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IT'S A GRAY, RAINY day here, pleasant in its own way, although I'd always opt for the "golden, sunny" variety if I were choosing. The plus side (this is questionable) of rain is that I'm forced to look at the stacks of paperwork piled right here on the kitchen table.

Before I get down to business, though, I have a little story to tell. (Notice how this tactic could come under the heading: Procrastination; but I prefer to call it: Rainy Day Rules--Do the fun things first.)


This little tale is in honor of my Aunt Eats, who departed this life less than twenty-four hours ago. It's about five children who grew up in the 1920s and 1930s, the youngest five in a family of ten siblings. Since they were born in rather quick succession, and two of them were twins, all of these younguns were not much more than seven years apart in age, and they grew up in a full house. They slept together, ate together and went to school and church together. They shared the never-ending farm chores. And of course, they played together, too. Now, it seems that in that time and place, assigning nicknames for one another was a popular past-time. Their oldest brother, Arthur, had picked up the nickname Slew, because he walked in a slew-footed manner (I'm assuming you understand the term slew-footed, Dear Reader, and if not, you should have known my uncle!) Then, too, they had a cousin whom they called Hap because of his agreeable disposition (I'm only guessing, Reader Dear, that this moniker was short for "Happy," and not derived from "Happenstance." Or perhaps "Haphazard"). One of the five herself had a name that just begged for play: Osie Ola (yes, her actual, given name--Oh-see, Oh-la). She was "Osie-Ola-Pepsi-Cola" to her friends.

So now this is how I got an aunt nicknamed Eats: ( And, ha! it's not what you think. It really had nothing to do with what she ate. No! It was all about Dotes, and her dinner. You see, Dotes--the baby--ate oats and liver and hay!) Here's how the five children would say it--their clever little string of nicknames, "Dotes Eats Oats and Liver and Hay*."

Thus, Dora got the nickname of Dotes. Her next older sister, Edith, became my Aunt Eats. Osie and Oliver (the twins) and Harry*--their nicknames are rather easily figured out, though I never called them Oats, Liver or Hay. Edith alone was the one always known to me by her nickname.

Rest in peace, dear Aunt Eats.



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*Sometimes they called him Bones, he was so bony;
but who eats bones?!