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ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Archives for 2012

Channeling Thomas Tate

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I slowly try to push through the fog and cobwebs to a state of semi-consciousness. My scratchy, sticky eyes will not open quite yet. I hear rain in the distance. Once my still sleepy brain clears a bit, I recognize the rain is not rain at all – it’s actually the bathroom shower. Slowly the day begins to come into focus. Ready or not, John has an early morning flight to Pittsburgh. 

I try to roll over but Annabelle has pinned my leg. It is numb. Carefully extricating myself, I shift to the other side, re-establishing blood flow to that dying limb. Without warning, I am jolted wide awake with one whiff of my pungent pillowcase. Ugh! Eau de Schnauzer! During the day, if Annabelle is not up to some type of puppy shenanigan, she can be found recharging on my pillow. It is 4:30 a.m.

John flips on the television and overhead lights, and begins to open and close drawers.  He is packing. He packs the morning of his trip, no matter how early the flight. I feign sleep and dare not breathe so that Lucy and Annabelle do not decide to begin their day as well.  I shall not walk dogs at 4:30 a.m.  I am quiet and still.  I listen to the sounds of this morning.  

The news reporters apparently have misplaced their script. Or perhaps the early bird newscast is just a time for improvisation practice while reporting on North Texas fluff?  Who watches at 4:30 anyhow? Joe Biden will be in town today – yippee! A man in Plano was caught “cloning” Walmart gift cards.  Now I’m no scientist, but doesn’t cloning involve genes and DNA and tissue and embryonic cells and biological stuff?  Interesting word choice for a piece of hard plastic used to buy toilet paper. Other breaking news: Kim Kardashian was spotted at the Galleria with Khloe. I will never understand the world’s fascination with the Kardashian Klan. I cannot fathom it. Who cares if Kris is in Miami? Or if Khloe was adopted? It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to learn the whole gaggle of sisters had been cloned.  Nor would I care. And who knew there were two younger daughters, Kylie and Kendall? (I didn’t until I googled them, no doubt adding to their popularity.) No one keeps up with poor Kylie and Kendall because their last name is Jenner. There is just no alliteration there. Bor–r-r-ring. 


John plops t-shirts on the window seat cushion, somehow managing to make this sound noisy. He stacks and re-stacks these shirts as if arranging a display table at The Gap.  I am very familiar with his packing routine. Although I do not open my eyes – I can feel Annabelle staring at me – I know John is contemplating what to take with him. He checks his iPad for the weather in Pittsburgh. He is talking to himself. He opens the drawer in the nightstand right beside my head which startles me a bit. He doesn’t visit that drawer very often – it is home to his winter things, rarely needed in Dallas. The hardwood floors creaked under his heavy steps. Is he stomping on purpose or has he decided to wear his heavy Halloween Frankenstein shoes today? Not the best shoes for airport security. And, isn’t he only staying 2 days! From my spot in bed, it sounded as if he was packing for  Europe. Would he go to Europe without me!? Or, did he pick this very moment in time to organize his drawers? As he walks back into his closet again, it hits me –  he is like my dad. He’s up – we should all be up….? He was channeling Thomas Tate!

So it’s true. Girls turn into their mothers and marry someone just like their fathers. We resist it, we deny it, but then suddenly it has happened.  Just like that. There were a few similarities: work hard, provide well, grumble a bit, take care of business and family, vacation when forced, avoid doctors:)

Today would have been my dad’s 75th birthday, but he died of colon cancer when he was only 57. So Incredibly Young. Daddy was a farmer. He awoke before the chickens no matter the season/weather and blasted us all out of bed to the melodic tunes of Willie Nelson.  In a 1970s renovation, my clever, hip mother installed groovy stereo speakers in all the rooms throughout the house.  In the ceiling, above the beds.   He wrote the check for them, but the Tate girls paid the price every single morning.

Although I was blasted out of bed this morning by doggie smelling salts, the television and harsh overhead lights, I think I heard “Good Hearted Woman” in the back of my head.  As soon as he returns from Europe, I’m going to make sure John gets a colonoscopy. But first I am going to wash my sheets.

Thomas Lee Tate
Happy Birthday!
Jan 31, 1937

talya
Musical Pairings:
Willie Nelson, “Pretty Paper”
Don Williams, “Some Broken Hearts Never Mend”
Bee Gees, “Jive Talking”


Jeepers Creepers Where’d Ya Get Those Eyebrows?

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The Moms of Keiser Elementary School, Keiser, Arkansas
(left to right)
1. Lavern McLean Glaub
2. Barbara Perry
3. Ruth Barnett
4. Edwina Nash Graham
5. Peggy Eatmon
6. Barbara Creecy Tate (my mother)
Is this not the Best Photograph Ever???! Everything about this photo is incredible – the clothing and matching accessories, brilliant smiles, perfectly coiffed hair and expressive hands. They could have been hand models! And my, what perfect eyebrows these women had! I would bet money that not a single one of them ever paid ten bucks to have their brows waxed by Henri, the Vietnamese man at the corner of Live Oak and Skillman.  

Lavern Glaub was obviously about to pee in her pantyhose. I wonder who took the photo?  He must have been laying it on thick with these ladies. (Yes, you know it was a man.) Lavern was wearing a gorgeous dress, fit for a wedding by today’s standards. And this was for a PTA meeting! Today, schools could significantly boost fundraising if moms dressed this hot while their kids peddled all that gift wrap and chocolate chip cookie dough each fall. There was certainly no sag swag back then.    

