Wandering: I love the Tolkein quote, "Not all those who wander are lost," and when my work or home life gets too crazy, I dream of the woods by the Red River, where I used to wander for hours and hours as a kid. I followed deer trails all the way to where the Elm meets the Red, and then I'd turn around and come back. I should really ask Steve Harrington (who bought that land when I was a teenager) if I could wander there again this spring or summer.
Winnifred and Winnifred Turnipseed: My dad used to rent land from this lovely couple, named Winnifred and Winnifred Turnipseed. I know: if I hadn't met Mrs. Turnipseed myself when I was young, I wouldn't believe it either. I believe they used to farm in Traill County, and had retired and moved away and rented their land to us. Mr. Turnipseed died first (I never met him, that I recollect), leaving only one Winnifred Turnipseed. I remember that when I met her, her hair was short and white and she wore a Mickey Mouse watch, which I thought was very cool.
Wood ticks: What with all the wandering I did as a child, it should come as no surprise that I've encountered lots and lots of wood ticks. My two favorite wood tick stories: once, after picking lilacs that grew over by the railroad tracks near my hometown, I came home just covered in ticks. Well, not totally covered (ew!), but I counted until 27, and found many many more after that. My dad had fun setting them all on fire, though. Secondly, the very first time we took V to the lake, she was about six weeks old. She slept in a pack and play beside my bed, and when we woke up in the morning, I noticed a little something in her tiny, tiny ear. It was up on the top, under the crease. And since you've read this whole paragraph, I bed you already know what was there. An attached, insistent wood tick. On my precious, precious baby. I woke up my baby daddy, handed her off, and drove like a woman whose child was being devoured by a vampiric nuisance to the local drug store, where I bought a tweezers and three homemade caramels (mamas need a lot of candy, in the beginning). I removed the offending tick, considered mosquito netting for future visits, and spent the rest of the weekend on wood tick sparked adrenaline fumes.
3 comments:
To continue my unrequested spouting of unnecessary information, I will offer this additional tidbit about Winifred (Ms). Your Grandpa Ernie referred to Winifred's mother as Aunt Martha. When I dig out our geneology I will confirm that Winifred's mother was Martha Johnson Grady, sister of James A Johnson. The Grady farm was approximately a mile south of the "home place" in Trail County. It had been the Grady farm before Victor Johnson (not a relative) lived there. Harry and Junice lived on that farm when they were first married. That farm was wired for electricity, which the "home place" never was. Your unrequested history for the day. Forgive me.
I won't be offended if choose to delete the history. Perhaps it is inappropriate for me to do this.
No, I like the history very much! And now that you mention it, I remember some mention of cousinhood related to the Turnipseeds.
I think Myra and Dewey may have moved to the homeplace (in a trailer, probably) had their been electricity out there. I probably would've had several more wood tick related incidents, then.
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