grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

breakfast chat

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6:30 a.m.
in the kitchen 
dallas, texas

Breakfast

John: I hope you didn’t miss me too bad last night. He leans against the kitchen counter eating a slice of pound cake for breakfast.

Me: Don’t you mean, you missed me? I am staring at John as he leans against the kitchen counter eating a slice of pound cake for breakfast.

John: No, I wasn’t in bed much last night. Couldn’t sleep. He washes down pound cake with a drink of milk.

Me: When did you leave the bed? I make coffee.

John: I got up around 3:00. From 3:00 to 6:00 I wasn’t in bed. He eats another bite of pound cake.

Me: I was never there. I slept in Tate’s room all night because you were snoring. I smell the coffee.

John: Oh.

Me: Yeah. You never noticed I wasn’t there. I pour coffee. I need coffee.

John: Yeah I did. That’s why I couldn’t sleep. He eats another slice of pound cake.

Me: Uh-huh… I sip coffee. Steaming. Hot.

John: I forgot we had this pound cake. 

Me: And so you are gonna eat the whole thing this morning to catch up?

John: Maybe.


Me: Ok.


I
need
more
coffee…

talya

Musical Pairings:

Black Coffee in Bed, Squeeze
Don’t You (Forget About Me), Simple Minds

I ate a pound cake today, but I gained two. – Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not For Sale

Dragonfly Effect

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Some endangered species should just be allowed to disappear. Perhaps we intervene too often, disrupting the natural order and balance of the universe. For example, I came across a plea to save the Alpine Wooly Rat. Honestly, I hope to never cross his path. Or the Purcell Hunter Slug threatened by loss of habitat. If one moves into my garden by some strange happenstance, he will dissolve in a dusting of Sluggo as fast as the bucket of water melted the Wicked Witch of the West.

Thank goodness the dinosaurs died out. We think traffic is bad now. If you recall, Jurassic Park didn’t end well.

I’m skeptical of the butterfly effect. I know things are somewhat interrelated and devastation of one species can result in utter chaos, but is the graceful flutter of the orange dragonfly hovering over our swimming pool truly responsible for  tropical storm Debby currently stirring up the Gulf of Mexico? The dragonfly does reappear each spring right at the onset of hurricane season… Fluke? Fate? Although there are several dragonfly species on the extinct list, they are alive and thriving in our back yard.

Maybe some things should be allowed to naturally die or change or expire or evolve. Extraordinary measures should not become commonplace. No one is responsible. Everyone is responsible. We need protection from ourselves. We should just let things be.

I vote we concentrate all our ecological tree hugging money and efforts on saving whichever species eat mosquitoes.

The blood suckers are well represented this year.

talya

Musical Pairings:

Let it Be, The Beatles

Oooh, so Mother Nature needs a favor?! Well maybe she should have thought of that when she was besetting us with droughts and floods and poison monkeys! Nature started the fight for survival, and now she wants to quit because she’s losing. Well I say ‘hard cheese.’ – Mr. Burns, The Simpsons

iQuit

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Fun times at the Dallas branch!

I resigned from my loan officer position at State Bank & Trust about nine months ago. After 25 years with the same management, it was a huge change for everyone.  After a quarter-century, I couldn’t just write any old plain vanilla milk toast resignation letter…
I’ve had several friends request a copy of my letter, so I’m printing it here.

 

To: State Bank & Trust
Re: Letter of Resignation

It is with mixed emotions that I write this letter to notify you that
 ____I’m bored with the same ole stories
____ I hate all  my work clothes
____ I am tired of doing banking reports
____ I can’t hold my stomach in anymore
_x__ it’s time for a change.

I am therefore
____ going to beauty school
____ dropping out of society
____ getting plastered
____ learning Mandarin
____ having another baby
____ joining the clergy
_x__ tendering my resignation from the bank.

Please note that
____ I am hilarious
____ you will never see me again
____ I am hearing voices
____ I am changing my phone number
_x__ November 1, 2011 will be my last day of employment.

I would like to thank you for
____ never a dull moment
____ second hand smoke
____ internet access
____ free coffee and cheap insurance
____ letting me wear pants since 1995
____ a wonderful, fun job for a long, long time
_x__ ALL OF THE ABOVE!

Yours very truly,
Talya Tate Boerner

 

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!