talk to the hand

Following California's showing, the entire DNC has decided that Bernie is a non-contender and should just crowd share his support with Hillary.  I'm not saying that won't happen eventually, but it's far from over.  He lost by only a few percentage points.   However, we all know that doesn't mean squat because "superdelegates".  It's not even close to over yet kids.  I know you Dems mean well but there are enough of us who need to ponder on this a bit longer.  At least give us that instead of saying that being a BernieBro is like voting for Trump.  Let it play out.  Half the enjoyment is watching the whole historic thing unfold.

I went down to check out the neighbors' garden yesterday afternoon and found it to be looking all nuclear powered and green as can be with crops already bearing.  Me and Beverly and the 3 kids bent and picked and inspected a whole bunch of things.  I even saw a couple of green tomatoes!  Mia said they've already had some fried ones.  We filled me a basket and then headed back up to the yard where the ducks were pitched OUT of the wading pool and proceeded to quack amongst the chickens who are here there and  yonder.  The dogs chased them and it was a hoot.  After that, I fried up some yellow squash and fresh green onions and ate them hot out of the oil, just like my mama used to make.

Heather got me started on the natural soap thing while we were at the beach and I've become an avid fan.  Today's interesting convo was with a gal who suffers from debilitating fibromyalgia and thyroid dysfunction and she advised me on some herbals to help with yeast overgrowth which is a common culprit in chronic disease.  She can eat nothing but fruit, veggies and meat and takes a lot of natural kinds of things like probiotics and whatnot.  I've got a bottle that's been sitting dormant forever so it's time to get something new and give it a shot.  Inflammatory response by the body to stress can trigger symptoms as well.  And I mean I've had a bit of it you think?  No Lyrica.  Treat the problem instead of medicating it to make some pharmabro richer.  I saw two different drug reps wheeling in lunch and or free samples in my vicinity today.  It's disgusting.

Bubba came by with Sally yesterday to show me the marker Harvey bought for Daddy's grave and it's lovely.  It holds an American flag and is ready to plant as soon as our schedules allow.  He also shared that they house will probably move and that the tree guy is on a mission to clear out the tree line across the lane to improve the view.  This is so awesome that I can't even find words for it.  Who gets blessed enough to not only grow up on a piece of paradise like this, but to have it owned by someone who loves history and preservation.  We do, as it turns out.

As Joe the Camel says, it's hump day!  

daylilies and lightning bugs

Our June landscape is always dotted with orange groves of lilies for the couple of weeks that they last and it's a sight to behold.   Lightning bugs came out last week or so ago so it looks like we're headed straight to first day of summer.  The humidity is down and breeze up so it's right pleasant out at the moment.  Two of the three dogs stayed out while I was working and Sam just laid on my bed *resting* like an old dog.  He's probably ummm....9ish and my main man.  We are literally joined at the hip.

I had one of those aha moments today when I saw a guy's face and knew his last name immediately even though he's about 3rd generation Stanfield as in flowers out the wazoo.  And Christmas trees!  I've spent the grocery money there , at Pennington's and at Randy Burns place in Southtown on more than one occasion.  This year, I have not bought the first one.  Too much going on, ya know?

At this point last year we had begun the year long procession to Curry's beginning with Aunt Granny in early June who followed Ginner in January.  Then came Pnoler on Father's Day ( yeah, that sucked ) and on June 29th Daddy was admitted for what was to be his last trip from home.  He never got to go back to the farm.  I should have loaded his ornery ass up on his birthday and took him for a drive.  Woulda, coulda shoulda. Same thing for the Thanksgiving party at Mom's nursing home.  I was too tired to make the effort but BG and Kathy did just fine.  I remember on their 50th anniversary we had a party at Reelfoot and I ended up with a root canal that afternoon.  Missed that too!  I was there and present in the best way I could manage with what was being juggled.  Looking back, it is absurd that elders are transported to and from physician consults to move to the next place, whatever it is.  We believe that we will live forever, and some things medicine just can't fix.

Mama just gave up after Daddy died.  She grieved herself to death because had lived her entire life with and through him.   I ran into some old friends of theirs today and they brought that up to me.  Miss Delores sadly noted that there are only 7 of their original bunch left.  I remember all of them fondly for they had many good times with our family.  The McDivitt grandchildren are also a big part of our lives.  Rachel is my new most favorite writer in the whole world.  Addie and Jessie and Keller and Annie.  All the way back y'all.

