tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-198180182024-03-13T03:41:01.723-05:00from the front porchRamblings of a southern Mississippi woman from her front porch.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-89575208346239989032018-07-04T21:48:00.000-05:002018-07-04T21:48:52.167-05:00Moving On......Going On<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Built in 1932, it was the home of my youth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just outside Taylorsville, MS (in Smith County).....I remember when Fellowship Road wasn't paved. When it rained, you couldn't drive on it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I spent almost every holiday and every summer in the little house that sat, about 4 miles, outside town. I was there, with my mother and little brother, as were my aunts and cousins. We loved that house and the woman who lived there......Granny.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After Granny passed away, in 1973, my father was the child who ended up with the "home place." He and our mother (I had a brother 9 years younger) lived there after Granny died. When mom passed away, in 1993, my husband and I bought my brother's part of the homeplace. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I NEVER wanted to "retire" to Smith County. I had always wanted to be here when my parents were alive. Once they were gone, it held no allure for me. However, my honey convinced me that we had the property, and this was where we should be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 2002, we moved from Astor, Florida (where we had a home, with a deck overlooking the St. John's River) to Taylorsville, MS. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We built a home and we built a shop and we built a life. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Life changes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My honey, who had always been the picture of health was suddenly diagnosed with cancer and after less than 4 years, he was gone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was left in the home that he had designed and built....on my famiy's old "homeplace." A 3,000 sq foot home that was too much for one (now old) woman.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On this property, was also the house in which our Granny, and then our parents, had lived. We had always planned to "get rid of it" when our father's last living sibling, Aunt Ginny, passed away. The problem was....Bob was diagnosed with cancer and Aunt Ginny passed away soon after. Disposing of that old house, was about the last thing on my (caregiver) mind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And now, I've decided that's it's time for me to "go on"...or "move on." But to do that, something has to be done with "the old house"....Granny's old house....the house that mom and dad lived in....the house that most of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren grew up in.....the house that everyone knew and loved.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, on Monday....Grant Blakeney will bury the old house.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There have been requests from cousins that I collect boards....so they can continue to have a part of the little house on Fellowship Road.....or is it that a part of Granny will still be a part of all of us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This decision hasn't been easy......I've actually fought with it for several years.....but it must be done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I will NEVER forget when, on the day we were having Uncle James Nicholson's Memorial Luncheon...out here....cousin Tommy Walker looked at Aunt Ginny (as we sat in a rocker, on the front porch of my home)...."if you'd go ahead and die....Sarah could get rid of that house."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of course, knowing Aunt Ginny as we all did....she laughed heartily and said...."I'll work on that."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's just "stuff" and "places" and "things"....but that's what makes up a part of our lives. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It will never be the same...sitting on my porch...and looking across my drive and the old house, with all its memories, not being there. But.....that is how life goes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We move on. We go on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-6159909950660691312018-05-27T16:24:00.004-05:002018-05-27T17:12:26.153-05:00Styrofoam, Bubble Wrap and Cardboard may cost plenty...<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This little town, in northeastern Iowa, has the best recycling system I have ever seen. Well, actually, probably the only recycling I've seen! Our town, in southern MS doesn't recycle. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">However, we do eat Pickled Pigs Feet (well, some of us do) - isn't that using everything? Would that be considered "recycling."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I learned that there was recycling and a Recycling Center, I put a big trash can outside the kitchen door, in the Garage, and I began sorting what I thought was recycleable objects into the can. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We made a trip to the Recycle Center and the "fun" began, as did my knowledge of the "proper" way to recycle. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Outside, there were three huge (I mean HUGE) trash bins. It will take a Dump Truck to pick those things up! Cardboard was supposed to go into one of them, and I'm not sure about the other two. We either didn't have what they were supposed to hold - or we put what we had in the wrong place! (That sounds more logical.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just outside the door to the Recycle Center room were two large wire type containers that might have been chicken coops in an earlier time and place. The sign said, "all bottles must be put in cardboard boxes." Thankfully, we hadn't already put our cardboard boxes into the HUGE container, 'cause we had lots of bottles - wine, you know!! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The next notice read, "please double knot all bags to keep cans contained." We had no cans, but if we had they would have had to go back home with us.....who takes a trash bag to the Recycle Center?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, when I say that I had things "sorted" for recycling - I simply meant everything had been "dumped" into a trash can. So, we go inside said Recycle Center and the "sorting" began. (I really thought we'd take that trash can to the Recycle Center and just "dump" it all into one large container.) Well, NOT!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There were 16 - count 'em - 16 big containers with signs above them regarding what was allowed and what wasn't. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And we began throwing the plastic into the plastic bin - but milk jugs had to go into a bin all their own. Then there was one for newspapers, one for magazines, one for books (I thought people put those in Garage Sales!), one for "other" paper (and I put nothing there 'cause I wasn't sure just what "other" paper was), and there was a can bin inside, too, (so why would I have to put my cans in a trash bag and put them outside?), and there was "other" plastic (and that's where I put the Bubble Wrap).</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFLiYaWi9czJwa3VjVFC-SM7kqr9daP5ezOBSxPej2TgkkvXu5CQ-yHEPF32OFBza1ca8JcNYHx2i1pNDSZUcsc25ZmpEH216tUQWKmJEGkZexARqz-2YeHkdGhHDF9jqjQAY/s1600/Sign+in+Recycle+Center.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFLiYaWi9czJwa3VjVFC-SM7kqr9daP5ezOBSxPej2TgkkvXu5CQ-yHEPF32OFBza1ca8JcNYHx2i1pNDSZUcsc25ZmpEH216tUQWKmJEGkZexARqz-2YeHkdGhHDF9jqjQAY/s400/Sign+in+Recycle+Center.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well, being the photographer (amateur with phone) that I am, I took photos of everything.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once we got home, I read the photo of the big "This may get you some time in jail" sign. And, I became concerned. I mean, if one has to go to jail because of recycling - how would that look?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We were not supposed to leave Styrofoam in any bin (and we did), and we were supposed to break our cardboard boxes down (and we didn't), we weren't supposed to put Bubble Wrap in any bin (and we did). Now, please tell me - why can't Bubble Wrap be recycled??</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And one other thing that might get us a cover over our heads and three squares a day......or a fine $$$.....did we check every piece of plastic to see if there was a Recycling Symbol on it? Sorry, I'm just not going to share that. This is quite enough!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-24177764032267876012018-05-15T21:19:00.000-05:002018-05-15T21:19:00.451-05:00It was God that Created GPS<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I don't do maps. I'm not sure if all of you know this, but I'm the reason God created GPS!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All those years, when I was a Software Consultant......traveled everywhere.....flew (Million Miler on Delta, I am) then rented a car and drove.....I am going to tell you a secret. I stayed lost, most of the time!! That's a fact. It's a good thing Service Stations don't keep track of people who stop to ask directions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And, then, I'm really bad about "second guessing." Yes, I know he said turn left at the next stop light....but turning right seemed to make more sense to me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, we (Mike and I) are on the way to Forest City, Iowa to the Winnebago Factory to take the RV for some repair work. I make a great RV rider......seat pulled up, feet on the dash, covered with a light blanket....enjoying life while he drives. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He (Mike) has put the address of the Winnebago Factory in his phone, so all is good. Right!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Suddenly, he says, "Get the map." What? We have a map? How did I let that happen???</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My blood runs cold. I've never discussed my lack of "map reading skills" with him. I never told him .....on our very first "vacation" with my honey (years ago, when daughter Gale was two years old)....we missed Columbus, GA.....completely......because I was reading the map!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mike wants to know if the way GPS is sending us is the "best" way. Should we be on Hwy this or Hwy that? