My Christmas Card To You

                                                      Every name is a blessing

                                                      upon this list of mine

                                                      somewhere our paths have crossed

                                                      in another place and time

                                                      Perhaps it was years ago

                                                      or only yesterday

                                                      but every person on my list

                                                      has changed my life someway

                                                     A simple hug or conversation

                                                     a friendly smile or meal

                                                     a spoken prayer to God above

                                                     has helped me grow and heal

                                                     Perhaps God went through you

                                                     and wove his magic twine

                                                     in some small or kindly deed

                                                     to touch this heart of mine

                                                     You wished the gray clouds away

                                                     and prayed for rain instead

                                                     I raised my eyes to heaven

                                                     and found a rainbow overhead

                                                    Worldly things that trouble me

                                                     just seems to disappear

                                                     knowing you are always there

                                                     across the miles or near

                                                    You restore my faith, love and hope

                                                     a bond that will never cease

                                                     so many wonderful family and friends

                                                     brings to me an inner peace

                                                    Each day my list continues to grow

                                                    and each name I hold so dear

                                                    each one has brought Christmas joy

                                                    everyday of the year

                                                   This Christmas Card I give to you

                                                   is more than just a wish

                                                   it's a thank you to God above

                                                   for putting you on my list

                                                      © Susie Swanson 2015

Merry Christmas from my home to yours. I'm still having quite a bit of health issues and will be back hopefully soon and try to visit more with ya'll. May God Bless all of you. ~Susie

Christmas Memories

Christmas is a time for joy and happiness, spending time with family, remembering Christmas past when times were so different, simple but grand.
Sadly, a lot of the old ways have been left behind and Christmas has become a commercial holiday. Not so, back in the day when all we had to wake up to was an orange and apple or one present a piece if we were lucky. We felt rich as a king in our hearts. We’d search through the woods for the perfect tree and sometimes that took days and every year it looked the same. We had to tie the top of it to the curtain rod to get the star to stay in place. It was cut from cardboard with aluminum foil wrapped around it to make it shine. Our decorations were holly berries and popcorn strings wrapped around the little droopy tree. The stockings were hung near the tree the night before, anticipating our once a year Christmas treat.
Then as I grew older I noticed something was missing, mama and daddy never did get a present. I felt so bad on Christmas morning when we all opened our stockings or the one present that Santa had managed to bring each one of us. So one year I fell on a plan to make sure daddy and mama had a present. I started saving every little penny I could save, mostly pay from an older lady that hired me to come in the summer and do some house cleaning and yard sweeping. I put them in an old quart jar in my bedroom closet. I didn’t want anyone to know about them so I kept quiet as a mouse. When Christmas Eve rolled around I kept asking mama if she needed anything from the store for her baking or cooking. I knew she always made a black walnut cake from the walnuts we’d cracked and hulled out earlier in the fall. We always saved some for our Christmas cake. She also made a homemade apple sauce cake too. The rest of Christmas dinner consisted of food we’d canned from the gardens in the summer and fresh hog meat that had been killed just before Thanksgiving or Christmas.
I prayed she would need something really bad, bad enough to send me to the store. We always walked to the little country store just over  the road from the house. I kept asking are you sure you don’t need anything from the store and finally she spoke up and said, well if you want to hoof it bad enough I need a dozen eggs for these cakes. Just what I’d been waiting to hear.
 Since our hens didn’t lay much in the winter we only had enough eggs for breakfast if we had any at all.  I ran as fast as my legs would take me towards that quart jar and grabbed those pennies and put them in my pocket. Mama gave me a list to fill and I found out she needed more than she thought. I just about run all the way to the store. When I got there I gave the list to the storekeeper to fill as usual while I looked around. I already had in mind what to buy for mama and daddy’s Christmas present. When he got done filling the list and I paid him with the money mama gave me and stuck what little change she had left back in my other pocket I reached in and brought out the handful of pennies I’d saved. I handed them to him and said will this much money buy a small box of Garrett Strong Snuff and a pack of Camel Cigarettes? He said, well let me count what you got. He counted each penny and told me I had just enough, which I surely doubt today every time I think about it.
He put the little box of snuff for mama and the cigarettes for daddy in a small, brown bag and I stashed them in my pocket so they couldn’t be seen. I felt happy as a lark walking back home. I didn't even stop but long enough to sit mama’s eggs and stuff on the table and took off towards the bedroom. I took out the little bag and looked for something to wrap the presents in. I came up with a plan to wrap each one in a piece of brown paper cut from the paper bag  that I carried mama’s groceries in. I slipped in the kitchen and found the paper bag mama had emptied and grabbed some scissors and run back into the bedroom and cut a big enough piece to wrap each present in. I felt so much joy in my heart and couldn't wait to see their eyes come morning.  I was all set, come bed time I’d slip back up after everyone went to sleep and put mama and daddy’s Christmas presents under the tree. I laid there so quiet and listened to the old clock tick away until everyone was fast asleep. I had the presents hid under the bed covers. I eased up and tip toed into the living room and laid the presents under the tree. Then I slipped back into bed and finally fell asleep. The noise woke me up come morning and I jumped straight up and ran for the living room. Everyone was there opening their presents and we all got one present. Daddy and mama must have had a little extra money to pay Santa with that year. I got a puzzle cause Santa knew I loved putting puzzles together. After all of us kids had opened our presents I crawled under the tree and got mama and daddy’s present and handed it to them. They both looked really serious and said what’s this? I told them it was something Santa left for them. They opened it up and their eyes lite up more so than the tree. Daddy said, I wonder who told him what kind we used. Mama said, I wonder the same thing but I sure can use it.
At that moment I had the most joy in my heart and worth more than diamonds and gold. Now, I know a lot of folks reading this are thinking how did she buy that snuff and cigarettes and her being just a kid. You gotta remember it was a very different time and era and everybody knew each other. We’d patronized that little store so much and the storekeeper was kin to us. I remember sometimes when we went in there and he had some bananas that were getting to ripe to sell he’d give us a bunch. Times sure have changed today and like I said the old ways have fell by the road side, left behind to fade into the past. Christmas is not about buying presents and spending big bucks just to make sure the kids are happy. It’s about love of family, sharing, thinking of the less fortunate, being satisfied with what you have, teaching your kids the true meaning of Christmas. The little things are the most important in life, not the big things and putting God in our hearts every day of the year.  I cherish those long ago Christmases, although we weren't rich in money, we had wealth a thousand ways more. I wish I could go back to that simple old time when the little things were treasures and worth more than money could buy.

