Thursday, January 28, 2010
Shedding Armor
A high school yearbook with frayed spine
marks the center of our shared table.
Memories fill the gaps in conversation
Some come with long shamed shadows
that lose their stabbing blackness
beneath the spinning light
of a mirrored ball.
I never knew your father drank...
My mother was suicidal...
Leave It To Beaver times and all
Each of us played the parts, I guess
Like repentent parishioners we confess
in a circular fashion
no need of curtains to hide the flaws
any more - we've come of age
Revelations turn magic solvent
and melt away ancient armor
We were all the same.
Veritas liberabit vos
marks the center of our shared table.
Memories fill the gaps in conversation
Some come with long shamed shadows
that lose their stabbing blackness
beneath the spinning light
of a mirrored ball.
I never knew your father drank...
My mother was suicidal...
Leave It To Beaver times and all
Each of us played the parts, I guess
Like repentent parishioners we confess
in a circular fashion
no need of curtains to hide the flaws
any more - we've come of age
Revelations turn magic solvent
and melt away ancient armor
We were all the same.
Veritas liberabit vos
Monday, January 25, 2010
"The Feasting"
Bloggy friend and brainiac, Stu, has composed a short short story at his place entitled "The Feasting".
A mini Alfred Hitchcock revisitation to ...The Birds. Very neatly packed into 150 terrific words.
That movie always scared the beejeebers out of me. Still to this day, whenever there is a big gathering at dusk of those pesky large black grackles, I get an uneasy feeling. More than one person in the parking lot where such flocks congregate have made the same mental connection to Hitchcock. One of those movies you just don't forget.
Ornithophobia, anyone?
Ol' Phat Stu is serving...
A mini Alfred Hitchcock revisitation to ...The Birds. Very neatly packed into 150 terrific words.
That movie always scared the beejeebers out of me. Still to this day, whenever there is a big gathering at dusk of those pesky large black grackles, I get an uneasy feeling. More than one person in the parking lot where such flocks congregate have made the same mental connection to Hitchcock. One of those movies you just don't forget.
Ornithophobia, anyone?
Ol' Phat Stu is serving...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Ava Neoma Churchwell Bartlett
This beautiful little girl is my maternal grandmother. I never knew her, she died when I was four years old. My memories are wisps that won't quite focus. Because she died young of brain cancer, I was left to fashion from others' memories who she was as a person.
This photo is of the Locker, Texas 1930's girls' volleyball team. Ava is second from the right of the photo.
This photo is of my maternal grandparents, Willis and Ava in 1942.
Not sure when this was taken, but Ava is on the left, my PawPaw in the middle (Willis) and the lady on the right is the wife of my PawPaw's best friend for many years, Minnie Reese.
My mother and her Aunt Vida Till, Ava's older sister, taken in the summer of 2002. Vida, along with her oldest son, Aubrey, was killed in a head-collision on Easter Sunday the following spring near Goldswaithe. I did fortunately get to visit a couple of times with Aunt Vida before the accident. She and Ava favored each other a lot -could have been twins almost. As close as I could know what Ava might have looked like in her elder years.
And this little cutie is my only granddaughter, Caitlyn, who often times reminds me of Baby Ava with those big baby blues:
I am sure Ava would have loved meeting her.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Bread and Water - It's What's For Dinner For Grannie
I'll bet your hometown paper hasn't been very vocal about an upcoming vote in the US Senate on a bill that is cleverly designed to rip Social Security and Medicare to tiny minuscule shreds. I've seen nothing on the various nightly news programs either.
Ronni, at Time Goes By, has blogged a couple of times to alert her readers, and I would be amiss not to pass this important message on. Tomorrow is the National Call-In Day to express your views. Easy to participate in this little adventure in democracy. Do it. (See TGB today for instructions on how).
I've written not only to my senator, John Cornyn, but also to all of my federal representatives to express my deep anger over Senate Bill 2853. (Click here to email him).
It gives me ulcers to think how Congress could easily change my rapidly approaching future elder years. Kman and I have paid our taxes regularly, worked and paid them since we were in high school (nearly 40 years worth and will continue for another minimum of 13 years or more hinging on our health). Due to several factors, some in our control but most not, we will be heavily dependent upon our monthly Social Security checks and Medicare insurance once we are unable to work. We are trying to rectify and ameliorate this, but there isn't enough time in our working years to avoid being dependent on these programs.
