today I plan to go to the bank, withdraw some money and pay a bill. Wednesday I went to the bank and did the same thing. Thursday I went to the dentist to get my lower dentures adjusted again. Friday just doesn't seem special anymore.

I’m getting nostalgic

Jalál (Glory), 5 Jamál (Beauty), 166 BE – Saturday, May 2, 2009 about 6:25 PM Pacific Time

I'm missing my Grandparents. Perhaps it's the time of year, today is the first Saturday in May. This is the time of year Grandpa began taking us to the Lake on weekends. We would go water skiing, boat riding and fishing. All right, I'm not real crazy about fishing basically because I don't care to put worms on hooks. Grandpa liked to fish and I like eating fresh fish.

Perhaps it's just because I'm getting older and thinking about the Good Old Days. I'm not sure precisely what the problem is or even if there is a problem. I've just been thinking a lot about my Grandparents lately. As a child, my mother worked so Grandpa and Grandma took care of us while Mom worked.

Perhaps I should write a poem or story about my Grandparents. That would help with this nostalgic feeling that I'm getting. It's a wistful feeling, like there is something I'm missing. I did write a short piece about my grandparents and Memorial Day. Maybe I need to write something about my grandparents and Mothers' Day or Fathers' Day.

I don't think I've ever written anything about Grandma and Mothers' Day or Grandpa and Fathers' Day. Grandpa was my father figure, so perhaps that's why I'm feeling nostalgic; I haven't written anything about Grandpa for Fathers' Day.

The Beginning of a New Week in Las Vegas

Jamál (Beauty), 9 Bahá (Splendor), 166 BE – Sunday, March 29, 2009 about 6:07 AM Pacific Time

It's Sunday morning, March 29, in Las Vegas and the beginning of a new week. I have a load of cloths in the dryer and coffee brewing in the pot. I look out my living room window and the sky is still dark, but I can see the velvet black sky slowly change and fade to deep predawn blue.

A new week has begun and soon a new month will begin. It's almost four months into 2009, the year is passing quickly. Perhaps it is passing too quickly, but nothing I can do nothing to slow the passage of time. The only thing I can do is take advantage of the time I have and use it to the best of my ability.

I know that I do waste time either through worry or through procrastination. The time I spend with my mother I hope I'm not wasting, but I suspect part of my time with her may be wasted. My mother is 88 years old and she has acquired a lot of wisdom in those 88 years. I need to find out some of the things she has learned while I have the chance.

I know that while my grandparents will still on this plane of existence I didn't ask them questions and glean the wisdom of their lives. There are things I would have like to have known and now it's too late to ask them questions. However, it isn't too late to ask my mother questions and then record her answers. To find out what Mom thinks about the changes that the world has gone through in the past 88 years.

My First Social Security check arrived in my bank account

Idál (Justice), 3 ‘Alá (Loftiness), 165 BE – Wednesday, March 4, 2009 about 6:21 AM Pacific Time.

I finally got my first Social Security check; it arrived in my bank account sometime last night or early this morning. Anyway, the money was there when I checked the account first thing this morning. Online banking is wonderful.

I remember my Grandparents getting their Social Security checks. The check would arrive by mail and then they would go to the bank with it. Once they arrived at the bank, they would either deposit or cash it. In this age of high gas prices and other issues, all I have to do is check my account to see if the money is there.

Another advantage of online banking is knowledge. Since I don't have to go to the bank or call the bank to check my account, I know immediately if the account is overdrawn. I can also pay the power bill, the car insurance, or any other bill I want without leaving the comfort of my home. Considering the way people drive with cell phones and other distractions, online banking keeps a person safe.

You can’t judge a New Year by the way it starts

Istiqlál (Independence), 3 Sharaf (Honor), 165 BE – Friday, January 2, 2009 about 8:27 AM Pacific Time

You can't judge a New Year by the way it starts. A year can begin either good or bad and then change half way through. There are ways to begin the New Year on a high note, but that doesn't mean the year will remain going well.

The beginning of a New Year is like the beginning of a day. It starts out either good or bad depending on the person. This year, for the most part, started on a good note. My checking account wasn't overdrawn on January 1 and Mom got a raise on her Social Security. However, just because the year started out good doesn't mean it will stay that way. Anymore then a day starting out bad means it will go from bad to worse.

All a person can do is hope and have faith. Say prayers, at least three times a day, and hope that the day will improve. If a day or a year starts out bad, then they can always improve. If they start out good then they can always get worse. However, the day or the year can just as easily do neither.

My grandparents never seemed to let the way a day began or end affect their mood. If the day began bad, then they did something to cause the situation to change. Sometimes the only thing they could do way pray and they did. Prayer changes things, it changes either the situation or the person's approach to the situation.

