scruffy face

when i would leave grandma and grandpa brooks' house, i would kiss both of them goodbye on their cheeks. my grandfather's would always be a little scruffy. maybe recently shaven. maybe not. it was familiar.

i loved spending time with my grandparents. i grew up in anderson, indiana. i spent the first six years of my life close to my mother's side of the family. i'm not really sure how far my grandparents lived to us, but the ride to their house always seemed so long.

we would leave anderson and take the interstate...then we'd take the exit for pendleton. and we would start hitting the comfortable hills of indiana country. corn fields to the right or left. houses scattered between. few stop signs. and tobacco fields.

grandma and grandpa's house was on the left. my great grandmother's house was beside theirs. and ward and his wife lived across the street. gray gravel and a carport. trees and flowers in the front. in the back you'd find the well and jack, their outside dog.

inside. warmth. a deep freezer. a fridge. and kitchen. and their inside dog, tippy. it was a modest house. it was the house where my mom and her three siblings were raised.

i remember the smell of their house. i always wanted to take it with me. maybe it was the smell of history mixed with the years of tobacco smoking of my grandmother. maybe it was the smell of long summer nights. who knows.

grandpa brooks loved jazz music. he was generous and funny. he loved coffee. and he would take my brother and i on walks through the country to collect buckeyes. he had a contagious laugh.

grandma brooks was delicate and beautiful. and i think she had to be feisty. she had soft skin and hair. and she loved coffee. she would let me drink buttermilk.

when we spent time there and had a meal, i would usually find a seat where i could look outside. they had a bird feeder. i would watch finches come and go. and i would see cars go by and hear their greeting, a honk.

time seems to go by slower in the country. seems less hurried. there was no massive cable selection. no internet or computers. just miles and miles of fields. trees. and places to explore.