Learning How To Be a Southern Yankee

 It's taken me almost three years to realize that to Southerners, a Yankee is anyone not from the South, not necessarily someone from the Northeast, as I had always thought. I am also realizing that there is no crash course that teaches you how to be Southern.  Real Southern tradition is taught at birth and passed down from generation to generation.  An "outsider"  just doesn't have a clue. Anyway, certain behavior may be perfectly acceptable in places that I've lived, in the east, midwest, and west, but if you break the "rules" here, you will hear about it, and "true Southerners" will never forget. You will be "discussed."

I've broken several rules so far, and I'm sure that I'm not finished yet. Here are a few rules never to break in the south:

Never stop at Costco to pick something up for a potluck and fail to transfer it to good china.  

Never serve iced tea and call it sweet tea.  (I never imagined there was a difference!)

Make sure you understand the concept that everyone waves, it's called being friendly.  Oh, yes and make sure you acknowledge someone when you pass them on the sidewalk.

Never use Miracle Whip in chicken salad.

In the summer, never serve anything that is big enough to fill you up.

 I think we typically, as Northerners, stereotype what the South is in so many negative ways. We kind of forget all the beautiful things that they contribute to make this country a country. The South has a completely different history than the north, east or west, both good and bad that is fascinating for everybody.  It makes people work together who usually don't, and it is really beautiful! I am American by birth and one day hope to be Southern by the grace of God.

Finding the Beauty and Peace in Ordinary Things

I have always loved  cozy, flea market furniture and dumpster finds, even before "Shabby Chic" became "Chic." I have wonderful memories in my Grandmother's kitchen at her distressed wooden dining table where the chairs didn't match. I was fascinated with the narrow rust rivulets on her stove and it's chipped and yellowing enamel. I adored the dried herbs and dried flowers that hung from the beams in her pantry, and the old armchair near the wood stove that had seen better days.  I wanted to sit there forever helping her can, preserve, shuck corn and snap beans.  Most of all I loved that nothing was new and everything had a story and a reason for being in her home.  

I do so appreciate things that are imperfect, primitive and incomplete. My father instilled into me from a young age, a gentle rebellion against globalized mass production.  That must be why I love Franklin, Tennessee. Franklin is gracefully weathered, rusty and exactly matches my own proclivities. Franklin is flea markets, not warehouse stores; aged wood, not laminate.  Franklin respects age and celebrates humans over invulnerable machines.  It finds beauty in cracks and crevices and all the marks that time, weather and use leave behind.  Franklin finds beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature, accepting the cycle of growth, decay and death. It is slow and uncluttered and regards authenticity above all, the glory and the impersonal sadness of age spots, rust and frayed edges and the march of time they represent. 

Sacer Simplicitas

Sacred Simplicity. A place of rest.  Rest from the distractions and the slowing of centrifugal forces that have been keeping me off balance for a while.  I came across a quote from Helen Keller that reads; "What a joy it is to feel the soft springy earth under my feet once more, to follow grassy roads that lead to ferny brooks where I can bathe my fingers in a cataract of rippling notes or to clamber over a stone wall into green fields that tumble and roll and climb in riotous gladness."

Hiking. That's what I need. Oxygen therapy. Since moving to Middle Tennessee, Jerry and I have longed to form a hiking group for families like the Sonoran Family Hiking Group that we were part of in Arizona.  We loved hearing hikers rhapsodize about their experience in the Arizona wild- the solitude or camaraderie, the connections among family members and friends that have been strengthened on the trail.  We loved hearing parents rejoice in the time spent with their children.  It was quite satisfying to share outdoor experiences with others, like hiking to a fabulous vista, conquering a high peak, sighting a rare bird or insect and admiring waterfalls and wildflowers. Nothing made us happier than seeing our children delight in the outdoors and unstructured play, the way God designed it to be. We loved coming back a little more refreshed and rejuvenated. It is a great art to saunter.

I realized that I was suffering once again from Nature Deficit Disorder.  As Garrison Keeler said; "Walk out the door and find good health.  There is not fever that a 10 mile hike can't cure."  I'm not sure if I can handle 10 miles yet, but maybe 3.  

So here it is.  The Fellowship Family Hiking Group.  A group of families who like to hike with all age groups. We will tend toward shorter but fun hikes that all ages can enjoy. Jerry and I have found that kids enjoy and have more energy for hikes that have some mildly rugged terrain with rocks to climb, and that hiking with other families makes for good fun. It is an opportunity to spend some time with your family and to meet new people at the same time. We will add some more challenging hikes as our skill level increases.

Our inaugural hike (weather permitting) will be this Saturday, June 9, 2012.  We will be hiking the Meriwether Lewis Loop in Hohenwald, TN.  It is a fun hike, with a good mix of elevation change and flat distance hiking.  It is a 3.5 mile loop hike that travels on very historic ground.  Meriwether Lewis died here in 1809 during his return trip to Washington from St. Louis.  The trail is mostly shady and takes about 2 hours to complete.  There are restroom facilities and water available, and there are no fees or permits.

Wear comfortable shoes, good socks, shorts or pants and a hat/cap.  Make sure to bring sunscreen and insect repellent as well as at least 2 liters of water in a leakproof/shatterproof container or camelback.  For munchies on the trail, I would suggest high calorie, quick burn energy food like dried fruit, nuts, granola bars  etc. The temperature is expected to be a high of 86 with partly cloudy skies.