© Susie Swanson,2015

Merry Christmas everyone!!

We Walk In The Midst

We walk in the midst of beautiful flowers

They will return again come another spring

Though winter’s breath has quietly stolen

There is promise of new birth in everything

We walk in the midst of deep and darkened days

Of some that has become each our very own

The sun will shine through and return again

There will be another break of dawn

We walk in the midst of century old lands

As old fields do through storms and question why

Beneath the blinding sun and bitter rain

We too, should draw new strength as the years pass by

We walk in the midst of grassy hills, so green

Where the mighty winds of heaven blow

Straight from the breath of God, cool and clean

As anything the soul of man can know

We walk in the midst of memories and reflections

From another place and more simpler time

Hung upon the walls of many forgotten days

Are pictures of our ancestors they left behind

We walk in the midst of much anger and hatred

A thousand words can not describe

The soul is barren without peace and love

Hatred should never be inscribed

We walk in the midst of tears and heartache

Where pain, grief and suffering has no name

Without wings against the wind we tremble

For what else may come or still remain

We walk in the midst of blurred eyes and weeping

Crying out with hunger and homelessness

In a land where milk and honey flows

There should always be plenty and never less

We walk in the midst of wars and rumors of wars

Fulfilling the Bible more each passing day

The mercy of God is the most powerful sword

If we but only turn to him and daily pray

We walk in the midst of patience, trying to understand

And wonder how good is material things of earth

When we are gone, all of these will still remain

Just as it is from birth to death, what is it’s worth

We walk in the midst of each upturned prayer

Though agony may be to great for tongue to say

Even the unvoiced prayer he surely answers

If not in our way, in some better way

We walk in the midst of a troubled and lost world

Dying more and more with each passing day

Waiting for someone to unlock the chains

That someone is here, the stone has been rolled away

© Susie Swanson, 2015

Please continue to keep me in your prayers. I'm in the midst of a hard battle, the hardest I've ever had to fight.. I'm waiting for many tests to come back on all of my glands, etc. I miss you all and my visits with you but I can't stay on the computer long at a time. I hope to be back soon and catch up with everything. Like the old sayin, "If God Brings you to it, he'll help you through it". I'm claiming that every day. May God Bless you all. ~Susie

Update

                                             The whole world is seeking one who understands

                                             A million prayers rise upward from the sod

                                             If they would only listen as they speak

                                             Out of the silence they would hear you, Dear God

                                             The sad who seek to find you through their tears

                                             The broken hearts crying out in agony and pain

                                             You've always been there through toil and strife

                                              Faith of a mustard seed is but a tiny grain

                                             Though mountains are high and valleys low

                                             There is splendor above and light over head

                                             You've heard each cry and saw each tear

                                              And every prayer that's been spoken or said

                                             The human heart you placed within the breast

                                              Set there to run untouched from birth to death

                                              Is where faith should dwell and laughter ring

                                              Every day and night as long as there is breath

                                             All the promises you made should stand above

                                             A world of despair and cries should not dismay

                                             You are the rock from which we should stand

                                             Those who seek the highest shall never lose their way

                                                  © Susie Swanson, 2015

A lil update,

I know all of you are wondering why I've been AWOL the last several weeks and what time I have been on I haven't been around to visit  My health issues are ongoing and I will be back soon as possible... It's not just the Thyroid issues but a lot more stuff has reared its ugly head.  Thank ya'll so much for your prayers. They mean the world to me and have kept me going. This is the hardest road I've ever had to travel but hopefully in time, I'll  be back good as new.
                      God Bless you all, ~Susie

