fodder-wing

one of my dad's favorite childhood books was marjorie rawlings' the yearling. on a recent visit to the grandparents' home on the alabama river, our oldest PLO (donning her new hot pink cast, pictured, right) was given the nickname "fodder-wing" by my father, after one of the novel's characters.

it was endearing...to a point. when dad pulled out his copy of the yearling and began to read the lines where said character was mentioned, he had to delicately explain how fodder-wing met his fate. all this went right over PLO's head, but it made me laugh a bit, watching dad dance between the words of a favorite book and the hard life lessons that rawlings portrays to her readers.

those words had a lasting impression on my dad. eldest of ten children, books of this genre were an obvious childhood holiday, this son of a truck driving, harsh-speaking, marine father. who wouldn't need a mental portal of escape from the constraints of catholic schooling and the chaos around the dinner table? as a young girl, i remember first hearing about these characters and their tales of trial and survival on my own walks through the woods behind our yard in rural georgetown, south carolina. i know that this is where i got my childhood fascination with walden and my side of the mountain.

"The fruits do not yield their true flavor to the purchaser of them, nor to him who raises them for the market. There is but one way to obtain it, yet few take that way." (henry david thoreau)

during our visits to the river, i love stealing a glimpse of dad interacting with the grandkids, taking them for walks around the yard, alongside the treeline of an alabama pine forest, and then down to the water's edge. and just like when i was a kid, oldest PLO and her grandfather pick out a walking stick to steady their feet (or at least feel like real hikers). and i know that in the secret places of my dad's mind he is in a way hoping that jody baxter or nathaniel from james fenimore cooper's novel will be waiting just around the bend.

our fodder-wing is doing just fine. in fact, today the whole family went for a hike, pink cast and all. PLO made it out of the woods unscathed...but that's another story all together. yikes!

we go back to hospital this week to have the pins removed. prayers are appreciated for parents and especially our brave fodder-wing!