Peaceful chaos. That's how it used to be when we'd gather at G'ma's house and the first of the grandkids were young. Half of my generation kept an eye and a handle on their kids but the other half did not. It was up to the responsible ones to keep count of all the kids. That was a peaceful chaos. Now the grands are grown and there are great-grands and some husbands and wives who managed to hang in there and always transient boyfriends and girlfriends and "just friends" at the gatherings.

The grands have become much more lax than their parents about caring for their own. The great-grands for the most part resemble wild babies left to care for themselves or attach themselves to an elder-gener who will wash their dirty little faces, hands and feet, comb their tangled hair and see that their bellies don't cry with hunger.

The G'ma has aged in bone and flesh. She's less tolerant of wasteful youth and more sorrowful for wasted youth. She's lost time and agility but she does love the children. G'ma's house can no longer hold everyone in comfort but her heart has room to spare.

There is tension at the gatherings now eminating from the grand-geners. It's like a coiled spring threatening to unwind at a word or a look. Some are missing because certain others are there. The elders are trying to implant the meaning of family in the wild babies before these tender buds too are gone. Not an easy task but a necessary one if they are ever to experience the comforting sway of family love and belonging. A peaceful chaos.

One Tired Susie!

This will be me anytime now. I am one tired Susie! I spent my day in BS doing errands with a borrowed car. I hit the bank and threw in the store deposit in time to keep our venders from coming back and sucking up all the beer we had to buy -- getting set for Memorial Day, ya know. From there I went to the Whale of a Wash and washed a whale of clothes. I hit the Good Will store and found a treasure of t-shirts for my Buddy and a wonderful laying down Ty bear for his new little brother. Then I hit the Dollar store and spent way more than a dollar! From there it was into the Food Dog to spend way way WAY more than a dollar! After stuffing all this into the borrowed car along with the rest of my jetsom I remembered I was running on only a half cup of coffee! But before I can have my shot of java I have to make a quick stop at the drug store. No, not for drugs -- for printer paper...or I should say drawing paper for the grandkids. After that stop I snuck through the McD drive-thru and headed towards the edge of town to the propane vender to pre-pay for a tank of LP. Then I sped across the busy 4-lane to buy some "liquid gold" for the borrowed car, cop a squat, and finally get that coffee transfusion. Not done yet. I head back into town and hit the bank for a second time to buy circus tickets and sign up for a banking opportunity. And finally I am free to go home. My dogs are barking, my hips are popping, and my knees have dropped into the ocean of fluid sloshing around my ankles but I still have to enjoy the grandk's for 6 hours before bedtime. They are all in bed now and I can relax and.....
Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop !

Hey. looky here! I'm back -- for how long I don't know. But I just had to tell you about my historical vote. Did you guys vote?
I did on May 13. I love voting in WV. I go to the former Great Cacapon Elementary School (the same one where Matt went to HeadStart ) and tell the ladies my name. They look me up in their big book of voters and find that I am registered Independent. So they sit back in their chairs and look at me without saying anything. Yuo see, because I am an Ind. I have to ask for a party ballot. In previous years I could only ask for a Republican ballot because Dems didn't allow anyone but Dems to vote their ticket but this year we were allowed to vote either one. This is an historical event in politics and I was part of it. Anyway, I ask for a Dem ballot and the lady has me sign the book and gives me a little white paper that has my name on it and which ballot I voted. WV is up to date with voting machines so I cast my votes on the touch screen. Now, this is the part I love. When I am done I walk back up to the front doors and hand my slip of paper to Miss Geraldine who is about a bihundred years old and sits there smiling. Miss Geraldine takes my slip and threads it onto a needle and thread with a button at the end to keep the slips from sliding off. Mine goes onto the Dem thread. Then she thanks me for voting and says I can go now. I have voted this way for the past 8 years and I wouldn't trade this for anything! Oh, and when I first voted in WV we were still using paper ballots and pencils and Miss Geraldine was there.
I will vote again in November and I'm sure Miss Geraldine will be there tallying the slips too.

So that's my voting story. Watch this space and I might just have something else to say soon.
As long as I can keep my head from going sad again I should be OK.