Unfortunately it seems that after several days of reverie Poppa is experiencing some insomnia. I’m not sure that cookies would have helped that but milk might have. I do think prayers might help insomnia too but man, praying for that many people? It is really interesting to get a glimpse into his religious convictions, it’s so far from my experiences growing up. I don’t recall religion being discussed  among extended family, not unusual I’m sure, and my experiences with religion in my immediate family was also limited. Limited in that we ‘had’ a religion, which to me as a kid meant we went to church on Sunday’s and also prayed at holiday meals. Our church attendance was more regular in TX then petered out when we got to CA. In Texas we went every Sunday and this continued when we first came to CA then faded away.

As I got older and became more reflective I realized that our early church attendance seemed to be based more on the fact that my mom played the organ and my dad conducted the choir at our church in TX. In CA their involvement in the church’s music did not continue so our attendance diminished and eventually ended. My dad continued to lead prayer at holiday meals and fostered a respect for all beliefs in us and in fact began to explore Eastern belief systems toward the end of his life. That was my dad, always learning, always growing. Perhaps it was because of my grandfathers religious beliefs that my fathers evolved differently. A connected, but not related, story just popped in my head. I clearly remember riding to church one Sunday, or maybe it we were going somewhere else but I associate it with church, anyway, sitting in the back seat and chewing my fingernails. I remember this because our folks were trying to break us of that habit and to that end had put some sort of nasty tasting stuff on our nails….which we developed a taste for! Dang kids.

I wonder if the cookies factored into his nightmare? Also interesting how he attributes the bad dream to a huge meal and weeing some sort of war documentary on TV. (Was my cousin really interested in the show or was that all that was on? 1969? All that was on.) Does pipe smoking stop one from sneezing? I’d think it’d be the opposite. So sweet that he notes Mimi’s morning kiss, I have no doubt my dad would’ve done the same.

Huh, Mimi and Poppa were married on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Since they had their celebration earlier I wonder what they did on the actual day, other than wake up way too early and wait up for Morgan and Enid to get in. Apparently part of the day was spent trying to get out of a speeding ticket he felt he did not deserve (see Feb. 4); must be good to know the police chief. My dad, and my uncle – heck probably all of my uncles, was quite the lead foot as well. What the heck were my uncle and cousin up to getting in at midnight or later each night?

I’m not getting tired of seeing ‘vegitabels’ and wow, apparently this Pepto Mangan stuff is even good for the flu. Where can I get me some?