Charity Starts at Home

I gathered everything that I thought I would need to weather the impending storm, milk, bread, tea bags, and the tank of my car is filled with gasoline. From earlier posts on Facebook, you should already know that I have a huge stockpile of toilet paper. The stockpiling started when the kids were young and my wife, Cindy and I would buy when there was a sale or we had coupons that were too enticing to ignore. But the best laid plans of mice and men….

Last evening, I was summoned from the shower by the ringing of the telephone. It was my eldest. She needed someone to watch my granddaughter Hannah. The normal babysitter’s son was sick with vomiting and Amanda wanted to know if I could watch, take Hannah to preschool and pick her up.

How can a grandpa say no to visiting with a granddaughter? So, I am at her house and she is in preschool. I am later in posting a blogspot, but it will get there. While I am out, I may pick up some “D” cell batteries for the flashlights.

I do have several kerosene lamps and their reservoirs are still filled with kerosene. There have been times that we have had to use the lamps or candles. It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

I can remember as a child going to my Grandmother Miner’s home if there was a power outage and deep snows. They had a coal furnace, a coal fired cook stove, but to get water, she would have to walk to the springhouse and lug the water back to the house. It was a practical solution. Dad would let the water drip at our home to keep the pipes from freezing. We would be safe and warm at Grandma’s and we would carry the water.

We would gather around her dining room table, lit by a kerosene lamp and play games of “Muggins” dominoes or Sorry. They both were extremely effective ways to teach children how to count. I certainly miss those simpler days, the closeness, the bonding, and those happy times