Family - grace grits and gardening

My Normal Life.

August 28, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

And just like that…..vacation is over.

If only I could bottle vacation anticipation… I’d place it on my bathroom shelf, pull it out when I need new air to breathe, rub a little vacation nectar on my temples like lavender essential oil to summon peace and relaxation that only comes from change of scenery. No television. No life interruptions.

Sea gulls sail overhead.

Hypnotic ocean views hold me spellbound.

Fresh salmon with strawberry salsa for dinner…

All the planning and thinking and build-up disappears into a wave of Texas heat and a busted suitcase held together by duct tape. Yet for a few days, life felt different.

While I’m still half-snoozing on west coast time, John is up and out the door headed back to work. I’m grateful to be home with the smelly laundry. I drink coffee and drag through my first post-vacation day while the puffy circles underneath my eyes sloooowly deflate.

Maybe I’ll edit a short story. And pay a few bills. Those bills always lurk in the imposing stack of after-vacation mail.

A neighbor, out for her morning walk, waves to me.

A cardinal swoops across the pool and lands on the fencepost.

Lucy and Annabelle follow on my heels, curl at my feet…

As life quickly returns to normal, I realize my normal is damn good.

talya

Musical Pairing:

Blind Melon – No Rain

One Direction

August 2, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

photo courtesy of Heinrich Klaffs, Flickr

In 1970-something when the Osmonds walked onto the stage to a sold out crowd of teenyboppers at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, my sister and I were in the bathroom because Momma had to pee.

Story of our life.

I heard Donny’s introduction over the loudspeaker through the concrete wall behind the toilet stalls. The floor shook.

Hurry Momma!!!!!!!!!!!

Momma and Aunt Lavern endured the concert while my sister, cousin and I stood on our chairs and shrieked, singing the words to every song. On the drive home I plotted how I would marry Donny someday and return to Mississippi County only as a side trip during national concert tours.

Last week, my sister and I channeled Momma and Aunt Lavern at the sold out, estrogen-filled, One Direction concert at American Airlines Center in Dallas. My niece Taylor knew the words to every song while I sang along to the catchy refrains as I could, each song sounding like the one before.

The noise level was deafening.

The smile on Taylor’s face was worth the permanent hearing loss.

Taylor

Musical Pairing:

One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful

the kitchen table

July 25, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

My sister and I spent entire afternoons at the kitchen table creating paint-by-number masterpieces, dipping the brush into little pots of paint and applying color between the lines.

While Momma made lunch, we cut paper dolls from the Sears catalog.

Balls of peanut butter cookie dough were pressed into sugary crisscross patterns with a fork. We waited impatiently at the table for the cookies to bake.

From the kitchen table, we learned life lessons. Daddy grumbled about the weather. Friends joined Momma for a cup of Folgers. After supper, accidental stains and food crumbs were erased with soapy water and a dishrag. Each day began fresh at the kitchen table.

Seasons were marked as the center fruit basket was replaced with an evergreen candle Saturday after Thanksgiving. After a deep fresh snow, we made bowls of snow cream with lots of vanilla and sugar.

Momma cut dress patterns, worked crossword puzzles, called out spelling words. We made vacation plans and counted down to the lake over breakfast bowls of grits.

Each afternoon, Momma sorted through bills, Columbia House junk mail, a letter from my Australian penpal delivered half a world away straight to our small, sturdy table.

I studied for the ACT test, trying to block the sound of the television in the den, plotting my escape to college. Later, I couldn’t wait for that first home-cooked meal after fall semester.

Shocked and numbed, we gathered around the table to select songs for Daddy’s funeral.

History lives.

Future plans are laid.

All from the ordinary kitchen table.