And I got out of bed this morning why?

"Sleep and dreams, that's all I crave...." Van Halen



Ever had one of those days where the alarm clock goes off and you think, "Oh hell no. I'm not getting up." Yeah, well, that's me at least 3 days a week. I am by nature a lazy person. I enjoy sleeping. I go on vacation so I can sleep in a poolside chair or on a beach. I'm pretty convinced that if reincarnation and past-lives are fact, I was a ferret my last life. Anywho, this was one of those mornings for me. The alarm clock went off and I winced, mumbled something profane in the direction of said clock, and decided that since I am currently employed and I do love my job, I'd better get my lazy arse outta bed and into the shower. It's moments like this when I begrudge the fact that I wasn't born into a filthy rich "Old Aiken Money" family. My family is "Old Aiken" but somehow we managed to avoid that whole "money" part. I guess that when social classes were more defined, my farmer/working class ancestors just decided that it wasn't worth the trouble to attempt a "class jump". Maybe my laziness really comes from my mothers branch of the family tree! Actually, for a bunch of people who got high school educations and worked for every single thing they ever got, I have to give them credit. They were good Christian people who were more than willing to share what they had. I remember my grandmother making quilts and pretty much giving them away. She raised chickens and always gave away or sold the eggs dirt cheap. I wonder if she even made enough off the eggs to feed the chickens. Church on Sunday was a must and then there was a good home cooked meal with plenty to eat for the entire family and then some. I wonder if my Great Grandmother and Great Great Grandmother were the same way. Was Grannie Snipes simply following an example that had been set for her by her Grandmother? I have access to the Aiken Standard archives back to 1871 or so and it's pretty interesting to do searches on family members and see what they were doing. It used to be common practice to report the goings-on in your family and have them printed for other people in the town to read. For example, in the Bridge Creek Social News section of the Wednesday May 16, 1951 Aiken Standard it is reported, "Mrs. Allen Rodgers and Mrs. Thelma Snipes and children visited Mrs. C. H. Cool and Delores Monday afternoon." Mrs. Allen Rodgers is my great grandmother and Mrs. Thelma Snipes is my grandmother. The "children" are, of course, my Aunt Mildred, my Aunt Maryann, and my (at the time) 8 year old mother. I have no clue where in Aiken County the Bridge Creek area was nor who Mrs. C. H. Cool or Delores were but I'm sure my mom and Aunts could tell me! This little bit of news served no real purpose as I'm sure the visit consisted of my Grannie and Great Grannie sitting around having coffee with Mrs. Cool while all the children played. No great plans were made, no world problems were solved. It was just printed in the paper in a time when not every home had a phone. Now it serves as a way for me to get a small glimpse into the life of a person I never got the privilege to meet (my Great Grannie) in a time long gone in a small close-knit Southern town that does not exist anymore. Aiken exists, sure....but not this Aiken. This place were unofficial "districts" existed like Bridge Creek, Beaver Dam, Kitchings Mill, Shaws Fork, and a hundred others. The Aiken I know is defined now by Equestrian Communities like Three Runs Plantation, Hollow Creek Preserve, and Bridle Creek and Gated Communities like Woodside Plantation. Old Aiken is where true Aikenites resided all year long and the only time "out-of-towners" were in residence was during the mild winters. Now, if you run into more than 2 people per day who were actually born in Aiken, you've accomplished something. Most residents now are Northerners lulled here by mild winters and less expensive housing or horse people who come here for all Aiken has to offer the "horsey set." I guess I was born in the wrong era. I would have loved to have been able to see a time when horses and wagons were the main transportation in town and life was more laid back and people took the time to stop and smell the roses. It appeals to the lazy side of my personality. To quote Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Yeah, I feel like I'm missing it.