One and Only

Antique Mommy recently posted about her aunt who has just passed away. Her tribute reminded me of the pioneer women in my own life. (Comparatively pioneer, anyway.) The way her aunt caused fear and dread in the heart of chickens everywhere reminded me especially of Grandma K.

My husband's grandmother is a fascinating dichotomy between "everyone's grandma" and "The "one and only Grandma". She is a mother of four children and has lived on a farm all her life. She was recently widowed, in the fall of '05, but still lives out on the farm and takes care of everything. She's an avid gardener, and cooks for the whole family every Sunday. I mean the whole family. When we're all there that's 17 people, give or take a couple. Absolutely amazing. That's the "everyone's grandma" part of Grandma K.

Here's the part I find hilarious; the "one and only" part. Grandma K is death to small animals. She defends her flower beds and vegetable patch with fierce resolve. She keeps a large spade handle (sans spade) outside her back door, and has been known, more than once, to rush out and beat some unsuspecting critter to death. I've threatened to videotape the massacre, just so that future generations will have proof of their violent heritage. She just rolls her eyes at me and tsks. (Actually it's a lethal combination of "tsk" and "pshaw")

Grandma K is also an avid reader. She's always providing her family with fresh reading material; from magazines, to old tractor books, to cookbooks, to (I'm not kidding) a book about boogers. She loves to come up with interesting new things for all of us to read, and tailors her selections (from the nearby thrift store, where she volunteers)for each family member's specific interests. She introduced all of her grandsons to Sci-Fi, and reads it herself. I can't think of any genre that I haven't seen Grandma reading, or at least providing for someone else to read.

I suppose this little tell-all is the surest way to ensure that Grandma suddenly decides to look at my blog. Oh well, I've been tsked before, I can take it!