REAL HOUSEWIVES AND SUMMER'S PAST

These were 

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES.

My Grandmother Grace is the second on the left....

with her arms wrapped around the porch column.

I love this picture.

Some of these women lived in her small Ohio town

for their entire lives and I knew them all.

Yes, our country is in the fast lane..

and 

not a very pretty place to be at times.

Remember that song..

The Time's.....They Are a Changin'
by
Bob Dylan....

So, those days of childhood long ago
were the best of times.
It was a gift to spend summer months in a small
Ohio town of only 300 residents.

We woke to summer mornings
with Dove calling.
We could hear conversations in the distance
as they strolled down the sidewalk
to the post office to gather their mail.
They delighted in receiving letters from old friends and family.

We could hear the screen door to the post office slam shut over and over.
We could hear Goldie Fay laughing...

We woke to the aroma of a roast in the oven
which was to be served during the noon meal
when Granddaddy would walk home from the sawmill
for lunch.



Miss Judy and I set the table and helped Grandmother
wash the dishes.



There were no toys and her television rarely worked,
so we played outside all day long and into the evening.
We caught fireflies every night.
We played Red Rover and Mother May I with our cousins.

Neighbors shared  their summer garden bounty
by leaving fresh vegetables on her back porch.

It was the way we were
and
it was such a good place to live!