Barbara Perry looked 12 years old. Even in black and white, it’s obvious she had rosy skin. To this day, all the girls from Keiser are envious of her daughter, who married the cutest-boy-to-ever-come-out-of-Keiser.

Ruth Barnett’s home always smelled of Allspice from the delicious raisin cookies she magically pulled from the oven as you walked into the back door. She apparently baked daily, as this could not have been planned – friends just “dropped in” on each other. Now if someone knocks at the door unexpectedly, it’s a kid selling ten pound buckets of chocolate chip cookie dough. Or gift wrap. In addition to her cookie baking, she was an excellent delegator, bordering on conniving.  She thought up projects to better the school and community, always managing to hook some unsuspecting volunteer (my mother) for the execution of the task.  It was part of her charm.  In the photo, she looks as if she knows a secret, but there were no secrets in Keiser.  I really want her purse.

Edwina Graham looked as if she breezed off a Pan Am turnaround flight for a quick layover before jetting off to Paris. She had arms more perfectly toned than Jennifer Aniston, and cooked like Giada de Laurentiis. She always had a huge pot of peas or beans simmering away on the stove, as if she was preparing a huge, community-wide feast. She probably was. And now her daughter is an amazing cook. The cutest-boy-to-ever-come-out-of-Keiser is her son.  

Peggy Eatmon’s daughter played basketball with me in junior high. Correction: her daughter played basketball, and I made sure she NEVER passed the ball to me. She threw the round ball like a missile, knocking even the boys to their knees during dodge ball. Dodge ball was stressful. 

And lastly, my mother. She had great eyebrows. Why didn’t I get those eyebrows? Yesterday I tried to make mine a bit fuller and darker but ended up looking like a cross between Brooke Shields and Priscilla Presley on her wedding day. Maybe Henri needs to see this picture? For whatever reason, my mother was stifling her laugh. This is typical.  She either shows no teeth or every tooth in her head when she smiles.  She told me last week as we looked at this photo that she always hated that skirt. Nevertheless, I’m sure it’s still in her house somewhere.  I bet I could find it.

I love the graffiti on the wall – “Class of 69”. That was the year the Eagle landed, Sesame Street premiered, Abbey Road was released and Wal-Mart became incorporated. And, it was the year my friends and I started 1st Grade. 


This is a Life Magazine cover-worthy photo (circa 1971-72ish).  It proves that beauty is timeless.  


  

talya


Musical Pairings:
Simon & Garfunkel, “Mrs.  Robinson”
Tom Jones, “She’s a Lady”



What Not To Pin

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I’m conservative and borderline boring.  I’m a bit slow to follow trends. If forced to choose, I would dress like Hillary over Gaga, even though polyester clashes with my freckles. I’m seriously considering hiding my favorite Dallas Mavericks t-shirts in case that annoyingly adorable Stacy London shows up unannounced and forces me to toss all my earth tone clothes and converse sneakers into that big garbage can she drags around.  (I bet she takes all those clothes home and secretly wears them while devouring Thin Mints and watching Biggest Loser.) I’ve only recently decided skinny jeans and those ankle boots with peep toes are acceptable for very skinny girls in their twenties and younger. And, I’m quite proud to announce that I tweeted for the first time yesterday. At least I think I did. 

Lately it seems everyone has jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon like white on rice – everyone but me. And of course, my mother. Until I figure it out, she will not figure it out. I’m not even sure how to properly pronounce it…  Several months ago, one of my friends asked me if I was on “P-Interest” (like P-Diddy), and I’ve heard others pronounce it “Pin-Trest”. Should I try something I can’t even say?  Plus I hear it’s “addictive”, like that’s a positive attribute. If I become a crazy pinner, my Angry Birds ranking could be affected.

I was a bit curious about what I was missing, so I decided to check out this new obsession, possibly even successfully setting up an account.  Last night when there was much snoring in my bed, I continued to research, unearthing pages and pages of pictures. Some were pretty cool. Some were odd to me. As I scrolled down I accidentally pinned 2 things. I know this only because my AirBook Mac notified me. Hmmmmm. I had no idea where or what I had pinned, but I was on my way.  

This morning when I logged into Facebook I discovered that suddenly I was FOLLOWING 61 people on Pinterest! WHAT? How can this be? I was locked out of my house most of the morning and before that sleeping! But somehow I had been following people? And I had 5 “boards” I didn’t know about.  Was I sleep-pinning and sleep-following? I swear, I have never taken Ambien.  I felt guilty and dirty, like I might need to register on some weirdo database with the city of Dallas. Later, when I accidentally found Pinterest again, I noticed there were a few people following me!  That must be incredibly boring for them.  But now I was feeling the pressure to pin things! 

I frantically starting pinning, liking, and re-pinning so my “followers” would have something to view. In my haste, I pinned a photo of lucious red velvet cheesecake on my “Favorite Place and Spaces” Board, but I think I even figured out how to move it to the Food Board. I’m making progress and possibly becoming more pinteresting all the time.

So here’s what I’ve discovered, and please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong: Pinterest is basically an electronic bulletin board that allows you to unknowingly stalk friends and strangers, allowing their “work” to be plagiarized and copied to your own e-board? Pinning sounds so much cuter, doesn’t it? It conjures images such as playing pin the tail on the donkey at your best friend’s birthday party in 2nd grade while wearing a flouncy pink party dress. Or, getting pinned in college by your frat boy sweetheart. I think I will like it.

talya

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
Re-Pinned by Talya

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!