Many years ago I lived by myself. Every time I needed help I had to pray
for it. This one day I wanted to move a refrigerator. It was where I
could stand behind it and push. The back clear a good ways. I backed up
to it and put my hips into it to move it. It wouldn't budge. It was
stuck to the rug like super glue. It was one of those small
refrigerators one could get back in the early 70's.

I sent up a prayer asking if He would let an angel help me move i t.
Then I put my hips up against it to push with my legs. It slid across
the floor like it was on oil. I almost fell flat of my back side!

I had learned to lean on the Father when I was in need. Later when I got married my husband made the comment, "You don't ask me to do things for you." My sister had made the comment one day when I opened up a jar that the lid was hard to get off, "I would have asked Charles to open it for me." I told her like I had my husband, "If I can do it, why ask him."

The times I do ask him for help, his face lights up with a big, big smile. Guess I need to ask him more often, if only to give him pleasure of helping me.

(C) 4/19/2007 Lois Bierman AKA The Rambling Rose, All rights reserved.

Miracle Of The Lost Billfold

May 3, 2007 my son and I went out to get groceries. I had taken my
billfold out of my purse to do something, then put it back in. When it
was time to go pay for the meat someone was at the register. I told my
son, "Lets step over here and let me get the money out." When I looked
for my billfold it was no where in my purse. I walked back out to the
van and it wasn't on the ground, it wasn't in the seat, nor in between
the seats where I had held the purse when I put it in the purse.

I went back in and we checked out. When I got back to the van I opened
up there door and there as plain as clould be was my blue billfold,
laying up against the side of the seat, the seat belt folded up
against it keeping it from falling out of the van. There was no way I
could have not seen it when I opened up the door when I went back out to
look for it.

(C) Lois Bierman AKA The Rambling Rose, 5/5/2007, All rights reserved.

Learning to fly.. pull up pull up!!

This after noon about 30 minutes after sunset I went outside. It was the time of the afternoon that the wind had died down and it was very still. The cool of the afternoon felt so good.

To the west was a verty faint glow of the last bit of sun. To the right was the moon, with the night sky coming on.

I was enjoying all of that so very much. And about that time a air plane was coming, and went overhead going on north to the air port. I stood there like a child would, watching its lights and black silloutte getting lower and lower, then a sharp bank to the right, down behind the trees, and I could no longer see it.

It reminded me of when I was a child seeing planes go over and loved the sound of them. I would watch it going over and declare, "I am going to be an air plane piliot. ( That is when I didn't want to be a fireman.) I had no idea what that meant since we lived in the country, and I had never seen a plane up close, only heard about them.

About 40 or so years later, my husband said I could take lessons. We had gone up a few times in a small plane and I got to fly it, and the man said I did really good. I knew I couldn't go very far in getting my lessons, but I did get to try. Math was involved and I knew kitchen math. Not all those things one would have to know.

So the day came for my lesson. Finally after checking things out we taxied out. I was not thinking about the end of the runway. He kept saying "Pull up. pull up!" Finally I got brave enough to leave the ground.

Things went pretty well until two things happened. He decided to put his arms around the back of my seat, a little to close for comfort. No way to get away. Thankfully that is all he did... other than......;

Stalling the plain to show me what it was like, and I like to have died right then and there. I ended up having to go to the Dr it shook me up so. I found out later that he wasn't suppose to do that on first trip up.

That ended my flying right then and there. Also I didn't like not having any rear veiw mirrors.

I was so busy tying to keep it at the proper height, that I didn't get to see anything out the window. I guess he was watching for other planes for we did go over the city.

Well, we did make it back to the small air port some miles from the big one. We had a storng tail wind taxing back in. Oh boy was that an ordeal keeping that plane out of the ditch. I finally told him I needed to go faster to keep it straight. He let me and I did keep it straight enough to get it parked.

My husband has been so sweet to let me try lots of things. I do appreciate his being so sweet about it. Guess in a way he let me grow up and get to do things I had never got to do before.

But, I am still a kid at heart. He loves my antics I pull in ways I show him I love him.

(C) Lois Bierman 1-10-2009 All rights reserved

Jacks, hop scotch, swings and knots on the head.

The other night I had put some vitamins on the counter. I put my hand at the edge of the cabinet and scooped them into it.
When I did, memories of playing jacks at grammar school came back as real as I if it were right then. We would play near the
steps going into the school. It was a entrance way, and the cement was so smooth. You really had something when you had the
big fat colored jacks! Oh my, the hours I played jacks at home and at recess. What a very wonderful memory to come back to me.

We either were playing hop scotch with the squares drawn out in the dirt, pieces of glass we brought from hoime scattered in the squares, or paying
jump rope. Those were the days. I got a knot on my forehead today from the time we were playing chase and the every green oak as base. I was running
so hard I ran right into it. I had a goose egg on my forehead. Another time ran in to a boy and got one on the other side. Evened things out with my bumps on my forehead.

Recess was a magical time. Playing under the shurbs making make believe play houses, swinging on those big swings. Now that is a story in itself.

They were big swings
and one could go way up in them.. We would try to go so high we could make it gove over in a circle. Kids in their minds can do anything. I would swing so high the chairns would
buckle. Little did I know I could have gotten seriously hurt. The seats on the swings were heavy winde wood several inches deep and a wide place to sit. Not like the play ground swins today. At the end where the three legs were, well one could run and grab the end one and swing around almost with legs straight out. I went by the school many years later, Yes the wings were big, but bigger than the ones today, but not as big as my child memory had them. The memory stays with me over 50 years later. Oh, and when the nurse came to the school to give shots. I would run for the swings on recess. You could smell the alcohol she used. I had a reaction to shots so I didn't take them. But I just knew that she was going to come after me and give me one. If I was swinging real high, then she couldn't get me.

