grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

This ain’t my first rodeo.

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Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo

Last weekend John and I were invited to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo with friends Harold and Gale Green. The trip had been planned for two months. Thursday night, John came down with a nasty case of the crud. Without the energy to roll over in bed, he certainly couldn’t road trip with the Greens. And with the Greens, energy is necessary.

Harold and Gale are expert tour guides maneuvering each corner of every exhibit before and after the main attraction, not stopping to even breathe until every drop of wine is drained in the wee morning hours, the next morning. If there is the slightest hesitation, the mere hint of fatique, Harold sings ‘every party has a pooper’ over and over and over… And I’m usually the party pooper. I like my sleep.

With John sick, I debated should I stay or should I go? Of course with John sick, he was by default the party pooper, right?Short debate. Rather than sit around all weekend in a germy house, I tagged along with the Greens and their extended family including in-laws, out-laws and children. Every family needs a fifth wheel.

Plus, there was no way I was gonna miss it.  I was super excited to wear my cute western shirt. The print is vintage cowboy. The snaps are pearl. The stitching is red. So what if I didn’t own a Stetson?

The young guy working behind the rodeo concession stand thought my shirt was cute too…

Me- One beer, please.
Guy– Is that ALL you need?
Me– Yes.
Guy– Your shirt has a cowboy on it with horse feet. (Reaching toward my shirt, he poked the cowboy printed on the seam of my shirt pocket—the seam split the cowboy making him appear part man, part horse. The cowboy he touched just happened to be positioned on my boob…)
Me– Really? Did you just touch my boob?
Guy– I touched your shirt. (wide-smiling)
Me– Uh-huh. Step away from the cowgirl shirt, concession boy… 
What’s a little sexual harassment at the rodeo? And did he really say horse feet?
Grace Grits and Gardening
Musical Pairing:
This Ain’t My First Rodeo, Vern Gosdin

Give me Sugar

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It starts with Halloween. We buy bags and bags of candy for the busloads and busloads of los niños who descend on our neighborhood. The tower of tempting treats on the dining room table grows taller with each trip to Target.  We avoid the dining room during the month of October.

Eventually, during some late night television show, John and/or I will rip open a bag of baby Snickers and thus begins the first season of holiday grazing. From Great Pumpkin to Easter Beagle.

Today I bought my first (and hopefully only) bag of valentine candy. Sweet Tarts. Pure sugar which I eat until my teeth bleed and my tongue swells as though stricken by a severe sweetness allergy.

Squeezed between Valentine’s Day and Easter, we have a new holiday season. Girl Scout Cookie Season. Those 16 boxes I’ve ordered with arrive shortly after Valentine’s Day. How can you not order from cute little girl scouts? (and there are a flock of them in our hood)…

64 sleeps til Easter.
I feel ill.
talya

Sugar, Sugar – The Archies

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” 
― Charles M. Schulz

Last Night

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Did you see the moon last night? He rose just above the live oaks on our street, a few nights from full, missing a sliver yet still impressive. He watched over me, illuminating the neighborhood as I walked around the corner to Jill’s house. I carried a bottle of Chardonnay in my groovy wine tote—a must-have in our porch-partying neighborhood.

The night was unseasonably warm. I felt lighter as though years and pounds and worries had melted away with my new haircut. 

An ambulance whipped past me, its siren so piercing I covered my ears. Then another. A wreck on Gaston?

I had forgotten to eat all day and imagined what the evening’s menu would be. These nights were more about the food and friends than the month’s book selection. 

Jill’s street was extra dark. Where was the moon?

Jill’s porch light wasn’t lit. 

I soon discovered I was one night early for book club.

Tonight I shall try again. The moon will be even brighter.

talya

Musical Pairing

Dazed and Confused, Led Zeppelin

P.S. I had popcorn for dinner and saved the wine for tonight…

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!