Synopsis

The roads Donna has traveled throughout her life – some boring and some not so boring – have formed the person she is today. Each road had a side trail that led her to many adventures, resulting in life-changing experiences. Growing up a house mover’s daughter had its challenges. The hardest one to overcome was being a female in a male-dominated industry. Donna’s Daddy always said she could do anything she put her mind to, and she believed him. She wears her badge of being a third-generation house mover with great pride. Some of Donna’s other adventures include team roping, amateur radio, and making her way to writing a book.

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Excerpt

Don’t tell me why, just leave…

Toni had just started “dating.” Keep in mind that she is the youngest of us three kids. She got the same talk that I had gotten when I started dating:

“You had better be home by your curfew, say goodnight, and get in the house. There will be no dilly-dallying in the driveway.”

Toni had started dating a young boy by the name of Tyler (not his real name). Well, the date was over, and here they come pulling in the driveway. Evidently, Toni’s idea of how long it takes to say goodnight and Daddy’s idea was, well, let’s say two different numbers.

But in Toni’s defense, let’s all remember what it was like when we first started dating and going steady with the same boy. Time didn’t exist, and there was always so much to talk about. There was a lot of important information to discuss, like favorite colors, birthdays, favorite songs and bands. Like I said, very important information.

Daddy was getting more agitated by the minute, pacing the floor. I was sitting there waiting for him to blow, and yes, I was enjoying every minute of it. I had already paid my dues in the whole dating thing. Now it was Toni’s turn.

Something just came to me — what kind of talk did he have with Gary on the subject of dating?

I guess Gary didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to “help point out to Daddy” that Toni was breaking the rules. Or, now that I think about it, maybe he was trying to step in and help Toni… hmmmm.

Anyway, Gary steps up to Daddy and tells him, “Don’t worry about this. I’ll handle it for you.”

Now, this brings up another question: why did Gary step in, and why did Daddy let him? I guess I need to ask them.

Before Daddy could really say anything, Gary was out the back door and headed toward Tyler’s car.

The only thing that would have made this “action-packed movie” better would have been popcorn — oh, yes, movie-buttered popcorn!

Our driveway, being a long one, came right up beside several windows in the den, where we were watching TV. So, it was very clear that Toni’s new boyfriend had pulled in the driveway and right up by the windows. At this point, I am running to the windows to listen. I was not about to miss the fireworks that I knew were coming!

Tyler and Toni had no idea that anybody was within a hundred miles. Gary walked up to the driver’s side of the door and tapped on the window. When Tyler looked around, Gary gave him the hand signal to roll the window down. Evidently, Gary had startled both of them.

Tyler quickly rolled the window down, and Gary leaned in and said, “Don’t tell me why, just leave.”

And, yes, World War 3 was on! Toni bailed out of the passenger’s side of the car, literally at the speed of sound, hot on Gary’s trail. Gary is no fool; he had to have known that this wasn’t going to sit well with his baby sister.

Toni chased him around the car and into the house. Tyler was in a panic trying to start his car so he could get out of the driveway.

The race was on with Toni hot on Gary’s heels, through the den and up the stairs, screaming and hollering at him the whole time. Gary could hardly run from laughing so hard. I guess Daddy figured that if he wanted his son to live to see the next sunrise, he had better step in.

Daddy took control of the situation and got Toni to calm down. I think Toni didn’t get in as much trouble as she would have because Gary had really embarrassed her in front of her boyfriend.

Now, in Tyler’s defense, he and Toni dated for quite a while after that. He really was a nice boy. But I can tell you this — all through the rest of their time dating, they were never late, nor did they “dilly-dally” in the driveway when he brought her home from a date.

FYI… Gary and Toni may give a different spin on this story, but this is what I saw. Yep, this is my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Lesson learned: Follow the rules, or take a chance on getting embarrassed.

Synopsis

Donna Snow King is back with more winding adventures and lifechanging experiences as she regales readers with tales from her childhood, growing up a house mover’s daughter, and joining the family business. Snow Much Love: Book 2 comes after readers fell in love with Donna’s conversational tone in Snow Much Love and found themselves looking back on their own memories. The author hopes that readers will join her again in reminiscing on precious moments of times past. Each story shared has a lesson to be learned.

Amazon * B&N * Jan Carol Publishing

Excerpt

Bring me some lemonade.
I do believe I am beginning to glisten…

“What are we going to pick?” I asked Grannie. As she was wrapping one of her aprons around me twice and tying the bonnet on my head, she said, “Child, we aren’t really picking anything. The weeds won’t throw themselves out, so we have to give them a little help.”