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm just trying to find out where WE are (on said map.) I suggest ....since "Margaret" (the name I gave to the GPS voice) has us turn at a most "opportune" time that HE look at the map. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thank goodness, Margaret and the map agree. I can rest easy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then, can you believe it. We are going up Interstate 35, and I let us miss the exit we need to take!! (It's easier to take the blame that to acknowledge that one really has no Map Reading Skills!!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We get to the last exit in Iowa (before crossing State Line into MN) and turn around and go back to the exit I MISSED.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can tell you one thing.... now, I can get to Forest City, Iowa from Readlyn, Iowa without GPS or a Map!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-76295797208141959922018-05-10T06:00:00.000-05:002018-05-10T10:16:53.206-05:00A Truck Stop "Grill"<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I saw something, yesterday morning, I had never seen.</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It was about 11:00 a.m. and we were at a Truck Stop. Mike was filling the RV with Diesel, as I sat there.....perusing (I just love that word) my surroundings.</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Suddenly a huge tanker truck backs to the back of the lot (in front of us, but several yards away.) He parked beside this big yellow thing that (honestly) looked like a Grill. The driver got out and went over and opened said "Grill." Then he went to the passenger door, of the truck (I thought).</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Running through my mind was....."how wonderful that this Truck Stop provides truckers with a Grill. They can cook some healthy food, and rest while they wait."</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Mike finished filling the tank......(and mortgaging the house to do it - have you seen the price of diesel?)......and gets back in the RV.</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I say to him, "Mike, look at that..........I think that's a Grill and he's going to fix himself some lunch."</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He (Mike) looks at me like I've gone nuts and says......."I don't think so."</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Mike's going to have to make a big circle anyway to make sure the towed car clears everything......so I beg him to drive close to the other rig. </span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I get out of the RV and go over to the Truck Driver. I don't have eyes, in the back of my head, but I'm sure Mike was shaking his!!</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I get over to the "Grill" and I see there's a huge hose attached to said Grill with the other end attached to the Tanker. And there are several other "openings" (on the “Grill”) where hoses can be attached.</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The very nice driver turns around......sees me, and I ask as I point to the "Grill"...."what is that?"</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He says....."I'm filling my tanker with fuel to take to stations."</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Not wanting him to think I was a nosey woman I explained, "I'm a writer, and I thought this was a Grill, and you might be fixing yourself a steak."</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">He laughed and said, "I don't think I'd better light this!"</span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Come to think of it, a real honest-to-goodness Grill would probably be a great idea. Just think how healthy all those truckers could be! </span><br />
<div style="color: #1d2129;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">
</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-11493120025169630902018-05-09T14:20:00.000-05:002018-05-09T14:20:59.562-05:00Leaving the Water Alone!!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Traveling provides me (and you) with many stories. You all (I'm working on not saying y'all so much, since I'm headed north) know, to me, "Life is a Story." Well, I am traveling and yesterday wasn't much of a story.....I saw nothing exciting.....nothing momentous happened.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well, that's not really true it just wasn't much to write about (but I'm gonna' tell you about it, anyway.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm a part of this "rig" (RV, that is) because I bragged that I "can do everything about setting up an RV except leveling the jacks and driving it" (and those two things are pretty much the most important!!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Anyway, I'm good at directions (not when we're driving....when we get there and are getting into our spot)<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span>....."move over this way" ..............</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">......"move more that way"....."you're gonna' hit that post"......."aw, you just took the bark off that tree!" (Not really....he's a good driver!!) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know where everything is located.....I can hook up the water, hook up the electricity (I know what's 30 amp and what's 50 amp). I can put the slides out. You get the picture....I know what I'm doing. That's how I passed the "interview" to get the job!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have decided....I am no longer touching the water! Everytime I do, it leaks and last night was no exception. Thank goodness, Mike saw it when he was hooking up the 50 amp (is he trying to take my job??) or we would have been like that song, "I've got lakefront property".....or something like that!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We had stopped, for the night, in a little "off the beaten path" RV Park (those are really the best kind) outside Sikeston, MO. That's where Lambert's Cafe with their "throwed rolls" is located. No, we didn't go. We were tired, and we have a kitchen in this moving household!! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Speaking of throwed rolls....have you ever been there? Did you catch the roll? There was a reason I didn't make the basketball team back at good ole LHS!! Yes, it's a great advertisement, but please PASS the rolls!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Anyway, we went to bed LATE because we got there late....but it was still daylight and it was WAY past Cocktail Hour. Do you think that stopped us? Are you kidding? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At about1:30 a.m. (yes, middle of the night) Mike jumps up.....like he was shot from a cannon. "I forgot to get the keys out of the Jeep!" So, up and out, he goes. Can you say wide awake, now? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">However, as tired as we both were, we might not have heard a would be robber unhooking said Jeep and driving off. Mike wouldn't really mind losing the Jeep....it would be the loss of the bicycle that would make him cry!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This morning was absolutely the best morning. Sitting at the table (yes, that piece of furniture gets lots of use), we raised the blinds, and there...parked a couple of spaces down was a Mercedes Class C (that's a "cab over" camper). We took our coffee cups and went over for a visit. What a wonderful young couple were Kathy and Larry Gore. They live in Indiana, but Larry's parents live in Houston, MS!!! Traveling with them was Kathy's 87 year old father. They were on their way to Kerrville, TX to his sister's 90th birthday!! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I asked Larry if he was related to Sue Gore - who went to school with me, years ago, at SJC. (He didn't know her....and I told him she's somehow related to me!) Often, the best part of traveling is the people one meets, and today was no exception. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mike was excited because Larry and Kathy both ride bikes, and Larry knew all about the Tanglefoot Trail that runs from New Albany, MS to Houston, MS. He wants to ride RAGBRAI with Mike. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Personally, I was thankful neither of them looked at me and said, "do you ride?" (Mike just gets too much joy out of telling my "she fell while she was standing still" story!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can't end this without mentioning "Miss Lilly"....an 8 year old Pom who was being walked by her mom. She could have been my sweet Bella's twin. Same black coloring with tan "boots", same sweet face ......but Miss Lilly isn't a "yapper" like Bella and Precious. This mama loves them and misses them, anyway!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Miss Lilly's mama sold her house, lives in a camper.....has Miss Lilly, three cats (one belongs to Miss Lilly, she said!) and a Dove, which she raised from a baby. I wonder if I can apply for some sort of "Listener Certification" and start charging for all this stuff I hear!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I really am glad that I got this "job".......I am a "working RV Companion," but I'm leaving the water alone!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#RVCamping #TownandCountryRVPark #runontheroad</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-60346398554821474152018-05-06T09:57:00.001-05:002018-05-06T09:57:42.625-05:00The Middle of the Pack<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="5r519" data-offset-key="eo2m3-0-0" style="background-color: white;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="eo2m3-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;">
<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm just sure it was my friend Sammy Ford 's fault (he was the one that told me to "watch the right foot" when I started my trek back to Mississippi from Texas.
Going across Texas, the speed limit is 75.....and that means I can drive 80 (five miles above the limit). No, that means I SHOULD drive 80. Anyway, I DO set Cruise Control (for what it's worth.....I then proceed to pay no attention to it....my right foot has a mind of its own and before I know it I'm going.....well, no sense in making everyone worry about me and my heavy foot!)
I have a friend who says he's "keeping up with the traffic" and that's EXACTLY what I was doing. Texas was okay....but I crossed the state line into Louisiana, and suddenly there's LHP cars everywhere. Those white cars with Louisiana Highway Patrol written on their door had cars stopped on both sides of the Interstate all the way across that state. (I figured they needed money and this was how they were getting it.) Figured that out when I stopped for one of those "necessary breaks," and in the Rest Areas half the bathrooms were closed.
