Kindred mamas...
We arrive early before sunset. For a couple of years, we zipped past Fat Patties diner and mused about the name but never stopped. Tonight when David asks where I want to eat, it's Fat Patties. I don't feel obliged to eat seafood every time I hit the coast. Burgers it is. Big, fat, luscious hamburgers.
The crowd trickles in as we're pushing back from our table. Outside, the real attraction is winding up--Cornhole.
Cornhole is a game that has been around since the 1800s. It made a come back after an article ran in Popular Mechanics in 1974. It is so popular now, there are national championships on ESPN.
My mother lives life ahead of her time, although many think her ideas in present day are farfetched.
In the 60s, she was working on her MA in Education. I recall helping her demonstrate an assigned project. Students designed games for elementary children. Mom's design was a giant painted rabbit with huge upright ears and a wide, open mouth. She sewed bean-bag carrots and cabbages that were used to toss through a hole in the rabbit's mouth to feed it. Ingenious. To this day, I don't think she has heard of Cornhole.
I'd love to know where that rabbit is today. Hopefully, it's in a classroom filled with future Cornhole champs. Way to go, Mom!
Ahead of her time.
Before experts declared it healthy for building immune systems, Mom believed allowing children to play in the dirt was a good thing. She also knew to let us play in the rain was okay before research showed taking cold showers can help us live longer. She was a believer in apple cider vinegar years before the new generation embraced its healthy attributes. Chiropractics was her treatment of choice, and she fed us Kelp tablets (made of seaweed).
Eccentric? Farfetched ideas? Don't count them out. Remember the Jetsons, an animated sitcom from the 60s? They lived in Orbit City in a Skypad Apartment. Versions of their robotic contraptions and quirky inventions are now hovering around our modern-day homes. I even heard on the morning news technology has come up with traffic cones that move themselves into place!
After our stop at Fat Patties, we stay in Port Royal at a charming old house via Airbnb; it's our first time (thumbs up). Our host has a bookshelf with reading material for every age; God bless her. I pick up a book by Bailey White, "Mama Makes up Her Mind and other dangers of Southern living." The San Fransico Chronical describes it as, "Delightfully eccentric...touching, unique, and universal." It's all of that and more.
After flipping through a few pages, I realize Ms. Bailey and I both have eccentric and unique mamas. That lady sitting on the beach with her hair lathered in shampoo? Yes, that's my mama.
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