grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

  • Home
  • About
  • Media
  • Crafts
  • Farm
  • Food
  • Garden
  • Reading & Books
  • Sunday Letter
  • SHOP!
  • Privacy Policy

the chores of Summer

May 8, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner 6 Comments

clothespins - morgueFile

courtesy of morgueFile

You take yellow, I’ll take green, I say.

My sister and I race into the backyard.

Wet grass sticks between my toes,

but I know it hasn’t rained.

Not in months.

Tugging bath mats from the line,

wooden clothespins pop and fly

in all directions landing

like grasshoppers in the lawn.

I wrap myself in a fluffy cotton rug

and breathe in summer.

My sister wears a yellow toilet seat cover

on her head like a silly french beret.

We giggle and collapse,

rolling in the dew.

Girls!

Stop!

Momma shouts from the back porch.

I know we’re in trouble.

But not really.

In her arms she carries

a bowl of purple hull peas

picked fresh from the garden.

Our next chore awaits.

 

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

 

“Play is the highest form of research.”
― Albert Einstein

Filed Under: Farm, Life, Memories, Writing Tagged With: childhood, clothesline, Memoir, Mississippi County, poefictiontry, Throwback Thursday

Wanna receive my monthly Newsletter? Sign up here!

Comments

  1. Barbara Tate says

    May 8, 2014 at 3:29 pm

    I loved having a clothes line, but I also loved it when I got my first dryer.

    Reply
  2. Diana says

    May 8, 2014 at 4:18 pm

    Great shot! I love it!

    Reply
  3. Dorothy Johnson says

    May 9, 2014 at 8:44 am

    Wonderful! I love the imagery, the memories. So sweet. Happy Mother’s Day!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      May 10, 2014 at 7:13 am

      Thank you Dorothy. Happy Mother’s Day to you too! And btw, I wrote this at the Delta Symposium when we were asked to write a memoir in the memoir class:))

      Reply
  4. best squash racket says

    October 1, 2014 at 7:08 am

    I am truly thankful to the holder of this website who has shared
    this fantastic post at at this time.

    Reply
  5. Barbara Tate says

    June 22, 2015 at 12:38 pm

    I was looking for the picture of you two in the bath rugs & toilet seats.

    Reply

COMMENT: Cancel reply

Talya Tate Boerner


Hi! I'm Talya. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (Now Available!)

Click to BUY NOW!

Talya Tate Boerner books
Gene, Everywhere

Never miss a blog post! Subscribe via email:

Receive my not-very-regular Newsletter?

Most Popular Posts…

  • Sunday Letter: 01.29.23
  • Nana's Strawberry Cake (the real one)
  • Yum Yum Cake - old southern recipe!
  • Ozarkansas Tool Library!
  • Black Apple Crisp

Most Recent

  • Sunday Letter: 01.29.23
  • Sunday Letter: 01.15.23
  • Sunday Letter: 01.08.23
  • Sunday Letter: 12.18.22
  • Sunday Letter: 12.11.22

Grace Grits index

Prior Posts

Search Categories

Tags

A to Z April Blog Challenge Autumn BAT Book Reviews childhood Christmas creative writing prompt Dallas Desserts Eureka Springs Fall Fayetteville Food Gracie Lee Halloween Hemingway-Pfeiffer home humor Johnson Family Keiser Lake Norfork Lucy and Annabelle Mississippi County Mississippi Delta moving Munger Place Nana nature Northeast Arkansas Northwest Arkansas Osceola poem Reading Schnauzer simple living simple things spring spring gardening Summer sunday letter Talya Tate Boerner novel The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee Thomas Tate Winter Wordless Wednesday
Follow on Bloglovin

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!

All content and photos Copyright Grace, Grits and Gardening © 2023 · Web Hosting By StrataByte