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Working Blind

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Sandra Pugh
Sandra Pugh

You know when you go to the eye doctor and get your eyes checked and they dilate your eyes? I just hate to have that done because when they do mine the reversal drops don’t work and it always takes about 3 hours at least for my eyes to get back to normal.

About 10 years ago when I was working in my beauty salon, I had an appointment to have my eyes checked at 4:00 in the afternoon. The doctor dilated my eyes for the very first time at that appointment.  I knew I was in real trouble when I was ready to leave and couldn’t see the lines on the check when I needed to pay my bill. I had to have one of the girls at the desk write my check and then I tried to sign it. I am not sure if I was on the line or how my signature looked, but they took the check and it did go through the bank.

My husband was out of town so I had to drive myself home that afternoon. It wasn’t too bad as long as I was looking down the road; I could see perfect about a half mile down the road. The 6 mile drive wasn’t too bad, but there was one little problem.

My only problem was the fact I couldn’t see the speedometer to know how fast I was going and only knew it was in the right gear because the car was moving in the right direction.

If I had been stopped by a cop and he had asked the age old question, “Do you know how fast you were going?” I would have had to say “No sir I don’t know how fast I was going.” I would probably have been ticketed for being smart with him. But it would have been the truth, because the whole dash was one huge blur.

When I arrived home a little after 5:00 I knew I had two ladies coming, Maryann at 5:15 and Goldie at 5:30. They were both scheduled for a frost and a haircut. At that point I was not sure how I was going to manage to do either the frost or the haircut.

I had worked on these two women for many years and I always told them I could do their hair in my sleep because they both wanted their hair the same every week. This appointment was going to test that theory I decided.

Maryann arrived at 5:15 and the second she walked to the chair and looked me in the eye, she started to laugh. She said that all she could see was black and none of the blue that surrounded it. She said I looked like and owl. I told her it wasn’t funny because I couldn’t see up close. I asked her if she was sure she wanted me to do the frost and she said she was sure.

I put the cap on her head and dug around in the drawer until I could feel the crochet hook that I needed to use. When I turned around and looked at her head, I realized that I not only couldn’t see the blue circle around each hole in the cap but I couldn’t see the little hole I needed pull the hair through.

I started to move the hook over the cap and found if I moved it slowly it would fall into one of the holes and then I could pull the hair out. I couldn’t see how much hair I had on the hook either. Once I had all the hair pulled through the cap that I thought I needed, by feel alone, I mixed up the bleach.

Mixing the bleach was not as hard as it could have been because I had a little scoop and could just put the two scoops of the dry bleach in the bowl and then I had a shot glass that I measured the peroxide with, so I didn’t need to see well to do that. Then once it was mixed up I rubbed it all over the cap, hoping I got all the hair covered, I put a plastic cap over her hair and put her under the dryer.

About that time Goldie arrived. I was standing by the door when she came in because the dryer I had just put Maryann under sat right near the door. When I looked up and smiled at her she gasped, “What the heck happened to you?”

I told her I had been to the eye doctor and they had dilated my eyes and that I was having trouble seeing up close. She glanced at Maryann under the dryer and then back at me. She could smell the bleach and knew we were doing a frost on Maryann.

Goldie decided if I had managed to get Maryann that far, she would give it a try, so we started on her frost. It was the same routine because I still couldn’t see much up close. I had to slide the hook slowly over the cap until it fell into a hole and then quickly pulled the hair out. Once she was ready for the dryer, Maryann was ready to be washed.

I took Maryann back to the sink to wash the bleach off. I took the cap off and began to wash her hair. It was hard to tell if I had all the bleach off and had to go by feel alone.

Now I had to try and cut her hair, but luckily my eye sight had returned a little, I could actually see her ears, which I had to cut around because she wore it really short on the sides. Somehow I managed to do the haircut without her losing an ear. I don’t think Maryann had a clue how lucky she was to still have both ears.

Once we had the hair cut finished and I had the rollers in her hair, I took her back to the hairdryer and Goldie was ready to be washed. One more shampoo that I might as well have done with my eyes closed.

I always used the curling iron on Goldie and it was pure trust or poor judgment on her part to let me near her head with the hot iron, but she had faith in me. When I finished with her hair she looked in the mirror and with a chuckle she said it was the prettiest frost I had ever done on her hair and she loved it.

