Snow Melt

Creation Saturday: My Ten Favorite Words

The July 13, 2013 prompt for "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  is
What are ten of your favorite words (whether they be your favorite because they are fun to say, fun to spell, fun to remind other people how to spell, have significant meaning, or some other reason)? List them at the top of your entry, then use them all in a short memory of an experience you had as a child. (Be sure to bold the words so I can see them )

For me, the significance of these words are in the memories they bring to mind and the stories that go along with them.

Happy Prayer Glory Bagpipes Grace
Roses Rainbow Blue Yellow Snow

When did I first hear bagpipes playing Amazing Grace? I cannot pinpoint the specific memory because it was either a record that my Grandparents Newland owned or it was a movie. I am more inclined to believe it was a record because the only image I have that goes along with the memory of the song is of Grandpa Frank sitting in a recliner or an easy chair drinking a cup of coffee. Whenever the memory was made, I cannot hear the pipes playing Amazing Grace without wanting to cry.

What is my first memory of prayer? The image that comes to mind is my mother sitting on the edge of my bed while I said a prayer she and Grandma Mary had taught me. I know that there are several versions of this prayer, but the one I learned is this four line versions.

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I shall die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.1

I associate the word happy with the color yellow. I think that is because of my Easter memories and a little yellow dress, at least I think the dress was yellow and the stuffed duck was was pink or some version of pink or red. Anyway I allows associate yellow with that dress and the word happy.

I like the word glory because it always reminds me of my second favorite hymn The Battle Hymn of the Republic. This is the first song I remember singing in a Southern Baptist Church service in Blackwell, Oklahoma. I know that I sang other hymns before and after this song, but this is the song I always remember. I think I remember it because of the first verse "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord".2 Why this particular hymn and line fastened into my memory, I have no idea. Perhaps it was an Eastern Sunday service which I attended with my Parents and Grandparents. I do have a few memories of church services I attended with my entire family.

I stood in my grandparents' living room, looking out the window and watching the gray clouds gather across the blue sky. When the clouds had completely covered the sky, it began to snow. I watch as the snow struck the ground, melting at first but finally cleaning to the brown grass and the lilac bush in the front yard. The falling snow mesmerized me, as I waited for bedtime to arrive. Finally, it was time to go to sleep so I lay down on the roll-away bed and closed my eyes. The next morning when I looked out the window, a blanket of white covered the front yard, the rode, and the airport field across from the house.

It was a spring morning, my siblings and I had spent the night at our grandparents. It had rained the night before and there were still some clouds floating across the blue. I went outside to watch the clouds and as I looked up I saw a rainbow arching across the sky. At that moment, Grandma Mary came outside carrying a raincoat and rain boots, she helped me put them on and then she gave me a hug.

I never think of roses in the singular because every memory I have is of bouquets. I attended a funeral with my grandparents, I do not remember whose funeral, but I remember the flowers. There were multiple bouquets of red roses, the aroma permeated the chapel where the casket of the deceased sit on a stage. After the service was over, we walked past the casket and viewed the remains of the deceased.

Footnotes
1  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_I_Lay_Me_Down_to_Sleep
2  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_Hymn_of_the_Republic