Remembering New Year Celebrations with my Grandparents

‘Idál (Justice), 1 Sharaf (Honor), 165 BE – Wednesday, December 31, 2008 about 9:20 AM Pacific Time

I don't know how my Grandma and Grandpa Newland, celebrated New Year before the advent of television. I remember them having a T.V. in the living room when I was very young. Grandpa always bought the newest forms of technology when they came on the market. Therefore, he always had a T.V. in the living room when I was a child.

On New Year's Eve, we would stay up and watch specials that celebrated the arrival of the New Year. My siblings and myself didn't have to go to school the next day, so we could stay up late on New Year's Eve. I know sometimes Grandpa had to work the next day, but my memories of New Year's Eve always have him in them.

The shows we watched were variety show, all filmed before a live audience. Whether the shows were live when we looked at them, I don't know. As a child, I lived in Blackwell, Oklahoma, in Middle America and most of the shows were filmed on either the East Coast or the West Coast, so I doubt that they were live, but I don't know.

Young children don't worry about whether or not a show is live or canned. A child is more interested in the T.V. show then the technology behind it. Only after a certain age do most children become interested in the technology.

I enjoyed the dancers and singers. They wore such beautiful cloths, I always wanted to have dress like the female singers on those shows.

I Miss my Grandparents

‘Idál (Justice), 9 Qudrat (Power), 165 B.E. – Wednesday, November 12, 2008 about Sunset Pacific Time

I miss my grandparents. I think it must be the time of year. Thanksgiving is coming up and then Christmas. I don't celebrate Christmas anymore, but I have fond memories of Grandma and Grandpa. Those memories always seem to come back this time of year.

Grandma always enjoyed making Thanksgiving dinner. She would bake pies before Thanksgiving and put them in the freezer. Then on Thanksgiving, after the turkey was done she would put the pies in the oven and warm them up.

On Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving she would begin decorating the house for Christmas. Grandpa would buy a live tree and we would decorate the tree. Grandma and Grandpa eventually got an artificial Christmas tree, but it wasn't a green tree. The artificial tree they bought was a silver aluminum tree. It looked pretty and you could decorate it just like a real tree.

I’m dreaming about my grandparents

Jamál (Beauty), 11 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Sunday, October 26, 2008 about 9:40 AM Pacific Time

I've been dreaming about my grandparents lately. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because the holiday season is here. Grandma enjoyed Halloween; she loved baking cookies for all the neighborhood children. Grandma would bake the cookies and wrap them in clear food wrap. When the neighborhood children came Trick or Treating, she would give them all cookies. Grandma backed two different kinds of cookies for Halloween. She would bake both oatmeal raisin and peanut butter cookies. She wrapped them seperately and gave one each to children who came to the door.

Grandpa would take my sibling and myself Trick or Treating. He begin with the neighborhood he and grandma lived in. After we went to all the houses there, then he took us to our own neighborhood. I enjoyed picking a costume and going from house to house. It was fun and grandpa never let us go by ourselves. I don't remember ever going to a Halloween party when I was growing up in Blackwell, Oklahoma.

Another reason I may be dreaming about my grandparents is that I miss them so much. I don't remember missing this much at other holiday seasons, but this year I'm missing them very much.

October brings Memories of Halloween

Jalál (Glory), 8 Mashiyyat (Will), 165 B.E. – Saturday, October 4, 2008 about 3:14 AM Pacific Time

It's the first Saturday in October, the first full month of autumn. October always brings memories of Halloween and my Grandma Newland. Grandma and Grandpa lived in a much simpler and safer time. Grandma began preparing for Halloween seven days before the event.

All the living kids within three or four blocks of my grandparents called them Grandma and Grandpa. Halloween was a big event for Grandma, not as big as Thanksgiving or Christmas, which required more preparation, but Grandma gave Halloween a good chunk of her time the week before.

Grandma would bake cookies and put them in plastic sandwich bags to give to the Trick or Treater's on Halloween night. Every year Grandma always did this and she would stay home on Halloween night to pass the goodies out while Grandpa took us Trick or Treating. If she were alive today, she couldn't do that, but then everyone felt safe accepting and eating homemade treats from the neighbors.

The Last Saturday in August

Jalál (Glory), 11 Asma (Names), 165 B.E. – Saturday, August 30, 2008 about 8:47 AM Pacific Time

This is the last Saturday in August,
on Monday September begins;
September 1 is the first Monday in September;
Labor Day.

When I was a child,
Labor Day was picnic day,
hot dog day,
visiting with my grandparents' day,
going to the Lake day,
going swimming day,
going water skiing day,
etc.

On the last Saturday in August,
I remember the joy
of driving to the Lake
on a Friday night knowing
we did not have to return to Blackwell
until late Monday evening;
knowing that there would be no school until Tuesday.

