grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Old Photos

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I’m always intrigued by black-and-white photographs, especially those stacked and forgotten in flea market booths. Even young people look old in these images, a reflection of a time and life much more difficult than ours.

Grace Grits and Gardening - Curiosities, Dallas, Texas
Curiosities, Dallas, Texas

I feel a certain sadness for these forlorn sepia-toned photos hanging in curved antiqued frames.

Who were these people? Soldiers who fought in our wars, babies who grew up to be town leaders, a row of teenage girls flashing big smiles…

What did these people contribute? Does anyone remember?

Will my family photos end up in a musty stack somewhere?

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life

Musical Pairing:

Jamey Johnson, In Color

The Sonic – Parking on the Cool Side

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When I was a kid in the 1970s, our Sonic had a cool side and an extraordinarily uncool side. If Momma parked on the uncool side, my sister and I moaned, dunked in the back seat, and laid low until our Frito chili pies arrived. We truly believed our character and reputations could be boosted or ruined during the few minutes it took to wolf down an order of tater tots in a parking spot at the Sonic in Osceola, Arkansas.

When I began driving my own car, the highlight of Saturday night was circling the Sonic until a cool space opened. My best friend and I ordered giant Cokes, emptied them onto the sidewalk and refilled the cups with Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill. Or sometimes Kountry Kwencher. We thought drinking Boone’s Farm was a cool thing too.
Today I am much older. I realize I was far from hip. Even so, I can’t pull into the Osceola Sonic (now bigger, brighter, and new) without wondering if the coolness factor still exists.

And if so, could someone tell me which side is cool?

Grace Grits & Gardening

Musical Pairing:

Foreigner, Feels Like The First Time

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

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