The following's a memory or set of memories I've pieced together. It may not have happened exactly like that, but that's how I like to remember it happening.
I'm 5 years old, and I love my brother, but you'd never guess by the way he ignores me when I follow him around. Mom and Dad talk to my grandparents, M & D, about things we don't care much about, so we wander off to explore drawers that might be filled with things like crayons and books. It seems like hours have gone by, and Richard's reading and won't play with me anymore. I go back to the den and Mom and M are still talking. Dad's reading his book and D's listening to the radio with the weird voice that tells him the weather. I love coming to the farm, but it always reminds me how boring my family can be.
Mom gets up, and I get so excited. I follow her into the bedroom and she tells me she's just going to lay down. Too bad. As I head back to the den, Richard's still reading, M's digging in the fridge getting ready for supper, D's muttering to himself in his chair, and Dad's reading. I climb up into his lap, and he hugs me.
M comes in and asks me if I'd want to go on a walk with her. Of Course I Would! She helps me put my shoes on and makes me put my jacket on. I run outside and have to wait for her to get ready. I swing on the rusty green porch swing until she comes out. She's stuffing tissues in her pockets and carrying a carton of eggs. I ask her what the eggs are for, but she just says I'll have to see.
Sometime earlier D had pulled the four-wheeler out. It's bright red and it always reminds me of M's hair. She puts the eggs in the basket. "Are we going to ride it?" I ask, barely containing myself. She just smiles at me and asks me to open the gate to the pasture. I run across the yard and do what she asks. She pulls through and stops so I can shut it. She helps me onto the four-wheeler and makes sure I know to hold on really tight. It always seems kind of foreign to see my petite, soft-spoken, grandmother driving the four-wheeler. She takes me down by the pond dodging cow patties the whole way. We circle around it and head toward the woods. If I were alone, I'd be scared of the cows, but not now.
She has all the paths through the woods named and tells me stories about each one. She shows me the stump where the snakes live and makes sure I know never to go near it. She shows me the path where the cows walk and how they've worn it down to the dirt by walking in a line.
We come out of the woods on the other side, and she stops and helps me off. She takes out two eggs and hands one to me. She says, "be careful not to drop it," then she throws hers at a tree! I don't know if I've ever seen her throw anything in my life, but she hit the tree dead on and the egg goop splattered and is dripping down into the grass. I throw mine at the tree and miss. She hands me another egg. HIT!
Before I know it she's saying that's all, and I'm so disappointed. We ride back to the house and I open the gate for her. I can't wait to brag about throwing eggs with M!
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| egg on a tree in 2009 |
