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from a pew away…

May 13, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner

At Brinkley Chapel we all wore roses pinned to our dresses on Mother’s Day Sunday – white if our mother had already passed away and pink or red if our mother was still alive. I really don’t know if this is a tradition everywhere or just at our little church in Arkansas. We had lots of unique traditions there.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

Momma ordered a corsage for Nana from the flower shop in Osceola. It was always a white Gardenia, her favorite, the most fragrant of all flowers. I could smell it from a pew away.

Momma wore a red or pink rose corsage with a bit of baby’s breath, but Staci and I were too little to wear big, fancy, store-bought corsages. We ran outside on Sunday morning, getting our shoes wet in the grass, and clipped a tiny pink rose from the bush beside the driveway. Luckily the rosebush was always in full bloom on Mother’s Day, as if it understood the importance of its job.

Momma always told us to pick one of the buds not fully open. If we wore one of the pretty big roses already in full bloom, the petals fell apart before the invitational hymn leaving only a pin and a thorny stem on your dress. Noย telling what the significance of that might have been.

Frances Creecy

Nana – Frances Johnson Creecy

 

Twenty-four years ago, Momma had to start wearing a white Gardenia corsage on Mother’s Day. I still get to wear pink:)

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
Musical Pairing:
Paul Simon – Loves Me Like a Rock

“Most children threaten at times to run away from home. This is the only thing that keeps some parents going.”
~ Phyllis Diller

Where the Sidewalk Ends

May 11, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner

Once there was a tree. . .

I love trees. I would hate to live in a place with no trees. I couldn’t breathe or think or sleep at night. I imagine it would be like living in a very high altitude spot where the oxygen is thin. The huge trees in our corner of Dallas are one of the best things about Munger Place. The trees and the porches, of course. They kinda go hand in hand.
My good friend Harry Gibson has one of the best trees and porches in Munger Place. Both are rich with history and provide shade from the Texas heat. And both selflessly give something to all who take the time to slow down and enjoy, whether it’s for a glass of wine on the swing, a chat on the old wooden pew beside the front door, or a peaceful stroll underneath his 100+ year old gnarly Vitek tree, currently loaded with aromatic purple blooms.
This amazing tree is the gateway to Harry’s porch. Twinkle lights underneath the canopy light the sidewalk in the night making his house seem like a constant gathering spot, which it is. He adjusts the lights from time to time, making sure the strands are positioned and working properly, trimming branches when the city insists the limbs are too low. Never would he think of cutting it down. Not even if he needed wood “to make a boat to sail away and be happy”.
The view from Harry’s Porch
Lucy and Annabelle and I walk underneath Harry’s tree several times a day, always stopping to sniff and look at the branches that form a natural arbor. (They sniff, I look.) And straining on their leashes, the dogs always make a bee-line for Harry’s porch, where the water in his old birdbath is their favorite watering hole on a blazing hot day. In the afternoons, his porch is often overrun with friends – both the two legged and four legged variety. Sometimes we stop and sit even when Harry isn’t outside. You can always find what you need there.
Clyde

Clyde, his adorable grandson, often plays around that tree, with his Tonka trucks and sidewalk chalk, while neighbors discuss Munger happenings and news. Harry regales everyone with stories from his past whether as a young man working in the union business, or the time he awoke to find a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader in his bed, or simply the details of his prior day’s lunch. He is a great cook at 81 years old. And he’s in good health, which he attributes to good bourbon on the porch with good ‘acquaintances’ near his favorite tree.

And the tree is happy.

talya

Musical Pairings:

George Strait, “Where the Sidewalk Ends”
Randy Newman, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”

“And the tree was happy.” The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein

Harry and Clyde

Do these lip enhancements make my butt look smaller??

May 10, 2012 By Talya Tate Boerner

Why on earth do women plump up their lips larger than their noses? Does anyone think it looks natural or youthful? Against my better judgment I went to the mall to buy my favorite body lotion. In and out. Ten minutes max.
The parking lot was packed like Black Friday, mid-week, mid-day. The Dallas economy is booming. I really like this lotion.
One-third of the women I walked passed had enormous fake Angelina lips. Why? Was there a tracker-jacker nest within Northpark? Dallas must be the inflated lip capitol of the world, next to LA. In 10 days, I saw no one in Fayetteville sporting this craziness. (In fairness, I only visited Sherwin Williams, Sonic and Home Depot…) In Dallas, I see 10 people in 10 minutes with this obsession. But these lips can be spotted at the Dallas Home Depot and Sherwin Williams I feel certain.

This looks about as natural to me as those Dancing with the Stars spray on tans.

Men, are these lips luscious and kissable? Or scary?

Do engorged lips look young when the rest of your body is 50+? Do lip injections lead to turkey neck surgery down the road? I just don’t get it.

talya

Musical Pairings:

Adam Ant, “Plastic Surgery”
Sixpence None the Richer, “Kiss Me”

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Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: 03.29.26
  • Sunday Letter: February 22, 2026
  • Our Garden Mission Statement
  • Goodbye, 2025. Hello, 2026.
  • Sunday Letter: 11.23.25

Novels:

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Backyard Phenology:

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