Wisdom Wednesday – Take Time

Grandma and Grandpa Hoskins 1966

I have a bunch of clippings from the newspaper that my grandmother Eveline Coates Hoskins cut out and saved – mostly bits of wisdom or humor – sometimes information about something she was interested in. I thought I’d share some of them as they convey a bit about her personality and the times. Grandma was born in 1901 and died in 1989. I’d guess that most of these clippings were from the 60s and 70s.

This item, titled “Take Time” was at one time taped into something – possibly one of the little notebooks that Grandma kept.

Today’s words of wisdom:

When I look back on the days that I lived with Grandma Hoskins (Eveline) as a little girl, my memory of her is of a woman who had a rhythm and balance to her day – much as this clipping suggests. She was older then and didn’t have the burden of lots of small children to raise (just me!), so perhaps this was a reflection of her age and life situation. But I always think about her being up early and getting to work at the day’s tasks  – gardening, laundry, ironing… After lunch she would stop and enjoy watching her soap operas, working a jigsaw puzzle, reading the newspaper, working the crossword puzzle, and writing letters. Then it was back to work. A balance of work and play. Time for herself and time for others.

Not at all like me…. procrastinating, rushing about to do what I have left undone, feeling off-balance a good bit of the time…. sitting here at the computer, unshowered, while responsibilities go unattended.

Oh, to take Grandma’s example and live it!

 

Illuminating Blogger Award

 

Jana at Jana’s Genealogy and Family History Blog nominated my blog for the Illuminating Blogger Award, which is presented by Food Stories. That was certainly a surprise and just the encouragement I needed today! Thank you, Jana! I enjoy your blog and always hope to have content as interesting as yours.

Here are the rules as posted on the Food Stories blog:

If you are nominated then you have been awarded the Illuminating Blogger Award. Just follow the steps below:

1. The nominee should visit the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) and leave a comment indicating that they have been nominated and by whom. (This step is so important because it’s the only way that we can create a blogroll of award winners).

2. The Nominee should thank the person that nominated them by posting & including a link to their blog.

3. The Nominee should include a courtesy link back to the official award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/) in their blog post.

4. Share one random thing about yourself in your blog post.

5. Select at least five other bloggers that you enjoy reading their illuminating, informative posts and nominate them for the award. Many people indicate that they wish they could nominate more so please feel free to nominate all your favorites.

6. Notify your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog, including a link to the award site (http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/).

I’m supposed to share something random about myself….. well, since I’m sitting here drinking my chai tea latte while I type, I’ll just share that my sister Kim got me hooked on chai. Rather than making a daily trip to Starbucks, I make frequent trips to Target to buy the concentrate so I can have one any time I want. My daughter likes them over ice, but I like mine hot – even during long, hot Texas summers. I guess that qualifies as random.
My nominations are … drumroll…
1. SaveEveryStep by Helen Spencer
2. Many Branches One Tree by Linda
3. Mnemosyne’s Magic Mirror by Meldon J. Wolfgang III
4. Georgian Gentleman by Mike Rendell
5. The Bees Knees Daily by Queen Bee
And just because I have a talented cousin and a talented friend whose blogs I enjoy (not genealogy/history related)
7. REM Cooks by Richard
There are so many more … I spend waaaay too much time reading other people’s blogs that I enjoy. But I must stop.
Thanks again, Jana!

 

Military Monday – Hedrick BBQ Days Parade “Honoring Our Veterans”

If you keep up with my little blog, you know that I recently spent a week in Iowa. Today’s prompt, “Military Monday,” seemed to work well enough for another set of photos – the ones I took of the 53rd Annual Hedrick Barbeque Days Parade on June 23rd. This year’s theme was “Honoring Our Veterans.”

I remember attending some of the BBQ Days events when I was back for a visit as a teenager, but I confess – I remember the Friday night street dance but not the Saturday morning parade…..

I didn’t take a picture of every float or vehicle in the parade. There were quite a few vintage cars, trucks, and tractors. The churches in town were responsible for most of the floats and I thought they did a great job with the theme. Dad(Jerry)’s church alone contributed four floats. Dad and I helped/supervised/distracted/encouraged the float builders one afternoon.  Amazingly, one of the float builders was my age and remembered me from our teenaged years when I would come and stay for a month in the summer. (Click to enlarge photos.)

Dad leading the Christian Church Floats

The pictures on the floats are of veterans and current military personnel submitted by the community. Dad made sure to honor a Civil War ancestor of ours on one of the floats. 

John Sylvester Strange, 49th Regiment Indiana Volunteers, Company K – my great-great-grandfather.

When I spent time in Hedrick 40-some years ago, there were still banks and businesses downtown. Now the banks are gone, the schools are closed, and there isn’t much open on Main Street. It is still a lovely community. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and the surprise of seeing several people that I knew all those years ago.

A short bit from the local Ottumwa TV station: