Grammie & Grampa loved sleeping outside on their porch. Each year they would try to get out as early in the season as possible - April maybe - and stay out as late as possible - into November sometimes. You can tell from her writing that she loved nature and the outdoors.
May 5, 1997
It was a bit frosty this morning when we woke up so I just buried my head under the blankets & stayed there for awhile. Grampa puts on his winter jacket over his bathrobe, his hat & gloves - a cup of coffee in hand, and goes out to sit on the patio, where he talks to the birds and squirrels. When I get up I put on the intercom and call him in for breakfast. It was good to hear from you on Sunday, and I'm looking forward to your coming home, even for only a week. Now I must get dressed and get outside & do some garden work, before the rain comes again tomorrow. Lots of love.
These two postcards had art prints on the fronts; the one pictured below is The Betrothal II by Arshile Gorsky. I love how Grammie doesn't hold back her thoughts on these abstract works!
May 12, 1997
Here is more art? Sometimes I wonder what's inside people's heads.
The other afternoon I lay on the couch out on the porch, and watched the clouds roll by, a deep blue sky as a backdrop. I looked thru the binoculars at the dead tree in the neighbor's yard. There are lots of holes in the tree and I was hoping to see an owl peek out - but - no such luck. I even was able to see into the neighbor's clothes pin bag & I looked for some "ya-buts" - but couldn't find any...
A hummingbird flew into the porch when Grampa opened the door. He knocked himself out trying to get out. I stood on the table & was able to reach him. He was so so tiny & soft. I set him outside on the rail and watched him for a half-hour. He finally came to and flew away. My good deed for the day.
When my sister and I were younger and Grampa would tell us a 'tall-tale' or the like, we would want to set him right. So we would often start our counter-arguments with "Yeah, but..." Grampa immediately stopped us to tell us that "ya-buts" were just little creatures that lived in grandma's clothes-pin bag. It frustrated us to no end! We would have to come up with a different way to counter his tales! Looking back, I can see it was a way he was teaching us to think carefully before we spoke and to reason out our arguments clearly. Grampa was a jokester, but he was a thoughtful, intelligent man who deeply cared about people and the world. Although he was actually my dad's step-father (Grammie's third husband), he was the only grandfather I knew, and I was very glad to have him in my life.
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