A Warrior

I have fought a hundred battles

In my mind I’ve seen it all

I have raised my gun against the enemy

And seen my comrades die and fall

I have carried the armor of courage

Always wanting to do my part

On land, sea, jungles and deserts

It will always lay heavy on my heart

For my brothers and sisters that have fallen

I will always remember them well

So much sacrifice, they gave their all

In that place we all called hell

Inside, the battles are still raging

In my mind I still see and hear

Mortals, shells and the enemy

In my sleep they still appear

Yet each day I try to carry on

Although I have cried many tears

If I had to do it over again

I would shed my coat of fears

And walk straight into battle

With my head held mighty high

For the freedom I fight hard for

 I am willing to lay down and die

I will always be a Warrior

Even after I am dead and gone

Please do not forsake me

Fly old Glory proud and strong

© Susie Swanson, 2015

I send my deepest gratitude to all Veterans

 May God Bless each one !!

Wagon Wheels

                 

         



                    Hallowed scenes from yesterday
                    Keep passing through my mind
                   Of wagon wheels and their old-time way
                   And the tales they left behind

                   As silent today as they may be
                   I still hear the creaking sound
                   Echoes linger so pleasantly
                   On every road I travel down

                   Hauling supplies was a necessity
                   And hauling crops even more
                   The old wagons came in handy
                   For any and every chore

                   Patience became a virtue
                   It was the only way around
                   With every mile the journey grew
                   It became an all day trip to town

                  When church bells did ring
                  The old wagons continued to steer
                  Each family they would bring
                  As they traveled far and near

                  The old wagon wheels kept turning
                  For many a dusty mile
                  When progress started churning
                  They quietly went out of style

                  It was a very different time
                  When wagons were at their best
                  The were truly one of a kind
                  Now they deserve a rest

                 Those grand old wagon wheels
                 Surely holds the key
                 Down country roads and hills
                 Locked forever in our memory

                © Susie Swanson, 2015

A Sleepwalker's Tale

A sleepwalker can be defined as someone that’ll drive you crazy trying to keep up with em all the time.
They have no knowledge of what they do or where they’ve been. It’s the people around em that has to be on their toes and constantly jumping out of their skin.
We had a sleepwalking cousin that used to stay at our house quite a bit. When he spent the night it was Katie bar the door and lickety split.
That boy could sleep walk with the best of em and that’s no lie. My mama never slept a wink, she was always on standby.
He’d wait till the wee hours of the night and everyone was fast asleep. He’d come out of that bed and like a deer, mama would leap.
She’d have to put him on a pallet in the middle of the floor. He slept in the middle with two of my brothers, he still hit the door.
There were a few times mama dozed a little and that boy beat it all. She found him one night at the back of the house down on all fours tryin to crawl.
She had to give him a big shake to get him awake. She said, son wake up and stop this stuff for goodness sake.
My poor mama was a nervous wreck when he came to stay.
She loved him like one of her own but all she could do was pray
And lock the doors up really tight, padlock,  key lock and any other lock, it was an awful sight
He scared the living daylights out of us all one night.  Mama woke us up to help search and we looked till close to daylight.
We found him sittin up against the old woodshed at the crack of dawn. He’d slipped out quicker than a cat could lick and was gone.
We never could figure out how he did it so well. That boy was scary as a booger when he took a sleepwalking spell.
He’d have this blank face and scary, glassy, lookin eyes. He acted like some walkin zombie, I tell ya no lies.
Needless to say, mama loved him but was filled with dread every time he came. She said, there’s somethin wrong with that youngun, in the daytime he ain’t the same.
So mama decided to go ahead and sit up one night and watch him real close. That boy never turned over till daylight and the sun rose.
He was really a good kid and loved staying at our house all the time. He would have moved in but mama would’ve went crazy and lost her mind.
We loved him like a brother and tried to adjust. He was the most gentle and kind soul but a sleepwalker ya can’t trust.
He sleepwalked in his own world and never remembered a thing. Till today I call him the sleepwalking king.
And he sure did love mama’s biscuits and gravy every morn. He’d be the first one to the table and act innocent as the day he was born.
He’d eat like a pig and was ready to head out with the boys to play.  Just a normal kid doing kid stuff until the end of the day.
After supper when he’d get his belly full mama would try to talk him into going home. After all, she needed a night’s sleep and the tiredness shown.
He’d always come up with some kind of pitiful excuse to stay and mama couldn’t turn him down and everyday her hair turned more gray.
This went on for quite a few years till the older he grew. We actually missed him and mama did too.
Now, I’m not gonna name any names but I’m sure he  knows that we still love him like our own. I wonder if he still sleepwalks now that he’s married and grown.
My mama said one time, I sure do dread it someday for his wife.  She’ll be put to the test, she’ll never sleep the rest of her life.

