Afternoon of An Imp

Mom found this today when she was going through my Great-Grandmother's stuff.  This is about me at 2 years old when I was at a neighbor's house.  I really liked my parent's Subaru, as you will find out. :)

"Ya Ya" is Gram, "Meow" is our neighbor's cat, and "the Mama" is Mom.

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Afternoon of An Imp

What a relief to get out of the car seat and stretch the legs and chase While Cat.  But the Mama kept insisting that she go in and visit “Uncle” Bob and “Aunt” Maggie with her. What a bore! The sun was still high, and everything beckoned.  Why go in?

At the door she paused and drew back.  She would rather stay outside with Meow and Ya Ya.  Meow sensed danger and took cover under “Uncle” Bob’s truck.  Searching eyes, looking for fun, spotted the Mama’s open car door.  Hesitating not a moment, the just-turned-two explorer climbed back into the car, and scrambling between the front seats to that coveted position behind the wheel, was now in command!

Beside her, Ya Ya watched with amazement as an exuberant and delighted dynamo tested buttons, tried the key, was disappointed and perplexed when the windows didn't respond, though the right buttons were pressed.  No matter.  The lights overhead answered the signal and the stick shift moved agreeably as the left hand turned the wheel deftly.  Ya Ya kept a nervous hand on the emergency brake.

All was done with alacrity ... with the urgency of a thief who knew that time was short, all the while casting hurried grins of conspiratorial glee at Ya Ya that said, “ Isn't this great!  Aren't you glad you came along?  Who wants to visit when they have this!”

Radiating sparks of excitement filled the air, while Ya Ya watched the buttons and the brake and the key as small fingers flew and warnings were blithely ignored about rolling back into the street.  Darting looks revealed a small powerhouse of energy overflowing with keen anticipation of an explorer just setting out on uncharted seas.  They said, too, “Poor Ya Ya.  She’s too old for this kind of fun.”

After such a daring adventure ... all too brief, it was agony to be plumped into a car seat again.

Back home, the Mama’s exasperated voice could be heard above the screams, “You are too much!” as Ya Ya headed for the Hermitage with relief.

-Isabel Miller - May 28, 1998

Enough Said.

-Autumn Story Mott

Traditions | Cape Cod

      We all have traditions. Some may be small, like always having hot cocoa on Christmas morning, or maybe your family always has a cook out on Labor Day weekend.

     Our biggest tradition is going down to Cape Cod sometime in September with a group of friends. It's been a get-together for over 30 years now. I've been going for as long as I can remember. My favorite part about it, is that it's always the same. I can give you an overview of the weekend right now:

-Most everyone arrives Friday night,

-Sticky Buns made by Meme Howes for breakfast,

-Around 11AM we all head over to Head of the Meadow beach- some on bikes and the rest drive,

-Most all the bikers do the 4 mile round trip bike trail next to the beach,

-We hang out on the beach 'till 2:30, or until we're all hungry,

-Haystacks for lunch, then we all chill around the campfire pit,

-Rush over to Herring Cove to watch the sunset,

-Build a fire on the beach and roast hotdogs and marshmallows,

-Return to camp around 9PM

-More Sticky Buns for breakfast, then we all pack up,

-Go shopping in P-Town, maybe climb the tower,

-Return to the campground for lunch.

     For the most part it's always is like that. I like it; you always know what's happening next. It's consistent. But just recently, my father decided that he no longer liked "the same old routine" and so he was put "in charge" of directing the weekend. While not much changed, it made for a good laugh! But we had fun and we're all looking forward to next year. 

-Autumn Story Mott

Road Trips in the Middle of Nowhere

     Since we live in the middle of nowhere, we always add in extra time when we go somewhere. No, not because of the usual problems, like cows blocking the dirt road, or getting stuck behind a tractor on Main Street, but because of our community:

-Stopping to say "Hi" to the farmer down the road as he rotates the cows to the orchard pasture,
-Chatting a minute with the young family up the road as they're out in their yard with their horses and toddlers,
-Slowing down to wave at the couple who walk the the roads picking up trash- just 'cause they care,
-Pulling over to "harass" a neighbor about coming to get his "junk" out of our back lot,
-Slowing down as we pass a empty house to remember the family that lived there,
-Taking the time to enjoy the beauty that we're driving through, instead of pounding down a highway at 65mph.

-Autumn Mott

The Upside of Down

So I've been counting down the days until the album "The Upside of Down" by Chris August came out.  Today was the day!  By 11am I was downloading it from iTunes.  I listened through it once while I was working, then replayed a few favorites.  An hour or so later, I was getting ready to mow the lawn.  I hit play on my iPod and started mowing.  A little over halfway through the yard the title song came on.  I had already heard it twice, so I just continued on without paying it much attention.  Then the acoustic version came on.  Usually, I'm upset when my iPod's shuffle messes up like that, but as it was a new song, I just let it go.  Then I started listening to the lyrics.

"Funny how we figure out where happiness is found,

In the midst of this sadness I’m closer to You now

And that’s the upside of down,"

He's talking about that when you're up, life's going great, you kinda put God to the side.  The downside of up.  But when life takes a sharp turn downwards, you suddenly turn and cling to Him.  The upside of down.

Boom.  Story of my life.  I stopped for a second in the middle of the lawn; thinking.  That was exactly the wake-up call I needed.  

"You are more in my less, 
You are strength in my weakness,
I’ll never go back again,

And then Your sunshine ends the rain,

and I return to my old ways,

Why am I a fair weather friend?"

I went from laughing at the breach of grammatical rules, to doing some serious thinking.

-Autumn Mott

Life in the middle of no-where...

What does living in the middle of no-where mean to me?

-It means looking around and all you can see are trees,
-Watching the stars with no street lights to spoil the night,
-Waking up to the birds singing at dawn,
-All the vehicles have 4x4 and it's used 75% of the year,
-Knowing that it's officially spring when you hear the peepers calling from the pond,
-The nearest Walmart is 20 minutes away,
-When you walk down the dirt road you know almost everyone who drives past,
-Watching your neighbor's huge bonfire at night, knowing full well they don't have a permit for it,
-Breaking through the snowbank to get onto the road; cause, while the main road is plowed, your road won't be done till second-to-last,
-Walking to the old town library that's only open 2 days a week,
-Sitting down for breakfast and realizing that the milk came from up the road, the eggs from your chickens, the strawberries from another neighbor, and you made the granola yourself.

That's my life - and I love it.


-Autumn Mott

The amazing English language...

Lijah: "Autumn, took me upstairs now."
Me: "Lij, it's 'take me upstairs' and you should add 'please' to that sentence."
Lijah: "Why?"
Nana: "Because 'take' is proper English."
Lijah: "Huh?"

Oh joy.  Grammar lessons.  Even I, a wannabe English Major, still have trouble with that.

*Handing a plate to Lijah*
Me: "Lij, you just took this plate."
*Reaching for the plate*
"Now I'm gonna take the plate."
Lijah: "Huh?"

Sigh.  This is gonna be a long day.