Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Sparkling Eyes and Smiles

I dropped out of my blog writing cycle this week. The weather warmed up and it was nice enough to be outside and trying to catch up on the spring yard cleaning chores. After being inside all winter I'm a bit out of shape and when I get in in the evening I'm all pooped out. In the course of the day my mind tends to operate at two levels particularly when involved in some mundane repetitive task. Yard raking is a good example. Doing that is not particularly mind challenging and so there is a concurrent opportunity to think about other things.

Today as I was raking I got to thinking about popular sayings. One that came to mind is an expression used to describe a young woman who is particularly well endowed by nature. The saying is ".... she's built like a brick ---- house. I'm sure the term is quite old and since there are not many outhouses left one would think it would have submerged by now into the vast ocean of unused terminology. However, during the Olympics one of the US female hockey players, in an interview, said her boyfriend described her as built like a brick house. The interviewer chucked and steered the interview into safer waters.

As I grow older I sometimes wonder what all those lovely young ladies look like with fifty years under their belts. In Walmart while I'm waiting for my wife to do her shopping I like to sit down on one of the benches they provide and watch the people wander past. Every now and then I see an old lady and even though the years have not been kind can see that once long ago she must have been a real knock-out.

One of the most poignant things I ever saw was a farm auction I took my daughter to when she was still in high school. We were staying at a lake where our family at large owns a small cabin and I was bored with looking at the water. In the paper I saw one advertised nearby and told the girls I was going to go and they were welcome to join me. My younger daughter volunteered reluctantly and off we went. It was a typical old farm house and the machinery the family had been farming with was on its last legs. In the process they had grown old and were moving into town. On the kitchen table that had been moved into the yard was a big pile of costume jewelry from the 1920s that included an amber string of flapper beads. My daughter had been patient throughout the day but as the auctioneer approached the table she said, "I want you to bid on the pile of jewelry with the flapper beads in it.

As the bidding started I saw these three old ladies looking out the window with interest. My daughters eyes glowed. I didn't care what the bid was I just kept raising my hand until I bought the lot of jewelry. Christine went up and collected the box and put the beads around her neck and twirled around. The three ladies were watching and at first I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness but then I noticed they were smiling as my daughter celebrated her acquisition.

Whenever I get the chance I ask my daughter if she still has those beads. " Sure do," she answers and her eyes sparkle once more like they once did... and I see again those old women watching through the window.