                                                      © Susie Swanson, 2015

Haints

When I was ten years old we moved to this old two story house. I had mixed feelings about the place but I kept quite as a mouse.

It was an icon of the community, been there for many a year. Many families had moved in and out, I always wondered if ghosts did appear.

Haints they called them back then, and scary as could be. My daddy told so many haint tales he scared the living daylights out of me.

And there were quite a few told about the old house and how they came to be. That's why I had mixed feelings but I had to go along with the family.

I never told my brothers or sister for fear they'd tell. I let them find it out on their own. Being the scardy cats they were, they would have cried their eyes out wanting to go back to our old home.

They were all younger than me and looked up to me. I had to be a role model the best I could be.

That old place had the most beautiful and biggest yard we'd ever seen. We wasn't used to a yard with grass, much less green.

It stretched all the way to the main road and we could see cars go by. We'd never been used to that either, thought we'd died and gone to that home in the sky.

We'd run and play all the live long day, come in at suppertime starved half to death and go back outside and play.

Until dark thirty came and we'd all shiver and frown. We could hear them old stairs creaking and them haints coming down.

And there's something about an old creaky stairway. It'll give you goose bumps and make your heart stop night or day.

The whole time we lived there, we never slept upstairs. We'd all sleep together or in pairs.

Except for a few times when some us were brave enough to take the dares. Didn't last long up there, before we came running back down them stairs.

Mama said, you kids beat all I've ever seen. Ya'll will run up and down them stairs all day and then you're scared of your shadow, I ought to break me a limb that's keen.

I said, But mama there's haints up there, they only come out at night. And mama said, whoever told you that I do declare is in for a big fight.

Then I said, it was daddy that told us one time. He told us about a headless girl walking down them old stairs and other people has told it many a time.

She was fit to be tied by then. She was actin like an old sittin hen, getting ready to flog daddy and he wasn't even there to defend.

He was off at work somewhere down south. He was gone a lot and we always missed him but we got by with more and you didn't hear that come out of my mouth.

  

It was even more scary at night when daddy was gone. We'd go to bed and couldn't sleep, all we could hear was a moan or groan.

And it always came from upstairs somewhere. I swear that was the creakiest and scariest place I've ever slept at anywhere.

One night I could have sworn I saw a woman in a white dress standing in the hallway. I never slept a wink, just shut my eyes praying for the light of day.

And the very next night I saw her again. She had a little girl with her and they turned around and grinned.

I ran and jumped in the bed with mama, fast as I could run. Woke her up and after almost giving her a heart attack she said, your daddy's scary tale days are over and done.

And now that I think about it all today, I believe she did give him a good talking. But that didn't stop him none, he loved his talking.

I'll never forget when he told about the incident over in the lane. Said he was walking home one night and he heard a horse coming and it passed him on by, rattling a chain.

He said he never did see it, he looked really close but it wasn't there. Just the galloping sound, the chain and the horse in thin air.

After that night he said every time he walked through, he'd walk along the side of the road when the noise of the chain grew and grew.

He told about another mysterious happening over in that scary lane. People had told him they'd heard a baby crying in the distance so plain. 

He never paid much attention to what people said back then. My daddy was a brave and courageous man, he'd just grin.

But one particular night he was walking through there on his way home. He heard that baby crying so loud, it really disturbed him the worst he'd ever known. 

There had been a lot of tales about a baby being dropped in a well. According to what daddy said, that crying went on for quite a spell.

Then he told how someone run him all the way in home one night. He met a strange man up the road a piece, walking in the opposite direction and it gave him quite a fright..

The man had his head down and never said a word when daddy spoke. The next thing daddy knew he was coming up behind him, in a fast run and daddy said that was no joke.

He even had his face covered with a mask and needless to say daddy was scared to death. He didn't even take time to go across the little footlog while crossing the creek, out of breath.

And when daddy hit the front porch steps that feller was standing in the road at the top of hill. Daddy never did find out who he was, said he meant to kill him and that's for real.

After he told us that we knew why daddy never did like Halloween. All of those scary masks brought it all back the worst he'd ever seen.

Now after such talk as this, in that old house sleep never became our friend. That house was haunted and those haints wanted us out faster than we came in.

But we never did see or hear anything after daylight. It was only when we went to bed those haints came out, when everything got quiet.

And that old house had the most room. It had a living room, kitchen, dining room and I bet there were at least five bedrooms and of course no bathroom.

Yep, we had to run outside to do our business and such. Although we'd never had a bathroom before, after dark we didn't like that much.

One night my oldest brother went out the back door to take care of  business like all the nights before and we heard a blood curdling scream as he pounced through the door.

Said he saw somebody standing out there in the back yard. He said it was some old man and he was watching him and he was breathing really hard.

My mama was the braviest woman I've ever known. She told us kids to get in the bed as she grabbed a big stick over by the fireplace and went out the door and hollered, make yourself known or you're the same as dead.

We were all huddled together crying for fear we'd lose our mama when she came back in. She told us there wasn't anybody out there, get in the bed I'm not gonna tell you again.

