World Beginnings

Finally, enjoying the fruits of the  long hard years of toil, sunup to sundown, my father’s sisters, Aunt Janis on the left and Annie Mae on the right, sitting in the shade and enjoying homemade ice cream. Every time I see this picture, I wonder just what they are talking about or, better yet, who? To be a fly on their shoulders and listen quietly. Aunt Janis had three children, and Annie Mae had six, and I never forget this was before Pampers and baby food. Never a complaint, raised voice, or negative words about anyone that I know. They grew up during the Depression, and whenever that subject came up, my Aunt Janis would casually remark, “Is it over yet?” Because my father, their brother had died and my mother suffered very poor health, they often made room for us not only in their homes but hearts as well. Today children in our circumstances will end up in foster care, suffering bitterly for the experience. But they always were there for us.   Whenever there was a family ga...

 BooBoo Kitty showed up outside of my chainlink fence as I was moving into a house on the lake in San Juan Cosala, and he was meowing pitifully. Of course, I immediately brought food and started calling him BooBoo Kitty. The previous renter had died, and her worthless daughter,  in so many ways, moved out and left BooBoo to fend for himself. Fortunately, the lake provided plenty of dead fish and rats, so he learned to hunt. He lived like that for about six months until I rented the house. Moving day arrived, all of the doors were open, and when I put down Paco’s bed, BooBoo walked in like he owned the place and promptly got into Paco’s bed, with him in it. The previous renter had a dog but as far as I know, Paco had never been around a cat. When BooBoo settled himself, Paco just looked at him like, “what the hell?” BooBoo was home again. About a week later, I picked up Chili from a shelter here called The Ranch and because Paco took no notice of the cat, neither did Chili, for...