Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Oh, Dandelion!

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Imaginary Picture of Dandelion (couldn't seem to download one....grrrrr)
Colonel Ashton Gandy (if that is not a southern , Gone with the Wind name....I don't know what is)dropped by the library yesterday to recite this poem for me. He learned it in third grade.

Oh, Dandelion!
Oh, Dandelion
Yellow as gold
What do you do
all day?
I just stand here
in the tall, green grass
until my hair turns
white as snow
and the children come to play.
Oh, dandelion
yellow as gold
what do you do
when your hair is
white as snow
and the children
come to play?
They pick me up
in their little hands
and blow my hair
away.
He also came to tell me the latest "goin's on" in Society Hill.
Seems Miz Lula Mae Gressette had to be moved to the Presbyterian Home in Florence. She is a year younger than Aston but she has Alzheimer's and her daughter Suzanna couldn't keep help at home to stay with her.
Lula Mae ended up in Ashton's class because she SKIPPED A GRADE at St. David's Academy. That just doesn't happen now a days but back in the day if a child was considerably smarter than the others in her class she was just promoted to the class where she could be "challenged."
Colonel Gandy thinks the Presbyterian Home will be okay because a certain wealthy couple from Hartsville built their own home on the grounds there and left their "mansion" on Home Avenue for their daughter to live in.
An update was given on the status of Col. Gandy's dog, Tim (the rat terrier of dubious origins).
The Colonel had been keeping an envelope on the mantle containing $102 with Tim's name on it .
However, when they recently hired a housekeeper, Tim thought the money had best go to the safe deposit box at the bank. The Colonel has done this because the money is for Tim's care should he outlive his master. Tim is feeling secure knowing his future is safe.
The housekeeper, Mrs. Williams, has turned out to be quite satisfactory. The Colonel's sisters insisted he employ one when they saw how bad Tim and the Colonel were keeping house.
The Colonel acquiesced but insisted he continue to do his own wash and make his own bed.
He has had to cede the making of the bed to Mrs. Williams because he unknowingly bought fitted sheets and now he can't get them on successfully. He does still wash all sheets. A life long bachelor can only give up so much privacy, you know.
The Colonel has also moved downstairs to his mother's bedroom after much pressure from the sisters who feared he would take a tumble on the stairs and lie there unassisted for days.
He felt it was an invasion of his mother's privacy....even though she has been dead fifty years.
So you see.....I have to keep my job at the library to keep you updated on the exciting world of the "Old and Helpless" as the Colonel would say. It is a glimpse into a gentler, kinder world I wouldn't want to miss; I hope you feel the same.

3 comments:

Kimberly said...

How sweet is that! Small town South: gotta love it!

Anonymous said...

Are you sure you this isn't just something you read in a book? Sounds like great Southern fiction, only it's true!

Ashli said...

Small town USA. Where is my help? Just wonderin'.
I am not sure 104 dollars will go as far as the Colonel might imagine in care and feeding, but I am sure he has a back up plan.