Come mornings we were up and at em before a cat could lick. Except when it came time to go to school, we all came down really bad sick.

Especially when daddy was gone for quite a while. We used the excuse of having the belly ache and when the bus run we were in fine fashion and style.

Until the weekend rolled around and time for daddy to come home. I'll never forget many a time I put two pair of britches on.

We'd get him off on telling them old haint tales every time. It worked like a clock bell ringing it's chime. Until just before he left again and that hickory limb hit our behind.

We lived in that old house several years before we moved back to our old place. We were living there when President Kennedy died, such an awful time for the country to face.

Since we had managed to get our first ever TV with only one channel, it was on day and night constantly.

We'd run through the house stop and take a peep and run back down them old steps, fast as we could leap. Being kids, we didn't know or understand. We just knew our President was gone and mama said he was gone to that Promised Land.

But after all was said and done and I look back on it today, we really enjoyed living in that old house more than we would say.

Because the day we moved my brother said something that was on all of our minds. Goodbye old house, even if you are haunted we had a good time.

                                                    © Susie Swanson, 2015

                                                     Happy Halloween !!

Well I've Done It Again

Several years ago an old gentleman passed through by way of the telephone and a beautiful friendship grew.

The first time he called he'd dialed the number wrong. I could tell he was an older gentleman by his soft, spoken tone.

"I was trying to call my friend" he said, but I dialed you instead. I probably dialed one number wrong can't keep nothing straight in my head.

I told him that was ok and we talked for quite a while. When I hung up the phone there was joy in my heart and on my face a big smile.

A week or so passed before he called again. I knew who it was when I heard his voice and he said "Well I've done it again".

We talked quite a bit and he told me about his wife, a lot about his family and he said "I've lived ninety-six years and been blessed with a good life."

Then he went on to say, his wife had died several years before and he lived by himself and things weren't the same anymore.

He told me they'd been married for over fifty years and the more he talked the more I wiped away the tears.

The he said he needed to call his friend and he was sorry to have bothered me. I told him it was no bother at all., to call anytime and always feel free.

Quite a bit of time passed and I got worried about my friend, when out of the blue the phone rung and I heard those famous words, "Well I've done it again".

I tried to hold back my excitement and asked him how he'd been. He said he hadn't been doing to good and been staying with some of his kin.

"But I got tired of that ", he said "there's no place like home". "I needed to check on my friends, I've been gone to long".

"And I missed my church family and singing in the choir, I don't like letting the Lord down he's always been there".

"Through thick and thin we can always count on him, I don't know how people make it, hiding their light under a bushel and letting it grow dim".

Then he asked me how my garden was doing, I told him it was growing fine and maybe some evening we could come and get it about suppertime.

"That sounds good " he said "I'll take you up on it someday, I don't do much cooking anymore, I wind up throwing a lot away".

Then he said ",I better go and try to get a hold of my friend, he's probably worried about me to and wondering where I've been".

I hung up the phone and for some reason my heart laid heavy that day, but I went on about my business and pushed it away.

Then a strange thing happened, the most strange I've ever known, my brother knew him and he came in one morning and told me that Mr. Wade had passed on.

You could have knocked me over with a feather and my heart was broken inside. I could not for the life of me believe that Mr. Wade had died.

I walked the floor all morning, my tears continued to flow, my old friend was gone, no more phone calls would I know.

I was talking to God and thanking him for my good friend when the phone rung at ten o'clock that morning and I heard the words "Well I've done it again".

I was flabergasted and didn't know what to say, he said it instead "It sure is a pretty spring day".

I finally stopped trembling and asked him what was on my mind, "I heard someone passed away that lives close to you", I wanted it to sound kind.

He told me that was one of his neighbors that lived down the road and  the old feller had been sick for a while and then Mr's Wade's tears overflowed.

He said , "that could have easily been me you know, but when the Lord gets ready to call me home I'm ready to go".

We talked for a while and a lot of things we did share.That was a very special phone call from heaven and God answering a prayer.

After that the phone calls kept coming, wrong numbers and all and those wrong numbers were blessings from God , not small.

But all good things must come to an end, I got really worried and started calling, I figured he was staying with his kin.

But the Lord sent me an answer in his own special way, in the form of a newspaper that came one day.

I opened it up and was looking through when I came to the obituaries and there was Mr. Wade in plain view.

They'd even put a picture for me to see but I couldn't look at it much for the tears were flowing constantly.

My heart was broken, this time my friend was really gone. No more wrong numbers would I receive, and somehow I had to carry on.

Now each day I sit here waiting for the phone to ring, knowing fully well in heaven's angel choir, Mr. Wade loves to sing.

And he and his wife are walking hand and hand in that glorious place he called the promised land.

Those wonderful, cherished words "Well I've done it again" will sustain me through the ages---all truths to transcend. Friendship has no barriers---Love has no end..
     
                                      ©  Susie Swanson, 2015

In Memory of my Beloved Friend Mr. Wade Bryant.....1909--2005

Antenna TV

I remember back when we had antenna TV, to turn the antenna it was a task and always took three.

