It’ll pretty much have to be “tell” until I get my photos formatted and loaded.
”o) I’m working on that.
Mom said I’ve been making stuff and getting into things since I was an infant. She never figured out how I was getting out of my crib at the age of 2, but sure as sunrise, I was on the loose every morning when she got up. Doing stuff. She was in her early 20s at that time. She got a kick out of being the first item at the Officers Wive’s Club that meet every month, “OK Leanna tell us what Mike did this month.”
Dad was stationed in Norfolk England back then. One day I got loose. We lived on a Lords property, in a small hamlet that he had for his field and house staff. Dad must not of latched the door and when mom woke up I was AWOL. Being next to the pig stalls she was freaking out a bit. She knew about pigs from growing up on Grandpa’s farm. The whole town was searching for me. About 4 hours later a Bentley Limousine pulled up to the stone house we lived in. The butler opened up the back door and I jumped out with mud up to the knees of my footed pajamas. Apparently I had breakfast and a good time. Those in the owners estate figured out I was a Yank and knew who I belonged too.
As I grew up it got worse. My poor mother. I was never evil, or crossed the line of the law, mostly. I was probably alcoholic by the time I reached my late twenties but I figured it out and have been straight and sober since 1994, with no pain or lingering desires. I have never stopped making stuff, or modifying things. I gave her way too many sleepless nights. I lived my life, and in some ways still do, like I’m immortal. I believe my soul is. Mom had a great sense of humor, when she passed two years ago it was on my birthday. All those birthdays I didn’t call her, Mother’s Day cards I didn’t send. She knows at least once a year I’ll think of her, on my birthday, she brought me into this world and she left it on the same day.
When ever I showed her the new thing I learned and made she took it. Her house is still filled with my firsts and every water color painting I’ve ever done.
When we came back from England in 1955/56 I was around 4. This was the first time I meet my family, Grandma and Grandpa, my 4 aunts and uncle. We were all at Aunt Donna’s home. We’re kitchen sitters, eventually no matter what’s going on we all wind up sitting in the kitchen. Not me, not then. Aunt Donna had a Grandfather clock in the living room, I tried to start it, I was was fascinated. I could see the gears, weights and pendulum, of course I had no idea what those parts were back then. It didn’t matter, I could see all the stuff and when I opened the cabinet I had access to the parts. I know how it was supposed to work because mom had a cuckoo clock, I knew about the weights and the pendulum, again not the names but the stuff that made it work. I pulled the chain/weights and they would fall back, with the cuckoo clock they didn’t. You pull the chain, the weights lifted and stayed, swing the pendulum and they, ever so slowly, dropped to the bottom. I pulled a foot stool over to the clock and opened up the front and watched what was going on when I lifted the weights. Nothing happened, but the weights didn’t hang, they fell back to the bottom. I noticed that at one of the gears a small metal flap like thing was just laying flat, it was very loose. I lifted it up and pulled the weight again and the gear would be stopped by it. I played around with the amount of pressure I applied to the thing and with adjusting the tension the gear would slip past the bit of metal and catch again. If I got the tension of the metal flap thing right the clock would work.
I ran into the kitchen and asked Aunt Donna if I could fix her Clock. Aunt Donna was one of those that felt children could do no wrong and said sure Honey, I asked if I could have a match book, once I explained I just needed the cover, she tore it off and gave it to me. It took about 5 minutes to get the spring action right by folding it in different ways. Once I did. The clock worked. I ran back into the kitchen all proud of myself and told the family I got it working. They all followed me into the living room. At my high school graduation party Aunt Donna told me that clock worked for 3 years.