What childhood memory brings smiles to your face, and wonderment still when you remember them?

(C) Lois Bierman 12/30/08 All rights reserved

The Old Blue Van

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Everything we needed was at the camp grounds so there was not a need to use the van. Because it was a one of those very hot July summers in Texas we didn't venture out to the grocery store but one time. When we left camp early that morning from the camp ground, we asked for protection and a safe trip as we always do when we go on a trip. I was driving, and we were pulling a small travel trailer. The cross wind was pretty bad at times. We drove a good many miles up the Interstate before we needed gas. We had gone through some pretty long curves, and to get to the station I had turn to the right to the service road, then a sharp left, then a sharp right into the service station then left to the pumps ( yes this is important stuff).

When we stopped I smelled burning paper, and I saw a puff of blue smoke go up from the motor box. I told my husband, and he told me there was nothing to burn like that. Here the I see smoke, smell something burning, and he goes and pumps gas in the van! I got back with our son on the back seat, and we both saw blue smoke rise up from that motor box. It smelled like paper burning.

Why my husband did this I do not know, but he looked under the front of the van. The tie rod, that keeps the wheels going straight, and not the way they want to, was dangling down loose, not even bolted together! My husband said there was no way we could have gone around a curve, nor made turns we made into the service station with it unconnected. He walked back up the area we had came in and there was no bolt.

The burning paper smell, and the blue smoke puffs got our attention so we would know something was wrong. We did not see any more smoke or smell the paper burning anymore. My husband never saw the smoke or smelled the paper burning. Why after we had stopped, and not when it happened I do not know. We praised our Father that we didn't have an accident. We really feel we had protection and help getting around those curves, and sharp turns. For us it was a true miracle.

(C) 1996 Mary Lois Bierman, All rights reserved.

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Saturday night in town

Back in 1940's Saturday nights mom and dad would go to town. Lots of folks were there, walking from store to store, which was two grocery stores, and a variety store. Greeting each other, looking things over.

I don't rightly remembe my parents buying anything. Seems like it all was more a social event.

Being a child my main focus was on getting an ice cream cone. When papa bought me a ten cent double cone, I thought I had died and gone to ice cream heaven. I would watch as Ms Edna May would dip the ice cream dipper in the water, open up the lids to an ice box, put reach way down in it, and bring up a scoop of ice cream. It was pure magic to me. Oh how I loved the strawberry ice cream. I don't remember if I told you yet or not, but I asked daddy one night. "Will they have ice cream in heaven?" He told me no. I promptly told him, "Then I am not going!"

One could pass by houses and porch lights would be on if they were gone. Door keys over the door frame, if any kin folks dropped in they could always get in the house. Except our house. No way would mama have left a key where anyone could have found it. No siree, that door had to be locked, windows down. Papa would always tell her how in his days, that no door was locked. Folks traveling could come in get a bit of food and travel on. That didn't matter to mama, that door was going to be locked.

The other day we were walking down the country road and I waved at the people. Not nary of a hand went up. I told our son, "Long ago one sat on the porch and waved at every car that passed, and they waved back."

They finally got a stop sign in town. Streets got named by the high school students. Folks say they don't make any sense, or sure sound wrierd.
Cemetary road goes right through town.

What would we have to talk about if we didn't have memories? Lets unpack a few like an old trunk stored away in the attic, and sit for a spell thinking of good things.

(C) 2008 Rambling Rose's Jott'em Downs, Lois Bierman All rights reserved

Country town .. big day at the city

I was raised in the country. A little town was 1 1/4 miles away. A PO, two grocery stores, a cafe that served as a bus station. a gas station. Nothing fancy. Even now the town is old buildings old, and not kept up. There were companies that would have came in, but the old folks said no. In the 40's moved the high way over some miles, and by passed the town, and in doing so killed a town that was doing good. Now the old folks have died off, and their children won't let anything come in.

Nearest city was 23 miles away. I remember my sister and mom would go every two weeks to get groceries, as well as other needs at Hattiesburg. Prices were so high at the stores in the little town that it could pay for the gas to go to the city.

I remember mom going to Sears and Roebuck. They would park in the back in the parking lot and walk through S & R to go to other stores, as well as shop there.

I can still remember the smell of leather from the shoes as we passed the shoe department, or tried shoes on. I still enjoy the smell of leather.

Kresses, a 5 & 10 store was a grand store. To a child it was really huge. It was a city block long, and wide. Still remember the oiled wood floors, the smell of pop corn being popped. I would beg mom for a bag of it. To me those bag looked so tall. I hated getting the husk in my throat and coughing so much from them, but oh did that pop corn taste good.

Kids now don't know what it was like to go to Woolworths, or Kresses, they were one of a kind stores. I worked in New Orleans back in the early 60's. Seems like Wal-Mart has put a lot of stores out of business. Products that were sold in those stores, that we used every day then are no longer made. Little did we know that common things we used, one day would be a collectors item if they had been saved.

I still like walking down memory lane. Don't cost anything, leaves pleasant feelings, and I wonder if years from now our children can have things to recall that are as wonderful as the memories we have of things we experienced and enjoyed long ago.

(C) 2008 Lois Bierman All rights reserved.