Another favorite rerun…

Sitting on the porch today pondering about the blue sky of fall. Bright blue and no clouds. Scientists blame this on less humidity as the air gets cooler. Clouds don’t form easily so we get a clear view of the sky. I love these days. My old house feels like she’s air conditioned! It’s cooler in the house than on the porch.

Not many birds this morning. Mr. red breasted grosbeak has been visiting the last few mornings. Brought two females with him. Wondered if they could be his sisters since they travelled in a three some. I wonder if brother and sister birds get along…do they remember growing up in the same nest?

I have three brothers. Never wanted or longed for a sister. My daddy had four sisters and two brothers. He used to ask me all the time did I wish for a sister. Never, I’d say, because I’d be the dumb fat one. He’d just laugh.

My brothers are great, two older, one younger. My oldest brother inherited my daddy’s mantra of grocery shopping every day. He appears each weekday morning to sit in a porch swing and visit after his shopping. He tells me what he bought at the grocery store and how expensive it was. We discuss our birds and flowers and he gives me gardening advice. Really taught me how to grow delicious tomatoes. Bosses me about the house repairs. He tillered up a flower bed for me and brought me some huge pots to grow vegetables. After pressure washing my porch and sidewalk he remarked, “When I die, you’re gonna have to get a man!”

My middle brother is a vet and takes wonderful care of my dachshund Penelope. He is so kind to her. She gets flea and tick pills and allergy shots and pedicures when she visits his clinic. His wife drags me to every Goodwill and thrift store in Alabama and Georgia when she can talk me into going.

I have to be careful when bragging to middle brother about my grandchildren and their school bands. When I was a teenager I begged my daddy for a silver Conn constellation trumpet. I was spoiled so of course he said yes. All three of my brothers sweated in the hay fields to get the money to pay for the trumpet. They were mad and still hold a grudge about that trumpet and the hay bales that paid for it.

I sent middle brother a video of my youngest grandson playing the C scale on my “hay” trumpet. The trumpet had been refinished and looked brand new. I was so excited telling him my son had played that trumpet in the band and now my grandson son was learning to play. Three generations of children had learned to play that “hay” trumpet. His retort, “Heard a few sour notes!” “Well, that’s pretty good, considering he just started in August,” I hotly replied. Just can’t let it go!

My baby brother has found me a handyman couple who are shortly coming to redo my kitchen floor. Baby brother’s wife is my fashion consultant and jewelry repair expert! I must have been jealous of my baby brother when he was first born. I can’t remember much about him as a baby. Maybe the brick my middle brother dropped in the playpen when I was a baby did strike me on the head!

Baby brother and I shared a bedroom till I was in the sixth grade and would push our twin beds together every Christmas Eve, waiting for Santa Claus. When baby brother was a little boy, I think he endured some sisterly abuse. I would hold him down and let a little drop of spit dangle out of my mouth, sucking it back before it hit him on the face. He says it dropped on him but I know it NEVER did. My daddy caught me doing this one time and told me I’d be sorry when brother got older. Well, he did get older and stronger and popped me upside the head a couple times with the broom handle. I knew daddy would give him a whipping but all he said was, “Guess you’ll leave him alone now!”

I remember once after band practice he got home an hour earlier than I did. A few sparks flew from my daddy when I walked in the door. I had caught a ride home with my boyfriend.

When my baby brother had his first child I was so proud for him and felt so old that he was now a father. When his third grandchild was born I realized not only did I feel old but I am old.

Brothers are wonderful gifts! At our family gatherings we laugh about our childhood antics till one of us chokes. My oldest son used to love to sit with us and listen to the stories. I’d always lie and tell him all four of us were exaggerating. Truth be told we censored the the tales!