Coal-y, Woal-y, Guacamole

Coal. He was the best dog in the whole world.

I know, I know. What about Beaux? I love Beaux, but Coal was a great dog.

Truly a best friend.

We got him when he was 6 weeks old and just a ball of black fur. He grew up with us.

Oh the trouble he got in. If you have ever had a labrador puppy, you know. They eat everything. They dig everywhere. They drag up anything.

But they love you.

Many people argue that dogs can't love.  I dare to say that they love better than we do.

If you have ever seen a lab with their kids, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

They guard them, play with them, lick them, are gentle with them.

That was Coal.

Yeah, he tore up so much stuff. He chewed on all the furniture outside. He dug up Momma's flower beds. He stole from our neighbors. And he smelled like butt. Even right after a bath...

He also never left our side when were outside. Went with us to Mawmaw's. Ran beside the fourwheeler. Guarded our house at night from 'booggers' none of us could see. Sat with us when we were sad. Listened to us when we needed to talk. Made us feel safe.

To greet him, we would say "Coal-y, Woal-y, Guacamole".  No matter what, his tail would wag to greet us back. No matter how hot he was, how tired he was, how sick he was. He was always happy to see us. 

Well, before we got Coal, Big Mawmaw decided she would not get attached to another dog. Ever. She had too much heart-ache when something happened to them and she couldn't take it anymore.

So when we got Coal, she didn't pet him and would barely look at him. I don't even think she wanted to know his name.

Well, Coal, being Coal watched out for Big Mawmaw too. Since we lived so close to her, he made her house a part of his territory and would make his rounds everyday down to her house. She continued to ignore him. He would just sit and be patient.

I think it would have been easier on her if he had been obnoxious or would jump on her or tear her stuff up. But he didn't.

He just waited.

Every day he would stop by her house and wait. Then go back home.

One day she was working in her flower beds and lost her balance. She fell right on her butt. It didn't hurt her, but she couldn't get up. Coal went over and tucked his head under her arm and helped lift her up.

That was it. She couldn't bare it any more! From then on he got a full breakfast every morning from Big Mawmaw.

Painting a House

Big Mawmaw and Mawmaw were artists. They drew, sketched, painted, weaved, sewed, and created.

They also loved history. Not really dates of wars and political administration, but geneology and anthropology. They loved personal stories about families and the history of the community.

They started a project of drawing old town buildings and old houses.

They did sketches of the old banks, stores, and churches. Some of there weren't still there, but they found pictures of them and drew them from the photographs.

They also did drawings of some of the old houses in the area. Many of them were past their height of beauty, but they worked to capture the beauty that had been lost in time.

They would pack up their easels and supplies and set everything up but not before asking permission.

On one particular occasion, they went up to the door of one of the historical homes that had lost some of its luster and asked the old man that lived there is they could paint his house.

He excitedly agreed.

They were pleasantly surprised by his enthusiasm, so they went and sat at their easels and got to work.

A little while later, the man came back out and asked "When y'all gonna get started?"

Bubble Gum

Big Mawmaw was an incredible woman. There is no way I can begin to describe her in her entirety.  I think about her often and can't help but feel a little inspired.

Once, when we were kids, we were chewing bubble gum at her house.  Oh, did she get excited! She said it had been years since she had a piece and she loved bubble gum! Did I mention she always said she was still a child at heart?  The next day we brought her some bubble gum. She was SO happy! She carefully unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth. After a few chews, she remembered why she had not had bubble gum in years.

1 piece of bubble gum + 1 set of dentures = 1 BIG mess

In the beginning...

Let me begin by explaining a little about ‘The Little House’. This house is the house my grandparents built. This is the house that my dad grew up in. This is the house they could afford, which wasn’t much. ‘The Little House’ is a United Built home that lives up to its name very well. It is a small 2 bedroom 1 bath home with kitchen/dining area, living room, and screened in porch. It’s yellow. It was built in the early 60s on land that has been in my father’s family at least 4 generations. This land that this yellow little house is built on is God’s land, Belah land. Many generations of Windham’s made this Belah land their home, and so shall I (Even though I’m a Zeagler now, my heart is still in Belah…which, luckily, so is Mr. Zeagler’s). Anyone who has ever lived in this small community we call Belah understands when I say there is something about this land that creeps into you and becomes a part of you. The smell. The warmth of the grass. The air. The rich soil. The views of the sky. The sounds at night. Okay, okay, a little over the top, I know, but this is what this place does to me. It is home.

So on this wonderful plot of land that my family owns, there is my daddy’s mechanic shop, my parents’ home, ‘The Little House’, a make-shift-work-in-progress personal shooting range, and my older brother’s home (which was my great grandparents’ home). This plot of land is at the road’s end out in the middle of nowhere, so privacy is another thing to add to the growing list of amazing things about this place.

So, this ‘Little House’—what’s the story? I grew up next door to my grandparents and great-grandparents. Since we live in such a rural area, we didn’t have many neighbors, especially ones with kids our age. So, myself and my 2 brothers spent most of our free-time over at Mawmaw and Pawpaw’s or down at Big Mawmaw’s. We would ride our bicycles to each house, set the kitchen timer (for the allotted time Momma said we could stay) and then would visit, play cards, do jigsaw puzzles, play tiddly-winks, make biscuits, drink tang, or listen to stories we had heard 100 times before. It was wonderful. My daddy is an only child, so we were Mawmaw and Pawpaw’s only grandchildren, and Big Mawmaw’s other great-grandkids lived in other states (some in other countries). We were spoiled. When I was a kid I always assumed that they never had anything to do or any where to go, but as I got older I realized that they probably did, but they would stop whatever they were doing to spend time with us. We never had to call before we came over, we just asked Momma and she would tell us how long we could stay. Like “Yeah you can go, but only 30 minutes at each place” or “Ok, an hour and ½ at each”. That was our top, an hour and ½ at each place. That was a jackpot for us! But sometimes you know kids do get bored, even on this wonderful piece of land and even visiting with some of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. When we would get bored or tired of hearing one of those stories we heard a thousand times before (even though today, I would give my right hand to be able to hear them tell one of those stories one more time), we would go bump the timer up. Also on the same token, if time seemed to be going by too fast and we were caught up in a riveting game of double solitaire, or one of us was in the lead in rummy, or the jigsaw puzzle was coming along quite nicely, we would sneak and go bump the timer back. I’m not sure if they ever knew, but they never said anything.