I am currently teaching myself yet another thing. One thing my great grandfather always told me was you are never too old to learn new things. Keep learning stuff even as you get older. He bought himself a typewriter and taught himself how to use it. That was when we didn’t have personal computers. He had an Elementary education, yet he went on to work and made a lot of money for the time. He did all sorts of things on the side as well. I suppose some of my artistic side comes from him. He made many types of instruments and could play them all. He tried teaching me some.
I had a dream of him and being in his home last night. He is on my mind today. I suppose he was checking in. It has been years since I have had a dream visit with him or about him, it was nice. He taught me how to shoot a gun when I was only 8 years old maybe even 7. I ended up being a really good shot so he started calling me little Annie Oakley. We fished a lot when I was young. He taught me how to whittle, he used to carve birds a lot mostly blue jays and robins, he painted them as well. He carved other things, he was pretty great at wood working as was my paw paw who was a carpenter among other things, they were old-time moonshiners. My pawpaw gave me my first taste of dandelion wine and peach wine when I was maybe 8 it burned something awful and it was not wine. He laughed hysterically and said aww it’ll put some hair on your chest.
My great grandfather loved learning so he was always teaching himself things. He loved animals and would feed the birds and squirrels. He once sent me into his root cellar to grab him a turnip, he forgot to mention the pig heads sitting at my eye level. I handed him his turnip and said umm so uh there are pig heads in there and he lost it laughing hysterically. He taught me a lot and one thing he was always adamant about was telling all of his grandchildren to get an education, it was his one regret, but it wasn’t a choice for him he had eye problems and the doctor pulled him out of school, most kids left at that age anyway to work, it’s just how things were especially in the Appalachian part of Virginia where people were mostly poor.
I suppose he came to give me a talking to last night. I was frustrated and feeling like I can not teach myself some things. He wasn’t having any of that. There were a lot more messages in the dream very personal things. I am grateful for the reminders and the messages. You are never too old to learn new things. You are also never too old to get a little talking to.
Confessions of a Haunting Freak 