The first Martin Luther King Day

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day. When he was killed, I had just moved to Panama City, Florida. I had been hired to teach in the local high school. On the day of King's funeral, very few, if any, of the black kids came to school . . . when they returned to school the next day, their reason for missing was "to attend a funeral". We (the faculty) had been advised to totally avoid the subject of Martin Luther King in class (can you imagine?). I found it impossible to do. All my classes had rip-roaring discussion.

Gary told me that his company used to excuse workers for MLK Day . . . but they were really upset if any white guys didn't come to work. Again, amazing.

Du Maurier

I just finished a Daphne Du Maurier book and gee whiz, it was GOOD. I had forgotten. This one was My Cousin Rachel. At some point in the past I read Rebecca and Jamaica Inn. I'm sure Du Maurier is only considered a popular novelist . . . but I'm also sure she was hard to categorize. Mystery? Crime? Romance? Anyway it was well worth it.

Bye, Bye December 2009

I have just managed to take a picture of our tree on the day we're taking it down.

I DID get to go to Raleigh, NC for a week of art lessons back in November. Great time! Four different instructors. I want to try that again in a couple of years. One of the instructors (Karlyn Holman) will be in Louisville this spring for a week (hosted by the Kentucky Watercolor Society) and I'm looking forward to that class in March.

I was ill the second week in December with no explanation (yet) about what caused it. Frieda and I had tentative plans to go to Williamsburg while she was on break from Delta State, but I was sick and her father passed away, so that didn't happen.

My mother always told me that what you do on New Year's Day is what you'll spend your time on the rest of the year . . . so I"m ripping around trying to do a bit of anything and everything I might enjoy. It certainly IS wonderful to leave this decade behind.

Christmas at Phil and Becky's . . .

Isn't this the most luscious pie? Gary made it for tomorrow's get together at his brother Phil's. We're to meet his sister Beth, her husband Doug, and Beth's middle child, Jackie, there tomorrow. I think it'll be fun.

I can't go home to Tara anymore . . .

I'm finally over the sinus infection . . . just ripe for another, I'm sure. I've sold my Mother's family homeplace (at left) and the man who bought it has pushed the dirt around so that it looks like the Riata Ranch in the movie Giant . . . flat as a pancake, with not a tree in sight. I've suggested that my brother and I donate to charities rather than exchange gifts at Christmas. I'm sure that's a good thing to do, and actually more satisfying, but I feel like I've cut off the last tie to my own family. I keep reminding myself that I didn't start it, but that doesn't help a bit. So, the holiday season is off to a really good start.

On the up side. I spent a good Thanksgiving at Gary's homeplace and visited with Sally Jo Patton (one of my growing-up idols) and Lynette Turner (my roomy for my sophomore year). Had a really good evening with them in Louisa. The next day, Gary's brother, brother's wife and Gary's nephew came to dinner at Beth's. All-in-all a really good holiday.

Seriously Bent . . .

Gary and I were in hot pursuit of the elusive BRILLIANT leaf during the last three days. We DID find them in SE Ohio (in the Hocking Hills). I managed to become seriously bent out of shape with a sinus infection, however, and am not yet recovered. Nevertheless we had a good time and it took us away from our regular haunts. We felt as if we'd been away a month when we got back.

It's coming, it's coming . . .

Fall is on it's way. As proof I offer a picture of an oak tree right outside my front door. When I lived in Arkansas, I was surrounded by oak trees at the house on the lake . . . but they always turned paper-bag brown. Look at these! (As Gary points out there are different kinds of oaks).