As a young child who didn’t know much about gardening at the time, my first instinct was to ask why. Granddad walked through the kitchen about that time, and hearing my question responded to me, “So they don’t choke out the vegetables. Also, if the weeds are let go, they could grow taller than the vegetables, and if they do, how will you know what to pick?” For a few moments, I stood there thinking, then decided: Well, then, let’s go get rid of some weeds.

So, with bonnets and aprons on, all three of us headed down to the garden, which wasn’t too far from the house. When we went through the little gate into the garden, I looked around and didn’t see Granddad any longer. I asked Grannie, “Isn’t Granddad going to help us?” Grannie smiled and said he had his own list of chores to do. And then she giggled and said, “It would be in his best interest to get his list done…That is, if he wants lunch today or supper tonight.”

Even though she was giggling, I knew she meant business. Grannie was one of those women that when she said jump, you answered, “Yes, ma’am, how high?” But I knew she had a soft side as well.

Grannie handed me what looked like a miniature hoe. When, in fact, it was a hoe that the handle had broken off from many years of use, thereby making it perfect for my little hands. Granddad had filed the splintered part as best as he could and wrapped a cloth with tape on it to protect my hands from splinters. Looking back, to anyone driving by, we must have looked like a scene out of the 1800s.

Like I stated earlier, this garden had a gate on it, which meant the whole garden was fenced off to keep the cows out. The fence on the far side of the garden was covered with double blooming honeysuckle. With luscious green leaves and two-toned blooms, it was not only beautiful to look at, but the fragrance was quite intoxicating.

Even though the house is now owned by another family today, the last time I drove down that road, I looked over at where Grannie’s garden used to be, and there was honeysuckle still blooming. Guess that stuff must be hard to kill! I’m thinking about stopping by one day and asking if I could get a cutting off that honeysuckle vine to start some for me and Toni. Guess I could get Gary some, but I don’t think guys care about stuff like that. Oh, well. Guess I will get him some too, just in case he does. Let’s get back to the garden, shall we?

Standing there looking perplexed, Grannie called over to me asking if there was a problem. “No, ma’am,” was my response. “Just trying to figure out in my mind which ones are weeds and which ones are vegetables, that’s all.”

Grannie stopped and came over to where I was. “Well, child, the easiest way to help you know the difference is this: study the plant that yields the vegetables. When you get that down in your mind — well, then. Everything else is a weed.”

“Got it, Grannie!” I started on one row, while she started on another. Every now and then, I would look up thinking I heard someone singing softly. Wasn’t quite sure, but I kinda thought it was Grannie. I spoke up and asked her, “Grannie, are you singing?” She kinda giggled a little and replied to me, “Well, your granddad says my singing sounds like a dying calf in a hailstorm. I always answer him by asking, ‘So, you’re a music critic now?’ In the end, I just ignore him. But for me, it helps the time pass and the work to go faster.”

We had been working in the garden long enough for that Texas sun to start warming up that cool morning. Not a cloud in the sky, which made it that much worse. Thinking on what Grannie had said, I decided to try singing and see if it would help make my work go faster, too. So, I started singing, but not as softly as Grannie did. She asked me what I was singing, to which I replied, “It’s a song I learned in Sunday school at church. It’s called ‘Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.’” Grannie smiled and said, “Yes, child, He does. You just keep singing that song. I love to hear you sing.”
After a little bit, I said, “Grannie, my back hurts.” So, she suggested we take a little bit of a break. Looking over at me, Grannie asked, “Does your whistle need wetting?” My response was, “My what needs what?”

Chuckling a little bit, she said, “Child, is you thirsty?”

“Oh yes, ma’am, I am. Do you want me to run back up to the house and get us something to drink?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. Let me try something.” With that, Grannie laid her hoe down, putting her hands up to her face, making like a megaphone around her mouth. She then hollered out in the most unusual southern accent I have ever heard, “Carl, Carl, do bring us some lemmm-onnn-aaa-de, we are beginning to glisss-tt-enn!”

I couldn’t help it. I started laughing. Through my giggles, I asked, “Grannie, where did that voice come from?” Turning to look at me, she replied, “I heard it on TV and have always wanted to try it.”

In just a few minutes, there came Granddad walking toward the garden with two tall glasses of ice-cold lemonade. Standing there with her hands on her hips, Grannie shrugged her shoulders and, looking over at me, said, “Well, child, I guess it really does work.”

Lesson learned: If you hear someone holler out to bring them some lemmm-onnn-aaa-de because they are beginning to glisss-tt-enn, I suggest you jump to it.

About the Author

Donna Snow King is a proud, multi-generational Texan, born and raised in Fort Worth. Growing up a third-generation house mover, which started with her Grandpa Snow in 1942, eventually led her to the TV world, where she and her sister, Toni (The Snow Sisters), were introduced to the world. Donna is happily married to the love of her life, Rex. They are enjoying life on the Snow King Ranch.

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