I am in the "middle of the pack" .....and I am just doing my part in "keeping up with traffic." Who wants to cause a wreck because they're trying to abide by the speed limit??? Topped the hill, and there he sat .....in the median. Bless his heart, when it was safe for him to give chase....he DID. (At this point, I was watching him in my rear view mirror.....and thinking....."surely he won't pick my white car out of the middle of all this traffic. Will he?")
He is 3 cars behind me....blue lights flashing....and traffic is still flying....about 15 miles above the speed limit. (Where's that 5 miles I should have been going? And, if I am the one that gets stopped this ticket is going to be pretty pricey!)
By now, I am beginning to formulate excuses in my head for why I'm driving so fast.
(1) I didn't think he'd care, not one bit, that I was rushing home to Mississippi because we had tickets to "Evita." However, I might start singing "Don't Cry for me Argentina" and he'd certainly send me on my way (no, you DON'T want to hear me sing!)
(2) Then I decided I could use the look toward the sky and say "Thank you, God".....and hopefully, he'll say...."What? Why?" and I'd say "they were scaring me to death....I was having to drive that fast....right in the middle of them. I HATE driving like that....it doesn't feel safe." And he'd say...."well, you be careful ma'am and slow down!" And away I'd go.
(3) However, what I really wanted to say was....."I am SO glad you stopped me".....and he'd look amazed and say....."Excuse me....what?".....and I would say...."Louisiana is the only southern state for which I didn't have a ticket....and I collect them!" I decided my sense of humor might send me to jail....so I'd have to shelve that one.
Whew!! Suddenly, I realized he had chosen his prey....and it wasn't me.
The moral to this story probably should be.....slow down, abide the speed limit, use cruise control, don't let your foot slide over onto the accelerator.......yada, yada, yada.
However, I am still going with "if you're gonna' drive fast....get in the middle of the pack, for goodness sake!!" (Yes, I have BEEN at the back of the line in my history of being "Sarah Andretti.")
</span></span>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-72748127818273675072018-04-15T13:00:00.003-05:002018-04-15T13:00:54.461-05:00Emancipation Day Affects Tax Filing Day<span style="font-size: large;">Tax day, in the U. S., is always April 15th......except this year when it will be Tuesday, April 17th. Wait a minute! When April 15th falls on a Sunday, tax day is always the next day.....except this year. Wonder why?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">According to Google information - we have a "two day relief" this year. Because Washington, D. C. celebrates "Emancipation Day" on Monday, April 16th!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"What is Emancipation Day?" you ask.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"On that day in 1862, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" title="President of the United States">President</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Abraham Lincoln">Abraham Lincoln</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">signed the</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_Compensated_Emancipation_Act" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" title="District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act">District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(an act of</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compensated_emancipation" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Compensated emancipation">Compensated emancipation</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Day#cite_note-26" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[26]</a></sup><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Act freed about 3,100 slaves in the District of Columbia nine months before President Lincoln issued his broader</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Emancipation Proclamation">Emancipation Proclamation</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act represents the only example of compensation by the federal government to former owners of emancipated slaves.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-DC_Celebrates_Emancipation_27-0" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Day#cite_note-DC_Celebrates_Emancipation-27" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[27]</a>" </sup></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-size: large;">So, the Federal Goverment compensated Slave Owners who had slaves who had been freed? And the District of Columbia still observes this as a holiday??</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-size: large;">"On April 16, 1862, President Lincoln signed the "District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act." <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This law prohibited slavery in the District, forcing its 900-odd slaveholders to free their slaves, with the government paying owners an average of about $300 for each. In 1863 state legislation towards compensated emancipation in Maryland failed to pass, as did an attempt to include it in a newly written Missouri constitution.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Rodriguez_1-3" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compensated_emancipation#cite_note-Rodriguez-1" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[1]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compensated_emancipation#cite_note-4" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[4]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compensated_emancipation#cite_note-5" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[5]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compensated_emancipation#cite_note-6" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[6]</a>"</sup></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"On January 4, 2005,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Washington,_D.C." style="background: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Mayor of Washington, D.C.">Mayor</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_A._Williams" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Anthony A. Williams">Anthony A. Williams</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">signed legislation making Emancipation Day an official</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holiday" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Public holiday">public holiday</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in the District.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Day#cite_note-28" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[28]</a></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although Emancipation Day occurs on April 16, by law when April 16 falls during a weekend, Emancipation Day is observed on the nearest weekday.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Day#cite_note-29" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[29]</a></sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This affects the</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Revenue_Service" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Internal Revenue Service">Internal Revenue Service</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'s</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Day" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Tax Day">due date for tax returns</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, which traditionally must be submitted by April 15. As the federal government observes the holiday, it causes the federal and all state tax deadlines to be moved to the 18th if Emancipation Day falls on the weekend and to the 17th if Emancipation Day falls on a Monday.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Day#cite_note-30" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[30]</a>"</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Each year, activities will be held during the public holiday including the traditional Emancipation Day parade celebrating the freedom of enslaved persons in the District of Columbia. The Emancipation Day celebration was held yearly from 1866 to 1901."</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus,_Mississippi" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Columbus, Mississippi">Columbus, Mississippi</a>, Emancipation Day is celebrated on May 8, known locally as "Eighth o' May". As in other southern states, the local celebration commemorates the date in 1865 when African Americans in eastern Mississippi learned of their freedom. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Though federal law outlawed slavery in the state, Mississippi itself did not ratify the federal constitutional amendment abolishing slavery until February 7, 2013.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Day#cite_note-31" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[31]</a>""</sup></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"In Texas, Emancipation Day is celebrated on June 19. It commemorates the announcement in Texas of the abolition of slavery made on that day in 1865. It is commonly known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Juneteenth">Juneteenth</a>. Since the late 20th century, this date has gained recognition beyond Texas, and has been proposed for a national Emancipation Day."</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And, this, my friends is why you have an extra day.....this year.....to file your taxes.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">(Note: Quoted passages have been copied from Google searches.)</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#April15 #WashingtonDCEmancipationDayObservation</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#slavery #emancipationdayaffectsfederaltaxday</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-45803829591163400302018-03-27T12:18:00.001-05:002018-03-27T18:07:47.828-05:00Got Coffee Creamer but Fake Eggs<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; display: block; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 6px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You've heard that old saying....maybe you've even said it, a time or two......."the squeaky wheel gets oiled."</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; display: block; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 6px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 6px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Yesterday morning, Mike and I arrived at the doctor's office 30 minutes before 9 a.m. (for a 9 a.m. appointment), with plans to go to iHOP (yes that, "we have no cream, for your coffee") for Breakfast, afterwards.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 6px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; display: block; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 6px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> First of all, the doctor's office was "cold enough to hang meat" (I've got lots of these little sayings stored away in that raggedy old book, in my h<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ead). We decided that we were so cold.......we'd be exchanging our initial reason for the visit to being treated for pneumonia!