For anyone that would like to carpool, we will meet at the Publix parking lot (off Royal Oaks near the
intersection of 96 and Royal Oaks) The address is 1021 Riverside Drive.  We will meet at 7:15 AM THIS SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 2012.  (Rain date July 7) We will pass out directions and information about the trail. It takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach the trail.  After the hike, if you are interested, we can meet at the Pizza Hut in Hohenwald.  They have a saladbar/pizza buffet and menu available for eat in dining.

FYI, Here is a link to background information on Meriweather Lewis  http://www.lewisclark.net/biography/index.html.

Let's take a hike!!!

Plants With Stories

A garden is a lovesome thing. I took a stroll around my yard early this morning. It was chilly. The leaves, or what was left of them were shivering, and Sophie very sensibly stayed indoors. Those few leaves that are still hanging on are producing some spectacular colors, albiet in small bursts. My yard is in the midst of it's slow progression into a whispering peace. I have been strolling around my yard for the past 8 months since we moved in, trying to discern what is missing, what doesn't feel quite right.

I realized that this is the first time in 25 years that I have lived in a home where the plants don't have stories. The story of the person who gave it to me, like the roses my mother-in-law loved like children, or the velvet dahlias his grandmother was so proud of. The stories of the trips involved that inspired me to plant, or some childhood memory like the smell of grandmas green onions, or the volunteer that came up in the garden of a former house, or the fake geraniiums that I stuck in the ground in my garden in the desert because nothing else would grow.

I love a plant with a story

Childhood Wonder

"We need love's tender lessons taught, as only weakness can;
God hath his small interpreters; the child must teach the man."
-John Greenleaf Whitier




I love teaching K-6th grade fine arts. I anticipate my time with each student with great delight. Children are definitely the freshest, sweetest part of the race. They are magical creatures! They fill my days with joy and good humor and add to my wonder of being alive. It is truly awe- inspiring to rediscover the joy, excitement and mystery of this world that I live in.

Lord,
Please let me see the virtues that children have in their lives, the joy and enthusiasm of looking forward to each day with glorious expectations of wonderful things to come. Help me see the vision that sees the world as a splendid place with good fairies, brave knights and glistening castles reaching toward the sky. Help me see the radiant curiosity that finds adventure in simple things, tree branches worshiping you, the mystery of billowy clouds, the magic of of falling leaves. Please give me the tolerance that forgets differences, the genuineness of being oneself; to be simple, natural and sincere. Give me the courage that rises from defeat and tries again, after spilling paint on a finished artwork. Give me the believing heart that trusts others, knows no fear, and has faith in a Divine Father who watches over His children from the sky. Please Lord, let me become like the little child, that I may find again the Kingdom of Heaven within my heart.

It's Bloomin' Spring!

"All at once I saw a crowd, a host of golden daffodils." -William Wordsworth


Hyacinths, Narcissus, and other brave bulbs are sprouting through barely thawed soil to glorify their Creator. Spring is officially here and everything is looking grand!

"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine..."

From Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream

There is such wild beauty described by Oberon in Midsummer Night's Dream, I would love to create such an enchanted garden in my own suburban plot of God's earth. My garden would possess very wildness of this fairy glade, the tapestry of flowers and plants that give it it's magic. I am attracted to the disorder of the place, because sometimes it is the very disorder, abandoning my efforts to control, giving into that indolent luxuriance of allowing nature to do as it pleases sometimes, that usually gives something more beautiful than my own scheme can imagine.

What is more lovely and truly relaxing and refreshing, than the sight of a wild flower meadow, dazzling with brightest flashes of color against the contrasting richness of tall and swaying green grasses? The medieval idea of a perfect garden was 'a meadow starred with a thousand flowers.' When I look at the almost mathematically precise grids of some manmade gardens, the flowers standing to attention like soldiers, each sort of the same height, as though measured, everything arranged with the exactness of an obsessive compulsive, I am reminded of the world, striving, work, there is none of that relaxing and peaceful feeling of letting go, being part of nature as it enfolds us in it's luxuriant beauty, of abandoning ourselves to pleasure or dreams as we must to really enjoy.

I'm imagining cutting flowers, potted boxwoods, Fenway Park Boston ivy, fresh lettuce, herbs, tomatoes, jalapenos, wisteria, fruit trees and bushes, rose arbors, hydrangea,a bird bath garden, butterfly garden, fountain, grass and stepping stone paths. Oh where to begin????????

Apres la neige

"The falling snow is a poem of the air." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The second serious get down and boogie snowstorm came along this week, we were royally pasted with a beautiful blanket of snow that made everything look interesting and fresh. Even though there won't be any picnics here anytime soon, this is pure magic.

At first,enduring the freezing winter nights and crisp winter days inspired harsh feelings in the northerner in me, feelings that I had all but erased from the recesses of my mind during my eight years in the desert. Nature is indeed capricious, unpredictable, sometimes violent, and resistant to the cozy human notions of benign order and safety that I felt in the desert. After a few days though, I began to appreciate the stillness, silence and darkness of the winter that forces one to concentrate on renewing and affirming human relationships. Let it snow!