Tate Farms Archives - grace grits and gardening

Sunday Letter: 11.17.19

November 17, 2019 By Talya Tate Boerner 9 Comments

Sunday Letter

Dear Sunday Letter readers,

I didn’t write a Sunday Letter last weekend because I was in Eureka Springs. The significant thing about this isn’t that I was too busy to do it. The bigger deal for me is that I left my computer at home. Since I started writing, I always take my MacBook with me when I go out of town. We are tight that way. (Only one other time have I left him behind—Kelsey’s wedding weekend.)

I’ll admit I felt a little anxiety over leaving Mac home alone.

computer

But if I’m being honest, after the panic subsided, it felt freeing.

We both survived. And today I’m back, writing from the Bat Cave—aka the farm in northeast Arkansas. Mac would really be upset if I didn’t take him to the farm.

And by the way, the smoke detector in my bedroom began shrieking at 1 a.m. this morning. WHY do they only do this in the wee hours?Continue Reading

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig.

November 9, 2017 By Talya Tate Boerner 2 Comments

The view from our sleeping porch

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig. I’m back home after spending five days with Momma and my sister, Staci, at home-home in Mississippi County, Arkansas. (I’ve said this before, but home-home is where I’m from, and home [singular] is where I live now.)

When we were kids, Momma always said, “Home again, home again, jiggety jig,” every time we pulling into the carport. After a trip to the lake. After a trip to Big Star. After a trip anywhere.

You remember that nursery rhyme, don’t you? There are lots of versions. The jingle has been quoted in many television shows, movies, and books. (Stephen King, I’m looking at you and It.)

The version I know:

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,
Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.
To market, to market, to buy a fat hog,
Home again, home again, jiggety-jog.
To market, to market, to buy a plum bun,
Home again, home again, market is done.
(Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes)

Now I say it. Not always, but sometimes. Because I’ve turned into Momma.Continue Reading