One in front of the TV, one on the porch and one to climb the tree.

The one standin in front of the TV is the one that played the biggest part and held the key.

I can still hear it now, TURN IT A LITTLE MORE, A TAD MORE. WHOAAA, GO BACK SOME MORE.

We had one brother that could climb a tree faster than a squirrel. He’d scare ye to death so bad it’d make ye hair curl.

We only got two channels and they were snowy as could be, except on a clear day and that old antenna was stuck high up in that tree.

And when it came a good, swiff wind it’d happen every time. That old TV was gone and we’d holler for him to take his daily climb.

One time we put daddy in front of the TV and on the porch was my spot to be.

My brother hadn’t been in the tree long before daddy yelled, WHOAAAA, COME ON DOWN.

On the way back down my brother slipped and hit every limb as he fell to the ground.

We all went runnin, just knowin he’d broke every bone in his body.

He got up off the ground and seemed to be alright but he walked awfully slowly.

When we went in to check out the TV, it was still snowy as could be. Daddy was sittin there with his legs crossed and said son you’re gonna get killed yet climbin that tree.

That TV was blank as ye ole hat, couldn’t see a thing. All my brother could say was Daddy what happened to the dang thing.

My brother wouldn’t climb it again when daddy was in reign. He knew there was no use or he’d have to borrow daddy’s walkin cane.

Mama got upset and had plenty to say. She told daddy the next time to

get out of the way. That young’un could’ve broke his neck and you’d still be sittin here killin the day. Sanford and Son is not worth it at all to see a young’un climb a tree and take a death fall.

Daddy sure did like his favorite show and mama always waited patiently and the anticipation continued to grow. She wouldn’t admit it but she sure did love her game show.

She actually had two she liked the best. Wheel Of fortune and The Price Is Right, was a joyful contest.

But when it came time for us to watch our favorite one of all, dog gone if company wouldn’t come to call.

Yep, just walk right in and make themselves at home. And it’d been a whole week since we’d seen The Waltons come on.

By the time they left we had to hit the tic and there’d be no TV and our wounds we had to lick and half the time my brother was using daddy’s walkin stick.

I’ll have to give credit where credit is due. When an old antenna is all you got, you learn to make do. Even if climbing a tree, it takes a whole crew.

                       © Susie Swanson, 2015

That Beautiful October Day

Looking back,

On the memories of

That beautiful October day

When we pledged our love

All the world was ours

Beneath the harvest sky

Hand and hand we walked

Together, you and I 

 Hopes and dreams were laid

Upon the wings of prayer 

Through the ages of time

God has gladly led us there

The journey sometimes uphill

Against bitter winds and rain

Together we’ve faced it all

Our tears were not in vain

 Love can conquer all

And tame the raging sea

 Nothing can ever compare 

When true love is meant to be

We’ve looked to God above

Been sanctified by his grace

Daily walking in his presence

Our hearts still happily embrace

A ring’s symbol is never ending

A circle of love shines new

We thank God more each day

 Vows are still fresh as morning dew

As the future rushes towards us

And hair turns silver gray

It will always feel like October

We cherish each golden day

Looking back

We’ve made it, you and I 

For forty-six cherished years 

Since that beautiful, October sky

© Susie Swanson, 2016

Oct. 10th 1970----Oct. 10th 2016

Happy Anniversary to my sweet husband.

We're Gonna Miss you Billy Joe Royal

Cherished Memories

Fall has always been her favorite time of the year. Pretty blue skies, cool nights and after a hot summer it feels so refreshing. God’s beautiful, painted landscape and scenery takes her breath away and gets more beautiful every year.

 It also brings many memories to mind and October is and will always be her favorite month. Her most cherished memories are of a young woman that just turned eighteen that summer and her soldier and future husband that had just returned from Vietnam a year earlier.

To say they had a world wind courtship is putting it mildly. They met and started the courtship in August while he was on leave from Fort Bragg N.C.

When he left after his leave she was so lonely and heartbroken but they made use of their spare time writing letters. It was in one of those letters that he proposed. It was the middle of September and he told her he could get a ten day leave the first of October. They told their parents and started making plans for a world wind wedding on October 10^th. It was to be a small affair with only family and friends since there was no time for anything else plus they didn’t have the money to spend on anything big or expensive.

He was to wear his Army Dress Uniform and she in her white dress. It took her and her mama a couple hours to find the dress and veil. She wasn’t to impressed with the dress till she saw the price tag and it said ten bucks. She told her mama it just looked to plain and her mama said,, “plain my hindend, I got married in a flour sack dress.” Ten bucks was a lot of money back then but they still had to get their Physicals, Blood tests and license so the cheaper the better.

