polkadotzi

Another mystery I have about my father is his love for horses. I've always heard about it but never actually saw him with a horse. Not sure where this photo came from, but he seems happy to be with a horse. I have seen a photo of him on a horse on a hunting expedition in Colorado when he was young, but that's the extent of it. I know my mother has told of her love of horseback riding when she was young. Just one of those things I kinda wish I had asked about when I had the chance. I'm sure there would have been stories to hear. 

The story goes that my great grandmother climbed up into the cupola of her house to ring the bell on the day World War I ended. She was more than thrilled that the war was over, at least over for the western world. She was totally thrilled that her son, my grandfather (who had boarded a ship to be deployed that very day into certain danger) was coming home. My great grandmother was a quiet, unassuming person. Not the type to draw any attention to herself. But apparently she lost a bit of her inhibitions in her excitement. What better thing to do than to let the neighborhood know her joy. According to my mother, who told the story, she rang and rang and rang it for quite some time before climbing down. My mother loved to climb up there as a child, but never knew her grandma to ever climb there. Of course my mom wasn't yet alive when this story took place, as her father, the soldier coming home, was only engaged to her mother.  It apparently was one of those stories passed down thr...

I can picture exactly what was happening in this photo. My grandmother was standing serenely somewhere, minding her own business, when her grandson, John the artist, came up and startled her with a hug and a kiss on her cheek. It might have be a chilly, rainy day. Why else would she have been wearing a "babushka," as we used to call them. I'm sure she laughed and was pleased with the kiss. My grandma was a good sport, always. Photo sent by a cousin who is finding and scanning in old photos, to the delight of us all.

Before the carefree days of the polkadotzi gang there was the real wearing of the polka dot dress shown on the header.  It really is or was an old fashioned bathing suit made by me for a sort of weird Miss America contest (actually Miss Wing Ding but that takes a lot of explaining.) As well as making and modeling the old fashioned bathing suit, we had a talent contest, and here you see yours truly in her winning talent: Prinderella and the Cince . You can see here that half of me was in shambles and ashes, and the other half in a fairy tale princess dress. It was blue. I'm wondering now why the rag dress was used. Was that a dress I wore and sacrificed for the contest? I know it was a home made dress and now that I think of it, didn't we do a lot of sewing then. It wasn't at all the dark ages, but it seems to me if I wanted a new dress I had to make it,

A favorite childhood memory that stands very strong is the White Gift Service we would have every December on a Sunday evening at our church. My dad had constructed a large white cross. We would all bring canned goods or other food stuffs wrapped in simple white tissue paper.  After singing Christmas carols, and probably a short meditation, the lights would lower and all eyes would focus on the cross. Row by row we would move to the front and lay our white gifts at the foot of the cross. The food then was taken somewhere where there was a need. I don't remember that part, but I do remember the wonder of it, from a young child's perspective. Simple, but profound.

My Uncle (great, that is) Albert and his wife Minnie on the boat that took them to China. This must have been in the 30s. They were missionaries. My uncle never came home (I lost two missionary great-uncles in China in the 30s, one on my mom's side and one on my dad's side). He had a ruptured appendix and died from infection. I wonder what those boat trips were like for missionaries in those days. I know they did not go first class. Some were on the ships for weeks or even months. Probably a lot of soul-searching got done, Bible reading, study, reflecting, writing ... Most likely well rested when they arrived to face many challenges.

My grandma and her four girls. My mom, the eldest, is on my grandma's right. Twins are in front. Check out those awnings!  (Click on to see larger image.)  Note I have a grandma and a grandmother; this is not the Thanksgiving grand mother  seen below in her kitchen.)