Richard is eating cereal from his University of Alabama "Crimson Tide" glass. Well, actually it's a tall plastic cup. "This cup cost a lot of money, " he tells me between spoonfulls of Raisin Bran and 2% milk. When we lived in Dothan, Alabama, Richard used to attend some of the Tide's home games with his friend Dennis. Football isn't cheap, nor is anything associated with it, yet it continues to enthrall millions (I'm not one of them) who happily pay outrageous prices for tickets, paraphernalia, refreshments and keepsakes. I hear this year's Super Bowl was watched by record-breaking numbers of fans. Again, I wasn't one of them, but after we got home from Bible Study last night, Richard joined the avid throngs in front of TVs everywhere and stayed until the last second ticked off the clock. He says he did better than one of the coaches did. The man walked off the field before the clock ran out. How RUDE!
But back to the glass of cereal. I've never seen anyone eat cereal like Richard does, out of a tall glass. We all have little quirky things about us and it seems one of my friends has "tagged" me to list 10 little known facts about myself. My granddaughter says we need to list six. In both cases, I found it interesting to learn the little known facts in their lists. So, having been challenged to do the same, I hereby submit my list and challenge you to create and publish your own list.
10 Little Known Facts About Iona
1. I love pigs. I once owned one of the largest pigs known. We raised pigs for a while and this one was a dying runt that I fed with a bottle and fell in love with. Vets who came out from CSU vet school in Ft. Collins, Colorado thought he had a pituitary tumor because Rooty continued to grow and grow and grow! They felt he was perhaps the largest pig alive.
2. I have been in all the "lower 48" states. I drove truck on and off for years and was blessed to travel all over this beautiful nation. I made a conscious effort to drive through all the states and on as many state and federal highways as possible, choosing alternate routes any time I could.
3. My father was a nomadic sort and an optimistic dreamer. Often he would come home in the wee hours from his "swing" shift as a welder, miner, or other job and awaken us all, we had an hour or so to pack everything we could in the car and we were gone, moving to some other place he had heard about. Anything we couldn't stuff into the car was left behind. I thought this was a grand and adventurous way to live until I became a teenager and was more invested in people and activities than seeing what was over the next hill.
4. I was flogged by Alan Ladd's geese. My flamboyant father was both wealthy and penniless during my growing up years. For a short time, we lived next to Alan Ladd. He had geese in his yard. They supposedly ate weeds, but I now believe they were his security system. One day when Daddy and Mr. Ladd were talking and I was out in the expansive lawn. Although warned against it, I approached the geese who were not in a social mood. Without warning, the entire gaggle came at me running, honking and flapping. They scratched, pecked and flogged me bloody as the two men tried in vain to shoo them away. Eventually, the birds tired of this sport and gandered off in search of other prey. I have since had a deep respect for the power of geese.
5. I played the trombone. Notice the past tense. I now have teeth of plastic that will not stay put when I press a mouthpiece to my lips and try to elicit vibrations. I chose the trombone in Junior High. I was the only girl on that horn and I liked that idea for at that time of my life, I sincerely wanted to be a boy - a long story I'll save for another time. When I was 12, my band instructor asked if I would like to play in a college group, and I joined a women's brass ensemble from San Francisco State. It seems they did not have a trombone player. I was so thrilled. I have not one scintilla of talent, however, and the only reason for that and subsequent musical opportunities and/or honors was pure dogged determination. I love music and wanted to be musical, so I practiced hour after hour after hour until my loving family finally sent me to the garage to play.
6. I can only see with one eye at a time. My depth perception is "learned." By alternating (almost automatically now) from one eye to the other, my brain somehow calculates distance. And yes, I drive... quite well, I believe. I don't run into things.
7. Because of the way my brain was whacked, my ability to manage fatigue, hunger, thirst, body temperature, fluid levels and a host of autonomic things is totally screwed up. My sleep patterns aren't. When I get sleepy, I am going to fall asleep SOON, so must quickly find a safe pace to do that. When I get thirsty or hungry, I am almost immediately desperate for fluids or food. Also, my body doesn't notice heat or cold until they are already getting extreme, then I am in urgent need to reverse the situation. I am therefore a strange person to live with. I eat, sleep, drink, etc. at odd and unpredictable hours. I try to always have water or a soda with me. I have slept in all sorts of "unique" places. Often waking up confused about where I am and how I got there. This no longer frightens me, but it sometimes makes me late for things and is frustrating because I cannot control it.
8. I once dreamed of swimming the English Channel. In my Junior and Senior years of high school, we lived in Rodeo, California and I swam in the bay near Joseph's Marina almost every day. I was training, building up the endurance to make my big swim. I would grease down and be in the water for literally hours. I had a friend whose dad helped us train. The dad stayed in the boat, of course. I also snuck out at night to swim alone in the bay. Dumb!!! I never made the swim I trained for. I had no idea about how such things worked, no sponsor or even the understanding I needed one.
9. Because the King of Kings is my Lord and I trust Him to see me through any situation, there is little I am afraid of, but in spite of my absolute faith in my Savior, I am terrified of dentists and heights. We're talking puke in your lap fear of dentists, here. My dentists soon learned to give me a sedative to take an hour before coming in and then to quickly hook me up to nitrous oxide as soon as I arrived in the office no matter what I was there for. I spent no time in the waiting rooms because once I hurl on their nice carpet, they learn to respond to the depth of my terror right away. Heights make me queasy but I haven't offered my lunch to any of the precipices over which I've timidly peeked. As much as possible, I avoid looking down from high places, or even being in high places.
10. In all my life, I have never been bored. My life has been full of all sorts of good and not so good adventure and I have invited God to keep it that way. In answer to that prayer, He gave me the ability to have a wonderful time watching people, traffic, ants or other creatures. He taught me early on how to enjoy playing with my brain, making up puzzles to solve, reliving good memories, writing short stories in my head (daydreaming, I believe you call that) and simply relishing life. I find life extremely entertaining, not always fun, but always adventurous. I consider this one the best blessings God gave me besides salvation.
