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So, I've had occasion to say some rather critical things of my mother's family, but for the record, let us all remember that no matter how offbeat and irrational my grandfather can be, none of his branch of the family gets shouting-drunk in public, especially when they have kids to take care of. Nor have they ever run away from home (uh, I'm not counting Aunt Sue...), been in jail (that I know of), or been involved in heavy drugs.
I discovered that the way to get the real dirt in a family that is reticent-to-the-extreme or addled-in-the-memory is to talk to the in-laws. I always liked Graunt-in-law Yvonne (Gruncle Ed and Graunt Yvonne are the only ones I knew going in), and I got to meet Graunt-in-law Jo Anne, who's sharp as a tack and happy to tell me all about her in-laws (that'd be my great grans). Jo is also the only 74 year-old I've ever heard call anyone "pussy whipped" - and she was describing her own son.
The other way to get the dirt on people's lives is to wait 'till they get seriously drunk and start shouting about it, but I don't recommend it.
As for my first trip to the SW: the colors are beautiful, the pueblo ruins were amazing, and that many people ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO LIVE IN THE DESERT. Dad's right - Phoenix is THE poster-child for urban sprawl.
After we got back we met a friend in the grocery store who asked how Phoenix was. Dad suggested that if she stood in the Lowe's parking lot and imagined it was 98 degrees, she'd have a good guess. Myself, I have to disagree. I think to get the full effect you'd have to buy a little potted cactus from the home-improvement section and make the whole place much more dusty.
And OH! I saw lizards and bunnies and wrens and flickers and hawks and a desert shrew! The shrew was my favorite. Also, the nice park rangers gave me an OFFICIAL junior ranger pencil at Montezuma's Castle, for drawing with. They didn't make me take the Junior Ranger Oath, thankfully.
Perhaps related, while my mom was giving me a piggy-back ride my aunt Bridget came up behind us to ask "And you wonder WHY people think you're twelve?" Ok, s'fair cop.
*Great Uncle. You could've figured it out.
I discovered that the way to get the real dirt in a family that is reticent-to-the-extreme or addled-in-the-memory is to talk to the in-laws. I always liked Graunt-in-law Yvonne (Gruncle Ed and Graunt Yvonne are the only ones I knew going in), and I got to meet Graunt-in-law Jo Anne, who's sharp as a tack and happy to tell me all about her in-laws (that'd be my great grans). Jo is also the only 74 year-old I've ever heard call anyone "pussy whipped" - and she was describing her own son.
The other way to get the dirt on people's lives is to wait 'till they get seriously drunk and start shouting about it, but I don't recommend it.
As for my first trip to the SW: the colors are beautiful, the pueblo ruins were amazing, and that many people ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO LIVE IN THE DESERT. Dad's right - Phoenix is THE poster-child for urban sprawl.
After we got back we met a friend in the grocery store who asked how Phoenix was. Dad suggested that if she stood in the Lowe's parking lot and imagined it was 98 degrees, she'd have a good guess. Myself, I have to disagree. I think to get the full effect you'd have to buy a little potted cactus from the home-improvement section and make the whole place much more dusty.
And OH! I saw lizards and bunnies and wrens and flickers and hawks and a desert shrew! The shrew was my favorite. Also, the nice park rangers gave me an OFFICIAL junior ranger pencil at Montezuma's Castle, for drawing with. They didn't make me take the Junior Ranger Oath, thankfully.
Perhaps related, while my mom was giving me a piggy-back ride my aunt Bridget came up behind us to ask "And you wonder WHY people think you're twelve?" Ok, s'fair cop.
*Great Uncle. You could've figured it out.
