strange things grandpa saves

so my dad is sort of sentimental. he saves the form letter from president bush thanking him for donating to the republican party. he staples them up in his garage by his workshop. also a letter from charlton heston from some gun association. he saves deer antlers and random license plates from cars that have since been sold. but then, according to my mother, he is famous for tossing valuables away. boxes of keepsakes-thrown, even priceless lamps-thrown. the list would most likely be long. he's also been known to over prune trees...but thats another story. he is sort of an impulsive person sometimes. he once threw in the fireplace, accidentally of course, the silk stockings he had purchased for my mother one christmas with hard earned, scarce money, back when they were newly married and when silk stockings were like what a louis vuitton suitcase would be now. get my drift?

so, this is the rattle from a rattlesnake my dad killed when we lived in thousand oaks...about 20 years ago. it was lurking around the backyard while aenon was toddling around the grass looking for bugs and tiny flowers...she was all of 2. our beloved scottish terrier (actually our first child) hung around the backyard too, so this menacing snake was a threat to both of them. one day we all happened to be in the yard. on many occasions, aenon was allowed to go outside by herself, as we could see her from the window, but this day, thank goodness we were all outside. we heard a rustling in the bushes and then the rattling noise. it was ready to strike. grandpa, the cowboy he is, quickly got a shovel and killed the thing with one swift, carefully aimed stab. off went it's head. scary little occasion for us folks who havent been around snakes a lot, but to grandpa this was old hat for him. see, he's the clint eastwood of the family. sort of looks like him too. anyway, he had saved its skin and rattle and kept it in his workshop for all of these years. even through several moves, he always knew where it was packed. a memory he wanted to hang on to, i guess. apparently, he has been known to make belts out of the skin...who knew my dad was such a multi talented cowboy?

so, aenon noticed the lovely skin and rattle the other day when she was visiting them and happened to wander into the garage. there it hung from the antlers, all dry and shriveled up. he re-told the story and carefully took it down from its resting place for all of these years. it was then dipped in resin and left to dry. a glorious necklace now, in the hands now of the one he saved.

love the numerous heroic grandpa stories.

now aenon gets to wear one around her neck.