I remember
looking forward to going back to school
on Tuesday morning
when the first activity of the day
was "Show and Tell"
and everyone has something to say
about their Labor Day weekend.

My Grandfather Drank Cowboy Coffee

Istijlál (Majesty), 12 Kalimat (Words), 165 BE – Thursday, July 24, 2008 about 6:35 AM PDT

My grandfather drank cowboy coffee and my grandmother drank hot tea. I remember my grandfather making coffee the first thing in the morning. He made it in a percolator and used five scoops of coffee grounds.

Grandpa did not remove the percolator's basket after brewing the coffee. Unless he made another pot of coffee, he left the basket, with the grounds still in it in the pot all day long, Grandpa would strong drink coffee all day long. All day long, the percolator would perk and the coffee would get stronger and stronger. At various intervals throughout the day, Grandpa would come into the house, sit down at the kitchen table, pour himself a cup of coffee and sip it, while he read the paper or talked to Grandma.

Each day, Grandpa would drink his last cup of coffee before going to bed. He would not go to bed until he finished the coffee in the pot. The next morning he would get up, after a good nights sleep and make a fresh pot of coffee. Grandpa drank coffee, strong enough to walk under its own power, all day long and had no trouble sleeping. Grandma had difficulty sleeping all night, when she woke up and could not get back to sleep she cleaned house. Grandpa would lay in bed snoring away while Grandma cleaned house and sometimes ran the vacuum cleaner.

I learned to drink coffee from my Grandfather. Sometimes he would pour my siblings and me some coffee and give it to us to drink. When he gave us coffee he put cream and sugar in our coffee, but I remember him drinking his coffee black. I eventually stopped putting cream and sugar in my coffee; I like my morning coffee black without cream or sugar. When I go to a coffee house and get a specialty coffee, sometimes I have it with cream and sugar, but I always drink my morning coffee without cream and sugar. In addition, I like my coffee strong.

I have to read my e-mail more then once a week

Istiqlál (Independence), 6 Kalimat (Words), 165 BE – Friday, July 18, 2008 about 7:10 PM PDT

I have to read my e-mail more then once a week or once every two to three days. The last time I actually read any of my e-mail was on Wednesday of this week. That could be why my e-mail box is cluttered. If I dealt with it on a daily basis then maybe I could keep the inbox uncluttered, never mind the junk or spam folder.

I can just imagine what my grandparents would say about that, not that e-mail existed when they were still alive. If computers and e-mail had existed then, my grandfather would have had a computer and an e-mail account. He would probably have had a yahoo account. I have three e-mail accounts. I suppose I could do with just two, but the yahoo account is free and I just can't make myself drop it.

I am in the process of simplifying my life. E-mail doesn't encourage a simple life. The big problem with e-mail is spam. Yahoo calls its junk mail folder "SPAM". I like that because that is what most of the e-mail in that folder is. Normally, I go through the spam folder and move mail I want to read to my in-box. The problem is that I don't think I've read my yahoo mail since Wednesday either. I'm tempted to do a mass delete of my inbox and begin fresh with an empty box.

I've tried for several months to unclutter my e-mail boxes and unsubscribe e-mail items. The more stuff I un subscribe to the more spam I seem to get. I don't know if those two phenomena are related, but they appear so. Uncluttering is part of the transformation process I am going through right now. It is a test that I am facing and I'm beginning to wonder if I'm passing it.

I find myself missing Oklahoma

Fidál (Grace), 19 Baha (Splendor), 165 B.E. – Tuesday, April 8, 2008 about 12:36 PM PDT

Lately,
I've found myself missing Oklahoma.

Maybe it's the carefree existence of my childhood I miss
and not the state of Oklahoma;
to be young and worry free
without debts or responsibility.

Perhaps that's what I miss
or is it something else about my childhood
that makes me want to see my grandparents again.

Mother's Day is approaching
and I remember not saying good-bye to my grandmother
before she died.

Lately,
I found myself dreaming of my grandparents' home,
the dream is reoccurring
the location is always the same,
but the people are different.

My mother and I
are always in the dream,
but sometimes its my grandparents' house
with cousins and distant relatives,
but not my grandparents.

At other times my grandparents
are in the dream,
with every pet I've ever had.

There are times in my life

‘Idál (Justice), 6 Baha (Splendor), 165 B.E. – Wednesday, March 26, 2008 about 4:12 PM PDT

There are times in my life when I wish my grandparents were still around.

I miss them very much.

I miss my grandfather's advice and my grandmother's laughter.

I miss the security the presence always gave me.

I'm 61 years old, so my grandparents would be over 100 probably closer to 200, which means I'd probably be taking care of them. That doesn't stop me from wishing they were here sometimes. Grandpa would find the gas prices outrageous. He would wonder how people could afford to go any where.

