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Water, Water Nowhere

March 18, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

Although I never walked ten miles to school barefoot in the snow, I did grow up on a farm with a septic tank. When it rained, sewer water stood the backyard underneath my bedroom window. And the rusty well water sometimes turned my hair orange like a bad home dye job.

Any time thunder rolled across the county, the electricity went out. Sometimes we were in the dark for days.

And, we had a party line…

***

Sunday morning, after sleeping through menopausal night sweats, I awoke to a full head of sticky Shirley Temple curls bordering on dreadlocks. After avoiding my reflection in the mirror, I quickly jumped in the shower only to find I had NO WATER.

Panic mode.

Clearly, I’ve grown soft.

Quickly I checked to confirm I had paid my water bill. Whew! I posted a lifeline to my neighbors on the Munger Place Facebook page, was anyone else having this problem? (Apparently  not.) The dogs stared at me (my hair?) begging to go for a walk. No way. Not with this hair.
Then I remembered I received a dry shampoo sample in my Birchbox just yesterday. What timing!
I sprayed the stuff on my head as instructed, waited the allotted time, brushed it out and ended up with bushy gummy gray-ish helmet head that smelled of talcum powder and cheap air freshener. Way nastier than before. I wondered if the swimming pool had warmed up yet…
Throwing on a winter hat, I pulled it down to my ears, thankful the morning was blustery and chilly. After I walked Lucy and Annabelle, I discovered I did have cold water (no hot) downstairs and in the guest bathroom upstairs, but still no water at all in the master. Hanging my head over the clawfoot tub, I washed my gooey hair in icy water while the dogs hid thinking a bath was imminent.

Why does this stuff happen when my husband is out of town?

I’ve grown soft.
talya
p.s.

Riddle me this all you handymen/women out there…

How is it possible to have no water whatsoever (hot or cold) in one upstairs bathroom, yet have cold water in the other baths and kitchen? I’m no plumber, but this doesn’t make sense to me.

The next day, the water miraculously decided to work, hot and cold, in all the appropriate places…

Musical Pairing:
Water, Brad Paisley

Wordless Wednesday – Tomorrow and Today

February 13, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

Wordless Wednesday…


Tate Farms

Mississippi County, Arkansas

talya

Musical Pairing:

If, Bread

Memory Quilt

February 12, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

“When we make something it holds more than just the materials we use.” This is what Miss Henrietta says in Flights of Fancy, Crow Johnson Evan’s book of short stories, essays and novellas. As Miss Henrietta weaves a memory rug, she explains only good things can be discussed while making it. Bad thoughts mustn’t be braided into the rug.

I love this idea. Miss Henrietta put into words what I’ve always thought. I love old things with a history and a soul and a memory.

 

When I was eight years old, Nana made me a quilt. My turtle quilt. If our house was on fire or hit by an unlikely tsunami, it would be one of the first things I would grab. If our house was attacked by zombies or aliens, I would hide under it.

For forty-two years and two days, the quilt has been with me. It traveled from the farm in Arkansas to college in Waco to Dallas where it now lives. It’s my Linus blanket.

my memory quilt

I remember the imposing quilt frame set up in her living room. Although I don’t know exactly what thoughts filled Nana’s mind as she hand stitched the fabric scraps together, I have a good idea…
Sunday School lesson…
the cotton crop…
Staci and me…
Momma…
Uncle Rex and Frances…
what pie to cook for Papa that night…
the weather…
her sisters and brothers…
cleaning house…
the irises growing around the trees in the front yard…Those thoughts now live as memories sewed into my quilt.
Because Nana never uttered a bad word, the quilt cloaks me in blessed assurance, the tune she always whistled.
Grace Grits and Gardening
Musical Pairing:
Blessed Assurance, Alan Jackson

(lyrics written in 1873 by blind hymn writer Fanny J. Crosby to the music written by Phoebe P. Knapp)

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Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. 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 (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: February 22, 2026
  • Our Garden Mission Statement
  • Goodbye, 2025. Hello, 2026.
  • Sunday Letter: 11.23.25
  • Maggie and Miss Ladybug: My New Children’s Nature Book

Novels:

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Children’s Nature Book:

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