Social Security and Medicare would simply mean we could at least "get by" unless either of us were faced with some major horrific debilitating illness. If Medicaid is slashed along with Social Security and Medicare, and I hate to even suggest this, but self-euthanasia (suicide) might be the last alternative to living on the streets.
Why isn't Congress working on reducing our outrageous military expenditures? Oceans and oceans of dollars being thrown overseas with nary a sign of of an end or workable solution in sight, but certainly at a larger cost to those soldiers who either never come home alive, or return with missing body parts to a shattered life. Youth ill-spent on a skewed ideology. But, I digress..another day on this topic.
As a glass half-empty person these days where my government is concerned, I have a foreboding feeling about the future of our elder population. Too bad we can't force those government representatives who have the power to change so many lives into the lifestyle situation faced by our nation's elders. Let those who wield the power live on a lone Social Security check with no other viable income. Wonder how long they would survive without their L & L fixes(Lattes and Lexus), nevermind those days of no food or medicine.
Won't happen, of course. Fat cats always dine on caviar and champagne, courtesy of lazy citizens and the protection of a system gone bad.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Before CATS, There Was...
From the 1933 movie, "Footlight Parade".
I adore Busby Berkeley!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
She Wasn't A Hero
She wasn't a hero, at least in her own eyes; I think the world sees it much differently.
Miep Gies dies at age 100
Imagine, Miep might have burned Anne's writings if she hadn't locked them away without reading them as the notes would have incriminated not only herself, but the resistance members who helped the Frank family and others.
RIP
Miep Gies dies at age 100
Imagine, Miep might have burned Anne's writings if she hadn't locked them away without reading them as the notes would have incriminated not only herself, but the resistance members who helped the Frank family and others.
RIP
Sunday, January 10, 2010
New Prairie Mary Offering
Prairie Mary has posted a great new short story at her place:
The Winter That Killed Horses
I purchased her Twelve Blackfeet Stories a while back. Reminds me I should go and re-read those. Really, really good reading.
The Winter That Killed Horses
I purchased her Twelve Blackfeet Stories a while back. Reminds me I should go and re-read those. Really, really good reading.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Stones N' Bones
Feel the need to go a'cemetery hunting. Too dang cold down here in Cowtown right now, though. Freeze my own bones.
Friday, January 08, 2010
John, the Revelator - Texas Style
Take some rockin' Govt Mule, and add a dash of the New Orleans brass band, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and you got some killer music for Friday!
(Thanks, Mike, for stopping by TT!)
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Rooten' Tootin'
My bloggy and high school alum friend, Joe, has a great suggestion over at his new blogspot: Rooten' Tootin'.
Stop by, sit and chat a spell. He's a great guy...
Check out his Big Bend photos, too. Yep, he loves the Bend, too!
Stop by, sit and chat a spell. He's a great guy...
Check out his Big Bend photos, too. Yep, he loves the Bend, too!
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
The Unbroken Thread - New from Symphony of Science
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Terrific Texas Art
(*A rather long post, but there's a treat if you read all the way through to the end!)
A couple of years ago, Kman and I were wandering around First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas. A huge outdoor-indoor market spanning across acres and acres, Canton offers something for everyone. We stopped by one booth that caught our eye - a gentleman selling large glossy posters - each a montage of iconic Texas images. Some featured the state's gorgeous wildflowers, another was themed with the forever recognizable Texas Lone Star, and a third was of the word "Texas" in dozens of different forms, from old weathered signboards to bronze plaques.
Here's one of our posters in a handmade Kman frame (remember, click to enlarge):
Rick Vanderpool is the artist behind the camera, but that's only part of his professional background. Holding a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Georgia, Rick has been a publisher for the local newspaper in Commerce, Texas: The Commerce Journal. With a list as long as my arm, Rick's freelance photography and writing have been featured in Southern Living, Atlantic Constitution, Brown's Guide to Georgia, and Nikon World Magazine to list just a few. Did I mention he has a screenplay under his belt as well: All the Kings' Horses (Tarmac Films; Georgetown, Texas)
If all that weren't impressive enough, he also has a book about his photographic travels across this big state (20,000 miles and counting) complete with 400 black & white photos and humorous commentary: Looking for Texas: Essays from the Coffee Ring Journal. Easily found via Amazon.
