Not an Optical Illusion ...

At first this photo seems to be a couple with a large head floating between them. But look again - things aren’t always what they seem.

Most people who look at this old photograph will probably see a large bearded head between the two figures. It looks like an image of Jesus.

You’ll probably think it’s just a crude hoax from bygone days. But look again, carefully. This is not a hoax at all. What the photo actually shows is a child sitting on the man’s knee.

Block out the head’s “hair.” That’s just a collection of foliage in the background. The “eye” is the face the child, shadowed by a large white bonnet. The “nose” is the sleeve of the child’s shirt. And the “mustache” is the child’s arm, bent at the elbow.

Be patient. It may take you awhile to see this.

The Tale of the Outhouse

"An outhouse should always be far enough away so you don't smell it during the summer, but close enough to where you won't freeze trying to get to and from it during the winter."

My mother was born in green country in 1965. There were 11 kids. 5 boys, 6 girls. My mother was the baby. My grandfather was a construction worker and my grandmother was a home maker. Grandmother made their clothes, she grew a garden and canned food, and she was a volunteer teacher after she retired from teaching. They lived 30 minutes out of town in the middle of nowhere on over 15 acres. There is a creek that runs through the property where the kids would spend their summers. I have also spent my summers there. Great times have been spent on my grandparents property over the years.

The summer of 1974 was a hot and humid summer. My mother was 9 years old and her cousin, Brook, was 7. They had been swimming at the creek most of the afternoon. When it was time to up to the house, they saw some of the other kids watching Grandmother. She was shoving sticks, trash, paper, anything she could find into the outhouse all while mumbling under her breath. Something about Joe (my grandfather) never getting around to her bathroom. Apparently she was going to give him an opportunity to get around to it. They joined the crowd to watch the show. After struggling to shove everything in the outhouse, she poured kerosene, diesel, and gasoline on the stuff and around the house and then she poured a trail to the water house (where the water pump was stored) a few feet away. She got behind the water house & lit a match. The kids scrambled to hide as well.

My mother described the fallout: "All we heard was BOOM!" (imitates explosion). "Then little pieces of debris swirled in the air all around us and some chucks of sticks flew around as well. All I heard then was hysterical laughter coming from Mom. Us kids were just dumbfounded. All that was left was a pile of rumble. Later on, when Daddy came home, he went to use the outhouse, and none of us kids dared to say anything. He came back into the house and asked what the hell had happened. Mom sat there as calm as she could be and told him she thought it was about for a bathroom. I will never forget the look on Daddy's face as he stood there trying to comprehend what Mom had done."

He got around to Grandmother's bathroom later that summer.

At A Loss

My MIL has caused a lot of issues in the past and we have tried to move on. I have nixed feelings for her. Sometimes, I would love for her to disappear and sometimes I really want to have a close relationship with her. Right now, I am not understanding her for a moment. She live less than a mile from us, but we can count the number of times she has come to see us with both hands in 4 years. The first year and 1/2 we were at odds with one another and weren't talking to her at all for some crap she pulled and refused to take responsibility for her actions. She was telling all sorts of lies and made people believe she was the victim. Hardly anyone believed her because they know how she is, so she just looked even more foolish. Eventually we came around with the urging of her parents. No apology, no efforts on her part. We haven't had any major problems in a couple years until now. She stole pictures from my myspace profile and posted them on hers and facebook as well. We had a problem with this for (A) she never comes to see the kids herself, so she didn't take these pictures with her camera nor did she ask for them, (B) she uses these sites for dating so we have no idea who is looking at our kids (we have ours to where only ppl we know can see them), and (C) this is not the first time she has done this - she took pictures from me and posted them with names and a location! It's like she wants something bad to happen or she just doesn't realize the dangers of internet predators. My husband asked her to take them down, and yes, he was mean about it because he is tired of her disrespecting her wishes (like I said, not the first time). What does she do??? She deletes us from her stuff, which let's us know she wants nothing more to do with us since that is the only communication she has with us, and she leaves the pictures up. This really pisses us off. For one thing, instead of working out any problems, she chalks it up to us 'being mean to her'. WTF? Instead of taking responsibility for her actions and trying to maintain and relationship with us, she totally pushes us aside like it ain't nothing. So I'm guessing we just aren't that important to her like she claims. She even put little cutesy quotes under our pictures like she is the best grandmother in the world. What also bugs me is the fact she used to claim we didn't let her see the kids (and there was a time we didn't - long story) and then it was because she was too busy taking care of her MIL who is & was in a nursing home and she hasn't been up there to the best of my knowledge since Jan. '08. So what the hell is her excuse this time? FIL left her in Jan. '08 and since then, it's been 'all about her' (when was it ever not), and it seems like she is only concerned with dating as many guys as possible. I would think family would be more important. Our kids hardly even know her! BIL claims he doesn't want kids ever so these may be her only grandkids. Why would she not want to cherish them while she can? It just really blows my mind how she can act the way she does. She's more like a spoiled rotten brat than a respectable adult. It's unbelievable.

No longer content

I found myself contemplating my entire existence today and questioning every aspect of my life. I have not come to any conclusions other than the fact contentment does not cut it for me any longer. I want bigger and better things for me and my wonderful family. I know I need to work hard and make it happen, because quite frankly, we deserve it.