Signs of Fall- Remembering my Granny Johnson

When the leaves begin to change and the locust shed their skin, I am reminded of my Granny Johnson. Granny Johnson or Granny as I called her was my paternal grandmother and she lived within walking distance of the home where I grew up. She always wore a bonnet and a dress every single day. She was the epitome of a Southern beauty. I didn't appreciate her wit and her nature until after she died.

Pictured above is my son, Hub and me. 

I am wearing one of Granny Johnson's bonnets 

and Hub is donning overalls 

that were a wardrobe staple for my Granddaddy Johnson aka Hub.

Granny Johnson lived on a farm and I guess in reality I lived on a farm of some sort too. I spent many hours roaming and exploring the old barns and storage buildings. Granny would walk with me and we would explore together. 

There were and still are many trees that surround her home. In the fall of the year the tree trunks would be covered in locust shells. As a child I was (I still am)  petrified of bugs and spiders, but for some reason I found the locust shells fascinating. Granny would tell me, "When I's a girl, I would put these locust on my shirt." Granny and I would hang the little locust shells on my shirt and I wore them around. I can remember Granny laughing at me like I was the funniest person on the planet and then she would tell me in a really serious tone, "Don't get old, Hanna." That was her phrase. She told me that hundreds of times and as I grew older, I would respond with, "But Granny, getting older sure beats the alternative." She would laugh and just sigh. 

My son, Hub, was named after my Granddaddy Johnson, Granny's husband. Just recently, my husband and I were working in our yard and I looked over to see Hub picking the locust shells off one of the many tree trunks on our property. Hub was intrigued with them and asked what they were and I heard myself say without even thinking, "Oh Hub, these are locust shells, and when I was a girl I would put them on my shirt!" 

The look that he gave me was hilarious. It was a look of both astonishment and confusion. I must not appear to be the type of girl to hang the exoskeleton of bugs on my shirt. 

He allowed me to hang one locust shell on him and then the fun began. It was a game to see how many locust shells he could find. 

Hub didn't just hang the locust on his shirt, he decided they would look really cool on his head and in his hair. That's a boy for you. 

I wish my Grandparents were still alive to see my children, my nieces and my nephews. I like to think that they would be proud of them and hopefully, they would be proud of me and the person that I have become. Since, they are not here, I try to talk about them often and tell our boys all the adventures that I had with my grandparents.

Silly little locust shells bring up a myriad of wonderful memories. Memories that I wish that I could go back and relive just one more time.