Bathin' In the Sink

One of Devin's posts this week, made me think of this picture of me. It's one of my favorites, so I stole it from Mama and have it in my possession. Devin says, "In the country babies do their bathin' in the sink." I'd have to argue that at grandma's house babies bath in the sink.

Granny did write on the back of the photograph "Mandra Fouts August 5, 1976 Thursday". She never could spell my name--that's OK. I almost wonder if Granny started writing my name--just got the "M" out, got interrupted, and finished with the rest of Mama's name (Sandra) instead of mine. Who knows? It's funny to look back at old birthday cards and see my name misspelled. Sometimes it's "Marinda"--only two letters reversed, not bad. Not matter how she spelled my name, I know she loved me. So despite what I tell my students, sometimes spelling doesn't count.

When I first saw the date, I wondered if this was taken the day my aunt Martha was married. But since it's Thursday, I doubt it. I bet, however, she was getting married that weekend, and I was down at Granny's with Mama helping with the preparations. I mean, come on, what wedding would be complete without a baby in the kitchen sink?

Mama must also have fond memories of bathin' in the kitchen sink. She gave Hayden a bath there once. He splashed water all over the kitchen, so now he gets a bath in the bathtub upstairs. I think he still splashes water all over the place, but the tub contains a lot of the splashes.

I've also included a picture of Granny standing at the kitchen sink. It was not taken on the same day. It looks like it's a holiday. Evidence:
1. The dish soap containers are different.
2. Granny has on lipstick and is dressed up. She wouldn't be all gussied up to give me a bath in the sink. However, I do find it interesting that she is wearing a bracelet.
3. It looks like there's a turkey to her left. There is definitely some platter of something there.
4. The canisters are in different places. However, the plant holder does appear in both.

I loved going to Granny's house. If it was warm outside, we might lay on a pallet under the willow tree and color. A slate blue cookie tin with a white outlined picture of a lady and a carriage held all the crayons. I remember standing on a chair pulled over to the stove to stir apples as they cooked for dinner; they'd be served with warm biscuits. I remember watching The Dukes of Hazzard and Dallas at her house on Friday nights; we'd eat chips and green onion dip then. And, I remember not wanting to get a bee sting while I was there because that would mean Granny would want to put a little snuff on it--right out of her mouth--gross. (Though I venture my cousin Jennifer has a different view of snuff, because she wanted to dip snuff just like Granny, so Granny made a sugar and cocoa powder concoction for her.) And I remember laying in Lesa's room at night, while she told me stories to try to help me get to sleep. Sometimes the snores coming from Granny and PawPaw's room were quite distracting.

And to think, all these memories started with a bath in the sink . . .