My Granny was not a good cook. There, I've said it. She just wasn't. Granny had many talents, but they were all put into practice far, far away from the kitchen. Unless you count arranging flowers on the kitchen table, but that had nothing to do with food. I remember one time when I was … Continue reading Oh, fudge!
Tag: Granny
Have you got game?
"Taste this and guess what it is!" Aunt Lois* says to me one Thanksgiving morning while jabbing at me with a carving fork, a piece of grayish meat dangling from the tines. "Go on; taste it!" Now I don't know about you, but I want to be able to readily identify my food. Even at … Continue reading Have you got game?
Come play in the deep end
"Do you remember being the only little White girl who would swim in the public pool?" Three times in as many months I have been asked this question by as many hometown African American lady friends. The answer? Honestly? No. "Do you remember teaching the Black kids how to swim?" Sort of. I remember that … Continue reading Come play in the deep end
The Arbor
I have an arbor. I flat love it. Husband hates it - bugs, mess, blah blah blah. I don't care. I have an arbor because Granny had an arbor. I flat loved it. It was covered with muscadine vines growing down to the ground and high up into the trees. I would drag whatever lawn … Continue reading The Arbor
Manure and a Models Coat
This morning I found myself in the backyard clad in my housecoat and sturdy moccasin slippers. This morning, my left elbow resting on my left knee, my right hand searched down through damp monkey grass for the base of an offending weed. This morning I pulled that weed and a handful more and cast them … Continue reading Manure and a Models Coat
Beauty for a day
There may come a time when you find yourself winding down a two-lane country road. And along that road you may see a field. And in that field you may see an odd grouping of bright flame-colored flowers. Meet Hemerocallis fulva, otherwise known as the common orange daylily or roadside daylily. This tangerine titan of … Continue reading Beauty for a day
The power of precipitation
She was almost 99 when she died. Almost. She attributed her longevity to rain. Not watching it. Getting wet in it. As May approaches, I always start thinking of Granny. Her birthday is May 5. She would have been 109 this year. I thought she would live forever. I think she did too, asking me … Continue reading The power of precipitation
Happy Easter…now go stand by that bush
As I look back through the photographic record of my childhood, I see a distinct pattern. To commemorate most every special occasion, I was hauled out in the yard, strategically placed in front of something blooming with seasonal flowers, and commanded to stare into the sun until my retinas burned away, all while trying to … Continue reading Happy Easter…now go stand by that bush
Talking to the dead
I recently found myself alone in a car traveling a bleak and rainy back road with the ashes of a man whom I have never met. Alone for two hours. "What did you do?" said my friend, as I relayed to her my somewhat odd circumstance. "I talked to him," I answered, honestly. I mean, … Continue reading Talking to the dead
Happy New Year and pass the innards, please.
Y'all know I'm about as Southern as they come. And those of us reared below (way below) the Mason-Dixon Line are defined by many aspects of our culture, chief amongst them being our traditional foods. But one thing that I have never been able to stomach, literally or figuratively, is the idea of eating innards. … Continue reading Happy New Year and pass the innards, please.