Now it was time to comb Maryann and when I was finished with her she was amazed with her frost and thought it was also the best frost I had ever done. We laughed many times in the next few years over the fact that I was working blind that night and what great frosts they thought I had given them. I guess I found out I could do them in my sleep. To contact Sandy: [email protected]

Chronicles of the farm woman: Thanksgiving

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Farm woman

Americans are prone to worship big things.  We boast of our tallest building, largest mansion, victorious football team, et cetera.  It may be that we are getting away from this to some extent.  Man is a pretty small creature in the universe after all.  Time was when the family which had the largest Thanksgiving turkey was the envy of the neighborhood.  Nowadays the biggest turkey will not even go in the oven of the new stove.  And the Department of Agriculture is conducting intensive experiments to reduce the size of the strutting gobbler.

The young husband brought home the largest bird from the market.  The wife scurried all over the neighborhood for a roaster large enough to accommo-date the bird.  When none could be found, she had to amputate the running gear and the wings.  As the once proud turk graced the festive board it appeared that his race had lived too long upon this earth.  When there are no drumsticks for the children the race is indeed falling into decay.

At this Thanksgiving season rural school children are grateful to the local theater manager for scheduling “Heidi” at this time.  Shirley Temple is the idol of all country kids.  “Heidi” is a favorite story.  In addition the fourth grade social studies unit is about Switzerland.  The dishes were washed in no time.  The living room is spick and span.  Everything is co-ordinated, correlated and consummated.

I remember: A Visit to Newton on Election Day

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By Doris Schroeder

My hubby and I got up early on Election Day and drove to the Dillon Nature Center to do our civic duty that is most enjoyable…we voted. It was good to see a line at the voting room and know that many of the citizens were doing their responsibility and voting. That is a privilege and one we should not take for granted!

 My sister Carol  came a little later in the morning. We had decided to visit Newton that day. We love to visit little towns around Kansas from time to time. However, it is too hot in summer and the farmer’s market so we waited until a week or so ago to drive to Newton. We took the exit that led to First Street and then to Main and as we drove we reminisced about what we remembered from years ago.

For one thing we had many memories of the Bethel Deaconess Hospital where one of our aunts was a nurse, or a deaconess, if you will, many years ago. It looked like the hospital, or at least part of it had been torn down. My sis walked up to the Deaconess Home where our aunt Anna had lived and it looked like it had been made into apartments now. It was a jolt to our memory.

We had planned to visit the Warkentin home on First Street but it, too, was closed to the public. Later, Carol walked to the door and found out that now it is only open on Saturday afternoons. She got a glimpse of the inside and said it was so beautiful, we would have to come back again. There were gorgeous rugs on the shiny wood floors and marble tile on the stair wall.  It seems that the  Bernard Warkentins came to America in 1886-7 from the Ukraine. and built that beautiful house. We do hope to visit it when we can get in.

We checked out the eating places and finally decided on the Bread Basket. It has been quite awhile since we were there and we decided on the German  Bierroch sandwich. I also had a giant cream puff and a cup of coffee. I did notice that their prices have gone up considerably. Although I enjoyed the food, I did not like the price. That, too, is a sign of the times.

Later, we drove to the Bethel College Campus and it seemed to look pretty much the same as it did years ago.  In this day and age, that is a relief as other things are changing so rapidly. Years ago I visited their large dining room when I spoke for the Christian Women’s group. I love the beautiful trees that surround the campus. The houses around the college always make me think of college professors.

It was fun to stop at the Book Store downtown. There was a certain book I wanted of the Mennonites but it is no longer in print. They were very helpful, however, and looked it up on Amazon where there seem to still be some older copies.

It was a lovely bookstore and one I would like to visit again.

We also stopped at the Et Cetera Shop but found out, to our disappointment, it was closed a couple days while they got ready for Christmas. Perhaps if we make it up again to visit the Warkentin house, we could stop in there.

We passed the old Railroad Depot that has since been made into offices. It brought back memories of my Buhler High School Days when our girl’s sextet had to sing at a Governor’s Convention in Topeka and we rode the Streamliner to our state capital. We had to catch the train in Newton and some of the nice ladies in Buhler took us to the Newton Depot. We even stayed in a downtown hotel overnight and also got to visit the Governor’s mansion. We thought we were really living it up…and it was fun!

 Later in the afternoon, it was time to travel home in the car and check out the election results of the day. I was thrilled that so many people had done their duty and the results showed that. I did see some of you at the polls and I congratulate you for doing it!

Now if we all put our heads together, make our voices heard where we can and above all, do a lot of praying to our God for guidance, we may be able to bring our country back to its God-given principles. Shall we give it a try?

 

Doris welcomes your comments at [email protected]

 

            

Yes, There’s A Santa Claus (Best Of)

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lee pitts

Twas’ the night before Christmas and the family was en-route to grandma’s house. As they motored through the intersection of a small sleepy town the ill mannered child in the back seat yelled into his father’s ear, “It’s him, it’s him, it’s Santa Claus.”

