Cannas and Curtains | Janelle Meraz Hooper, author

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Galoshes and IKE
(A comment about growing up in Oklahoma)
Janelle Meraz Hooper

I woke up this morning thinking about the first election I can remember. I was about twelve and we had moved into a new development outside the gates of Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where there was an Indian reservation. The Kiowas weren’t happy because the developers had cut a road through the new houses that went straight through the middle of the clay deposit they used for their pots. I walked that road to school every morning and didn’t see any difference between that unpaved road than any other except that the clay was a deep red. Then the rains came and I saw that clay with a new perspective. Before I went out the door that morning, my mother made me put on my new red galoshes. She’d bought them several sizes too big so they’d last a long time. Everything I wore was too big, even the hand-me-downs from my cousins. The boots looked dumb and I knew the kids would laugh at me. I was glad I had that I LIKE IKE button someone had given me to balance things out. I was the only one in my class who had one and it made me the subject of envy among all my classmates. I wore it every day. On my way to school the new road looked fine but, when I stepped on it, I sank into thick red clay that was deeper than the tops of my galoshes. About halfway to school I noticed that one of my galoshes was missing and the sock on the bootless foot was as red as the road and was half off. I clomped into school with one cold, wet and muddy bootless foot that stayed that way all day. I was sure glad I hadn’t lost my new sock (not realizing that it would never be white again) and I still had my I LIKE IKE button, so I thought I was in good shape. And I was–until I got home and mom noticed I’d lost a brand new boot and one of my socks. Not even IKE could help me then.

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The author, Janelle Meraz Hooper, grew up in Oklahoma and is the author of The Turtle Trilogy (A Three-Turtle Summer, As Brown As I Want, and Custer & His Naked Ladies). See all of my books on Amazon. PB & Kindle.

Note: Geronimo, Life on the Reservation, is a one-man show I wrote for Rudy Ramos (Now on Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone (Paramount Channel).

My Newest novel
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Thanks for stopping by! Janelle

See my books and short stories!

Cannas and curtains, my Aunt Vera’s kitchen
Not published. Blog only.

Janelle Meraz Hooper

A memory of my Aunt Vera’s kitchen from my A Three-Turtle Summer research file:

One of my most vivid childhood memories is of the kitchen in my Aunt Vera’s home in Oklahoma. It was tiny and had just enough room for a white kitchen table and chairs that sat in front of the windows that overlooked the fish pond. In the mornings, the adults would gather at the table while my aunt made fresh coffee and corn bread muffins with sugar and raisins. It was such a happy place. Laughter flooded out the windows and swirled around the huge willow tree that shaded the fish pond. White curtains blew in the early morning summer breeze and danced with the cannas planted underneath the window. Back and forth, back and forth they gently swayed. I always loved the tall plants with their big leaves—elephant ears we called them—so I was delighted to see them again at Campbell’s Resort in eastern Washington on the way to the swimming pool this summer. Several times I’ve tried to grow them here at home on the west coast of Washington but it’s too moist in my flowerbeds and they have never been very happy. But every year, I try. Next year, I’m planting them in pots and keeping them on my deck! My childhood memories—good and bad—have found their way into my Turtle Trilogy (A Three-Turtle Summer, As Brown As I Want: The Indianhead Diaries, and Custer and His Naked Ladies) and many of my short stories. You can read more about them here on this blog (JanelleMerazHooperauthor.com).

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Janelle Meraz Hooper, author

Literary blog

Category Archives: Cannas and Curtains

Galoshes and IKE, a comment about growing up in Oklahoma

Cannas and curtains, my Aunt Vera’s kitchen

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