</span></span></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; display: block; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 6px 0px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 6px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I finally decided on an idea. I went to the "sign in desk" and suggested a "fund-raising effort......by renting blankets to those of us waiting." (The thermostat got turned up.)</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 6px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Anyway, we sat so long....people began introducing themselves to each other! Mr. Green was the nicest little man who had overslept that morning......until 5 a.m. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> But I digress (I just love that word, and it fits most of my conversations, so well!) We were there so long, the Breakfast we had planned to have at the "we don't have creamer" restaurant turned into "we should just order lunch" (but, we didn't.)</span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We sat down, and our server came and we ordered coffee. She questioned, "would you like cream?" then she looked at me, and said, "of course you would!" (with a smile). Maybe we've been there too much......naw, we just made an impression!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> About 10 minutes into our meal, the General Manager came out (apparently, it had "made it to the back" that "the complainer is out there"). This time, her uniform was clean, and her hair was brushed. She was very nice and congenial, and she asked, "How is everything?" I replied, "Everything is great, you have cream!" She said, with a smile, "I keep it, just for you."</span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Yep, the squeaky wheel gets oiled!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> (Another hint for you......DO NOT order scrambled eggs at iHOP. Fried eggs are REAL......the scrambled eggs are fake. Yes, I did....and no, I won't the next time!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Maybe I'll get that place shaped up, after a few more visits......or they'll invite me to "don't come back!"</span></div>
<div style="margin: 6px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: large;">#LaureliHOP #nocreamerformycoffee? #squeakywheelgetsoiled #fakescrambledeggs #waitinginadoctorsoffice</span></div>
</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-7954991859761723652018-03-19T16:19:00.002-05:002018-03-19T16:19:30.941-05:00From The Cross to The Coffin<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Our Pastor, Tim Beard, has been in the "church business" for almost 50 years. He was educated at Emory University, and in Jerusalem. He's well </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">read, well spoken, well loved, and he's funny. He relates to people, he's a Bible Scholar and a Master Storyteller.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Everyday he sends out a Morning Prayer, via text message, to his "church flock" as well as to many others. If he's late - we wonder what's going on? Is he sick? Is something wrong with Marge, his sweet wife? </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">On Saturday, there had been a second text message. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">"Tomorrow: The Coffin"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We got to church, and the Church</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> Bulletin didn't list "The Coffin" as the sermon.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">After the Choir's special of "The Way of the Cross Leads Home" </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Bro. Beard began talking about "The Cross." My thoughts were, at the last minute, he'd probably changed his mind. I was a little disappointed. Over the years, I had heard the sermons about The Cross - I wanted to hear about The Coffin.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">I settled down and listened as he crafted a story with a perfect ending. He took us on a journey from The Cross at Calvary, through verses in the Bible, down through the years. I usually leave church with the feeling that he'd been talking to me. This day was no different. Had I looked at others and been "glad" that I wasn't them? Had I felt pity for myself? Had I asked, "what can I do?" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Burl Cain was the Warden at Angola Prison in Louisiana for 21 years. He was credited with changing the violent and deadly prison culture with "moral rehabilitation." In the nation's largest maximum security prison, which covers an area larger than the island of Manhattan, he brought God. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">He had several interdenominational chapels built in the "little city," and in 1997 he asked Tex Reardon (who was associated with Billy Graham Ministries) if he could get Billy Graham to come to Angola.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Because Rev. Graham was in poor health, his son Franklin went. Two more chapels were built - one with a Steeple and a Cross high enough that it could be seen by the prisoners on Death Row.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">And The Coffin? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Prisoners, who died in Angola, were buried in cardboard boxes. Cain viewed a prisoner falling into the empty grave, because the bottom had fallen out. He vowed that would never happen, again. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">There were craftsmen among the prisoners, and Cain decided to have Coffins built for the prisoners out of treated Plywood. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Franklin Graham, while visiting Angola, witnessed the beautiful coffins and ordered 6, for his family. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Billy Graham was laid to rest in one of these Coffins. A Cross was carved into the top, and the names of the three men who had built it were engraved in The Coffin. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">From The Cross at Calvary to the Cross on The Coffin at Angola, now resting in Montreat, NC.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Those questions Bro. Beard asked, on Sunday......I'm working on them!</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span> </div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">#thecross #thecoffin #Angola </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-59441675544844409652018-02-14T16:15:00.001-06:002018-03-01T13:37:07.866-06:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Look what happened, today!!<br />
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="347" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fourawesomegang%2Fposts%2F1753017221416763&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-45886110261785007742018-02-12T15:54:00.000-06:002018-02-12T15:54:50.217-06:00<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Porch-Sarah-Walker-Gorrell-ebook/dp/B079NMGRXB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518471390&sr=8-1&keywords=Tales+from+the+Porch" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWmC0jvKlkXn7pToC15j1VZnVrl4MnNvCLaxOnfO0491V7dcv4k6KRbBu6jj3lCjUCPAioq2LvszzKvnUTarHSSCol38CvcG6Y6uth7jRrPoV8GFqvKna9DFyhLYE2vdnoABM/s320/73040749_Kindle+Ready+Front+Cover.7778270.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Porch-Sarah-Walker-Gorrell-ebook/dp/B079NMGRXB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518471390&sr=8-1&keywords=Tales+from+the+Porch" target="_blank">Click to download to your Kindle:</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally, those hours spent, on the Porch have paid off! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">'Tales from the Porch' went to the Publisher and is on Amazon - ready to be downloaded to your Kindle or to the free Kindle app on your desktop.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The paperback version (if you're one of those people that prefers to "hold a book in your hands," will be released, soon!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">'Tales from the Porch' is a book of short stories, told from the porch, that will keep you turning the pages to find out about the Panther that roams Cohay Creek and even found its way into the author's backyard, the old slave graveyard behind the house, cemetery trips to ferret out a ghost, and the trials and tribulations of putting on a pair of Spanx. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">The author tells how she learned about her maternal grandmother's murder from an elderly schoolteacher and recounts tales of growing up in the Mississippi delta, where she met and married her husband. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white;">And, you may find your name.......somewhere in this collection of stories.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white;">It's primarily about Mississippi and its people.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: white;">#Taylorsville #Cemeteries #Ghosts #MississippiDelta </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-72635940697041718002017-11-06T13:26:00.002-06:002017-11-06T13:26:54.989-06:00Just Like a Man!!<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A cousin, distant though she is, has been after me for quite some time to write another book. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And so, I finally got started.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I wrote and I wrote and I wrote ......with the intention of using kdpAmazon (publish on Kindle, first) then turn it into a print book.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was familiar with MS Word ....I knew everything I should do.....or so I thought.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The things I didn't know, I researched and found out how to do it, how to fix it, how to redo it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I even created my own cover and copyright page and Acknowledgments and Table of Contents. I fought with the adding a page number to the first story.........but not to the Acknowledgments. Thought I'd never get that figured out and fixed. And then I added a blank page, and well, that just about screwed up the whole darned thing!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And, oh my goodness, trying to get the page numbers to align ....perfectly....to the right. That was something else.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Came the time to upload said manuscript to kdpAmazon and to review my "work of art." First thing I noticed was ....."you have seven errors." What! How in the world? This thing was just about perfect (that's why beauty is in the "eye of the beholder.")</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I went to the "Preview your work"....and first thing I noticed was that those perfectly aligned page numbers weren't in any line at all! They were all over the place. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And then, I started checking out my seven errors. Mercy! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">About that time, I found a phone number and made a call to a very nice young man at CreateSpace (they're a book publishing company that let's one publish their own books).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He suggested I sign up for a CreateSpace account (which I already had) and read the instructions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me just say.......I now know how a man feels when they've put something together the wrong way.....and have to start over!