Country Mouse and City Mouse



Grandma Kay, The Graduate, and Grandma Evelyn

Like a country mouse and a city mouse, my two grandmothers were opposites.

My mom's mother, Evelyn, had a ritual costume for dealing with rain when we were out shopping. She and her sister, Aunt Mae, had their hair done at Irene's Beauty Shop every week, so the first necessity was a rain bonnet. It was a plastic hat that folded accordion-style, like a map, to fit in a very small plastic case in their purses. They wore long raincoats to protect their outfits. They had galoshes, but not the big black buckling ones. Also known as "rubbers," they were shaped like ladies shoes, complete with a formed sturdy wide high heel. Those could stretch over their dress shoes to protect them from the puddles. Aunt Mae completed her ensemble with her "bumbershoot" which is the best word for umbrella a little kid could ever hear.

Grandma Evelyn, Mom, and Me
 

Shopping in Cleveland, every store was air-conditioned, and in the summer, when you walked outside, the hot air would hit your face like when Grandma opened the oven at the holidays. The outdoor elements were something to avoid and required protective gear to guard against them.

Grandma Evie, hoping none of the neighbors saw that she was outside in her "scuffs",
with Mom, and Aunt Mae, but needing to wear jackets.

Grandma Hull wouldn't let a little rain keep us from shopping, but a storm was a different matter. She was terrified of lightning and thunder, and while she certainly was justified, it was an absolutely irrational, overwhelming fear. As a child, my mother, Janet, spent many hot summer days locked in a stifling little closet with her three brothers, while Grandma Evelyn, squeezed in there with them, prayed to Saint Medard, the Patron Saint of Protection Against Bad Weather. If the storm got worse, there would be invocation of Saint Jude, as the Patron Saint of Lost Causes. Intercession was begged of Mary the Mother of God next. Eventually my own mother started wondering if there was a Patron Saint of Protecting Children from Smothering in a Hot Closet with Their Mother Every Time It Storms. She was the first to rebel and venture out of the closet to Certain Doom. When she didn't perish, her autistic brothers, not fond of being confined in there anyway, joined her revolution.

 Eventually even Gramma herself stopped hiding in the closet during a storm, well, mostly she stopped, but she was always lobbying to find someone willing to join her in the closet, where she felt safe. Each of her three grandchildren seemed like easy converts, but we didn't fall for it more than once.

Gramma Hull hiding in the closet seemed a little over the top, but considering her history, it wasn't all that unreasonable. Aunt Mae confirmed the story that when they were children, during a bad storm, the Devil's own Hellfire came through the open back door and struck the cast iron stove. This rare ball lightning blew the door and lids off the stove. Gramma never recovered from the trauma. Even though we felt compassion, we still refused to join her in the closet.

Grandma Kay, camping at Tionesta

In contrast, I have a very early memory of shopping in New Castle, Pa with my Mom, my paternal Grandma Kay, and Great Gram, Molly. It was one of those days that was "close" and "beastly hot." The store wasn't air-conditioned like in Cleveland. Even the air shimmered and distorted across the parking lot, and the smell of impending rain was in the air. When the deluge actually began, we could barely see the car.

Great Gram, Gramma Kay, Great Grandpap, and his dog Ginger,
all enjoying being outside- ON PURPOSE!

There was no stopping to put on special clothing. Great Gram had her hair bobby-pinned securely in her crown of braids. Gramma Kay had naturally curly hair, which she wore short and styled herself by wetting it every morning and scrunching it up and finger curling it. My mom's hair was straight but almost always worn short in a very cute pixie cut. No one's hairdo would be ruined in the soggy run to the car. No one had a fancy outfit that needed a raincoat, and certainly no one was wearing high heels. No one was worried enough about a sprinkle to even carry an umbrella. This was a bit more than a summer drizzle, though.

Great Gram carried all the packages, while Gramma Kay and Mom had one hand each of little Scotty Joe, as we made our run for the car. Adults often forget how short children's legs are. I could not possibly keep up with these two women, but I was small enough that I could pull myself up by the arms. It was like I was taking giant strides by hanging between them. I was able to fly like a superhero! I was bounding like an astronaut on the Moon!

That day the pavement was the type of hot where each raindrop evaporates at first, and then does not absorb at all, instantly making one enormous shallow puddle. In the way a child perceives the world, I saw the raindrops bouncing as they hit, and thought they were jumping up off the blacktop and heading back towards the sky. Joyfully laughing at this amazing magic, I began to jump too, splashing myself and my family. That infectious giggle prevented any irritation from the adults. They began to laugh, too. We were only halfway to the car and we were soaked to the skin. What more was a little boy splashing going to do? We couldn't possibly get any wetter.

We drove back to Cottage Grove, still dripping and laughing, with the wipers slapping as fast as they were able, and still not able to see much. The rhythmic noise hypnotized me, so that I barely noticed when the finally cooling air and wet clothes made me start shivering. I was a skinny little dude, all bone and muscle under skin, so I lacked any insulation. Soon my teeth were actually chattering.


Great Gram's house always had Indian blankets

As soon as we were back at her house, Great Gram stripped me to my skivvies. There were no fine linens there. Gramma Molly had Pendleton Indian Blankets by the dozen. She wrapped me in the dancing, colorfully geometric fabric and plugged in a small electric heater, then perched me in front of it. It had a rotating tube element and a mirror reflective background. It was another hypnotic motion. Like a little lizard, my core temperature returned to normal and I went from hypothermic to hibernation mode. Nap time for Scotty Joe.



 City boy Scotty Joe in a suit

Country boy Scotty Joe in a swimsuit, in Tionesta with dad

I am glad my Mom made sure I had the balance of experiencing life with both grandmothers. A little protective gear might be a good thing, especially for preventing hypothermia, but I wouldn't want to miss occasionally immersing myself in the magic of my surroundings.

Does anyone have a Geiger counter?
What is the half-life of a radium rosary?

Gramma Evie's actual glow-in-the-dark rosary

P.S. -  Oops!- after talking to Mom, she reminded me that I forgot to include a funny and important part of the story of Gramma Hull praying in the closet during the storms. She had a special glow-in-the-dark rosary that she used. That way there were no worries if the power went out or it was the middle of the night. I don't know how comforting the sickly yellow-green radium glow of plastic beads was to her children, but at least Gramma didn't lose her place every time the lightning and thunder made her jump.