grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

I’m an Arkansawyer at heart…

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ArkansawyerI always get a bit sad when I see Arkansas in my rear view mirror. Regardless where I visit—Fayetteville, Eureka Springs, Mountain Home, Piggott, Helena or home on the farm in Mississippi County—leaving makes my heart hurt. John, my husband, feels the same. No matter how much we love Dallas and our Texas friends, we are Arkansawyers at heart.

There’s something special about Arkansas that not everyone understands, the culmination of so many simple things I hold close and carry with me… feel of delta soil beneath my feet… tilt of the crop-duster’s wing…  sunrise over Mt. Sequoyah…  thrill of calling the hogs on the hill… wave of farmers on the highway…   smell of cotton being ginned…  turn of brilliant autumn leaves… plunge from the dock into a cold pocket of lake water… churn of the mighty Mississippi… silence of that first snowfall… echo of a screen door across the cove… flicker of lightning bugs... all-night laughter with best friends… 

Arkansas is easy. Comfortable. Home.

Girdley's Flying Service

Girdley’s Flying Service – Tate Farms, Mississippi County, Ar

Last weekend I had the pleasure of promoting social media for The Arkansas Flower and Garden Show in Little Rock. Not only did I get to hang with a few of my fellow Arkansas Women Blogger friends, but I also met Chris H. Olsen of Botanica Gardens AND lifestyle/design/garden expert P. Allen Smith. Bucket list – check!

Arkansas women bloggers and P. Allen Smith

In addition to the flower and garden show, John and I managed to squeeze in the Benton High School district championship basketball game (Benton won!), enjoy dinner with friends at Brave New Restaurant (incredible!), and absorb a bit of history at the Arkansas History Museum (very cool!).

After a leisurely brunch at The Root Cafe, we reluctantly headed west, but this time we took a little bit of Arkansas home. Actually, a lot of Arkansas. We adopted a new pet.

See?

Our new Arkansas Razorback

Our new razorback is adjusting to his Texas home.

We named him Lou Holtz.

lou holtz

The schnauzers are skeptical…

Grace Grits and Gardening

“I can’t believe God put us on this earth to be ordinary.” – Lou Holtz

Musical Pairing:

SoNA performs “Arkansas Fight”

Lou Holtz and schnauzers

skeptical schnauzers

Overcoming Meth in Arkansas

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Overcoming Meth in ArkansasA few weeks ago I blogged about Ashlie Tolliver Wilson, a girl who lives in Northeast Arkansas near my childhood home. Ashlie is a day by day recovering meth addict who documents her journey on Facebook. If you missed the original blog post, you can read it HERE.

For six years Ashlie lived the life of a meth addict, hiding from herself and numbing her pain. She also wrote poetry during that time. Writing is great therapy and likely played a role in her recent fight for recovery. Ashlie wrote most of her poetry from a very dark place—she was either high or coming down. Her feelings directed her words, and her poems are beautifully haunting and dark.

Ashlie wrote the following poem on November 5, 2013. On that day she was 59 days clean. Her sober poems are beautiful too.

Overcoming

When I close my eyes

and shut out the pain,

my soul turns inward.

Trying to be perfect,

trying to be right,

I must fight these demons

that come for me.

I am not ready,

yet I must be strong, 

determined,

steady in a battle I can’t win.

The enemy is myself,

my demons of sin.

I know I need help

but who can I trust?

Bound by chains of shame

which cannot rust,

I have tried everything

yet nothing has worked.

Do I give up?

Let go of the stress.

Let go of the hurt.

Lose myself to sin 

and darkness.

Or do I rise and fight

for what I know is right?

Either way is difficult

yet I recognize my path

to a better world.

I’ll try my best

to win this war

and pass the test.

Although my life has just begun

this is my last chance.

A rising sun spreads

rays of hope over

my dark, cold world.

I am reborn.

My wings unfurl.

I soar above the pain

with nothing to lose.

Everything to gain. 

overcoming, a poem

 

Grace Grits and Gardening

P.S. Today Ashlie is 137 days clean. Go girl!

“The test we must set for ourselves is not to march alone but to march in such a way that others will wish to join us.”
― Hubert Humphrey

The Poetry of Farm Trees

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Florida Farm, Mississippi County, Arkansas

Tate Farms (our “Florida Farm” at Little River), Mississippi County, Arkansas

Summer trees

stand thick and lush

a mass of emerald leaves

with branches entwined

like arms braced tight

in a childhood game

of Red Rover.

 

Winter trees

stand single-file

like soldiers

fearless yet exposed

guarding furrows

watching the days grow longer.

 

Grace Grits and Gardening

Musical Pairing:

Tree With No Leaves, Crosby Stills and Nash

 

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!