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Tales from the Porch" is back on the drawing board....and it's being reworked. I think this might be what daddy used to mean when he'd say.....<br />"I think you better lick that cow over again!"</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-25602512957639210062017-09-27T17:40:00.003-05:002017-09-27T17:40:50.138-05:00An Author and her books......is a real delight....<span style="font-size: large;">in Delight, Arkansas, that is!! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On September 30, my friend Mary Cooke (who writes as Mary Lou Cheatham) will be at the Delight Music Festival Super Signing with many other authors.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Delight, the hometown of Music Legend Glen Campbell (who passed away recently) is a small town in southwest Arkansas (population less that 300) near Murfreesboro and the Crater of Diamonds State Park.....where you can go dig for diamonds!!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is the third annual Super Signing at the Delight Music Fest and it is being sponsored by the Delight Branch Library. Writers from Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas will be at the signing, with their books. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mary Lou will have 'Secret Promise,' 'The Dream Bucket,' 'Manuela Blayne,' 'Miss Loretta Larson,' as well as 'Travelers in Painted Wagons on Cohay Creek,' the novel that she invited me to coauthor with her. Mary Lou's books are based on the area in which I now live and where she grew up in and around a town called Taylorsburg.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If you happen to be in Arkansas this weekend - I'm sure Mary Lou would love to see a friendly, familiar face. What a delightful way to spend a weekend - in Delight, AR!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mary Lou's writings can also be found on either of her blogs: https://maryloucheathamauthor.blogspot.com/ or https://collardpatch.blogspot.com/</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-5983674862256165112017-09-16T11:20:00.002-05:002017-09-16T18:13:17.586-05:00When You Think You've Seen Everything.....<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We are at a lovely RV Park in Arlington, TX.....one with lots of shade trees.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">
And, just like in Emporia, we were sitting at the table this morning, and thank goodness I was facing the right direction. Of course, either direction provided a view....but my view turned out to be the most interesting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is a small travel trailer parked next to us with a young couple who had been in and out the trailer door at least a dozen times (and so had their dog.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They busy themselves around the outside of the trailer - back and forth to their pickup. I look up, occasionally, and see them. Then.....</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Suddenly the young man goes to the back of the trailer, and opens a small window. (I'm assuming it's the bedroom.) He puts a bucket under the window, but he DOES NOT turn it upside down. At this point, I'm really paying attention!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He tries to step on the top of the bucket (yes, the opening) and his foot slips in. Not to be deterred, he does it again and successfully stands on the rim of the top of the bucket....without turning the bucket over and without his foot slipping in, again. (That, to me, is a major feat.) He opens the small window and he, with a modicum of effort, climbs in the small window.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The young woman stands outside... by the door to the trailer and keeps yelling, "open the door, open the door." (Our window isn't open but she's talking loudly enough I can hear.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He looks out the window and says something back to her. She picks up a dog food bowl that is sitting outside, near the front door, and takes it back to the window and he reaches out and gets the bowl.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She then asks....."Are you coming back out?" I don't know what he said, but he did come back out.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The same way he went in!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yep, he did.....he climbed back out the window.....just like it was the right thing to do.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just when you think you've seen everything..............(and they got in their pickup and drove away.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
</span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-72169114108073269672017-09-15T07:47:00.002-05:002017-09-15T07:47:58.592-05:00There's Always A Story.......<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="c250j" data-offset-key="ca0nt-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
Okay, we are in an RV Park in Emporia, KS .....at the last exit before we have to get on the Turnpike. It's the same park where we stopped, in the Spring, It's where we saw "The Bounty Hunter" (no, not the REAL Bounty Hunter.)<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We're sitting, with laptops on the table, looking out the window at the comings and going (there's not much). A SUV enters the campground - not pulling a camper - and drives around several times. Perhaps they are searching for someone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, it (SUV) backs into a spot across and down from us, and a woman gets out. Soon after she backs in several work trucks pull in and begin to park at campers already in spots. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe she's with one of them.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">She gets a pink baby stroller out of the car but we're unable to see her put the baby in the stroller. Off she goes, taking the stroller and the baby, for a walk.......but she doesn't stop at any of the campers. Okay, now this has become a mystery. Why.....is a woman with a baby.....and no camper....backed into a spot in an RV campground.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's probably time for us to do our nightly exercise. What? You didn't know we took nightly walks. Sometimes, they are just necessary. No, I'm not nosey. I'm a writer! This just may be a story. And, of course, we walk in the direction where we'll just HAVE to meet her! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here she comes. "May we see your baby?" we ask. It's not a baby! It's a two-year-old cat in the pink baby stroller. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">She has driven, cross country, from Georgia to California......to "sew with a friend" and she's on her way back home. She sleeps, in her car or in a pup tent, and her cat travels with her. She oftens sleeps.....in Roadside Parks. Hmmm, not me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And then, we heard the story about the trip she took to Pennsylvania and the accident and how the cat got lost. Okay, it was now time to have a reason to go back into our RV!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I think we need to make regular trips to this RV Park.......there's always a story......</span></div>
<div style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-44169293088725290462017-09-14T20:19:00.002-05:002017-09-14T20:26:59.766-05:00A Meal Without Meat.......<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We southerners don't care for "sweet cornbread" .....that's a northern thing. The only exception to that, as far as I was concerned, was when I was still consulting. I had a client in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and we would often go out to eat at a local restaurant. A favorite appetizer was Cornbread served in a small black skillet with a sweet honey topping and it was oh, so good!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I awoke one morning hungry for a southern meal of veggies and cornbread. And even though I once had a boss who would say "a meal without meat is a meal incomplete"......I don't have to have meat, and I often don't.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Early one morning, while fixing my breakfast, I put a pot of Purple Hull Peas on to cook......and the aroma of those peas permeated the house and brought back memories of my Granny's kitchen and the wonderful meals that filled the dinner table and our bellies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I knew that just peas and cornbread wouldn't be enough to satisfy this hunger, so I began to think about cooking a small pot of butterbeans and making a Corn Casserole </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">An online Facebook group to which I belong had recently posted a recipe that included a box of Jiffy Cornbread Mix, two cans of Cream Style Corn, one egg and a stick of melted butter. I mixed and baked as directed and it was absolutely delicious!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My peas, butterbeans, corn casserole and cornbread and a glass of sweet ice tea.....made my day complete!! (A perfect southern meal.)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-44041810764761482242017-05-28T18:45:00.000-05:002017-06-30T11:04:57.978-05:00A Man Worth Remembering.....<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAUmBOoWhx062PJgfQccxCiv86uw2sSdAieNYeU3i5Qg09mAyOGbWdTcdYLxzdju_Atn10r7LpC2qHI2j6M4soAslak62VB64cx5D-8d30mEgIhdRACJR7TvPKlCQYkAaxde2/s200/flag.jpg" /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Celebrating Dick Peterson and others like him on this Memorial Day.....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">He fought in WWII and he'll be 100 on August 10th..........Dick Peterson is definitely a man worth remembering. After interviewing him earlier this year, I wrote the following article for my "From the Front Porch" column, in our Taylorsville Post.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">He
was born in Broadland, SD in August, 1917 and just 4 months later his mother
died during the Spanish Flu Epidemic. His father made the decision for his Aunt
Clara (his father’s youngest sister) to take him and his two older sisters. The
aunt, who later learned she was expecting a baby, decided it would be in the
best interest of everyone if she kept his sisters, and he went to live with her
sister, Mathilda. On April Fool’s Day in 1919 – when he was almost 8 months
old, he went to live with Aunt Tillie and Uncle John who had two grown
daughters.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">He
remembered that he always called her Aunt Tillie – never mom – even though she
had taken him in when he was just a baby. Aunt Tillie wasn’t warm and loving,
but she and Uncle John provided a good life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">His
father remarried and had another family and he saw him only a few times during
his growing up years.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Richard
“Dick” Peterson will be 100 years old on August 10, 2017. His wife, Phyllis,
with whom he’d been married 72 years passed away in December 2013. She had been
his high school sweetheart……a Freshman when he’d been a Senior. He graduated
and went to Iowa State University but continued to date Phyllis. In his words,
“she was the pick of the litter and so was I.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Dick
is busy. He lives alone in a townhouse in Johnston, Iowa where he still drives.