They’ll never forget the day they went for their physicals, blood tests and license. First came the physicals and blood tests and when they walked out of the doctor’s office they were so happy they ran with the paper work straight to the courthouse. They walked into the Register Of Deeds Office and he must have been really busy that day cause he looked up and said, ya’ll here to get ye marriage license? They said yes, and he then said, can either one of you type? They both answered at the same time with, “I Can.” They neither one had taken any typing classes in school but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

He told them he had to make a little trip down the hall and he’d put the necessary paper work in the typewriter and they could type in the info. He probably hadn’t eat lunch yet so he took off like a hot streak. They both sit side by side at that typewriter and he’d type a letter and then she’d type one. Needless to say, by the time he walked back in his office they didn’t have it all typed out and there stood another couple waiting to get their license. He finished it up and they paid him the three bucks and both of them tried to get through the door at the same time they were so happy.

They’d already met with the preacher at his house and he gave them a little talk about how important it was to know what marriage meant, so on and so forth. All they wanted was to get married the sooner the better.

The next couple of days they were busy as a bee. They had to pick a place to have the ceremony so both their dads would possibly come cause they knew they didn’t take to kindly to weddings. The groom’s father had 12 young’uns and hadn’t come to either one’s wedding and the bride being the oldest and first to get married in her family, she was also skeptical about her daddy being there too.

They chose her future sister in law’s house cause it was middle ground and that beautiful little fireplace looked like the ideal spot. She was overjoyed and told them she’d take care of the flowers, food etc. Between her future sister in law, her mama and his mama and all those beautiful Fall flowers in the yard they never worried a lick about it. Another reason they chose to have it there was the future father in law stayed at his daughter’s house a lot.  He’d come and stay a week at a time if he took the notion. He loved to work outside, planting apple trees and shrubbery, etc. and her daddy loved to visit and did it quite often. All the while the future sister in law cooked dinner (lunch) and any other meal for that matter cause she loved to feed everybody and could whup up a table full of food in no time, they’d both sit under the shade tree and shoot the bull, the bride’s daddy more so till they heard, “dinner’s on the table.”

 She heard her mama say to her daddy many times “keep your hindend at the house and let that ole feller do his work.” He’d just look at her and grab his walking stick and hoof it up the road.

Come the big, anticipated day, it was drizzling rain and on any other given day it would have been so dreary but no sirreee, not that one. Sure enough, the groom’s father came but the bride’s daddy said he had to slop and feed the hogs. Her mama said, “any ole excuse beats none a-tall.”

That beautiful, rainy Saturday became a day to remember and cherish the rest of their lives and they set out on a long journey following their hopes and dreams. That was forty six years ago come October 10^th and the memories are still as fresh as the morning dew and beautiful as an October sky.

They’ve fulfilled their hopes and dreams and then some. Life may have knocked them down a few times but they have been there for one another through it all. Marriage never promises a Rose Garden without the thorns.

 Enduring love that’s meant to be will last forever, especially

when you’re with the one you’re suppose to be. Love knows no boundaries and can stretch into eternity.

                                           © Susie Swanson, 2016

God's Canvas Of Colors

                      The calm beauty of a sunset on a beautiful, painted sky
                      With big, puffy clouds softly floating by

                      A red rose in bloom kissed by the morning dew
                      Sparkling in the sun under a sky of blue

                      A long, rolling meadow of emerald green
                      With a light, fluttering breeze and quite serene

                      An ocean so blue as far as the eyes can see
                      With each stroke he painted far across the sea

                      The eyes of a child smiles with a tender caress
                      His gift to this world filled with joy and happiness

                      Teardrops falling from an old mother's face
                      He captured them all with sorrow and grace

                      A multi-colored rainbow after a shower of rain
                      A wonder of beauty only God can explain

                      The twinkling of stars on a moon light night
                      A measure of his power on a canvas so bright

                      A tiny, yellow butterfly fresh from its birth
                      A token of his love and a heart full of worth

                      A snow covered mountain standing so high
                      With breathtaking beauty it creates a great sigh

                      The song of a turtle dove at morning's dawn
                      Brings peace and love for everything that's wrong

                     I marvel at the tapestry so beautiful and grand
                     Painted by the master with a gentle, loving hand

                     His canvas of colors are a sight to behold
                     He painted a masterpiece more precious than gold

                                      © Susie Swanson, 2015

                    Happy Fall Ya'll. My Favorite one of all.

Country Bride

The dress hangs in the closet

Yellow and gray with age

Time has erased its beauty

Like winter turns grass to sage

Memories, oh how they linger

The day it was brand new

 A country bride so happy

A soldier’s love so true

Autumn’s sun was shining

The day of harvest moon

A day of glorious beauty

To be sanctified at noon

She looked across the meadows

Grass was turning brown

Seeds of love were abundant

Early harvest cleared the ground

Church bells were calling

A country bride to be

A soldier’s wife with honor

To love and raise a family

The meadows are now green

Her hair is silver gray

The fruits of her labor

She enjoys them everyday

The country bride is now older

A more wise mother and wife

She truly discovered the blessings

Of a full and grateful life

© Susie Swanson, 2015

Not A Care In The World

Every year when fall starts comin in with that little, cool nip in the air and the skies are crystal, clear and blue as far as the eye can see, it takes me back to some good memories of those long ago falls, when we didn’t have a care in the world.

