Life - grace grits and gardening

Simple Pleasures #5

November 3, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Simple pleasures. Things I can count on like one-two-three. Uncomplicated things. That’s what I’m recapping from last week.

1. Decorating for Halloween. I’ve had this string of lights forever. Knock-on-wood, they don’t make ’em like this anymore.

2. Perfect, homemade chocolate icing. Recipe coming soon…

3. New Converse. Converse tennis shoes are part of my typical “uniform”. These are Razorback red. WPS!

4. Spending time with my oldest best-est friend. Seriously. Elementary school.

5. Cool find at Dickson Street Bookshop. Yes, I “adopted” another book. How could I not? It’s about the Mississippi Delta!

Here’s wishing you a week filled with comfortable shoes, best friends and chocolate.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Count on Me – Bruno Mars

Ebola in my suitcase?

October 23, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Yes, I moved to Fayetteville from Dallas. No, I did not bring Ebola with me. Stop with the widespread panic.

A few days ago I read a post on Facebook that went something like this…Omg! I saw a car in front of me with Texas tags and wanted to scream ‘keep that Ebola in Texas’!

Really?

Of course this was Facebook, and since the rant was posted on a group site, I didn’t know the person. Although I couldn’t assess her level of seriousness—no tone of voice, no body language (one of the biggest problems with written rants/jokes/etc.), based on the many responses that followed, everyone seemed upset and concerned as though Ebola could be transported inside a Samsonite bag.

I’m not making light of Ebola. It is a horrifying disease, but thankfully it isn’t spread like the flu or common cold. Ebola can only be contracted from bodily fluids of a symptomatic Ebola victim. What constitutes a bodily fluid? Spit, blood, poop, urine, semen, breast milk, sweat, snot and tears. The risk of exposure is very very very slim. This is science.

Lack of education about the facts is scary too, and folks who spread panic do more harm than good.

Yesterday I attended a writer class. When I began coughing, the woman seated next to me whipped out a mask and wore it for the remainder of our two hour class. Of course I don’t know her situation. Maybe she has a low immune system or health problems? She never accused me of having Ebola or anything else, (and in her defense my cough did sound horrible), but when the instructor asked, “Are you okay?” the masked lady replied, “Yes, but I don’t know what’s wrong with HER!”(me).

I wanted to crawl underneath my desk.

I know I don’t have Ebola, but I decided I should go to the doctor and get something for my cough.

And I will be getting Arkansas car tags soon.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Widespread Panic, Up All Night

Adios Texas.

October 22, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

In 1981, I packed up my sparse belongings and headed to Texas with no real vision of life beyond high school. I only knew I was ready to leave. Ready to get on with college. You know the saying, the world was my oyster.

Yesterday as I crossed the Red River into Oklahoma, I said, “Adios,” to Texas. Although I’ll return occasionally, things will be different. I will be a visitor.

For weeks and weeks, we’ve been purging and packing and decluttering. Moving is hard work. Multiple trips to Goodwill. A yard sale. Monday things got real as we said goodbye to our Dallas home on Worth Street.

Walking through for the last time, her rooms sat empty yet overflowed with memories.

I thought back on our first night in the house when the kids were young and the house was new to us. Her creaky floors and old beams felt strange yet comforting, welcoming. We had no way to know what Worth Street would hold for us.

All those Thanksgiving leftovers enjoyed. Slumber parties when the entire house was overrun with wide-eyed, giggling girls. How many books were read underneath this roof? Movies watched, decisions made, walls painted and re-painted, spelling words studied, plants planted, loads and loads and loads of laundry washed and folded, homecoming and prom pictures taken from the front porch swing, tears cried and wiped away, debates argued, suppers eaten, prayers prayed?

Tate (red vest) with his friends. Prom 2010.

We built a rich life together on Worth Street. It wasn’t always perfect, but it was real.

It was ours.

There are things I will dearly miss.

The slant of the early morning sun through the upstairs porch.

The summer dragonflies and how they flit and dip into the pool water.

Our secret garden beyond the iron gate.

Her stately columns.

The history of the area and being part of something bigger.

Our friends.

Since the moment we decided to leave Texas, I’ve been writing this blog post in my head, trying to imagine different neighbors, a different way of life. There is no neighborhood like Munger Place, and we consider ourselves fortunate to have lived there.

A piece of my heart will always be in Texas, but I hope you’ll follow my adventures in Arkansas.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Already Gone, Sugarland