Early Oregon ~ February 2, 2011 - Groundhog Day and Grandpa T.'s Birthday

Tomorrow is February 2nd ... which means it is Groundhog Day.  What is Groundhog Day, anyway?  American Folklore says that if the groundhog comes out of it's burrow and it is cloudy, then winter is almost over.  If it happens to be sunny and the groundhog sees it's shadow, we are in for 6 more weeks of winter.  I bet our friends in the middle of this big snow storm are wishing for no sun, no matter how weird that sounds right now.  To learn more about Groundhog Day, click here.

Photo courtesy of Zazzle.com

To me, tomorrow is more than Groundhog Day though.  It is the day before my Grandpa T.'s birthday.  If he were still alive, he would be 99 years old.

Grandpa T. is my Mom's Dad, but he died when I was young.  I love him, miss him, and wish that he had lived so much longer.  Grandpa was a logger, loved Pendleton shirts, smelled like tobacco, wore his hair in a crew cut, loved to fish, loved to take my Grandma on drives to look for Lady Slipper wildflowers, and was a genuinely nice man.  His second nickname to us grandkids was "Spud", which was short for his first nickname, "Grandpa Tator".

He liked station wagons, and preferred Buicks, even though they were prone to leaking.  I think that these are Fords, so please just use your imaginations here:

Here is my Grandpa T.'s story:

Once upon a time, in Oregon, a man named Albert met a woman named Maude, and they fell in love:

Lloyd and Maude Traylor ~ Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

They had some kids, including a boy named Floyd.  

Beulah and Floyd Traylor ~ Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 Beulah and Floyd.

Maude, Echo, and Floyd ~ Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Great Grandma Maude with her sister Echo and son Floyd.
Sorry, I don't know the dog's name.

Floyd and Gladys Traylor ~ Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 Floyd is shown here with his little sister, Gladys.

Floyd Traylor ~ Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

 What you thinkin' about, Floyd?  My cousin 

Scott sure turned out to look like you, by the way.

Okay, the picture below is a shocker to me.  That is Grandpa T. (Floyd), and my Great-Grandma Maude.  She may be pregnant and tired in this photo, but look how much she has aged in the 11 or 12 years from her wedding photo.  You can see how much this mother and son love each other though:

 Floyd and Maude Traylor ~ Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Floyd grew up, bought a car, fell in love with Florence and got married.

Floyd Traylor ~ Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Here is Floyd with his Mom and Grandma's in their 5th Generation picture.  The baby is my Mom.  You were a cute baby, Mom!  Lots of hair.

5th Generation Picture ~ Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

After my Mom was born, then came my Aunties.  You girls all had a lot of hair.  And very sturdy shoes.  Good warm tights.   And, an early model station wagon.  Patterns get started early!

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews

Grandma T. sure is pretty.  Grandma, you lived to see it, but my girl Kari turned out to be so much like you.  I miss you and Spud both so much.

We'll continue this story at another time.  Except I'll tell you that he died of a heart attack in his log truck at age 57.  I hope that you enjoyed going down memory lane with me here today; and that you have a fun Groundhog Day tomorrow.

Take care and God bless.

At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.