a visit with grandmother

my g-ma, Mary Ann

My mom drove up to Fries, VA to visit my grandmother this past weekend, so I decided to drive down from Christiansburg to see both of them. My grandmother lives in the trailer I grew up in from the age of 6 to 12 or so(formative years, in many ways), so it's always interesting to visit and think about how I've changed and the place has changed. During the time I lived in the trailer, my dad worked on the hot press (sometimes the drop clipper) at BC Vaughn, a furniture factory in Galax. He worked long hours, often until late in the evening, and my grandmother occasionally took care of me after school. I don't remember much about those evenings, really. Lots of peanut butter. Not Skippy, though. Some generic brand that came in a large plastic bucket, the kind of bucket a gallon of lard or margarita mix might come in. The only markings on the bucket that I can recall were pictures of animals--giraffes, zebras, orangutans, lions, elephants. A peanut butter menagerie. I can't help but feel some nostalgia for that peanut butter.

In any case, here are a few more pics of my grandmother and the trailer. The dog belongs to a woman down the street. I believe her name (the dog, not the woman) is Elsie. My childhood bedroom was at the end of the trailer, the section shown in the 5th photo. The room is now devoted mostly to flowers and plants. Not a bad use for it.