There is one thing that I know my grandfather would like and would have. Grandpa would have a computer and internet access. How do I know? Because when he was alive he always made sure he had the latest technology. He didn't buy it when it immediately came out, but would wait a little while to get it; when my grandfather was a farmer he had the first Fordsen tractor in the the area.

The Never Ending Pile of Laundry

Kamal (Perfection), 12 Mulk (Dominion), 164 B.E. - Monday, February 18, 2008 about 11:37 AM PST

I don't remember my Grandmother having a never ending pile of laundry. She did laundry once a week on Saturday. My Grandfather built her a laundry room at the side of the house where she kept her washing machine. I remember Grandma doing laundry in a wringer washer. She would was the cloths in the machine and then put them through the wringer to get the excess water out before putting them into the rinse tubs. She put her cloths through two rinses, the first had blueing in it and the second was just plain tap water.

I do remember Grandma using a washboard to scrube cloths with stains in them. She had a special tub for prewashing clothes. She would prewash the clothes with a scrube board, wring them out and then put them in the washing machine. I remember her using the old wringer washer for years until Grandpa bought her an automatic washer.

Grandma never seemed to have a never ending pile of laundry and she did it only once a week. I on the other hand do laundry everyday and it seems I'm doing the same amount of cloths everyday. I know there has to be something that I'm doing wrong, but I'm not sure what it is. If I let the laundry go just one day it gets bigger.

My Grandfather and the Price of Gas

Kamal (Perfection), 5 Mulk 164 B.E. - Monday, February 11, 2008 about 3:50 PM PST

I paid $2.86 per gallon yesterday when I bought gas, at a self-service with a mini-mart. It got me to thinking about Grandpa Newland. My grandfather griped when gas prices rose 2 or 3 cents. He would really gripe at the prices today, especially since he would fill his tank himself. When Grandpa bought gas there were only full service stations, which meant that an attendant filled the tank and checked the fluids. However, my grandfather could fill the tank himself, but with an attendant, I don't think he ever thought of filling the tank himself.

I can't remember Grandpa changing his own oil, but he did check it himself. Which reminds me, I have to check the oil in the car tomorrow morning when I get home or while I'm parked somewhere waiting I check my own oil (Grandpa would be proud of me) and put it in if its needed. I don't check the transmission fluid or the brake fluid, I stop at a fill service for that about once a month or so.

Actually, there was a time when I never thought about checking the oil myself, but times and people change. There was a time when I never thought about getting gas anywhere but a full service station. I don't mind filling the tank myself or I wouldn't if I ever put more then $20 of gas in the tank. Grandpa would really gripe at spending $20 on gas and not getting a full tank. Lately all $20 gets is about half to three-quarters of a tank. Yesterday I put only $2.86 in the tank which bought me a gallon of gas.

My Grandmother's Cat

Istiqlal (Independence), 2 Mulk 164 B.E. - Friday, February 8, 2008 about 4:21 PM PST

My grandmother's cat Jay
slept in her hen house during the day,
he curled in an empty chicken's nest
and slept while the chickens laid their eggs.

Jay seemed to like the clucking of the hens
he never chased or stole the eggs
he just curled in the empty nest and slept
until my grandmother called his name.

My Grandfater was Successful

Jalal (Glory), 15 Sultan (Sovereignty), 164 B.E. - Saturday, Febraury 2, 2008 about 12:52 PM

My Grandfather was successful
at being a guardian angel;
he kept an eye on all four grandchildren and a dog
when we went to the lake,
into town
or to spend an evening on our cousin's farm.

I don't think I ever thanked him for saving my life
when I played hide-n-seek at my cousin's farm
and hid in a old fridge;
he found me and took me out
said nothing to Mom,
but had the door removed.

I don't think I ever thanked him for saving my brother's life
when we went to Lake Carl Blackwell
and the life jacket Tom wore
became water logged;
he took my brother to shore
and got him another jacket.

I don't think I ever thanked him for saving Pop Corn's life
when she was shut in a hot car,
he took her out and gave her water
and took us all home.

My Grandfather was successful
at being our guardian angel
and I don't think I ever thanked him,
before he passed on into the next world.

My Grandmother Recycled

Istiqlal (Independence), 14 Sultan (Sovereignty), 164 B.E. - Friday, February 1, 2008 about 12:43 PM PST

My Grandmother recycled
before it became fashionable,
she was raised on a farm
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centaury
so everything that was usable
had to be used and reused.

She made patchwork quilts
from leftover material and pieces of dresses,
she used worn out underwear for cleaning rags
and dust cloths.

Grandma recycled everything possible
glass jelly jars were used as juice glasses
in larger glass jars with lids
she would put bacon grease or chicken stock
and place them in the fridge for later use in
gravy and stew.

And now I follow in her footsteps,
but I do it my way
by selling aluminum cans for gas money
or to pay the Internet bill.