I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Tag: granddaughter

  • in case you missed it – yesterday was January 6th.

    in case you missed it – yesterday was January 6th.


    On January 06, 2021 I watched the desecration of my nation’s house, felt horrified and saddened beyond measure at a reality television show produced, directed, and starring the former president of the far from united states – a man who confused firing an apprentice in a make believe office on television with the real life responsibilities of our oval office.

    I timed my morning walk yesterday to be sure I returned to hear President Biden’s comments on the first anniversary of the January 06th. insurrection at our nation’s Capitol. He was scheduled for 9 o’clock our time, and I walked through our kitchen door at 8:55 a.m.

    Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden took their places at a podium erected for them in the middle of the US Capitol’s Statuary Hall – my mind immediately raced to the images of the rioters in that hall last year, the people I witnessed trespassing through this very space the year before following their breach of security to illegally gain entrance to this building that belonged to all Americans, the chants of where’s Nancy, hang Mike Pence haunted me still…

    But both Vice President Harris and President Biden reminded me that, although our democracy sustained a gash like the broken windows in the Capitol on that day, the people we fairly elected conducted the people’s business on our behalf in the people’s house that day. The transfer of power had been neither peaceful nor pretty, but democracy held firm; the legitimate electors were certified according to the constitution.

    Yesterday afternoon Pretty and I picked up our two year old granddaughter after her preschool. The heaviness I felt in my morning’s memories was magically transformed to joy in Ella’s delight with a camellia she picked from a shrub full of pink wonders.

    flower, she said

    yes, I said, it‘s a flower called a camellia

    Teesa, do you think Naynay really knows what this is?

    I can smell this, Naynay – why did you say camellias don’t smell?

    I love camellias

    Camellias are wonderful, Sweet, but wait until I talk to you about democracy.

    **********

    Stay safe, stay saner, please get vaccinated, boosted, and please stay tuned.

  • turning corners

    turning corners


    Spring invigorates me – I love the azaleas, dogwoods, climbing roses, the new tree leaves with their hesitation to turn green, putting our frog log in the pool for the first frogs that need to learn to avoid the chemically treated water, the hum of the bees buzzing the blossoms, washing the pollen from the seat covers on the porch – well, maybe I don’t really love the pollen that comes with the colors of spring. I’ve gone too far.

    But this spring I have especially enjoyed my days with Pretty and our granddaughter Ella who was 18 months old on April 1st. Did you ask if I had pictures?

    Ella and Pretty relaxing in our front yard – with azaleas and dogwoods in the background. Nothing better than having your own chair.

    I know you’re taking my picture

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    I love my new jump suit but am not a fan of the shoes

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    This Nana takes way too long to find my music

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    What did I just say about shoes?

    Whatever your season, Pretty and I send warmest wishes from our home to yours for staying safe, getting vaccinated, and taking a moment to smile at this child who is embracing a brave new world where she now works very hard to find her words to tell us what she thinks about it.

    Please stay tuned.  

  • have you heard the one about…


    the little old lady who walked into the West Columbia Location of the South Carolina Diagnostic Imaging clinic late yesterday afternoon to have two MRIs performed?

    (Masks were provided, social distancing observed by all patients and personnel in the facility – thankfully.)

    The little old lady asked if she could take a pain pill before they started. Much younger technician Tammy replied of course and provided her with water while at the same time also offering  her two bright yellow ear plugs. It gets a little loud in there, Tammy said. Would you like headphones with music, too?

    Oh yes, said the little old lady. Definitely. Can you have them play ABBA music?

    How do you spell ABBA, asked Tammy.

    Then we got down to business on my right bionic knee when Tammy rolled me into the MRI tube as the machine began making noises like roofers who are hammering nails in the final sections of replacing a roof. Bam, Bam, wham, bam…louder in staccato…and then in loud warning signals reminiscent of sirens in WWII announcing the bombs are coming, the bombs are coming. But did I care?

    Not really because the pain pill apparently kept Abba always singing in the back of those headphones:  lots of my favorites like Take a Chance on Me, Super Trooper, Dancing Queen, Fernando and finally when I thought I would go mad from the hammering noises, Mama Mia (the fav of my grandbaby) sang me out of the first procedure. I pictured the little 8 month old baby loving to bounce up and down in her playpen to Mama Mia. And then I was rolled back out of the tube – thinking ABBA might not have been the best choice for remaining totally motionless during the procedure. I had been tempted to groove just a little, but NO WAY.

    After a quick bathroom break, I was back on the table being slid down once again into the tube with its deafening blows to take pictures of my lower lumbar. Tammy remained most professional as she adjusted the headphones for my music. This disc jockey wasn’t a hard core ABBA fan so s/he threw in other fan favorites from the era like Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline, the House of the Rising Sun by James Taylor, Carole King I Feel the Earth Move which I did, by the way, when Tammy slid me out of the tiny tube which I felt getting tinier the second go round. For some reason the lumbar didn’t seem to take as long.

    Maybe it’s because time had stood still during the 1 and one half hour procedure. Tammy helped me slowly sit up.

    While I gathered myself to stand, Technician Tammy said, “I’ve burned you a CD – it should be ready about now.”

    To which I replied, “Oh, you burned me a CD? Thank you so very much – that’s really sweet. I hadn’t heard some of those songs in years.”

    To which Tammy said in a somewhat subdued tone, “The CD is for your doctor. It’s your images.”

    To which I replied, “Oh, well of course.”

    Pretty was waiting for me in the car, and when I told her about the CD, she laughed uproariously as only she can do when something is really funny – we both laughed all the way across town to pick up her Wednesday night pasta at her favorite Mediterranen Tea Room. We were still laughing last night when I passed out at 9 o’clock from exhaustion.

    Stay safe, stay sane and please stay tuned.

     

     

     

  • Ella James, today is your NanaT’s birthday, and you are her greatest gift…


     

    Once upon a time your NanaT visited a faraway place called Greece, and she loved that place very much. One night she was going out to eat the yummy Greek food with your NanaSlo and their friends because the yummy Greek food was one of her favorite attractions while she visited the faraway place.

    On their walk to get  the yummy Greek food, a little white dog appeared on the steps in front of your NanaT.  The little white dog was very dirty with curly fur that had not been combed for a long, long time.

    Your NanaT stopped to sit on a large stone next to the steps. And can you guess what she did next?

    She petted the little white dog for a long time, gave it one of her best smiles and then followed the little dog home to make sure it wasn’t lost.

    The End

    This story has a moral for you, Ella James. Your NanaT has always believed in rescuing both people and animals in distress. As you grow older, you will most assuredly see her strength and determination to make your world a better place in action. You are a very lucky little girl. Imagine the love your NanaT will give you, her special granddaughter, if she made a place in her heart for a little white dog in a faraway place.

    Happy Birthday, Pretty – thank you for rescuing me twenty years ago – you’re simply the best.

    Pretty’s Greatest Gift

    Stay safe, stay sane and stay tuned.