Monday, September 1, 2014

walking across egypt

Happy labor day to all ya'll and your mama'n'them. I'm tickled to death to be at home instead of at the sawmill like I usually am on "holidays." We've already been to the home to see Mom and walked with her on the way to the beauty shop where they sing while they curl. Gotta' love these folks...the ones who do it because they connect with the elderly. She'll also have therapy today so no holiday there. I talked with a friend yesterday about nursing home to home options and found out about an opportunity I had never known about that their supplement will pay for. How's that for a miracle? Vicki has been driving to Mempho for five years for her job as a cosmetology instructor to high school students. She recently landed a gig close to home and I'm so happy for her. She and Chucky have been lifelong buddies of mine and except for a few cuts on the side in somebody's kitchen, they have coiffed me and the BG for 30+ years. They will both shudder when I show up to get rid of my Pink look.

So my hero Marti Ann came and brought her dog yesterday and we caught up with everything in about the space of two hours. I can honestly tell you that she is the reason that I am tough and tender enough to be a strong and principled woman in today's world. She taught me to do dance aerobics when were young'ens and that went on for many years. I was probably the only student who snuck out for a cig during training. There are certain songs that I will always associate with that class: Danger Zone and Call Me Al are just a couple. Her family lives all over the place so we used to keep their dog Taffy when they hit the road for holidays which I cannot fathom. Taffy would be the one that the twins put in the dryer, poor baby. Sweetest.Dog.Ever. Prudence has that same soul that just kind of hovers over her. My pack of Alphas just about gave her a nervous breakdown. We share the heritage of the UMC and a love of the arts. She and Sally are the ones who introduced me to the Southern Festival of Books which is held every year in October. That was when I fell in love with Clyde Edgerton because he could play music too and is totally easy on the eyes. I still have my copy of Larry Brown's "Joe" published before he died at 55 and Lewis Nordan's "Music of the Swamp" minus one corner that a dog chewed off. My copy of Alton Brown's "Feasting on Asphalt" featuring good friend river guy John Ruskey is there on the shelf as well. All of these are ones that have made the cut as I sort and toss. One year after the sale of a century out here the piles are much more manageable but need to be worked with. I could make enough at Hastings on used books to buy season 2 of House of Cards! Hmm..what else? "Dying Well" was written by a doctor about the illness and death of his father and his role as advocate and son. This is one of those books in the meme about what changed your life that I will always count. Ditto for "On Death and Dying." I see it as a passage because I've lived long enough and seen enough things to know that some things? Are worse than death.

Keep the faith ^j^







2 comments:

  1. You have that right, some things truly are worse than death. And Clyde IS (or was) easy on the eyes and a terrific writer. Somewhere are here (if I didn't pitch it in my sale of the century) is an autographed copy of Raney. He played at the art museum for an American art opening (for which I had done the flowers) and he kindly signed my book. He's shorter than I, but I fell in love.

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