BG starts a new job tomorrow and is upbeat.  Sunday is visit day and there's a pile in progress for the Jackson run.  My house is ( somewhat ) clean and the utility bill dropped a hundred bucks for the 3rd month in a row.  God is good....all the time.

this and that

Thank you sweet baby jeebus for a lovely weekend at the sawmill and a day off.  I've had quite a few visitors at the house lately which is nice because I do so hate to get out.  I think it's called agoraphobia or something.  Mostly I'm just lazy and enjoy piddling and not being on a schedule.  My piles are getting closer to organized and the purge continues.  Sale part II will commence later this summer whenever we get around to it.  I ran into my picker friend at the chicken store and he said to holla'.  He used to hang out there as a teenager along with a bunch of other guys.  It was during Bonanza time and they called my little brother Hop Sing and made him go get stuff.

I was all snuggled in to sleep late and the yard crew showed up at 8 so there you go.  There were three this time and it looks better with each trip.  I'm glad to have that connection  Ryan!  The one thing that has survived in my rotten straw bale is a lettuce plant and it surprised me by getting tall overnight.  I've never grown that type of thing.  Beverly has it plus a whole bunch more stuff and is slaving daily over it.  Mamye and Steve came by yesterday and he gave me the stainless steel peace sign I've been lusting after.  Took it right off his neck and put it on mine!  We talked about everybody we know and some that we don't know too well and it was good to share those memories.

My life coach has informed me that Benadryl is thought to cause early onset dementia which makes me really glad I don't use it much.  We're plotting to get me off the other pharmaceuticals slowly but surely and there aren't many.  The happy pill is the big one and involves careful withdrawal even though it's just an SRUI.  Those things are good for short term but wicked in the long run.  I've ordered two stained glass garden pieces from a blog friend and some handmade vegan soap.  Tell me I'm not serious about detox!

I noticed that Florida looks kind of wet for the next day or so so I'm glad we got our trip in when we did.  A third storm this early is supposed to be a "thing" in weather talk.  Mitzi is there so I'm hoping they dodge the worst of it in Destin.  Those folks need a good vacation as bad as I did!  They like go go go and shop so rain won't stop them.

It works if you work it ~

building an ark

It just keeps on coming y'all.  Showers and monsoons and random little rumbles from the heavens telling us who is in charge.  Growing up on a farm I was acutely aware of how favorable weather conditions could make or break a crop.  This year has been exceptional in terms of heat and rainfall   and the corn is reaching upward accordingly.  Soon my friends, I will be hidden from view.  That's right around the time that the kudzu starts crossing the road.

Ryan does my yard and it has been a two year work in progress that I've enjoyed watching take shape.  His Daddy was one of my oldest buddies and sold me almost every appliance I ever purchased.  He's been gone now for over two years.  The last time I spent any quality time at the kudzu bar was at a BBQ benefit in his honor.  Gloria never let him stay very long like the other guys, but he loved every minute of hanging with them.  That sound you hear?  It's the slap of ivory dominoes on granite.

I'm glad I was at the beach during the gorilla escapade because geez.  Some people's kids!  I've known some pretty  dumb parents in my time but to think that inattention to your child long enough for said child to climb a fence happens?.  Don't get me started.  If you can't control them, don't take 'em out in public.  Same goes for the grocery store and dolla' gentral.  On the flip side, what are you gonna' do when some dumbass gets in a dangerous situation?   Tase him, or shoot him if he's young and black.

My moral outrage is about to come out full force over how ridiculously stupid sheeple can be, myself not excluded.  My parents raised me to believe that if you work hard, honor your family, God and country and use your talents, life will be good.  Their faith in God gave them that ability and they were faithful tithers to the end.  They were pillars in the community at church, work and as volunteers.  My father gave me the love of seasons, which is a true faith lesson.  "In the end there is beginning..."

Promise ~

power scrubs

I needed them today once again and they did not fail me.  It was performance improvement time for me once again and I scurried as fast as I could to get her done.  Only I'm too old to scurry much, you know?  The tasks at hand are not daunting unless multi tasking comes into play where you have to do ten things at once.  Nobody can write an SOP with that going on!  Fortunately I had time to do a few through dollar store glasses with papers here there and yon.  It's a process and I am organizationally impaired at best.  Maybe I'll learn some useful skills.

