Sunday Letter: 03.18.18

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

I’m writing this letter on the last Sunday of winter 2018. And I’d like to start by saying, thank you for reading all through the winter. We don’t say thank you often enough, you know?

The past week was a busy one for me. I won’t go into all the details, but I did lots of driving for classes and speaking engagements. Not only that, but we had Pi Day, the Ides of March, and St. Patrick’s Day to observe. Whew!

This week I’m on spring break.??? I don’t plan to leave Fayetteville proper. If I’m lucky, I’ll make some headway in editing Book Two. I know at least three people waiting to read it.

Last Call at the Dairy Freeze

During the past four weeks, I’ve been writing my first play (and not working on Book Two). This was all part of a playwrighting workshop held by Five and Dime Drama Collective at the Writer’s Colony in Eureka Springs. On Thursday night, four actors read my play to a packed house at Poetluck (an open mic sort of event).

What a thrill for me!

Last Call started as a short story I wrote a couple of years ago while attending a writer retreat at Hemingway-Pfeiffer. The setting is a Dairy Freeze in Hillsboro, Texas. The story itself is about friendship, relationship, life in general. Last Call is a work of dark humor bordering on the absurd.

Maybe we’ll see my play performed on a stage in the near future. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Maybe I’ll write another one. I really enjoyed everything about the process. I can now officially add playwright to my LinkedIn profile.?

Toilet in the Yard

We’ve become those people. You know, the neighbors with a toilet in the front yard. It’s on the driveway, actually. We’ve not planted flowers inside it yet, so that’s something.

I promise the situation is temporary.

No, this isn’t the storyline of a play or a short story. Instead, it’s the true tale of the bathroom remodel inside our tiny little rental cottage (for which we have big plans).

Look. The window is gone. So is the entire rotted wall. Our new-to-come window will let in nice light and a glimpse of the beautiful bamboo growing jungle-like along the fence. The bamboo is a separate project for another Sunday letter…

Check back in a month or so and I’ll have more to show you.

Spring Bucket List

Do you have a spring bucket list? I’ve been thinking about mine, what with spring only two days away! So far I’ve come up with

• fly a kite
• eat a dipped cone (like at the Dairy Freeze)
• go to the drive-in (this was on my summer bucket list last year and I never did it)
• get the toilet out of the driveway

My sister and I were forever trying to fly homemade kites in the front yard. It was a skill we never mastered. In fact, I’m not sure we ever got one up in the air for more than a few Mississippis.

When my son was a cub scout, we spent many a Saturday morning at White Rock Lake flying kites at Boy Scout Hill. It was a merit badge thing that turned out to be a life skills thing. Sometimes, I miss those kid-filled spring days. There’s no reason we can’t do those fun things as adults. Right?

Candytuft

They say it’s (almost) spring. I know it’s true because the candytuft is blooming. Candytuft is one of my favorite perennials. Pollinators love it. I mean really, what could be better than a tuft of candy? A cloud of cotton candy? A sea of vanilla ice cream?

Perhaps. But I doubt it.

School Kitchen Tip #4

This brings me to our school kitchen tip for the week of 03.18.18.

Some cooked foods and combinations of uncooked foods are more palatable when cold, especially in hot weather. These foods may be made very cold by freezing and they are called ice creams and water ices. (The School Kitchen Textbook, Mary J. Lincoln, 1917, Lesson IV Natural Foods / Ice Cream)

That’s it for today’s Sunday Letter. Wherever you are, I hope you carve out some time to enjoy this first sweet week of spring!

Your friend,

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Today’s Sunday Letter features dipped cones, the toilet in our yard, and candytuft in full bloom. #sundaymorning [/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:
Blossom Dearie, They Say It’s Spring