Oooo Smell That Smell...

No, not the song. I am talking about the memories that certain smells evoke. No, not the one where Dad says, "Pull my finger!" I think we all have that one somewhere in our past---a Dad, brother, uncle, Grandpa...but always a guy. The men just seem to master control of muscles and body functions that we girls would never think of!

I've gotten back into the somewhat daily routine of walking with Belle and it is Autumn is Georgia. The leaves are starting to fall and they are beautiful in their death robes of crimson, brilliant orange, and yellow. Of course, Belle has more primitive urges to take care of while I contemplate God's beauty in Nature...smell that mailbox, squirrel!, smell that ditch, squirrel!, oh look-another dog, grrrr!

AS I walk along, I can pick out scents that I can see no evidence of. The air smells not just of freshly mowed grass and back-yard grills, but radishes, sweet peas, carrots, onions, corn husks all jumbled together. Then FLASH, I am back in Dad's garden, weeding, helping harvest, pulling up a carrot, wiping the dirt on my jeans, and taking a big bite with a huge smile on my face.

That was in north Moorhead (MN.) in the corner of the backyard. I thought our garden was huge until I got a little older and we were living on the old Cook farmstead south of Fargo (N.D.) and we had a whole pasture at our disposal. First we used a little piece of it, which grew each year...then started to dwindle down again as we kids got older and weren't around as much.

I sure miss the garden and I sure miss my Dad. I think about him so often, and especially in the Fall when the air is so rich with the scents that seemed to cling to him. Do you smell that smell? Isn't it glorious!?!

Long Live the King of Tomfoolery!

I am helping out our Missions pastor, doing volunteer work a couple days a week at my church. A few weeks ago, my husband asked me to take a picture of one of the pastors, Brother Charlie. I asked him why, I can't just blindly obey, you know. He said he wanted to make masks and wear them to our church's alternative to the traditional Halloween, Fall Festival. I thought it was kinda silly and a little lame and, in truth, didn't think it would even happen...but I dutifully said yes and took my camera to work. I did this for a couple weeks but could never catch him.

Finally, I met him in the coffee room Monday. I asked if I could take his picture then realized I didn't have my camera that day. He said, "Get your cell phone." YAY! He asked why and I said, "It's a surprise!" He shrugged his shoulders and obliged me. What trust! I can learn a thing or two from him, I thought! My mind said... I hope he won't be sorry for trusting me!

Well, Jim spent an hour or so at the Office Depot trying to size it right and making 40 copies on heavier photo paper, then another hour or so purchasing elastic and making about 8-10 masks before he ran out of elastic. I picked up more and we did an assembly line, sort of. He cut out the eyes with a razor blade then I cut the face out, leaving tabs at the ears to fold over for more stability for the staples. Then Jim measured and cut elastic and stapled it to the mask. It took over an hour. I was surprised at the amount of work that went into a practical joke! (Maybe that was the joke on us!)

Jim had me run a picture up to the church to post on Charlie's door, as a preview. We modeled our masks for each other and I had a premonition I would regret the ability to have peripheral vision on a dark night in a crowd. (I was right!) We wore our matching caps backwards so the masks fit better, but that was also a rather signature "Charlie" style. I thought we should wear them right away...Jim thought if we did so, we would be swamped for the extra's...but it was quite the opposite.

First of all, we saw Charlie and he hooted...he loved it! We had our picture taken together and he asked for a mask...only 36 to give away now! We were not swamped, in fact, we had to explain what we were doing alot of the time. Some thought it was funny, some thought it was mean, some wouldn't even talk to us! The most open to taking a mask and wearing it were children! Some were visitors and didn't even know Bro. Charlie...but laughed and took a mask! Some people followed us to get a better look..."See, I told you is was Brother Charlie!" I heard one say to his wife. Some folks took part but it was nothing like we thought it would be. As we were leaving, we got more requests but after 1-1/2 hour we had finally gotten rid of all our masks and somewhere, there were 40 (including the original, Charlie Bibbs running around.

In retrospect, I remain surprised at some of our acquaintences' lack of a sense of humor, or misunderstanding why we did this...thinking it was, in some way, a hostile act. My husband Jim is like a little boy, as our kids and grandkids can attest to...and if there were an election for a King of Tomfoolery, he would certainly gain a spot on the ballot. That's one of his qualiies I cherish, but also one that can irk me at times when I don't let my sense of fun into our conversations. We are so thankful for Brother Charlie Bibb and the fun he injects into our church family and worship experiences. He would be on the ballot, too!