Life - grace grits and gardening

Birthday Girl and the Memphis Queen

July 10, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Birthdays are still kinda fun to me, and I’m happy to have another one today. Soon, my mother will call and sing Happy Birthday. I’m lucky that way.

One of my most memorable birthdays was my 9th because my party included a Mississippi River boat ride on the Memphis Queen. Here we are with Nana who always posed like a model and never took a bad picture. My friend Sara, sister Staci, and I are wearing matching Memphis Queen Line berets because we are fun tourists from Arkansas.

I remember being nine years old. The beginning of the Jan Brady years…

I loved Donna Osmond. His life-sized poster covered the door of our bedroom closet.

I played with Malibu Barbie and wanted to be Nancy Drew when I grew up.

Take a look at the party picture below and let’s discuss…

(l-r) Staci, Me, Sara with Nana (Frances Johnson Creecy)

This is the BAT cave kitchen. My mother still lives in this house on the farm. Although much has changed (new floor, cabinets, etc.), the kitchen is in the same location in the house. If that room could talk…

See the expando hat rack on the wall? It now hangs on the back porch, and I’m pretty sure Momma still has at least two of those same hats.

By the time we ate cake, my Memphis Queen beret already hung on the rack. Never much of a hat person, I was over that thing.

And speaking of cake, Nana’s fresh strawberry cake (always my birthday cake choice) sat on the table in front of me, yet Staci somehow ate chocolate?

I wish Momma still had the dinette set. It’s a collector item now.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Donny Osmond, Go Away Little Girl

Wild Side of the Road

July 7, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Driving to Hana. Maui, Hawaii

Warm sunshine, the glare brilliant. Cannonball! My toes plunge to an icy spot deep beneath the surface of the lake. Relief on a hot July day.

Pressing seeds into the damp earth, I inhale the freshness of soil. The beginning of life.

Wading in the ocean, the tide yearns, pulls. The moon watches.

Alone in the woods, the black forest encircles me. What if I get lost?

Pen to paper, I release thoughts buried inside my mind. Memories stir.

Only one footstep from normal, the wild side of the road awakens the soul.

“And now let the wild rumpus start!”
― Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Take a Walk on the Wild Side, Lou Reed

Bring Back the Saddle Oxford!

July 5, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

I think it’s high time the saddle oxford reappear on the fashion scene.

A few days ago, John and I saw Jersey Boys, the film version of the Tony-Award winning musical. Loved everything about it. If I could go back in time, I’d visit the 1950s. The iconic music. Poodle skirts. The jitterbug. The saddle oxfords…

In the 1970s, we wore saddle oxfords as part of our cheerleader uniforms. It took weeks to break in a new pair, and until that time, giant Band-aids protected our heels. In junior high, we sometimes threaded gold and black pom pons through the laces to match our uniforms.

Keiser Jr. High School Cheerleaders 1974

In high school, our saddle oxfords were red and white instead of the traditional black and white. I thought that was cool.

Men still have oxford options (especially with golf shoes), and some kids today wear saddle oxfords as part of their official school uniforms, but for the most part, saddle shoes have disappeared. Every other shoe style seems to have circled back. Platforms. Peep toes. Ballet flats. Clogs. But the saddle oxford? I think it’s high time. They go with everything.