Rat killing....

I wonder who coined this expression for "busy."* It's one of the many expressions I grew up with and I have been reliving (and rethinking) some of my youth as (among other things) I visited my mother's home town this weekend. Those old sayings come to mind - and our family was full of them - some I have heard nowhere else.**

Well, it's been busy. And I had some busy-ness in this lovely old city where Mom grew up, where Grandma's house still stands on the corner, and where many buildings (and at least one street) are marked with our great grandfather's name. DH humored me during this trip. He turned where I asked. He followed my whim, but then I tried not to wear him out on this trip.

There will be lots more to do in the future. Today we got our business done and more. We visited family property and then went by my grandmother's house, found my mother's school/church, toured the park, located many of the family cemetery plots (including the one that needs clearing of forsythia once again!), and had lunch with a long time friend.

One thing that surprises me is how, in this fairly large place (compared to my home town, anyway), everything is so close together and within walking distance of Grandma's house. As children, we were prohibited from leaving the block. We could walk around the block on the sidewalk. We could climb up on the fence to watch the train. But we could not cross a street. We could not walk the short less-than-a-block to the railroad tracks.

[Side bar - Of course we broke the rules. We had a cousin who would dare us to cross the street - funny how she rarely came over to Grandma's house. She was that "wild" cousin - you know,  you probably have one - who did stuff like pierce her own ears and those of anyone else she could convince (with a potato, needle, and thread!).  She shocked and intrigued us. I wish I could say that all turned out OK, but I cannot. But that's another story. We also misbehaved on our own account. We would sneak off to the tracks and pick up railroad spikes. How silly we were! A railroad spike in your possession is clear evidence that you have been to the tracks!]

Anyway, had we been a little older we probably would have traveled much further and wandered to downtown and some of the parks. And I suppose we would have found more trouble to get into. But we were still fairly young when Grandma died and our visits to this town became less frequent.

Back to now - there remains much to do. My sister and I will soon make the journey back to get more work done, take care of some wayward forsythia, and do some research. We are old enough now. We can cross the street. We can walk over to the railroad tracks. We can head downtown to the deli. Yes, the old deli is still there, but the piano is gone. And they don't sell rock candy anymore.

DH leaves his mark. I found a hotel with a hot tub and I let him work the crossword. I know how to impress!

How has Whataburger become our "go to" fast food-on-a-trip stop? I post this to share the joke. DH brought the tray to the table and I tried to pick up the French fry. No, it is not a real French fry. It is a graphic. Hahaha! (Do try the root beer shake - Yum!)

The top of the pillar in great grandfather's plot. See that dreaded forsythia in the lower left corner? I took a number of photos to orient myself. I want to be able to locate things more easily in the future.

Oldest deli in Texas. It is hardly a "deli" now, but the sandwiches, soup, and salads are perfect for the downtown lunch crowd.

There used to be other things on the bar (like a jar full of rock candy!). And there was an upright piano at the spot where we sat today. Yes, I seem to remember being encouraged to play it on one visit. What did I play? Oh, one of the few things I learned - Eleanor Rigby or Fur Elise or maybe even chopsticks. I groan when I realize that we were those children I refuse to be seated near today.

They had an interesting and easy appetizer. You just make a spread of grated cheese, garlic, maybe chives and some kind of "binder." Then serve with large croutons.

This was a BLT with turkey and cheese on a croissant. It was really good.

NOTES: 

* Some years ago a friend had rats invade her garage. She is one of those people who can handle almost anything, but not rats/rat traps. So for a couple of weeks I went to her house every day. I set traps and removed my successes. I forget the final count, but it was something like 26. We put the dog food (the attraction) in a metal can and I don't think she has had any more issues. Anyway, I understood that expression during my extermination adventure.

And when we left home for THIS trip, I left a couple of traps set near our back door. Our creaky old house has too many opportunities for enterprising and hungry rodents to enter and seek out - what else - pet food. We don't poison (poisoned rodents live long enough to poison cats and dogs and owls and such). Anyway, DH had seen a flash of grey and found holes in the dog food bag. I knew what had to be done. And upon arriving home we found that we were successful. We will continue our efforts until we see no more results. Yeah, busy.

**God bless Texas Monthly. They published a bunch of these expressions and I am sharing this link with you. You are welcome! http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/more-colorful-texas-sayings/

One of our family expressions I have heard no where else? Lucky - He's got a bird's nest on the ground.  Want another one? Similar to "he who hesitates is lost" - You gotta shoot the day you see the rabbit.