Rolling over in bed and grumbling to myself as the daylight pours into my window I hear the dogs barking and the tractor starting. “Oh my god,” I think to myself, “how and why does she do this every freaking morning?” Before I even opened my eyes I smelled the bacon, scrapple and toast of which each is either slathered or cooked in full fat butter. Who would guess that a breakfast fully capable of turning Jack Lalanne into Michael Moore after just one sitting could effectively rocket my seventy year old grandmother from sunup to sundown enduring all the toils and labors of a full time stable manager.
Peeking from behind my curtains, I check my phone messages and there she goes as usual, hobbling down the driveway like rural clockwork. A bale of hay bare hugged in her arms she teeters like a marionette down the driveway to the watering trough.
What keeps her going? To say it’s in her nature would be too easy. Some say it’s probably a combination of the memory of my granddad and her faith but I think I know that beyond that she’s also just a hardcore simplicity junkie. She’s in a constant state of that wholesome, accomplished feeling you get when you spend an entire day just getting things done. “Any work is good work,” she’ll say.
"Instead of going to the gym all the time you could do some more shoveling or something around here? That's a work out too, huh?" she'll rib at me from time to time. I tell her that the gym is a controlled environment and the work she enjoys invites injuries. "You're such a wimp", she laughs. I guess I can stomach that, coming from someone who makes Rosie the riveter look like Kim Kardashian. She is literally a 70 year old stunt woman. Just about once a week I hear a story about how she fell off a horse, or a tractor or a ladder. She'll never mention when she’s taken a tumble, but I can always tell by the little extra hobbles in her steps that send phantom chills through my body, like her DNA is trying to communicate to mine that she's a madwoman and needs to settle down before she's paralyzed.
(379 words)
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I think this is a good piece and I like the descriptions of the movements. I'm only left wondering are you trying to focus in on your movements or hers? I felt like there were pieces of both throughout. It was interesting to read though because of the detailed descriptions! Good work :)
ReplyDeleteThere are a few sentences you may need to re-read and decide which verb or adjective you want to use, instead of using both. Also, it ends a little abruptly.
ReplyDeleteBrought the movie Grandma's Boy to mind for a second =0) Very sweet though, describes your grandmother well and conveys the underlying affectionate concern you have for her and the activities she does daily.
haha, that's a good movie too. You're a comedy buff.
ReplyDeleteWhat's movie's this from: "Internet? What the *&%# is the internet?"
Just substitute adjective for internet and you'll know how I feel about adjectives.