Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Rrrrrramone

Here's Ramone, my new neighbor. I snuck this picture of him when we were at the house for the inspection. I quickly lifted my camera to my hip, took aim and shot. I think it's a pretty dadgum good photo, if I must say so myself.


Remember I told you he's as big as my thigh? See that fence post he's leaning on? Clay and I have no trouble peering over that with our entire heads. He's a tiny guy with a lot of gumption. I wonder what he'll be calling us? The huge white folk next door? That tall couple? The gall darn neigbors?
In the course of our seven minute conversation this is what I learned about Rrrrramone; he and his wife have raised 11 children. One is a drunken admiral, one is a chef, one is a lawyer and I don't know what the other eight do, but I'll probably find out. He's hard of hearing, has a heart problem, bad knees, aches and pains in his joints, diabetes and in general doesn't think he'll be around much longer. Hes' 87 years old. When we asked if we could buy one of his cows (meaning we wanted to buy it to take to the butcher), he said, "Well, where do ya think you're gonna pasture it?"

I can see him rolling his eyes and sighing deeply at us already. He has no idea what's in store for his remaining days with us as his neighbors. I just hope we don't drive him to an even earlier grave.

9 comments:

Inkling said...

What an adorable picture! (Of course, don't let Rrrrramone know that I think he's adorable. He'd probably think that was an insult to his masculinity.)

I think having a neighbor like him could be a real treat. He must be a treasure trove of information. Since moving to Canada, I've been blessed with four people in their 70's who have served as founts of wisdom for me. It has been a huge privilege to listen and learn from them.

Ever since reading of your move, I've felt sort of sad. That seems so crazy, as I'm in Canada, and I actually never got to teach your children, but just had the privilege of recess and lunch duty. But still, I'm glad I got to cross paths for even a little while before you moved to my dad's home state. You know, if Seth had been in my 5th grade class way back when, he probably would have heard me say that Kansas has only one tree in the whole state. I guess I should go repent for that one....

I hope you keep on writing. It sure is fun to peek in here every so often and see the adventures you guys have. Makes me almost brave enough to tell my husband I'm ready to become a mother..... (okay, so you don't know me well enough to know my quirky sense of humor...sorry.) =)

jean said...

It looks like you've got yourself a great neighbor. Bring him some goodies and sit with him and he'll tell all sorts of tall tales. I love older men, they hold a soft spot in my heart.
jean

Jean Martha said...

Oh man, Rrrrramone is so cute. I used to have an old neighbor, Petru. Petru rocked the house and was like an extra Grandfather to me. I need a geriatric. Can someone please send me a gerry!?!?

Rechelle said...

I think he will simply refer to you as the giants. Or the weirdos. Or the right wing homeschooling fanatics. At least that is how I refer to you. Love, Rechelle (April's Sister)

Vonda said...

I love old people. They can tell such great stories and are at that stage that they just don't care what people think. Your kids can learn a lot from him.

Jill said...

He's rad! I love him! Do you think his wife would let me adopt him? He's about the same size as my son, so they should get along well enough... :) Old people are so cool.

Babette said...

11 children?! I like him already. We don't have any drunken admirals yet, but there are still the 6 at home.

I feel as if I may have visited the pink lavatory in your photo below.

Anonymous said...

I came across your site on Largerfamilies.com and have enjoyed your trials and tribulations. Good luck w/ your move.
Chris and Debbie
Palms, MI

Unknown said...

Oh me... Rrramone reminds me of "Curly" our geriatric neighbor. He brings me fresh produce from his little garden. (HA!! 5 acres is NOT little!) He's small too -- but didn't used to be that way... he refuses to use a cane, and walks from thing to thing, stopping and resting... arthritis sucks.

Curly will take his seed cap off and show off his shiny bald head and tell the boys... if you eat all this corn, you'll get curly hair like me. HA HA HAAAA and laugh every time. We do too... We love Curly.

Enjoy your days with your neighbor -- soak up all his wisdom! It seems to be getting to be a rare thing these days.