We remember a few random, funny or meaningful things about each placed we’ve lived. And we inadvertently carry on my husband’s habit of referring to each place not chronologically but by street name. The year just pops in our heads as an afterthought. Yes I said year, as in singular, because we have rarely lived in one place more than a year. But every time we move, I do not give up hope for root-reaching.
So this was the year on “Orgain”. A few things come to mind.
- Our black wiener dog puppy named Daphne & how cute and mischievous she was always digging little holes to escape the yard.
- Braylon learned how to ride his bike on that street – a truly exciting day.
- Two of the most violent thunder storms hit when we lived there. One caused gale force winds to take our basketball hoop down. We watched, it seemed, in slow motion, fall straight onto the windshield of Ricky’s ’79 Nova. CRRRACK! The other had me pull over on Toll road 130 with Angel, Braylon and his buddy in the backseat. We watched a transformer blow out 50 ft. ahead of me, and had the worship music up full blast in attempt to drown out the incredible sound of wind and rain as it pounded our Scion from the left side. I was literally yelling my prayers, and even professing my love for the kids just in case it was my last chance to do so. But of course… God was merciful.
- Friends on the loop – our street looped around and we were blessed to make some great friends there – Andra (Andre’) who would go to Royal Rangers with Braylon,…and the Llanas famila ~ Evie, Ben and their kids – especially sweet Abigail. They lived caddy-corner from our backyard, but Braylon and Abigail would often find excuses to see each other via the shared makeshift tree house where the yards met.
- The Potato Lady – she lived next door to us. To this day, I can’t recall what her face looked like, as she rarely left her home.
Here is the story about the Potato Lady.
One day when I must have been shopping or something, Ricky decided to have some daddy-son fun in the backyard after they watched a few inspirational youtube videos together about … squirrel launching. Yeah.
Well, there must have been a squirrel shortage at the time, so they settled for potatoes from the kitchen. They had a sling-shotty thing they made, and secured a small potato into it. Braylon drew back that sling and let the veggie fly. The potato was supposed to hit the fence, but it must’ve gained velocity and kept on going. Over the fence and into that lady’s yard it went, ending its flight with a supposedly subtle thud against her siding. The next thing we knew, there was a knock on our front door. We knew she was not really a people person, but we had no idea. She and her angry tone awaited Ricky on our doorstep. Along with threats that the police would come if it happened again.
Well, it must have happened again. Ricky, in a state of disbelief, felt like seeing if she really meant business. I don’t think this one actually hit anything but her grass, but she was waiting for it. It was apparently all she needed to follow through. Fifteen minutes later after the boys had moved on to another activity, we got visitor #2, the Hutto Police Department at our door.
Ricky tried his best to not laugh. but it was useless. Following suit, 7 year old Braylon tried to cover his smile to no avail. The officer had to get our side to complete his investigation, and just before he left, he let us in on a bit of the dialog between himself and Potato Lady. He told us she seemed to not get out much…and didn’t seem very understanding. When we asked what he meant, he told us that he said to her, “Ma’am, I’m sure the boy was playin’…and didn’t mean to fling the potato into your yard. It was a mistake. Didn’t you ever make any mistakes playin’ around when you were a kid?”…to which she replied with a resolute, “No.”
Apparently Potato Lady never made mistakes as a child.
I bet you a big ‘ol baked potato, she never had any fun either.
Chelan 