Though he is a native of Georgia, Rick's love of Texas shines through in his compositions. He's earned his Lone Star Badge as far as I'm concerned. In his own words:
The latest in his poster series is a tribute to a delicacy I can only hope you get an opportunity to sample: Texas wine.
Yep, that's what I said, TEXAS wine. (Okay, cut out the wisecracks about applejack.) You can read all about his inspiration for the wine poster at What's So Grape About Texas. Spending 90 days in Texas wine country, Rick not only captured the industry and it's Lone Star uniqueness, but he also composed some right pretty verse:
Okay, that was more fun than flowery, but at his What's So Grape About Texas site, you can find more samples of his serious poetic side. A true Renaissance Man!
Now per my promise at the first of this post, if you love the wine montage as much as I do, Rick has offered Texas Trifles' readers a special 2-for-one sale on the Ninety Days In Texas Wine Country poster. Just order from the site, click the "Buy Now" button, and simply put "Cowtown Pattie Sent Me" in PayPal's Special Instructions space and Rick will know to "Super-size" your order, and will also personalize it with his signature; one to keep, one to give to a friend!
A couple of years ago, Kman and I were wandering around First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas. A huge outdoor-indoor market spanning across acres and acres, Canton offers something for everyone. We stopped by one booth that caught our eye - a gentleman selling large glossy posters - each a montage of iconic Texas images. Some featured the state's gorgeous wildflowers, another was themed with the forever recognizable Texas Lone Star, and a third was of the word "Texas" in dozens of different forms, from old weathered signboards to bronze plaques.
Here's one of our posters in a handmade Kman frame (remember, click to enlarge):
Rick Vanderpool is the artist behind the camera, but that's only part of his professional background. Holding a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Georgia, Rick has been a publisher for the local newspaper in Commerce, Texas: The Commerce Journal. With a list as long as my arm, Rick's freelance photography and writing have been featured in Southern Living, Atlantic Constitution, Brown's Guide to Georgia, and Nikon World Magazine to list just a few. Did I mention he has a screenplay under his belt as well: All the Kings' Horses (Tarmac Films; Georgetown, Texas)
If all that weren't impressive enough, he also has a book about his photographic travels across this big state (20,000 miles and counting) complete with 400 black & white photos and humorous commentary: Looking for Texas: Essays from the Coffee Ring Journal. Easily found via Amazon.
Though he is a native of Georgia, Rick's love of Texas shines through in his compositions. He's earned his Lone Star Badge as far as I'm concerned. In his own words:
To paraphrase a quip attributed to James Barnes, “You can always tell a Texan, but you can’t tell him much,” I never imagined being able to tell Texans anything new and different about their state; its history, myths or geography.
But then, I’d seen the many books on Texas – shelf after shelf in libraries and bookstores – and came to believe that Texans certainly do enjoy the telling and do not mind in the least the retelling of almost anything about their state.
So it was that I awoke one morning convinced I just might be able to show Texans something new and different. Several friends and clients encouraged the idea, as did information from the crunchers of travel and tourism numbers at the Texas Department of Economic Development; information supporting the fact that Texans and non-Texans alike feel that the Lone Star State is worth at least a second look.
In 1994, I began a series of trips that would total over 20,500 miles and 54 days on the road – several roads, actually – to visit all 254 county seats in the state. And while I photographed anything else that caught my interest – from road kill and wildflowers, to grand views and tumbleweeds (all captured on roughly 400 rolls of film) – I was mostly looking for Texas; simply the word, as part of an old sign on the side of a barn, on a once bustling store’s front, now closed and crumbling, or on a brand new sign welcoming visitors to a revitalized Main Street. Tiny or huge. Fashioned from neon and glass, metal, wood, stone or plastic. On t-shirts and banners, jackets or caps, leather belts, boots and saddles. On buckles, badges, patches, tattoos or you-name-it. Anywhere. Any material. And with character – as in worn, weathered, carved, etched, painted, stitched, tooled, scrawled, scratched or sculpted.
The latest in his poster series is a tribute to a delicacy I can only hope you get an opportunity to sample: Texas wine.
