Arkansas - grace grits and gardening

Porch People

September 3, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner

I love walking in our new Fayetteville neighborhood. So much to see. Rolling hills, stone walls, old trees, yard art. Flowers barely glimpsed in Dallas’ early short spring are still blooming here… A row of pale pink geraniums(!) flourishing beside autumn sedum and spider lilies stretches my mind beyond normal. One of these things just doesn’t belong…

In Dallas by the 4th of July, I pull up burnt geraniums and plant plastic American flags… They are amazingly drought tolerant, completely disease resistant and provide a burst of color throughout summer. Xeriscaping at its finest.

The houses in Fayetteville are historical and charming, much like our Dallas neighborhood, but the porches are not perfectly aligned nor are the yards evenly edged. It takes me a day or so to breathe it in and unwind. Natural and peaceful expands my boundaries as well.

As I stroll I think I am completely incognito. Invisible. But probably not. They likely know we are those people from Texas… only here part-time…. who let their yard grow up between mowings…. probably Republicans.… Longhorns?!

It is very strange to be the ‘new people’. I don’t know which vehicle goes with which neighbor. We don’t even know the dogs’ names yet!

Yesterday I walked pass a lady, and we exchanged hellos as I restrained an over-exuberant Annabelle. I wondered if we would become friends?

I can’t imagine another neighborhood as cool as Munger Place, with wine walks, New Year’s crawls, Harry’s porch. But I do think this could be porch party community. Maybe they just need someone to be the first host. Plus I need to buy a Razorback flag immediately.

talya

Musical Pairings:

Turn! Turn! Turn! – The Byrds

same moon

August 30, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner

Last night, sleep was difficult. The wild sounds of nature filled our little cottage. Not sure what exactly – tree frogs, crickets, birds, owls, werewolves…. With only a flimsy screen door separating me from unseen critters, I pretended to be camping, in style…

I imagine the sounds to be those of the late night zoo. Or the deep jungle plus exuberant schnauzers minus howler monkeys.

No air conditioner noise, no traffic, no sirens or airplanes, no sounds of Dallas. Only nature. The twinkle of stars. The rustle of leaves turning.

Lucy and Annabelle were wide-eyed and excited. In and out, in and out. Up and down off the bed.

The moon, almost full, cast shadows to go with the sounds. A grain moon or sturgeon moon according to Farmer’s Almanac. Stirring the dirt and crops, rousing the nocturnal creatures a bit more? The trees were luminous.

I thought of family and friends. Each resting under a different roof. Across the country or across town, but under the same sky. Same moon.

talya

Musical Pairing:

Somewhere Out There, Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram

It suddenly struck me, that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small. – Neil Armstrong

Arkansas Girl

August 29, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner

Home

I don’t know no town,
like the old town
Even when the miles are many,
I feel like I’m still around….

The road I travel always brings me home. To the history inside me. Just a girl from Arkansas.

Where people are not perfect, but real. These people who shaped me and call me one of their own. We speak as if in mid-conversation, even though it’s been years.

These do-anything-for you-no-matter-what people.