Mississippi County - grace grits and gardening

farm girl sledding…

January 9, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Snow fell during the
night like a secret,
our morning a surprise, a
winter wonderland.

No school for days and days,
sometimes even weeks.
Dusty, bumpy gravel roads
hidden, clean, tucked
beneath flat white sheets.

Conditions too hazardous
for Mr. Robinson’s
school bus proved ideal
on a hubcap sled chained
behind Daddy’s farm truck.

No rules, no roads,
shallow ditches and
summer fields transformed
into our slippery playground.

I couldn’t feel my nose,
but miles from the world
my heart soared.

morgueFile xBlackxCreedx

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Hazy Shade of Winter, Simon and Garfunkel

Yellow Brick Road New Year

December 30, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

New Year’s Eve was always a bit depressing to me—what a let down after the end of a magical Christmastime. Plus, the return to school loomed over the frozen cotton fields.

My sister and I spent the so-called most exciting night of the year watching television. We tried to stay up long enough to see the Times Square ball drop.

And what kind of fun was that?

Watching a disco ball drop from a place I’d never been and certainly couldn’t relate to was borrrr-ing. Times Square may as well have been the moon, although even the moon seemed closer to Mississippi County than New York City.

I could see the moon from my bedroom window. I watched it set and rise behind the pump house in our back yard. I studied the moon phases noting when it grew bright and full before shrinking back to a white sliver.

In 1974 I skipped the whole ball dropping thing to lie on the couch in Daddy’s office and listen to the entire Billboard Top 100 Hit countdown on the radio. I knew almost every single song by heart and loved them all. I was twelve years old and had only recently discovered music. Each month I devoured Tiger Beat Magazine and imagined all the amazing lucky entertainers were at glamorous parties dancing the night away (probably in Times Square) while I stared at the ceiling singing along to their songs and eating Jiffy Pop.

Elton John had THREE hits on the charts. That was beyond cool.

I couldn’t wait to be cool.

I couldn’t wait to grow up and be someone else. Someone different.

Turns out, I’m still the same person.

And I’m cool with that.

Champagne - Happy New Year! - Grace Grits and Gardening

Happy New Year’s Eve Eve!

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John – Live 1976

a Christmas memory: buying the tree…

December 12, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

Keiser Supply Company, our small town hardware store, received its shipment of Christmas trees in early December. We weren’t allowed to buy one until Momma could borrow Daddy’s truck to bring it home. And since Daddy worked AllTheTime, it was almost Christmas before we finally drove into town for our tree.

Way in the back warehouse where it was chilly, fresh Scotch pines propped against the wall. Momma held tree after tree upright so we could see from every angle.

Momma said until the tree “fell” it was impossible to really know what it would look like.

I didn’t know what she meant.

I thought they were all beautiful.

My sister and I circled through the Christmas forest inhaling fresh, fragrant evergreen until we became so cold, we agreed on a tree.

Mr. Cunningham tied our perfect specimen to the truck bed so it wouldn’t flip out into a field on the way home.

“Momma, should I ride back there with it?” I stared at the tree, worried it would get smashed by Daddy’s tools.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll freeze to death.”

She wouldn’t let me.