There sitting over on the curb was a forlorn looking fellow with a dirty white beard, a stocking cap that barely covered his balding head and a red tattered coat that was frayed white around the edges.

The parents glanced at the raggedy man with all his possessions sitting next to him in a plastic grocery bag. “You have to admit,” said the mother, “he does look like Santa with his scuffed up old boots and his matted beard.”

“Don’t be silly, he ‘s just a ho, ho hobo,” laughed the father. “The only thing that transient has in common with Santa is that he probably only works one day a year.”

But the cherubic child was throwing a tantrum in the back seat. “I want to stop and see Santa.”

“He looks more like Santa than those xerox copies in the department stores and those express lane Santas back home,” said the mother as the car stopped for a red light and the kid bolted out the door.

“Hi Santa,” said the kid, shocking the jolly old gent out of his quiet reverie. The old man was quick to catch on as the parents pulled over and ran to their child. The old man pulled the young boy up on one knee of his dirty old pants and before he knew it the child was listing the presents he expected the very next morning under Grandma’s Christmas tree.

“I want a cell phone, a bike, an X-Box and a laser gun.” The old man had never heard of many of the toys the boy rattled off.  “My dumb sister wants an I-Pad, nose ring and a tattoo. Daddy wants a new table saw and mommy wants a new SUV. But you already know all that ’cause I sent you a letter. You got it didn’t you?”
The old man didn’t know what to say but just nodded his head. He hadn’t spoken to a child or held one in his lap for many years.

“I have to warn you,” said the boy to the smiling  Santa, “Grandma doesn’t have a chimney so we’ll leave the front door open for you.”

The parents looked sick as they shared a vision of this bum walking through an open door and stealing all their presents. “Come on son, we have to be going now.”

“Maybe you better write this all down so you don’t forget it all,” said the son to Santa, ignoring his parents.

Before putting him down the old man reached into his sack for something to give the child but there was nothing in the sack but his dirty clothes and a half eaten candy bar. There was a tear in the old man’s eye as he reached to his neck and took off a gold chain with a golden cross attached. He had worn the crucifix for years. Better years. He gave that small boy the only possession he owned in all the world that was worth anything. “You keep this present son, do what your mom and dad  tell you and whenever you need some help in this cruel world you just grab this cross and ask God for some guidance.”

The parents looked grateful and sad… and realized they had a lot of shopping to do before the next morning. They waved good-bye to the old
man who lived out of a sack and the little boy told his dad, “That was the best Santa ever.”

Years later the young boy had children of his own. At about the age of six or seven one by one his kids would ask, “Dad is there really a Santa Claus?” He would clasp the gold crucifix he wore close to his heart and reply, “Yes there is. I met him in person.” wwwLeePittsbooks.com

 

Shop wisely

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By John Schlageck, Kansas Farm Bureau

While many shoppers are feeling the pinch of price increases, there’s a way today’s smart, frugal shoppers can save money on the family food bill. Some estimates place this figure at 10 -15 percent. On the average food bill, this could mean a savings of $700 – $1,200 a year.

Most shoppers, my wife is one of the best, have compiled a list of cost-cutting ideas. Here are some effective ways to save at the checkout counter.

First, smart shoppers should know what they are buying. Today’s modern supermarkets carry as many as 50,000 items. This number has more than tripled since 1980.

Product information is essential in selecting the best buy. This requires reading, listening and studying. For example, the product label is a source of information on nutrition, menu use, quantity and quality of the food item.

Secondly, cost-conscious shoppers must buy when and where the price is right.

There are many times to buy on special. Purchase store or generic brands or buy in quantity. Comparative shopping leads to savings because different stores usually specialize in different items.

Shopper loyalty cards may be another way to save on the family food bill.

Accurate record keeping has become an important part of a smart shopping routine. Money-saving ideas take time but result in time well spent. One-half hour of planning before each shopping trip can result in substantial savings.

Cost-conscious shoppers influence the entire food industry. If shoppers do not check prices, retailers may display items that sell by saturation advertising or gimmick packaging which increase food costs.

Retailers who respond to cost-conscious shoppers must look for the best buy from suppliers. Farmers who fill these orders must make the best use of their resources to meet the competition.

Smart shopping can bring satisfaction instead of frustration. Initially, this satisfaction results from actual savings in the family’s food budget. Secondly, the wise shopper realizes intelligent buying keeps our food industry the best in the world.

Securing the most for your food dollar is significant to every consumer. It is worth the effort.

John Schlageck is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas. Born and raised on a diversified farm in northwestern Kansas, his writing reflects a lifetime of experience, knowledge and passion.      

 

– See more at: http://www.kfb.org/news/insight/index.html#sthash.usmq3Lvd.dpuf

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