I listened to the song that Uncle Ken recommended, but I couldn't understand a word of it. I've been having trouble with accents for a long time, not in person so much, but on TV and the telephone. Funny thing is that I grew up hearing accents, as did we all. In fact, I don't recall ever meeting somebody's grandparent who didn't speak with a foreign accent until I moved to Cheboygan. A certain amount of hearing loss is normal at my age, but I seem to hear everything okay, I just have trouble understanding it.
My grandfather never had to replace his tractor, it lasted longer than he did. Grandma was allowed to drive the tractor, but never the pick-up truck. After Grandpa died, she sold both the tractor and the truck and bought a little Nash Rambler with an automatic transmission. After a few frustrating lessons from her grown children, she determined to teach herself how to drive when she was 65 years old. It was a rural area with lots of low traffic back roads, so she had lots of room to practice. When she felt she was ready, she drove to the sheriff's office in town to get her license. When she told the person behind the counter that she had driven there unaccompanied, she was informed that was not allowed on a learner's permit. "So how am I supposed to get home, then?", she responded. The clerk assigned a deputy to ride home with her, telling him that somebody will follow them and bring him back to the station. On the way home, the deputy told her to turn around and head back to the station. "Give her the license", he told the clerk, "She is an excellent driver." Grandma never got tired of telling that story to her dying day. Of course, it was a small town and a long time ago. Add that to the list of things we have lost.
No comments:
Post a Comment