Having to hit the ole school bus after trompin through the thickets all summer wasn’t somethin we looked forward to but after we got back into the groove of things we found it wasn’t so bad after all, till we got the yellow bus fever. We found out the hard way after cryin wolf a few times, it doesn’t work.

Mama used to say she wished school went the whole year round. But that was because we worried the daylights out of her.

I asked her one time what worryin the daylights out of her meant and she told me it meant drivin her crazy as a bess bug. We were always into one thing after the other, it was no wonders she had so many gray hairs in her head. I never did ask her what a bess bug was.

They had some funny, ole sayin’s back then but we grew up listenin to em so much we took em at what they meant, not what they said.

Every year when the remnants of the garden were gone and mama had canned everything she could includin the leftovers from which she made the chow chow, ( man was that stuff good with a big pot of pinto beans )  the whole family pitched in and took up all the taters and carried em to the tater hole. Daddy and the boys would get busy clearin off the patches before cold weather set in. They’d be nice and clean come spring when garden plantin time rolled around.

They’d pile all the corn stalks, bean vines, etc. in a big pile in the middle of the patch. Sometimes they’d have to make two or three piles. Us young’uns could hardly wait till daddy decided to burn em. That’d usually come on a nice calm night or late evening when the wind was still. He always said it was better to wait till after a good rain and the ground was kinda damp. He worried about catchin the woods on fire a lot. He’d only burn one brush pile at a time and let the others go till later on.

If we were lucky we’d manage to save a little money and have some marshmallows to roast. We sure did look forward to playin in that fire and roastin marshmallows.

Mama would scold us by sayin, “every one of ye is gonna wet the bed tonight, playin in that fire.” I don’t remember any of us ever wettin the bed but it sure got me to thinkin sometimes. Just another ole sayin to get us out of the fire .

We loved to poke at it with sticks and throw a little kindlin on it as we called it. The longer that fire burned and the higher the flames, the more we liked it.

It’d smolder all night even after daddy got it burnt down enough to risk leavin it till morning.

Before we had to leave to catch the school bus come morning we’d run back out to the smolderin fire, grab a stick and poke some more till mama’d put us down the road before we missed the bus. She said, “uns are gonna ruin your clothes and they’ll smell like smoke all day long.” We were used to that since we had wood heat in the winter we smelled of smoke anyways, didn’t bother us none.

All the brush piles would be burnt by frost and we had to figger out other ways to have fun. We never did have to look far. We made up our own fun as we went along.

We always had to walk out to the main road a purty good ways to catch the school bus. We’d dare one another to stick their tongue to the mailbox on a frosty mornin. It’d freeze our tongue to it and it was hard to get lose without pullin the skin off. One morning my youngest brother stuck his to it just about the time the bus came and he tried to get it lose and finally had to jerk it off. When we all got on the bus I looked at him and he was close to tears but wouldn’t let on. I knew he was hurtin somethin fierce.

After that happened and mama and daddy found out about it they put a stop to it in a big way, or so they thought.

When the weather came in even more cold and daddy was home and not off workin he’d walk out with us to the road and build us a fire so we could get warm. He’d tote a little kindlin out and just enough wood to get it going good so we could warm our hands and when the bus run he’d be the one to put it out before he went back to the house.

My oldest brother kept on till he talked daddy into lettin him build it and it’d save him walkin out with us. Daddy didn’t take much to that idea at first but he finally gave in. I’m sure he came along behind us and checked on it after we caught the bus.

My brother was always good at buildin fires in the wood heater and cook stove and he could build a nice little fire, if I say so myself. The only problem was, when the bus came one or two of the other boys like to kick it and send that fire sailin.

After a couple times of doing this, it all came to a kietis and we had to do without a fire. It’s a thousand wonders it hadn’t caught the woods on fire or worse.

When the first snowflakes started fallin we jumped fer joy. We loved the big snows that came in knee deep. We’d get outta school quite a while. One time I remember schools shuttin down fer two weeks. It was all we could do to plow through it to get to the barn to feed the cow or to milk, but that didn’t stop us.

All we had to put on our hands was an ole pair of worn out socks. We were in one door and out the other. We’d throw snowballs at one another, make snowmen and slide down the hill in the cow pasture on anything we could find. Sometimes it’d be an ole piece of cardboard or if we were lucky an ole car hood. It’s a wonders we didn’t all get killed with all the chances we took.

We’d run inside long enough to warm up and eat a bite and back out we’d go. We’d eat enough snow cream to get the sore throat but as fer playin outside in the cold it never hurt us none. We were used to it come spring, summer, fall or winter.

 Some of the stuff we got into and done may not seem like much fun to some but we were just a bunch of young’uns having the best of times and enjoyin the simple pleasures in life and puttin more and more gray hairs on our mama’s head.

There was always plenty to do and we never had a care in the world.

                                          © Susie Swanson, 2015