I killed the washer by putting pillows in it so here comes Kevin this afternoon to admonish me to never EVER do pillows or comforters because geez....I got a rebuilt washer last time for the price of a service call.  His kids are great and life is hard.  He gets about a quarter a year raise and so do I though we are in entirely different professions.
 Corporate has come and gone and I never saw him but there was lots of historical research done according to Bubba.  We had gone to the library some years ago to try and find this place on the original deed map and we had it picked just right according to other records.  This was when land was FREE y'all.  Imagine that.  Also discovered was the little nugget that my Pawpaw sold Harvey's dad some land in the early fifties.  I knew that he was the manager of the properties and that's how Daddy came on board with the Calcutt farm 62 years ago.  UCMTSU y'all.

The history here is sacred like that of any community.  Elders tell me daily about growing up out here when there was a school and South Dyersburg was thriving.  My parents told me it was known as Little Chicago for all the crime and whatnot associated with the river traffic near Main Street.  I have honest to god pictures of old churches sitting proudly on city corners that now have banks and parking lots.  But I regress.  In a million years I could not describe to you the pure excitement I felt when Ms Mary Crawford and Juanita came into my life.  What is now my dining room was the bedroom her little sister almost died in.  She told me how her Daddy just cried like a baby.   There were swans in a pond out back, she said.  And a chute for peonies to ride from the fields to the packing area in the basement.  The huge dairy barn was home to a custom chicken farm and I even have a copy of the  catalog * somewhere* along with Ed Wright's photo as a boy by the asparagus packing shed.  It sat right across the lane from Casa Poops.  Ms Mary was four years old when she moved here.  There was another peony farm on a ridge over by where the elementary school is now.  Peony Ridge, I believe.

More later ~

ask and you will receive

A lot of times us co-dependents fail to reach out and touch someone when we need it most because we can "handle" things.  My friend Delores had mentioned to me on Sunday when the car died that she would have been glad to run me to Jackson for the visit with BG.  When I found myself back at the service station with a tire being patched pre-visit this morning I was not looking forward to the drive because....not so trusty Camry.  I came back home to cry kill time until the appointed hour and God told me it was past time to ask for help.  So, I called Didi#1 who was fresh out of yoga and agreed to take me because she's cool like that.  We are old friends with a lot in common including years at the FUMC.   We met Didi#2 at the Exxon station for an exchange of Kilzer vinyl and goat milk soap.  There was great karma and many blessings all over this day that could only come from above.   Over the drive and her lunch treat we traded stories and caught up on who's doing what as we know it.  It was a lovely escape from reality.
My visit with BG was loving, frank and what we both needed.  Since I was being driven I was much less tense than usual and even managed to find the place without GPS.  Our emotions must be on the same level because yesterday was a bad one emotionally for both of us as in feeling the grief full force that comes from keeping it on low burn for a year.  Her legacy now is to shine as a beacon of hope to others like her father did.  Daily she runs into folks who knew and loved him.  It's a God thing, pure and simple.  And just for today and every day...that's enough.

^j^

from a distance

That is one of my all time favorite songs,  especially Bette Midler.  "God is watching us!"  I try really hard to remember that in my daily dealings with folks even the ones I'm outdone with.  Jesus doesn't like an eye for an eye and all that retribution so there you go.  Just do unto others and it's all good.  But that's easier said than done, ya know?  One small task that I find myself with at the sawmill requires visits to patient units for clerical checks.  I'm actually enjoying that patient interaction with the ones who are truly afraid of being sick.. As I struggled for composure this morning and slipped on big girl panties I found a notice from Daddy's funeral in the drawer and it had pics of he and Mama so they spent the rest of the day in blood bank with me.  The shock has worn off and the grief is appropriate.  As BabySister would say "But honeh, your motha' just died."  Her Mister passed shortly after that and she's on the road to a new home herself.  Annie calls now and then and it's a nice easy check in with bullet points: Lauren, Janie and the world.

Hoother Marie just touched base from somewhere on the interstate system of NashVegas to let me know she survived the Duck River in a kayak.  I knew that because I saw a phone pic of her sleeping in a hammock!  Our trip last week is still fresh and making me want to go back when funds allow.  Corporate is due to arrive this evening and I'm still not ready but presentable.  Bubba came by and we caught up on corporate America and our recent vacations.   As it turns out, the flying house may not be such a far fetched idea.  The way those thunderheads are building the house might just fly on it's own tonight!  So far it's just heavy rain but the day is young and there might be a rainbow out there.