Sunday, August 8, 2010

Summer Song

Is there anything better than a day with a person you watched grow up as that person parents their own children? I absolutely love seeing the love glowing between parents and their children and grandparents and their grandkids. This has been a charmed summer with many children to admire. We’ve been so fortunate in being honored with visits by nieces and their fantastic families, who traveled many miles to share their children with us. We’ve also had the pleasure of being included in the Granny Camps of others.

Mountaintop Mary brought her brood over for a cookout and allowed me the honor of introducing them to Ms. Mamie’s chickens and garden. Donna allowed me the same opportunity to share our garden with her daughter and three of her grandchildren. She and her husband Marshall later brought them to our First Friday supper where they sang the most beautiful blessing to begin our feast. They seem to have enjoyed their first adventure in Jello fishing, followed by Jack Darnell reading to them from his work.

How great would it be, to turn all of Coker Creek into one huge Granny Camp? I tried to talk my daughter into starting a Granny Camp with us, figuring that we could utilize all the experience we had in the early years of her child rearing. She has two daughters who had been trained from birth to be counselors, so we had just the right ingredients.

But the price we pay for having super successful grandchildren is that they’re very busy pursuing their own futures. I do have to admit that Rebecca spending part of her summer helping to host exchange students from Korea will probably do more to promote world peace than cracking corn in Coker Creek would.

I was invited by Rachel to the big Atlanta suburb of Marietta to attend a live production of “Hairspray” with her and her daughters. I hardly knew how to act; it had been so long since I’d attended any cultural events in the any decent-sized city. I was seriously under-dressed in capris and flip flops while my three girls were gorgeous. How soon we forget how to dress for success.

I was unbelievably awed by the talent in Rachel’s town theatre on Marietta Square. I have been to Broadway, and the theatre called the Strand could compete any day. It was great laughing with my little ladies on my field trip from Granny Camp.

Then, it was on to our own version of the Grand Ole Opry at Charlie and Deborah’s place where we’re entertained for free by world-class musicians, and we have great food prepared by world-class cooks. Mountaintop Mary and Don brought their Granny Camp attendees, with little Emma all dolled up in a dress and petticoat with her hair in a beautiful French braid for performing the Irish lullaby “Tura Lura Lura.” Is there anything sweeter than the voices of young children raised in song, even if they are someone else’s grandchildren’s voices?