Yep, that's what I said, TEXAS wine. (Okay, cut out the wisecracks about applejack.) You can read all about his inspiration for the wine poster at What's So Grape About Texas. Spending 90 days in Texas wine country, Rick not only captured the industry and it's Lone Star uniqueness, but he also composed some right pretty verse:
There was a young lass from Ben Hur,
Who at tastings, caused quite a stir;
Tired of scrubbing stained togs till she ache-ed,
She now sips her wine stark naked.
rdv 5/11/2009
Okay, that was more fun than flowery, but at his What's So Grape About Texas site, you can find more samples of his serious poetic side. A true Renaissance Man!
Now per my promise at the first of this post, if you love the wine montage as much as I do, Rick has offered Texas Trifles' readers a special 2-for-one sale on the Ninety Days In Texas Wine Country poster. Just order from the site, click the "Buy Now" button, and simply put "Cowtown Pattie Sent Me" in PayPal's Special Instructions space and Rick will know to "Super-size" your order, and will also personalize it with his signature; one to keep, one to give to a friend!
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Where In Heck is Pattie?
Great camo, huh? Almost missed seeing this beauty. Guess where this was taken...
UPDATE:
Kman and I were cemetery sleuthing for his great great grandfather who was a country doctor in the mid 1800's around Mills County, Texas.
We were waaaay out in the boonies on dirt County Road 430 near Goldwaithe when I spied something strange in the dead winter brush. Whoa, Nellie!
Kman back up and we both just stared. There was a real honest-to-goodnes zebra! We stopped to watch for a few minutes, then noticed a small herd of Elands grazing further back deeper in the high-fenced pasture. (The super high fence would have been my first clue that the landowner had exotics enclosed, but I didn't pay attention to that at first.)
We learned later from another kind country landowner that the non-natives were the property of a Brownwood doctor.
Here's a Historical Marker on the history of the area.
As I've mentioned before, it's a small wonder that Kman and I aren't distant cousins given how close geographically our ancestors lived. Entirely possible that some of those relatives were acquainted way back when.
Maybe that's why, to quote the wise Forrest Gump, "we go together like peas and carrots".
Friday, January 01, 2010
Texas Cuisine
One of my Christmas presents this year was a new cookbook:
Jon Bonnell's Fine Texas Cuisine
Jon has a restaurant here in Cowtown as well. He is a devotee of local fare and seeks out the freshest stuff from area farms and ranches and it certainly shows in his fancy cuisine with a Texas twist signature dishes.
Ever had Pico D'escargot, or Oysters Texasfeller?
Jon uses a lot of wild game in his recipes, and I imagine I'll be doing some substituting for the buffalo, quail, and frog legs frequently called for with beef and chicken.
Now even if you're not an avid grits lover, you really gotta try this version (Jon says it's one of his most requested recipes. He really does give out his recipes all the time, so I am not making like Duke and spilling the baked beans secret!):
These are knock your boots off grits! Ain't yo mamma's southern style, for sure.
Jon Bonnell's Fine Texas Cuisine
Jon has a restaurant here in Cowtown as well. He is a devotee of local fare and seeks out the freshest stuff from area farms and ranches and it certainly shows in his fancy cuisine with a Texas twist signature dishes.
Ever had Pico D'escargot, or Oysters Texasfeller?
Jon uses a lot of wild game in his recipes, and I imagine I'll be doing some substituting for the buffalo, quail, and frog legs frequently called for with beef and chicken.
Now even if you're not an avid grits lover, you really gotta try this version (Jon says it's one of his most requested recipes. He really does give out his recipes all the time, so I am not making like Duke and spilling the baked beans secret!):
Green Chile Cheese Grits
1 Roasted poblano pepper chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and Pepper to taste
Bonnell's creole seasoning blend(to follow) to taste - not the whole mixture, in other words!
1/2 cup Homstead Gristmill Stone Ground Grits
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated jack cheese
Saute the chile, onion and garlic in butter until soft. Add cream and stock and bring to a simmer -just before a roiling boil. Do not let liquid boil over. Whisk in seasonings and grits. Stir constantly until grits begin to thicken. About 15 to 20 minutes of cooking. Gently fold in cheeses and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
These are knock your boots off grits! Ain't yo mamma's southern style, for sure.
Bonnell's Creole seasoning:
10 tablespoons iodized salt
4 tablespoons granulated garlic
4 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne
1.5 teaspoons dried thyme
1.5 teaspoons dried oregano
5.75 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon dried basil
Toss all together and store in airtight container.
...The biographical equivalent of 12 hour chili - Sticks to the ribs! -
