Ohio

One of my favorite parts of a favorite book.

From "Whinesburg, Ohio."

Tandy
Until she was seven years old she lived in an old unpainted
house on an unused road that led off Trunion Pike. Her
father gave her but little attention and her mother was
dead. The father spent his time talking and thinking of
religion. He proclaimed himself an agnostic and was so
absorbed in destroying the ideas of God that had crept into
the minds of his neighbors that he never saw God
manifesting himself in the little child that, half
forgotten, lived here and there on the bounty of her dead
mother's relatives.
   A stranger came to Winesburg and saw in the child what
the father did not see. He was a tall, red-haired young
man who was almost always drunk. Sometimes he sat in a
chair before the New Willard House with Tom Hard, the
father. As Tom talked, declaring there could be no God,
the stranger smiled and winked at the bystanders. He and
Tom became friends and were much together.
   The stranger was the son of a rich merchant of Cleveland
and had come to Winesburg on a mission. He wanted to cure
himself of the habit of drink, and thought that by escaping
from his city associates and living in a rural community he
would have a better chance in the struggle with the appetite
that was destroying him.
   His sojourn in Winesburg was not a success. The
dullness of the passing hours led to his drinking harder
than ever. But he did succeed in doing something. He gave
a name rich with meaning to Tom Hard's daughter.
   One evening when he was recovering from a long debauch
the stranger came reeling along the main street of the
town. Tom Hard sat in a chair before the New Willard House
with his daughter, then a child of five, on his knees. 
Beside him on the board sidewalk sat young George Willard. 
The stranger dropped into a chair beside them. His body
shook and when he tried to talk his voice trembled.
   It was late evening and darkness lay over the town and
over the railroad that ran along the foot of a little
incline before the hotel. Somewhere in the distance, off
to the west, there was a prolonged blast from the whistle
of a passenger engine. A dog that had been sleeping in the
roadway arose and barked. The stranger began to babble and
made a prophecy concerning the child that lay in the arms
of the agnostic.
  "I came here to quit drinking," he said, and tears began
to run down his cheeks. He did not look at Tom Hard, but
leaned forward and stared into the darkness as though
seeing a vision. "I ran away to the country to be cured,
but I am not cured. There is a reason." He turned to look
at the child who sat up very straight on her father's knee
and returned the look.
   The stranger touched Tom Hard on the arm. "Drink is not
the only thing to which I am addicted," he said. "There is
something else. I am a lover and have not found my thing
to love. That is a big point if you know enough to realize
what I mean. It makes my destruction inevitable, you see. 
There are few who understand that."
   The stranger became silent and seemed overcome with
sadness, but another blast from the whistle of the
passenger engine aroused him. "I have not lost faith. I
proclaim that. I have only been brought to the place where
I know my faith will not be realized," he declared
hoarsely. He looked hard at the child and began to address
her, paying no more attention to the father. "There is a
woman coming," he said, and his voice was sharp and
earnest. "I have missed her, you see. She did not come in
my time. You may be the woman. It would be like fate to
let me stand in her presence once, on such an evening as
this, when I have destroyed myself with drink and she is as
yet only a child."
   The shoulders of the stranger shook violently, and when
he tried to roll a cigarette the paper fell from his
trembling fingers. He grew angry and scolded. "They think
it's easy to be a woman, to be loved, but I know better,"
he declared. Again he turned to the child. "I
understand," he cried. "Perhaps of all men I alone
understand."
   His glance again wandered away to the darkened
street. "I know about her, although she has never crossed
my path," he said softly. "I know about her struggles and
her defeats. It is because of her defeats that she is to
me the lovely one. Out of her defeats has been born a new
quality in woman. I have a name for it. I call it Tandy. 
I made up the name when I was a true dreamer and before my
body became vile. It is the quality of being strong to be
loved. It is something men need from women and that they
do not get."
   The stranger arose and stood before Tom Hard. His body
rocked back and forth and he seemed about to fall, but
instead he dropped to his knees on the sidewalk and raised
the hands of the little girl to his drunken lips. He
kissed them ecstatically. "Be Tandy, little one," he
pleaded. "Dare to be strong and courageous. That is the
road. Venture anything. Be brave enough to dare to be
loved. Be something more than man or woman. Be Tandy."
   The stranger arose and staggered off down the street. A
day or two later he got aboard a train and returned to his
home in Cleveland. On the summer evening, after the talk
before the hotel, Tom Hard took the girl child to the house
of relative where she had been invited to spend the night. 
as he went along in the darkness under the trees he forgot
the babbling voice of the stranger and his mind returned to
the making of arguments by which he might destroy men's
faith in God. He spoke his daughter's name and she began
to weep.
   "I don't want to be called that," she declared. "I want
to be called Tandy---Tandy Hard." The child wept so
bitterly that Tom Hard was touched and tried to comfort
her. He stopped beneath a tree and, taking her into his
arms, began to caress her. "Be good, now," he said sharply;
but she would not be quieted. With childish abandon she
gave herself over to grief, her voice breaking the evening
stillness of the street. "I want to be Tandy. I want to
be Tandy. I want to be Tandy Hard," she cried, shaking her
head and sobbing as though her young strength were not
enough to bear the vision the words of the drunkard had
brought to her.