He was President of the Men’s Garden Club for 10 years and his yard is
immaculate and beautiful, and he’s the one who does the planting and
maintenance! The Gazebo in the Garden Clubs of America park was built, in his
honor, and has a plaque with his name.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Dick
is a wiry little man with a wonderful sense of humor even though he has Macular
Degeneration and receives injections in his eyes. His townhouse has a basement
and he amazed me with his agility as he hurried down the carpeted stairs. (He
arrived at the bottom and I had barely begun my descent.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">I had gone to visit with him and to see his WWII "Memorabilia Room" - but I received a tour of his home and saw so much more. In his finished basement was a very neat room with a work bench and tools. In another room under lights, with timers, were plants that he was "wintering" and awaiting the coming of Spring so he could plant them in his beds. My favorite room held a table with notebooks of Family Data and hundreds of pages, typed by one of his sons, of "Richard's Ramblings" and his poetry. The walls held family photos .....of him with Aunt Tillie's family, of his father and his family, and the only photo that he had of his mother.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Dick
and Phyllis got married in August, 1940 and in August, 1941 he was “ordered” to
active duty at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. He had received his Commission at Iowa
State as a 2<sup>nd</sup> Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers Reserve. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Just
as we all remember “where we were” when historical events happened, in the
world…..Dick remembers that he and Phyllis were in St. Louis, MO at the movies
when Pearl Harbor was attacked.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Dick
was at Normandy, and on Omaha Beach, and on Utah Beach. I want to know what
valiant effort was recognized by the Bronze Medal he received. I want to know
more about the WWII Memorabilia Room…..and I hope I’m here to help celebrate
number 100….in August!!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Dick
Peterson…..a man worth remembering!</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-91074433089785658232017-05-01T12:49:00.000-05:002017-05-01T12:49:56.622-05:00Probed and Investigated<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
There are so many Telemarketers these days....I don't usually answer the phone if the number doesn't look familiar. However, having said that.....my son-in-law is in Alabama for a meeting and this was an Alabama number calling....so I did.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
I KNEW it was a Telemarketer as soon as I said "Hello"...because there was a delay.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
After a couple of "hellos" (I shoulda' hung up), he said..."May I speak to Sarah Gorrell"...and I said...."What is this about?"</div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px;">
He said...."This is a Probe and an Investigation."</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
"Well"....thought I....."this could be good. It might even be the makings for a story or even some good gossip...depending on who the Probe and Investigation is about."</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
And, if it 'twas about me...I certainly wanted to know why I was being Investigated...and no darned body is going to "Probe" me without my knowledge.</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
So, I says...."How can I help you?"</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
And, this foreign voice says...."we notice you won a prize and we noticed that you are just now claiming it"</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Now, I know how people in Alabama sound (just like me). I know they've had immigrants flood their southern state...but I just doubted one was doing a "Probe and Investigation" on me and I doubted I'd won a prize....'cause I knew I wasn't trying to claim anything!</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
I hung up. I'm so glad I finally learned how to block numbers on this Smart Phone!!!</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
Happy to report...I'm not being "probed."</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-69898698646051404802017-03-26T21:09:00.003-05:002017-03-26T21:11:40.459-05:00"Under dressed"<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I’m not sure
how long her white hair was - </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> she had it piled (I assume) atop her head under the
“spiffy” little beige beret type hat, that had a short little bill. On the
back, she had placed a rather large white silk flower that was edged in pink.
I’m assuming it was to help keep her hat and hair, in place.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">She wore some
fancy black “jeggings” (she really needed a longer top to cover her fanny), but
the jeggings had pockets that were adorned with jewels. I think she wanted
those pockets to show and she was tiny so it really didn’t seem to matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Sticking out
from under the jeggings, on her feet, were sheer black panty hose which she had
encased in beige high heeled shoes. On top, covering her black top, she wore a
short beige sweater that was trimmed in fur. Was it real fur? I'm no expert!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Her cheeks were
deeply rouged in pink blush and when I got closer I noticed that when she
painted her lips (with the same pink color) she didn’t quite stay within her
lip lines. Her eyes were covered with huge black-rimmed sunglasses that had an
amber tint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The “writer” in
me knew this was a story, so I had to speak to her! I commented on how pretty
she looked (I was really stretching it a bit), and I asked if she was on her
way to a party. She replied….”No, I had a coffee party this morning.” I
realized that either her husband hadn’t gone…..or he wasn’t as “clothes
conscious” as she was. In fact, in my mind, they were sort of a “mis-match.”
However, she did tell me they’d “been together” 45 years!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Later, as we
sat there waiting for our clothes to finish (we had gone to a Laundromat) the young man who owned the place stopped and said….”Isn’t this a
great place to people watch?” I responded with….”You mean like that couple?”
(as I motioned toward the older couple). </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">He
replied…….”She always dresses like she’s in a pageant.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">It was the
first time I’d had someone make me feel “underdressed” at a Laundromat!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">#jeggings #laundromat #peoplewatching </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-63689990024577073382017-03-21T17:40:00.001-05:002017-03-21T17:42:31.001-05:00It was more than just a tree.......<div class="MsoHeader">
By the old house – the house that
we call “Granny’s House” – even though my parents also lived there after Granny
passed away, stood an old Water Oak Tree.
Several years ago, on a very stormy and windy night lightning struck the
old tree and several of the huge limbs fell across our driveway. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
Joey Robinson, sweet neighbor
that he was, came with his chain saw in the middle of the raging storm and cut
the big limbs, and daughter Gale and I helped get the driveway cleared.
