JUST A SIP OF WATER


I start this particular blog with a disclaimer.......It all  happened before I was born and my mother related it to me.

When my parents were married they had no money for a photographer so after my elder brother, Lagrant, was born and money was available, they had this photo taken (Which my dad always called their "wedding picture".)

The year the picture was taken is circa 1928.


While I am not sure where this incident took place (my parents lived in Minco, Oklahoma in the early years and Lagrant was born there) and they moved to Kansas some time later.

This was the time before indoor pluming and water for drinking, bathing, etc. was obtained from a pump outside the house and carried in.  There was usually a galvanized bucket with a large ladle in the kitchen for drinking and frequently a block of ice from the ice-box was submerged into it on especially hot days.

There came a day when my mother was ill, running a fever and stayed in bed.  My brother who I'm guessing was about four or five was in the bedroom with her, playing with his toys but under her watchful eye.

At one point, she asked him to bring her a sip of water.  Lagrant left the room but returned moments later with no water.  Mother chastised him and told him once more to go and get her a sip of water.
He, again returned empty handed and whimpered a bit.

Annoyed and complaining, she got out of bed.  "Well, I guess I'll  just have to get it myself."

She went into the kitchen and there, wrapped around the pail of water was an enormous black snake enjoying the icy coolness.  My mom let out a scream which must have frightened the snake for it slithered out a small mouse hole below the counter.

When my dad came home that afternoon, the hole was plugged and we can only surmise that everyone learned a lesson. "Out of the mouths of babes......"














Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BERNADETTE

Image
I first met Bernadette Peters when we were both in a production of "The Boy Friend" (With Yvonne de Carlo) at the Wedgewood Dinner Theater in Glen Cove, Long Island. She had previously been a child performer starting at the age of three on the TV show "Juvenile Jury" and went on to many other venues of the day  (She did "Name that Tune" when she was five.)  And there are many other credits, I could relate. So, she  was a seasoned performer when we met. Almost every night, after the performance of "The Boy Friend," and before we started the trek back into the city, a bunch of us would retire into the bar, where Bernadette would usually sing a number or two with the pianist.   She was remarkable.  She would turn a song like "You made me love you" into a soulful agony with tears streaming down her face as she neared the end.   Just remarkable. Soon after she was doing "George M" on Broadway and "Dames at Sea'  of
Read more

PUZZLES, CONTESTS AND SUCH

Image
I have always been intrigued by puzzles of all sorts starting out with jigsaws in my youth and eventually graduating to Crosswords, Jumbles, Sudokus, Cyphers, Word Searches and a myriad of other types of posers.   And I do my fair share...….the New York Times Sunday Crossword is by far my favorite and I am proud to say that I can now solve it in ink!  (After many years with the no.2 and an eraser) On the contest side, I've entered here and there...……..New York magazine ran a weekly challenge back in the day and had numerous types of things to do.   For instance (and a classic)….Make up a name using other names (the old "if so-and-so married so-and-so" game). If Anna Maria Alberghetti married producer David Merrick, divorced him and married comedian Jackie Cannon, divorced him and married composer Norman Paris, her name would be Anna Merrick Cannon Paris.   You get the picture? Well, after a few honorable mentions in the New York contest, I finally won one.   The cha
Read more

THE BEAR

Image
I have found one wonderful way of combatting the "blues," i.e. those days when you are overwhelmed with loneliness.  It is the bear.  And that is his name....."Bear."  He hails from an upstate New York department store called Newberry's in the town of Warwick.  He came into our lives for no particular reason.....he just looked like he needed some love.  So we took him in.  He resided with us up north among other assorted stuffed kin. And now in Florida, many years later, he sits beside me, fairly near, he - on the sofa, me - in my chair.  He's been there for quite some time now and watches me with his ebony black eyes, snuggled and cozy in his best (and only) sweater.  He did venture forth to sit beneath the Christmas tree last December,  but usually he is happy on the sofa (which I know he thinks belongs to him.)  And perhaps it does. He never bothers anyone and is most tolerant of the cat should she come sniffing around.  He seems to like the same tele
Read more