Granny Pam

Man, more rain. It's feast or famine. Since most of the garden dried up because I couldn't stay home long enough to water it, the rain isn't helping now. I wrote a while ago about Blue Monday, perhaps I cover all the days in due time.

Today it's shop, fix Uncle Jerry's web page, clean and get ready for our granddaughters to arrive for a short stay. Son-in-law, with the help of grandsons One and Three, will move everything to their new home Thursday. Grandson One will probably help more.

Speaking of Uncle Jerry (he's not my uncle, but everyone I know seems to call him that), he had a great bluegrass festival a week ago. We're already looking forward to next year.

Please support your local live music events, of whatever genre. The world is a better place with the musicians singing a happy tune.

I’m painting. I can’t help it, it had to be. The (commercial grade) carpet in our living and dining room finally bit the dust. The last straw was someone walking across it with a bloody foot. I cleaned it up with the prescribed cold water, but a full cleaning was needed and the whole thing looked awful. Papa and I went away for a weekend and grandsons One and Two and their mother ripped the darn thing up. That involved cutting it into two foot strips and tying with twine so the garbage collector would take it. And, it’s gone.

I will be replaced in due time with a laminate floor. The floor is picked, but not ordered, and will be installed by a relative who has to make arrangements to drive 200 miles to do so. In the meantime, what better to do than scrub, paint, clean and generally make a worse mess that is imaginable. I’m pretty sure cleaning is a disease and I have a double dose. The kitchen and living room will be done by Tuesday, including cleaning all the and scrubbing the insides of all the cabinets. The bathroom will get done after school starts. Don’t know if the living room is on the list, but probably—perhaps in the spring.

Football season is upon us, grandson Two has his first game today. He is a sophomore, and the JV plays on Wednesday evening, after the freshman team.

It’s strange because grandson One will not be playing football this year. We have watched him play for may years, since he was in third grade. I guess that adds up to 10 years, but it seems like a lifetime. He loves football, and loved to play.

Two is hanging around home, working on some projects and waiting for his date with the Navy. He has run a couple of errands for me this week, for milk and paint. It was handy to have him here to go, but that is not the reason I will miss him. His live has become entangled with ours, and it feels like he should just be here. But, birds will fly and so will he.

So, it’s football, ready or not. I’m not.

Both of our granddaughters are visiting again, a real treat. Granddaughter Two is 2, her birthday was in June. She talks a blue streak, in sentences of more than a couple of words. Actually, it’s more like paragraphs. Yesterday we made a visit to Greenfield Village. This has been a favorite place of granddaughter One, granddaughter Two seems to like it fine also. We were on the way home when Two began singing.

In the car and at home if I’m not listening to CDs, I listen to my Sirius radio, on the bluegrass channel, 65, if you want to give it a chance. It’s pretty good, and a hundred time better than regular radio.

When I realized Two was singing, I turned it off and heard quite a bit. Row, Row, Row Your Boat; If You’re Happy and You Know It; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; Old McDonald—which is not to be confused with “Donald’s”, the golden arches. Pretty soon we were all singing and had a great drive home.

When daughter Two called last night, I asked her how many songs granddaughter Two knows, and she started listing them. It was a long list and I’m not sure any of us have the answer. All the kids like music, but Two puts in into action better than the others.

The best news every, daughter Two and her husband sold their house. I wrote about her new job recently, but we've all been holding our breath about the house. There is nothing worse that trying to maintain a house you no longer need, Papa and I did it for a while after our last move. Thank goodness Two and her family can move on without having to do so.

She rolled into the KC Campground near Milan, Michigan last weekend, parked her bus, set up her table to sell CD’s, and put on four great sets, and three of her band members have played with her less than eight months.

She runs at least two businesses, a driving school and a touring bluegrass band. Last weekend Papa saw her bring a boy, about 12 or 13, into a music vendor’s tent. She bought a bridge (and perhaps some other parts) for the kid’s mandolin. She took the time to restring the mandolin with the new bridge and make sure it played all right.

She (and her band) were seen in the campground, jamming with the attendees. She brought several of them on stage with her in her final performance Friday night to show their talents. They were not all future stars, but all enjoyed the festival, the music, and the company of others like-minded.

At the end of last year there was some controversy concerning the circumstances under which some members left her band. It might be pertinent to note that many bluegrass bands have revolving door membership rosters. It is not unusual to see changes, and mostly no one thinks much of it.

I really have no clue of the cause of the band breaking up, and I’m inclined to believe that there are as many sides to a story as there are people involved. I wrote a short post in support of her on a bluegrass forum I read regularly. At that time we had seen her shortly after the departure of the older members; she had a makeshift band performing at a show for New Year's Eve.

Here’s what I thought then, and I think now. For some reason woman doing jobs or activities that are normally associated with the other gender attract more criticism than a man in similar circumstances. Competent business people can be successful wherever they choose, by applying consistent, proven, professional techniques. Expecting to get the result you desire is not a sin. As my Dad used to say, whoever pays the bills calls the shots.

If you have a chance, I hope you will see Lorraine Jordan’s Carolina Road Band somewhere soon, and find out what I’m talking about.

We attended the Tiger game last night. The Tigers lost, but Papa and I won. We usually venture to a baseball game once or twice a year. We had no plans to do so this year, and then we had an e-mail from a cousin who was visiting Michigan this summer. Papa has tons of cousins on both sides of his family. I have exactly two total first cousins on my father’s side.

For reasons that I have never understood my Dad’s family, at least in his generation, were not close. I recall only a few family gatherings over the years, and can honestly say that the cousins and I really have no common history or shared experience. Since shared experience is what binds people together, we really have no bond.

The visiting cousin’s wife and I have developed an e-mail friendship over the years, exchanging notes and pictures, so I was delighted to hear that she wanted to meet me and we were looking forward to the visit. Cousin, his wife and mother were planning a visit to Michigan. They had an extensive itinerary of places to go and people to see. When she e-mailed that cousin’s mother, my aunt by marriage, wanted to attend a Tigers game, it gave us an opportunity to meet them there.

What a wonderful time we had. Our group included both of my cousins, their mother, and Papa and I. We visited, ate some junk food, and saw the game too. I was wonderful to see Aunt, the last time I saw her was the summer daughter One was born 37 years ago. She brought a beautiful blanket she crocheted for the baby

The Tigers, who have been very hot lately, had tons of hits, but only two runs, and therefore officially tanked in our presence. It didn’t really matter though, it was a beautiful night, a huge crowd, and nice place and great company!