Normally, the branches could have stayed until daylight but husband Bob had
recently been diagnosed with cancer and we never knew if, or when, we’d be
making a trip to the ER.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
Later, Bob wanted to cut the rest of the
tree down, but I begged (on behalf of the tree) to “let’s see if it will continue
living.” And continue living, it did! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
We all know that everything is
“in God’s time”….and I think God must have decided that the old Water Oak had
lived long enough.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
During a recent storm, I’m not
sure if lightning struck again or if the heavy winds took their toll, but most
of the rest of the old tree fell. Once again, it was across the driveway. This
time, there was no saving what was left. My son-in-law, Dan, cleared the
driveway and cut down most of the remainder of the old tree. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
I’m sorry I wasn’t there to say
goodbye, to a memory. Once, when the Southern Pine “Today” newspaper published instructions on how to measure a tree to find the age – granddaughter Olivia and
I went through the steps. The old tree was at least 110 years old. I knew it HAD
to be old – I’m over ¾ of a century and it had been standing there for as long
as I could remember.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
If the old tree could have talked,
the stories I’m sure it would have told! Many children – grandchildren,
great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews and friends had played under that old tree. We dug in the dirt with spoons and made pies in dishes (that Granny let us have). We used it as a hiding place while cousins searched for us. We sat under it in the heat of summer. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
Mistletoe grew in the top of the
old tree and squirrels chased up and down the trunk .into the holes they had
begun to call home. The acorns that fell from the limbs were tiny but plentiful
and covered the ground, like fine carpet, that crunched under one’s feet.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
It was more than just a tree – it
was a part of my childhood and of my adult memories and when I sit, on my Front
Porch, I’ll miss that old tree with its big roots. I’ll miss the sight of the
mistletoe, in the winter. It was the only tree, in my yard, with that parasite.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
I’ll remember, so many years
ago, little cousins digging in the dirt under that old tree. I’ll remember that
cousins shared secrets, under the old tree. I’ll remember that pictures were
taken under the old tree. I’ll remember that the old tree with it’s branches
and leaves shaded so many family members over the years. I’ll wonder how many
stories it had stored in its limbs and branches. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoHeader">
It was more than just a tree.....and I'm sorry I never took a photograph of the tree that was a part of my family history.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-39705612600602501002017-03-20T21:33:00.001-05:002017-03-20T21:33:20.266-05:00It's a Freebie!!!Ever so often.....we (Mary Cooke and I) get in a "giving" mood.<br />
<br />
Mary - who writes as Mary Lou Cheatham called and asked me....."how do you feel about giving something away?" She caught me on a day when I was in a Benevolent Mood! I asked, "what do you have in mind?" And she said....."let's create some interest in our book.....let's give away some Kindle downloads of Travelers in Painted Wagons on Cohay Creek!"<br />
<br />
"We really need to get people to write reviews," said Mary Lou "and .....well.....they have to read it first!" <br />
<br />
So, it was said and so it was decided.....<br />
<br />
We'd do a giveaway.....<br />
<br />
People like to get "something for nothing" ....and when that "something" is a good book,,,,,like Travelers in Painted Wagons on Cohay Creek........it brings a smile to so many faces.<br />
<br />
So, from today through Thursday (3/20 - 3/23)....download to your Kindle. Did you know you can also download a FREE Kindle app to your laptop ....or your iPad.<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_2089006966"><br /></a>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHWl-Fwpgwn3nk8ajKpDBzuUt244nHTu1G2fTlX1pMZGqjwPQv6NOnH0r2trwahqhCpoOyHg7COn0JG0T1jliMDOklJ-kW-eyVY0syamieTp3v7VdL4UcNwoffXFEJDN3-_TR/s1600/Travelers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHWl-Fwpgwn3nk8ajKpDBzuUt244nHTu1G2fTlX1pMZGqjwPQv6NOnH0r2trwahqhCpoOyHg7COn0JG0T1jliMDOklJ-kW-eyVY0syamieTp3v7VdL4UcNwoffXFEJDN3-_TR/s320/Travelers.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_4_20?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=travelers+in+painted+wagons+on+cohay+creek&sprefix=Travelers+in+Painted%2Caps%2C203&crid=1V3MDRXMBI24B" target="_blank">Download Free Book to your Kindle.....or the App on your Laptop or iPad.</a><br />
<br />
We ask that you leave a review, on Amazon, after reading our book.<br />
You don't have to write much....just "I liked it"...."I didn't like it" ....or more if you have more to say.<br />
<br />
We are judged by the NUMBER of reviews...so please, please, please....after you've read it....write something!!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-54134497242755754542017-02-01T21:18:00.001-06:002017-02-01T21:18:22.178-06:00You Were Family<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Strange how the death of someone, not in our immediate family, can affect us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Charlie wasn't in my family - not really - but in a sense, he was. He was married to a distant cousin and he was the youngest brother of an uncle. I know that seems strange. If he was my uncle's brother....why wasn't he related? Uncle James was married to Aunt Alice....my dad's sister. Charlie was a brother to Uncle James.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They were both Methodist ministers and were both the sons of a Methodist minister. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our Walker family was close. Aunt Alice and Uncle James were like a second set of parents to me. Their 3 kids were like brothers and sisters to me. So, Uncle James and Charlie's parents were always called "Grandpa and Granny Nick," by me. And Uncle James brothers and sisters included me, as if I was family.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of the seven children in their family (Grandpa and Granny Nick) five had Alzheimer's! Today, Charlie, the youngest son "finished his journey" here on earth. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have to explain that a cousin, by marriage on another side of the house, uses this term for someone dying....and I think it's beautiful. So, I've also begun to use the term "finished his journey" to explain when someone dies. Thank you Dora Hawkins Blakeney!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Charlie was the last person with whom my husband, Bob, played golf before Bob was diagnosed with cancer in 2010. I hope there are golf clubs, in heaven, and they get to play another round!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alzheimer's confuses me. We've always heard that keeping the mind active will help to prevent Alzheimer's Disease. However, some of the people who have been affected by this debilitating disease are those who have had the most active minds. Charlie was one of those people. He was a District Superintendent, in the Methodist Church. He had served at many churches and knew his Bible from front to back. Why, then, would he be affected? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He and Dimple, who was a distant cousin, on my Walker side of the family had been married almost 60 years. They were a beautiful couple and they had a beautiful family. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I lost a husband, so I can imagine exactly how Dimple feels, tonight. You've suddenly become conflicted. You're so thankful that your loved one is no longer suffering.....but now, you suffer because that part of you is gone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alzheimer's has often been called "the long goodbye".....because suddenly that loved one looks at us with eyes of wonder. Who are you? Who am I?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Charlie (called Nick, by many) will be missed by so many people. People within his family. People to whom he ministered. People in his churches. People.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I grieve for those of us who will miss him....but most of all....I grieve for Dimple. I know how it's going to be. Her family will be there for her.....but she'll still feel alone. Because a part of her is now missing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">RIP, Charlie.....you made a difference in so many lives. You weren't family.....but you were!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-79457728429269690432017-01-16T15:50:00.001-06:002017-01-16T16:00:35.169-06:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNGJKuvaSZR4Ejgj9hsgS6AHgYcbouhCN-jiIZ_IRYoGv1xw5ZU95nmB418OfgyPMjNWQDxpXwdLxyrIwKcr8My9y3klbgeuMSpaLyM7pvKWSzwTeg04LH7gm1s6VY2vjK1a-/s1600/Travelers+-+Book+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNGJKuvaSZR4Ejgj9hsgS6AHgYcbouhCN-jiIZ_IRYoGv1xw5ZU95nmB418OfgyPMjNWQDxpXwdLxyrIwKcr8My9y3klbgeuMSpaLyM7pvKWSzwTeg04LH7gm1s6VY2vjK1a-/s320/Travelers+-+Book+Cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you've not had an opportunity to read the latest book in 'The Covington Chronicles' ......co-authors Mary Lou Cheatham and Sarah Walker Gorrell encourage you to do so.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Both writers are extremely happy that awesomegang.com is featuring our book, today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Remember, it's available on Amazon.com in either print or for download to your Kindle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#travelersinpaintedwagonsoncohaycreek #kindle #awesomegang.com #gypsies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-46164453252813447742016-11-27T22:53:00.002-06:002016-11-28T22:37:47.796-06:00Free Kindle Book - Giving Tuesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="uiGrid _51mz _5f0n" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; table-layout: fixed; width: 646.4px;"><tbody>
<tr class="_51mx"><td class="_51m- vTop _5ep6" style="letter-spacing: inherit; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: top; width: 300px;"><div class="fsm">