What next

I'm trying to figure out what to write next. I'm thinking of doing a color blog series. Choosing a color and then writing about what or who it reminds me of. Or maybe just a memory blog. Talking about the various things I encounter during the day and the memories they spark. I do know one thing, I want to plan it out and make it purposeful. We shall see.

With

Day 100 - The final picture of yourself with 15 facts.

 44% of kids watch television before they go to sleep
[ but not mine, i read to him ]

The Gastric Flu can cause projectile vomiting 
[ so can Noro Virus ]

The Great Pyramids used to be as white as snow because they were encased in a bright limestone that has worn off over the years
[ guess I've been coloring my pyramids wrong all these years ]

Japanese research has concluded that moderate drinking can boost IQ levels
[ guess that means there's a lot of people who could be A LOT dumber ]

For more than 3,000 years, Carpenter ants have been used to close wounds in India, Asia and South America
[ next time my son hurts himself, i'll tell him to just rub some ants on it instead of dirt ]

The word "toy" comes from an old English word that means "tool."
[ i bet Piaget would be happy to hear that ]

Most lipstick contains fish scales
[ which is why i never use lipstick ]

Of married couples, 70% of men and 60% of women have cheated on their spouse
[ and people wonder why 50% get divorced ]

More people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed in plane crashes
[ no wonder they never have donkeys at petting zoos ]

   Throughout the South, peanuts were known as "Monkey Nuts," and "Goober peas," before the civil war
[ not sure which term i like more ]

A chicken with red earlobes will produce brown eggs, and a chicken with white earlobes will produce white eggs
[ chickens have earlobes? ]

 The abbreviation Xmas for the word Christmas is of Greek origin. Since the word for Christ in the Greek language is Xristos, which starts with the letter "X," they started putting the X in place of Christ and came up with the short form for the word Christmas 

[ for everyone who gets offended when people write Xmas, knock it off, they aren't denouncing Christ ] 

 In a day, kids in the U.S. that are between the ages of 2 - 8 spend 28 minutes of their time coloring 

[ pretty sure i did way more than 28 minutes a day when i was around age 8 ] 

  

Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise 

[ adding even more meaning to the phrase "men are from mars, women are from venus" ]  

Feel

Day 99 - Something that makes you feel accomplished

I really feel the most accomplished when I can get a cranky baby to fall asleep.  It's like magic.  One of the most beautiful feelings I have ever experienced.  I remember the point in my life when cranky babies scared me to death, and I didn't have a clue what to do with them.  Now I am a sleep guru.  For whatever reason I have a talent to get babies to sleep, even the crankiest ones that everyone else gives up on.  Maybe that's why my son sleeps so much.  After spending 9 months in my magic sleep self. 

Nail

Day 98 - Your favorite nail polish color

It's hard to tell, but it's sparkly pink.  And I like it.  A lot. 

Rear View

Day 97 - Something heart shaped

 My rear view mirror decoration.  It's suppose to be a necklace, but I can't wear necklaces so I decorate my car with them instead. :) 

Pair

Day 96 - Your favorite pair of shorts

You have to click on the picture to get a good look at the shorts that I'm wearing in this photo.  I couldn't crop it because then it would lose the whole point of the picture.  Bear says that this sculpture is just balls on a stick, I however see a tall tree.  So I told him to put his arms up like a tall tree.  An old couple asked me to take their picture in front of it, so in return they took ours.  The last time I took this road trip with Bear I wanted to take this picture, but no one was around to take it for us.  I was thrilled to see other people there this time.

Ello

Day 95 - Something yellow

Today I wore yellow, sure it's 4th of July and typically I wear white or blue (never red, I don't look good in red), but not this year.  I've had this yellow shirt for a couple years now, but never was able to find something to wear under it since it's slightly see through, so I never wore it.  I was super excited to finally have a tank top to wear underneath it.  I really like it.  I normally can't wear shirts that touch my neck, because of my skin disease, but the fabric on this shirt is soft enough that it doesn't irritate my skin any.  My favorite part about this picture is that Bear took it.  I gave him the camera to look at pictures, I guess he pressed the right button to take a picture.

 

Todd Bday

Day 94 - What you’re doing right now

When I first sat down to write about what I was doing, my son walked in and told me it was time for cake.  Instead of getting a picture of me sitting on my bed typing on my laptop, you get this picture.  I was wishing my step dad a happy birthday.  Bear was waiting all day long for some cake.  After breakfast this morning he told me he ate all his food, I told him way to go, and then he asked for cake.  That's just how a 3 year old's mind works, if you eat all your food then you get a treat...which is true, that's pretty much how we've patterned him.  He doesn't always get something, but he has learned that he must eat all or usually most of his food in order to get dessert.  I was impressed that he didn't even ask for the cake when he first saw it, he instead asked for breakfast.  I should have realized right away his thought process, but I didn't. He didn't even end up eating all of his cake. I love that he doesn't eat all of something just to clear his plate, I feel that he is learning how to listen to his body and know when he is full.

View

Day 93 - The view from your bedroom window

 It's nothing special.  Just my parent's crummy back yard.  We have plans to fix it...eventually.  So many plans, so very little time.

Plum

Day 92 - Something weird in your house

This is probably the weirdest thing in my house.  It's a painting that i did in art camp one year.  We had to paint using fruit to represent something different.  I was like 13 or something.  I remember my sister Heather helping me do the shading on it.  It was a collaborative effort.