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" id="id_583bb6a55b0300526947527" style="display: inline;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">"It is the early 1900’s in rural Mississippi along Cohay Creek, where people are scarce and stately virgin pine timber is plentiful.<br /><br />Caleb Smitherlin, a talented blacksmith, has a wife dying of cancer and a teenage son who tries every way possible to please his critical father. Caleb is torn. On the one hand, he loves Mathilda with every bone in his body, but on the other, he needs the company o</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">f another woman.<br /><br />The Gypsies he allows to camp on his land near Cohay Creek receive hate and distrust from the people of Taylorsburg. Walthere, the Gypsy leader, and Rosalie, his wife, become close friends of the Smitherlin family, even though Gypsies rarely mix with people outside their clan and especially not gentiles.<br /><br />Esmeralda, the Gypsy fortune teller, encourages Red Felty’s idea that his wife Ruby and Caleb Smitherlin are having an affair." .............<br /><br />Would you like to read more about this?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">This is just an excerpt from "Travelers in Painted Wagons on Cohay Creek".....written by Mary Lou Cheatham and Sarah Walker Gorrell.<br /><br />It's what we call "factual fiction" (borrowed that from another author). It can be downloaded from Amazon, for FREE, on Giving Tuesday!! (Our Christmas Gift....to you!!)</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="fsm">
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" style="display: inline;">
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="fsm">
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" style="display: inline;">
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">#GivingTuesday #FreeKindleBook #TravelersinPaintedWagonsonCohayCreek #Free #Download</span></span></div>
</div>
</td><td class="_51m- vTop _5ep7 _51mw" style="letter-spacing: inherit; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: top; width: 76px;"><div>
<div class="_6a _43_1" id="u_g6_5o" style="display: inline-block;">
<div class="_6a uiPopover" id="u_g6_5r" style="display: inline-block;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJ1WcTduZt2NQX_-u9D6YjqnMG_JZsD4t-3BU1MP9TV2tepWkJo3hHUBDMPcqM0zD-jEn2NU5BYuoZAVZSduI9bC2U3THM4em45nsbn3aaXHNMsW3bv78AEFqv_-CTRieFO4h/s1600/Travelers+in+Painted+Wagons+on+Kindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJ1WcTduZt2NQX_-u9D6YjqnMG_JZsD4t-3BU1MP9TV2tepWkJo3hHUBDMPcqM0zD-jEn2NU5BYuoZAVZSduI9bC2U3THM4em45nsbn3aaXHNMsW3bv78AEFqv_-CTRieFO4h/s320/Travelers+in+Painted+Wagons+on+Kindle.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" aria-label="Shared with Your friends and Mary's friends" class="_42ft _4jy0 _55pi _5vto _55_p _2agf _p _1zg8 _4jy3 _517h _51sy _59pe" data-hover="tooltip" data-testid="privacy_selector_10154676035738864" data-tooltip-alignh="right" data-tooltip-content="Your friends and Mary's friends" href="https://www.facebook.com/sarah.w.gorrell/allactivity?privacy_source=activity_log&log_filter=cluster_11#" id="u_g6_5s" rel="toggle" role="button" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-radius: 2px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-sizing: content-box; color: #4b4f56; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; max-width: 31px; padding: 0px 3px; position: relative; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; vertical-align: middle; white-space: nowrap; word-wrap: normal;"><span class="_55pe" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; max-width: 17px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; vertical-align: top;"><i class="mrs img sp_x-YammR-ziv sx_2fc5e6 customimg" style="background-image: url("/rsrc.php/v3/yj/r/_xpGrnNPT63.png"); background-position: -17px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: auto; bottom: 1px; display: inline-block; height: 16px; margin-right: 5px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 17px;"></i></span></a></div>
</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19818018.post-33265368755234374072016-11-08T21:02:00.004-06:002016-11-08T21:02:57.007-06:00Cemeteries hold the key.....<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anyone who knows me knows anything about me, or has read anything I’ve written knows that I love country roads, cemeteries, genealogy, cemeteries, family, cemeteries, travel, cemeteries……you’ve got the idea!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This past Saturday, at the Historical Society Meeting in Raleigh (if you have any interest in your family lineage and/or Smith County, we’d love to have you join us!), one of the members, who is also a distant relative, mentioned that one of my Allen ancestors (a ggg- aunt) had been confined to the Mental Hospital in Meridian and was buried in that cemetery. (My Granny Walker’s mother was an Allen.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This ggg-aunt was born in 1829 and lived, per census records, most of her life with her parents. In the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Smith</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype></st1:place> census of 1880, she was still living with my ggg-grandmother. She was approximately 50 years of age and my ggg-grandmother, a widow, was 78. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In 1882, legislation was passed establishing the East Mississippi State Insane Asylum and in 1885, the hospital opened 2 miles west of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Meridian</st1:place></st1:city>. I am assuming that ggg-grandma Allen died sometime between 1880 and 1885, hence the reason the “insane” ggg-aunt had to go to a Mental Hospital. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Again, anyone who knows me understands that this is a mystery to be unraveled. Even though there was a heat advisory, on Sunday, I just HAD to go find this grave. I coerced cousin, Pam Walker, to ride along with me. After all, I had already located the other Allen grave in the cemetery at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Ellisville</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype w:st="on">School</st1:placetype></st1:place>. I have to admit, this was beginning to be a little unnerving ……all these ancestors ending up in mental facilities! (Bob had always laughed and commented that everyone in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Smith</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype></st1:place> was so related, he didn’t know how we could “walk and chew gum, at the same time.”) I miss him, terribly, but I think this was one time I was glad he wasn’t around!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The directions to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">East</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Central</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Mississippi</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Hospital</st1:placetype></st1:place>, also known as Cedar Haven, stated that the cemetery was at the west end of <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">22<sup>nd</sup> Street</st1:address></st1:street>. Have you ever tried to find anything in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Meridian</st1:place></st1:city>? The streets start and stop. We’d be on 22<sup>nd</sup> and it would end and we’d have to zig and zag until we found it, again. We stopped at a convenience store to ask directions, and the two female clerks spoke absolutely NO English!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We got to the end of <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">22<sup>nd</sup> street</st1:address></st1:street>, in the absolute worst part of town and there was no cemetery. Everyone we stopped to ask, shrugged their shoulders…..they had no idea where the “old cemetery for the insane” was located. We were already hot and tired and probably looking pretty scary!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finally, we decided to use Pam’s GPS, on her phone!! Maybe we needed to be in that hospital. We had driven around for an hour – why didn’t we think of this sooner?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We located the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">East</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Central</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Mississippi</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Hospital</st1:placetype></st1:place> on <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Highland Street</st1:address></st1:street>. It’s a huge facility that seems to be in the process of growing. Are they expecting that many more people? Anyway, we got directions from a very nice young security guard …..who had no idea there was a cemetery ……but she made a phone call, got and gave excellent directions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After following her directions, suddenly we were, again, at the end of <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">22<sup>nd</sup> Street</st1:address></st1:street> (in another block)…..and there was the cemetery with a locked gate! The optimist cousin Pam said, “we can crawl under.” I looked at the bottom of the locked gate….and the ground…..and wondered how badly I wanted to find this woman’s grave (on this very hot day.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m not sure why the gate was locked ….unless it was thought that someone might steal a body. There was ample (well, not really ample) room between the locked gate and the post to which it was attached…..we were able to squeeze (literally) through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We walked the cemetery, checking each tombstone. Again, as in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Ellisville</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype w:st="on">School</st1:placetype></st1:place> cemetery, most stones were state issued and were small with name and dates of birth and death. Unlike Ellisville, most of these stones were set above the ground. In the older section, the stones were of concrete and only contained a number …..etched into the stone….probably the “Inmates ID” number.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m not sure how many acres the cemetery covered. After all the makeup on my face had melted into my eyes, and I began to feel like I couldn’t breathe, it felt like 100! (I think it was probably 5 acres.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, we didn’t find the ggg-aunt, but I did take a photo of a tombstone with a familiar last name – Hosey. When I got home and began checking, I discovered that he’s my 1<sup>st</sup> cousin twice removed (his mother was an Allen.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Can I say that now I’m just a little more than concerned. All these family members in a Mental Institution. Yep, it’s probably a good thing Bob Gorrell isn’t around right now.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cemeteries hold the key to our past - and possibly - to our future!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">#Cemeteries #Hosey #Allen #EastMississippiStateInsaneAsylum #Meridian</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18287410826256587335noreply@blogger.com0